Valmobile

VALMOBILE

Cycle World Scooter Test:

A VERITABLE PANDORA'S BOX Of surprises;” “I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it;” “For crying out loud,” etc., and other such literary witticisms were the result of uncrating and then unfolding the unusual Valmobile portable scooter in a corner of CYCLE WORLD’S offices. We’ve seen other folding vehicles before but were not conditioned to what was about to spring out of the darkest corners of the Valmobile’s body shell; worse, we were even further surprised after taking it for a ride to find that it employed one of the smoothest and most efficient centrifugal drive systems we had ever encountered.

Not only is the drive system excellent, the little toy will carry an adult at a comfortable 25 miles per hour in relative safety and security, despite the obvious drawbacks of the srpall wheels and lack of front suspension. The almost weird rubber and leather rear suspension does a very thorough job.

Occo Specialties in South Hackensack, New Jersey, distribute the Valmobile, which is made in Japan. The 50cc, singlecylinder, two-cycle engine is rated at 2.8 hp @ 6,900 rpm. The unique drive system delivers power from the engine off of a kart-type centrifugal clutch, a “V” to the automatic ratio pulleys, and then by chain to the rear wheel.

New York’s World-Telegram and Sun newspaper called it “beating traffic on a suitcase,” which pretty well describes what it looks like when the odd-looking metal cáse with a wheel on one end is assembled and ridden off, in a total of about one minute or so. The entire front assembly is dismantled and stored under the seat, alongside the engine. Each unit is héld in place with keyed pins that make assembly and disassembly quite simple. 165 miles per gallon is claimed, which seems about right for the 90 pound wonder, and full lighting is standard equiment. Power for the lights is furnished by the flywheel magneto.

Riding the Valmobile is a delight since all that is required is a simple twist of the throttle and you are off and runnng with the variable ratio drive doing the job for you. The almost eerie transmission is so smooth and positive, at times it seems as though the engine isn’t really pulling the weight. One brief two-up experiment proved to be the most amazing of all, when it seemed not to bother the transmission a bit.

Accessories available include, of all things, a sidecar, two extra drive ratios for off-the-road work, Saddle bags, various covers, and a handlebar extension that raises the level of the bars. The extension is shown fitted on the machine on this page as we found it lifted them to a position more to our liking, although most CW staffers are of average height.

Prices range from $245.00 for the standard model, to $298.00 for the deluxe version. Since convenience was the basis for the creation of such a vehicle, we must evaluate its worth on that basis, at which it excels. The folded unit will fit handily into the trunk of the smallest automobile, in most light airplanes and small boats, and easily transported to the scene of its next use. Small boat marinas, air fields, or anyone for that matter with a need for portable short-haul transportation will find the Valmobile indispensable, and a lot of fun besides. •