The family founded an import company in 1986, Matthews & Associates, working with companies such as Bosch and Rotel. Invariably, when people would visit the Matthewses, they would want to ride the Solex and then would ask where they could get one. Tommie Matthews decided to look into it.

"Anyone who sees the Solex becomes an instant fan," he says. Solex is not new technology. The tiny 49cc motor was patented in 1916, and the first prototype bike was unveiled in 1940 in France at the onset of the German occupation.

As a bicycle it's heavy (62 pounds), but as a motorcycle it's light as an inner tube. It has no gears (centrifugal clutch), and riding it as a bike is reminiscent of two-wheelers of the 1940s and '50s.

Ah, but they didn't have motors. The Solex motor sits in front of the handlebars and is called into action by lowering it onto the front tire where friction goes to work. It's fairly quiet as two-cycle engines go (65db at full throttle) and will move the bike along between 20-25 mph.

Although it gets 200 mpg, the tiny fuel tank holds only 1.4 liters, about a quarter gallon. According to Spencer, part of Solex's appeal is that many states require no license to ride one since it's classified as a bicycle (at 50cc it would become a moped). "We're working with the Department of Motor Vehicles in Utah to get that same kind of classification for Solex," he said.

If they do, it could be a big boost to sales locally. The company's also working to set up retailers, including bike dealers, moped dealers, even RV dealers for people who want to hang one on the back of their motor home.

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