Puch #11

A stock 3 shoe clutch, but a bushing crank, and a single ring piston in a #11 High Torque cylinder. Odd?

Pictures!

You might remember a few posts ago when I said I picked up a Bravo. Well, I have it, and haven't done anything with it, and wouldn't you know it, I soon found another one, so I just had to get it. It's been so long since I've had twinsies that I just needed to. So I'm back up to 7 mopeds after moving with only 4 and 1/2. :) I don't plan on keeping them, but bringing them to Seattle and letting them go. Although, I was looking at some of Benji's goodies for Vespa, and that 64cc kit seems to look pretty tempting, I do like the lines of a Bravo, and you just can't be a variator, so who knows. I'm sure I'll sell one, but I might have to keep the second one and kit it. It has 288 miles on it, and is in very very good shape. It's missing the left rear cover and the tool kit, but other than that, seems very complete. When I was in Seattle visiting, someone had a really nice red Bravo (I think, I'm not too learned on Vespa yet) and it was quick and had about half a dozen mirrors or so. It makes me want a nice quick little vespa, even though I do have the Maxi Taxi (which is undergoing some revisions shortly, as soon as I finish up the Green maxi). How many Puch's does a guy need, anyway? And since I've moved back home for the summer, one of my old high school friends (who has a nice two stroke RD400 that he has put a lot of work into) said to me "My cousin has a moped, I'll bet he would give it to me." He said he picked it up and it wouldn't start, that it had been setting for about 10 years, so I gave him a little Italian moped advice about wiring, and he came rolling up to my shop today on it. He says "How big of a cylinder can we put on here?" which was music to my ears. Looks like it's time for a fast Motron!

Passing Time

"What has this guy been doing" you ask? Why, he has been spending 5 minutes per spoke polishing his wheels. There isn't too much to do in Nebraska where I live at the moment. 36 spokes x 5 min per spoke x 2 wheels = way too much time, but the end result is I have a nice set of wheels! I've also learned how to true a wheel decently, and while I had them apart, decided to repack the bearings anyway. My wheels for my current project are nearly finished. Then it's time for the wiring harness, and then, rebuild that engine!
Oh, you know what else takes up time? Cutting the tits off of Michelin Gazelles. Only about 13 minutes per tire. It's all in the details, I guess. I want to win at the car show on July 12th. I think I have a chance, the bike is turning out very well.

The Opie Machine

It's story time. When I bought my first Puch on ebay for $150 buy it now, I called the guy for directions and asked if he had any other mopeds. He said he had a few here and there, so I told him to find them and I would buy them all. I arrived to find my Brown & Gold Magnum MKII. I drove home with 3 peds for $400, and I was very excited about the Magnum. I fixed it, and rode it around quite a bit, but then I was in need of some money, so I sold it to my friend Opie for a small profit (having no idea what a UPS magnum is worth to some people, being I was a moped newbie). After many rides together, and about a year and a half of missing my Magnum, Opie says "hey, my chain came off" so I went to look and he had lost all his rear sprocket bolts, and stripped the threads. So I made my move, and offered to trade him a red XK, fixed up with a go-fast motor and help him paint it, and we traded back, and this is the result of his and my work. Way to go, Opie!