Melody SH50

Model 1988 Melody Mini SH50

3 owners from new

First registered 1988

1460 miles

Owned by Allan Wales

40 year old Allan Wales of Edinburgh knows a thing or two about push bike repair and maintenance. He has years of experience running Retro ReCycles, a small business dedicated to restoring old second hand bikes and giving them a new lease of life. Allan is a dedicated cyclist himself and has twice cycled between Lands End and John O'Groats,

One day a customer asked if Allan could call to recover some unloved cycles from a garage. He duly obliged, but as well as a couple of bikes, Allan's eye was attracted to something covered over by a blanket. He pulled back the covers to discover a 1988 Honda Melody 49cc scooter. It had just 1,460 miles on the clock. The tax had run out in 1993 and it had two very flat tyres. Allan agreed to purchase it for the £85 which was all the money he had in his wallet. Along with the two cycles mounted on the roof of his car, the Melody was laid down in the back and driven off.

So Allan became the third owner of this little machine. It was to take a while sorting the paperwork out with the DVLA but in the meantime Allan was determined to get it moving again.

Will Allan get it running?

After pumping up the original tyres, he drained and replaced the fuel, cleaned the carburettor jets, (which he had never done before), changed the spark plug/put new battery on, checked over the electrics, checked the petcock, checked fuel cap, checked compression and lastly made sure the exhaust wasn't blocked.

Still, it just refused to start....He even tried a little old trick of heating up the carb with a hairdryer and then it fired, stayed on for about 10 seconds and died.

Eventually though he was successful and the little bike, last thought to have run 27 years earlier was back up and running.

Small Bike - Big Adventure

Alan decided he'd set off on a wee trip on the doubly wee Melody....from Edinburgh to Brighton. He had to plan a route very carefully as his top speed was going to be no greater than 28mph.

His first day saw him get as far as Ripon in North Yorkshire, about 180 miles. There he camped overnight. The following morning Allan decided that combining a days riding with a night in a tent was too much for his body to take. He resolved himself to do hotels for the next few nights. Of course he couldn't book ahead as he really had no idea of how is ride would progress, nor did he have a plan on how he would get home.

On the second day, he rode through thunderstorms from Ripon all the way down to Northampton, another long day perched on this tiny bike all of 160 miles.

Day three, he rode on through to Newport Pagnell and took a break. Here he was gaining enough confidence in his bike's ability to reach the south coast, that he started searching Ebay for cars for sale in the Brighton area The car had to be capable of acting as a "mother ship" to return both Allan and the Melody to Edinburgh. A little Suzuki Swift caught his eye, having placed a bid the auction ended and he duly "won" the car for just £288. The seller lived in Faygate a small village between Crawley and Horsham in north Sussex quite convenient to Brighton. So he'd complete his ride, stay overnight in Brighton and pick up the car the following day.

With a plan of action, he continues his ride south, stopping for a photo opportunity at Wembley, then to the The Ace Café which is really close to the home of world football. It was always a goal of his to reach The Ace. By remarkable coincidence, the Honda Owners Club had been at The Ace since early that same July morning, as today was "Honda Day at The Ace". The weather was unseasonably chilly and there were heavy showers forecast all day. The marquee was going up early morning regardless, and we had hope rather than anticipation that a lots of iconic bikes would show up. The weather did affect numbers and the morning had been slower than we'd hoped for. Bikes were beginning to drift off around lunchtime as you could visibly see the car park emptying. The clock was reaching 2pm when our own thoughts were turning to packing up. The suddenly Allan rolled in. We immediately saw him as the star attraction we were hoping for, and insisted he posed for photographs in front of the iconic Ace emblem. He explained to us about his ride and we were all gobsmacked. Allan though whilst very polite and engaging must have been concerned as he still had a way to go and the time was moving on.

Alan explains, " I'd no idea there was a Honda event taking place at The Ace. I arrived to find there was loads of much bigger bikes there to enjoy...but they all kinda swarmed around mine"!

Alan posed for some photos but he had to get going, Brighton was within his sight.

He left and filled up the Melody for the last full tank of fuel to reach Brighton. He made 11 fuel stops in all, costing just £27.56. But disaster struck just 38 miles of his destination. On a street in the Epsom Downs area, the little Melody coughed and spluttered, then conked out. First thing he did was check the spark plug. He noticed it was sticking out more than it should, with a bit of oil sprayed about. He left it to cool, but it quickly became apparent it had fused somewhat, and was seized, certainly none of his basic tools would fix it.

Without breakdown cover, he had to think on his feet.

Allan explains, "So...the car, I had won earlier...plan was to get to Brighton and then pick it up the next day. Luckily I had broken down within a 30-minute Uber ride of where it was, and the gent was happy for me to come get it immediately....so I locked the bike up where it broke, and went off to get the car. The Suzuki was £288, with MOT till October and only 67,000 miles...I'm incredibly lucky to have got this, as there was no back-up plan whatsoever. I arrived in Faygate and paid the gent immediately without even looking much at the car. I set up a temporary car insurance and I went back to get the bike. All was well, I managed to squeeze the bike into the car and set off for Brighton...arriving about the same time as I had originally planned for"!

So he made it, but at what cost to the Melody? He wont find out until he returns home.

Finally, the little Suzuki made it back to Edinburgh two days later. "After an overnight stay in Durham. The plan was to sell the car, but it only cost £35 to get it back up the road (it did come with half a tank) and appears to do 60 mpg, so for now, I'm keeping it" he explained.

A true adventurer. I'm not sure whether the accolade of HOWL Hall of Fame is more deserving for Allan or his wee bike.