Photo ou archives : F-M. Dumas
2902
MR
Mandille & Roux / 100cc BMA Tandem - 1939
And baby made three
In 1936, the Socialists came to power in France, bringing an end to the wave of strikes that had crippled the country. Workers were granted a 12 percent pay raise, collective bargaining, a 40-hour work week and two weeks paid annual vacation.
All Going on a Summer Holiday
Those first national vacations saw the roads crowded with a ragtag assortment of vehicles heading for the mountains, country and seaside. French makers courted this new market with a new kind of tax-dodging power-assisted bicycle. To escape taxes, these feeble featherweights had to have engines of less than 100cc, no more than two speeds and weigh less than 66 lb.
They Even Raced
Among the leading manufacturers of this new breed of powered two-wheeler was a Parisian maker named Mandille & Roux, better known under the name "MR," who used the reliable unit-constructed Sachs two-stroke. Surprisingly, 98cc Sachs-powered machines won their class in the Bol d'Or endurance race from 1934 to 1937. In 1937, an MR covered 1000.4 miles in 24 hours at an average 41.7 mph. In 1939, MR unveiled an oddball, a powered "family" tandem. Its two-speed gearbox certainly complied with the law, but the single-chain drive incorporated a Derailleur gear, which gave a somewhat random choice of three final drive ratios. With its light "baby buggy" trailing behind, and aided by pedal assistance, the MR family tandem could cruise at an erratic 25 mph but they only sold 40 of them.
SPECIFICATIONS
Engine: 98cc (49x52mm) air-cooled single-cylinder; flywheel magneto
Valves: two-stroke
Fuel System: carburetor
Transmission: 2-speed gearbox plus three-speed Derailleur gear, single-chain final drive for power and pedal
Suspension: girder forks (front); rigid (rear)
Brakes: drum (front & rear)
Wheels: wire (front & rear)
Maximum Speed: 25 mph
Despite its quirky appearance, the MR Tandem was a reasonably practical touring machine.