The story of Christophe V.'s blue Solex 3800 Luxe is a moving one.
Following his father's death in 2016, Christophe decided to retrieve his blue Solex 3800 Luxe to restore it in his father's place and, above all, to keep it in the family.
In June 2017, he assessed this blue Solex 3800 Luxe, which needed a bit of a facelift but was already quite complete—an excellent basis for restoration.
August 2017, it's go time: the blue Solex 3800 Luxe was brought into Christophe's garage, and the serious work could begin.
Initially, Christophe wanted to get this blue Solex 3800 Luxe back on the road.
So he set about a thorough disassembly and cleaning, just to see.
The blue Solex 3800 Luxe was finished in September 2017, and Christophe realized there was still work to be done.
Although it looked quite good:
His blue Solex 3800 Luxe sputtered, didn't start instantly, moved sluggishly, and stalled when hot.
The engine needed a serious overhaul, and so... why not also redo the chassis?
It was at this point that he plunged into a total restoration 🙂
Over two months, Christophe spread out the restoration of his blue Solex 3800 Luxe: renovating worn, broken, or missing parts.
And it was at this time that L'Atelier de la Vigne "crossed paths" with this restoration.
While visiting the Atelier's website, Christophe came across this model I had restored in 2016:
The photo of this restoration was, according to him, his model throughout his project.
So, Christophe contacted the Atelier to provide him with some specific hard-to-find parts, namely:
Electronic capacitor,
Complete front headlight unit in luxe blue,
Left and right front mudguard stays in the same blue.
The Atelier quickly and efficiently created these elements to complete his project.
Piece by piece, the puzzle came together:
And by the end of November 2017, the project was finished:
And on December 12, 2017, this blue Solex 3800 Luxe definitively returned to the road, new as it was when it left the factory, or almost.
Almost, because Christophe chose to keep the black tires instead of white sidewalls, the handlebars because they were in good condition, and especially the original seat where he inscribed a message in honor of his father inside, the handlebars.
I always ask my "customers" for photos of their finished projects, even if the Atelier's involvement is sometimes minimal. This is the case here, but this story was too good not to appear in the "customer restorations" section.
Christophe put all his heart and energy into this restoration so that this blue Solex 3800 Luxe would remain in his family.
I have no doubt that every ride will be a moving moment, filled with memories, but as Christophe also says, "I'll be smiling from ear to ear."
And so will the Atelier, and know that we were honored to participate in your project.
Have a good ride!