PAGE 14. 1952 Selection/ Le Poulain cyclemotors

1952 SELECTION ‘SELECT 52’ MOPED with LE POULAIN ENGINE: Black

This is a 1952 Selection ‘Select 52’ moped with a Le Poulain cycle-attachment engine. It has never been used – at least until it was fired up recently.

It’s quite an innovative arrangement – the Le Poulain engine operates via 3 gears on the back wheels. And there’s a spring inside the front handlebars for the front suspension!

This cyclemotor was ‘new-old-stock’ in a French cycle shop that closed down in 1953. All I’ve had to do to it is replace the tyres. The tyres in these photos are its original French whitewalls (presumably with 1952 French air still inside).

Unfortunately, although they look the part, the sidewalls are cracked so I’ve now installed replacement black tyres. (Many thanks Tony – Tony Etheridge Vintage Tyre company maintain the best stock in the UK of tyres for vintage motorcycles, scooters and mopeds).

Here’s a photo of it as it was stored, unused in the cycle shop.

Selection was a well-respected upmarket cycle manufacturer/ distributor; and Le Poulain made a variety of cycle-attachment engines to fit to bicycles.

Although I have come across various Le Poulain engines on cycles, I have never seen another model of the Selection/ Le Poulain.

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1952 SELECTION ‘SELECT 52’ MOPED with LE POULAIN ENGINE: Red

UPDATE 10th June 2007:

I’ve now managed to track down another, nearly identical 1952 Selection. When the cycle shop in Paris closed down in 1953, its unsold stock was put into storage. Over 50 years later this collection was discovered and the 5 new-old-stock mopeds as well as 14 brand new Selection bicycles were sold off.

My friend Patrick bought the black one, and I got it from Patrick when we did a British-French bike exchange earlier this year.

But now I’ve tracked down the others. I’ve visited Herve, in Rouen, who had purchased the rest of the Selection collection; and I’ve swapped my Cyclemaster, a Minimotor and some euros for the red Select 52 moped pictured here, plus the unused 1952 Selection Racing Cycle shown at the bottom of the page. I’ve also bought a black Select 52 moped from him for my friend Peter.

So we now have ‘his-and-hers’ mopeds. The tyres on the red one seem quite sound; I’ll get it running this week.

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1952 SELECTION CYCLE

The other cycles in my collection are considerably older. But even though this 1952 Selection has very modern styling I could not resist its charms.

It’s not often you manage to find unused 55-year-old vehicles. But it’s even more unusual to locate matching moped and bicycle from the same company.