Happy birthday, sweet Sixteener: It's 50 years of the Fizzy!

Fifty years ago this year one of the most inspirational, significant – and smallest – bikes Britain has ever known was born: the Yamaha FS1-E.

The ‘Fizzy’ is the most famous example of the 50cc ‘sports moped’ craze of the mid-1970s which also included Suzuki’s AP50 and Honda’s SS50, not to mention some glorious European exotica from the likes of Gilera and Puch.

But, by arriving first in 1973, boasting big bike looks, a top speed over 50mph and priced well under £200, it was the little Yamaha which was the biggest hit.

More than 200,000 were produced for the UK – where, due to the introduction of the ‘Sixteener Law’, the ‘sportped’ phenomenon was unique – giving swarms of 16-year-old Brits their first taste of two-wheeled freedom…