Icon: Yamaha FS1-E
LIVING LEGENDS OF MOTORCYCLING
#20 Yamaha FS1-E Where did it come from?
From the halcyon days when mopeds were allowed to be as fast as you liked. Or as fast as early-1970s metallurgy and hamfisted teenage mechanics would allow. In the 1960s, a 16-year-old could ride a 250 on L-plates, but in 1971 that changed and a moped with bicycle pedals was the only option. A new class was born - the sports moped - and this was the stand-out leader. It was badged SS (for “Sixteener Special”) for the first few years, but that changed to FS1-E in ’74. That was quickly corrupted to Fizzy, and a legend was born.
What changed?
The law, mostly. In August 1977, all new mopeds were suddenly restricted to 30mph. The FS1-E had gained a disc brake in 1975, but it lost its pedals and its poke. That meant a whole new market for de-restriction parts and tuning expertise, but it also meant the older, unrestricted versions became extremely sought after.
Why do people like it?
Nostalgia. That wistful longing for a far-off time when you had hair and didn’t mind if your bike was Popsicle Purple or Candy Gold.
Cult rating: 5/5
Even in the late 1980s, interest in Fizzies was so strong that one dealer (Rafferty Newman of Portsmouth) bought pretty much all of Yamaha’s spares stock to satisfy demand – they even built a brand-new bike from parts, just to prove they could. General interest is shifting more towards the 80s and 90s tiddlers now, but the Fizzy remains the one to have.
The problem is...
Buying one without having to sell a kidney. More than 200,000 were sold in the UK but most died young. Good, clean imported Fizzies start at two or three grand, but a really nice, standard early UK version could cost you twice that...
Without the Fizzy...
A whole generation of youths would have had to walk to school, to work, to the pub and off to see their mates. Of course, many of us had to walk anyway - pushing a dead two-stroke.
“It became leader of the 1970s sports moped class”