Stinkwheel Publishing

Stinkwheel Publishing is dedicated to producing books about a much neglected area of motoring history: the humble moped. "Moped" is a term familiar to all, but our publications also include cyclemotors and autocycles.

Cyclemotors: A cyclemotor is a motorised bicycle, a small engine that could be attached to a normal bicycle. This idea dates back to the dawn of motor cycling in the last years of the 19th century but the boom period for these machines was the 1950s - the years of post-war austerity.
Autocycles: An autocycle very similar to a moped. It is a lightweight motor cycle with pedals and an engine of 100cc or less. Autocycles appeared on the roads of Britain in the 1930s and took an important rôle in the transport of essential workers during World War 2. The autocycle died out at the end of the 1950s, it had been usurped by...
Mopeds: The definition of the moped has changed over the years: It started off being a motor cycle with pedals and an engine of less than 50cc capacity. Nowadays, the pedals are not required but there are power and speed restrictions.

The Stinkwheel Saga - Episode 1

Our first volume is an in-depth look at the nine most popular makes of cyclemotor sold in Britain during the post-war period from 1945 to 1959. A wealth of period archive material has been used to illustrate the long-lost world of power-assisted cycling.

A book such as this has been long overdue. For decades cyclemotors were consigned to the back of sheds or garages and left there to rust into oblivion. Nowadays these machines are sought after, restored and ridden with pride at historic events throughout Europe. Three long-standing members of the National Autocycle & Cyclemotor Club decided to rectify a lamentable lack of any historical survey on clip-on cyclemotors by collaborating in researching and producing this book. It has been written by enthusiasts for enthusiasts - the first modern work of its kind in English.

The Stinkwheel Saga, Episode 1 will be published on 20 August 2004, price £18.00.
A4, 256pp, ISBN: 0-9547363-0-3