Piege MORTEL

I love this bike. It belongs to a mate of mine, Eddy Matt Lomas, and he's just as barmy as the bike looks . I heard tell he was up to something and then, sure enough, he came pottering past one day sounding like and indeed looking not dissimilar to Biggles on a flypast in his Sopwith Camel, letting rip with the twin Vickers. How could I not rush over and arrange a photoshoot? The bike in question is a 1927 Motobecane MB2 175 with a splendid story behind it. Eddy deserves to tell it himself really ...

'A bit of history; I first saw one of these bikes about six years ago and for some bizarre reason fell in love. I think it was because they reminded me of those early teens Indian motorcycles with the similar loop bottom frames, etc. I discovered that the two French brothers who started the Motobecane company were actually out in America in those teen years and fell for the styling of those old Indians too .

'By 1923 they