The VeloSoleX F4 A pictorial model history

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Table of Contents

Left hand side view .........................................................................................................4

Front view .......................................................................................................................4

Right pedal with free-wheel sprocket ..............................................................................5

Plastic brake levers ........................................................................................................5

Front guard with engine mounting slot ............................................................................6

Top of front fork ..............................................................................................................6

Battery housing in dummy cylinder .................................................................................7

Headlight ........................................................................................................................7

Tail light ..........................................................................................................................8

Left engine case and light switch ....................................................................................8

Right hand engine case ..................................................................................................9

Bottom of dummy engine ................................................................................................9

Right hand side – missing dummy exhaust system ...................................................... 10

Inside right hand engine case ....................................................................................... 10

Front wheel ................................................................................................................... 11

Rear brake .................................................................................................................... 11

Front brake ................................................................................................................... 12

The bruiteur – engine noise mechanism ....................................................................... 12

60s F4 Postcard ........................................................................................................... 13

F4 Accessories ............................................................................................................. 13

A fully accessorised F4 ................................................................................................. 14

F4 publicity photo ......................................................................................................... 14

Advertisement............................................................................................................... 15

Exploded parts view ..................................................................................................... 15

Compiles by Joe Hovel – © 2010 Some photos and original concept from VSX71.com

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VéloSolex F4

It was produced from 1964, possibly as late as 1970.

Sadly, no production numbers are known. The price was 149F.

The SoleX F4 is child's bicycle, representing a typical SoleX 3300 reduced to 2/3 scale, although often referred to as a scale model of the 3800, which of course didn’t exist in 1964.

Maybe it is because of the low initial numbers of this reproduction, or maybe because their value has increased so vigorously over time that the F4 model is a very rare find today.

It sported a toolkit which was equipped with the same but smaller tools that rested between foam pads just like the ‘real’ SoleX.

Even a functional miniature tyre pump is fitted under the luggage rack. This was made in white plastic and was only 200mm long.

Sadly, because the engine was very lightly made and fragile, this is now often missing, either because it has been broken in a fall or simply due to disintegration of the plastic over time. The plastic exhaust pipe and muffler seem to be particularly fragile and are often missing, even if the engine is still intact or partially so. Several collectors have initiated small production runs of replicas of the plastic engine – some closely resembling the originals, others less so.

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Left hand side view

Front view

The F4 were fitted with 400A tyres with the typical Solex Y (continuous rib) profile.

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Right pedal with free-wheel sprocket

The free wheel sprocket was placed not on the back wheel but on the crank-end chain ring. The rear sprocket is 12 teeth and the front 24 teeth The chain is well covered, as it moves whenever the bike is in motion. The original pedals were white ‘Lyotard’ with yellow reflectors.

Plastic brake levers

Brake handles were a light gray plastic – now invariably discoloured white and brittle or replaced by aluminium replicas.

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Front guard with engine mounting slot

Top of front fork

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Battery housing in dummy cylinder

A headlight was incorporated in the front of the ‘engine’ and fed by a battery hidden in the engine’s plastic cylinder, as was the scaled down taillight.

Headlight

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Tail light

Left engine case and light switch

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Right hand engine case

Bottom of dummy engine

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Right hand side – missing dummy exhaust system

Inside right hand engine case

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Front wheel

Rear brake

A drum brake with a single brake shoe runs in the back wheel and a simple bicycle rim brake was fitted to the front.

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Front brake

The bruiteur – engine noise mechanism

It was equipped with a plastic dummy engine and provided with a sound-effects mechanism with a pawl driven by a little friction wheel on the side of the front tyre, to reproduce the humming of the engine of the "real" Solex.

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60s F4 Postcard

F4 Accessories

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A fully accessorised F4

F4 publicity photo

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Advertisement

Exploded parts view