Responsible Jon's Mo-ped-o-rama

The end of 2011 (as far as mopeds go)

2011-11-03T14:08:00.000-07:00

2011 has been an interesting year for mopeds. I left Seattle and my daily moped commuting, and returned to Indiana to find my old friends still wonderful and interesting. The distance has been overcome many times this summer, to Louisville 4 times, Nashville via moped, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Chicago, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Ann Arbor and Detroit, Goshen 3 times and Seattle for a great weekend. The Brat has been my steadfast transport, racking up about 6,000 moped related miles, carrying a personal best of 6 mopeds at once. My long running blog seems to be dying out as it heads toward the inevitable fate of all moped blogs, but the moped adventures keep happening. The forming of the LafaYetis has been great and exciting, and while our Moped Mondays don't really hold a candle to Mosquito Fleet's, a regularly scheduled moped event is always a good idea and gives you a great way to start your week. I've purchased and sold close to two dozen mopeds this year, bringing my career long total to somewhere in the low one hundreds. I acquired two German imported only bikes at separate occasions, and put over 2,800 miles on my Derbi this summer, riding it at every rally. I fixed a moped for my Grandpa with which he promptly rode my Grandma doubles on. My new garage is a great space in which to work year round, and with the prospect of next years rally goings, the Yetis are starry eyed dreaming at the tales I tell of the glory of Awful Hen. Saturday is BombBourbonRun, a great end to rally season and a chance to see everyone one last time until the next last time a few weeks after that, and so forth and so on until before you know it, somehow it's rally season again in California so off we go for another year. The cycle of cycles.

"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter -- tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. ... And one fine morning ---- So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. "

Tomos come in twos

2011-09-08T15:17:00.001-07:00

My grandpa called me the other day and told me a nice long story about how he found two "Tow Mas" mopeds, and that the guy wanted $35 for the pair. I told him to go pick them up, and he said "I think I can get them for $25". I told him I'd take them regardless, and he said "we'll see." Anyway, he dropped them off yesterday at my place and let me know he did get them for $25 like he though. I've got a 94 Sprint, and an A3 whatever blue bike. Both frames and rolling stock are all in good shape. Both motors are stuck, but I've got the A35 taken apart so far without breaking anything. Cylinder and piston look good, no pits or gouges, it was just stuck from rust, which is confusing, because the motor was sealed up nice and tight. At some point it must have got some water in the spark plug hole, but the plug was in and tight. A bit of rust inside, and some under the coils, but once I removed the flywheel the bottom end turns over nice and smooth, which means to bottom end rebuild for this bad boy. The wrist pin was stuck real good in the piston, so I thought about how to make a puller real quick and pulled the pin right out. I used a spark plug socket and two cap screws. If I had one real long cap screw that would have worked easier, but I used two cap screws and a coupler nut. Then I was able to hold one cap screw in place and then tighten the nut on the other side, drawing the cap screw and the wrist pin with it. It worked quite well, so I set the cap screws aside for future use. I should be able to use this to press pins as well, but they usually go in without too much effort.

Misc Pics

2011-09-02T13:55:00.000-07:00

Whisky Business 4

2011-08-15T12:14:00.001-07:00

A much overdue post. The Lafayettis went to Whisky Business 4, and a good time was had by all. 6 of us convoyed, with the Brat leading the way, followed by an ElCamino and a ford ranger. The destination was awesome. A sweet rocky quarry. Swimming in a quarry is awesome, and I didn't die like my mother was worried about, so everyone should try it. I love moped camping, and even though I could have tossed my gear in the SAG wagon, I thought I'd just load it all up. Then on the way home Sunday, I happened to spot a Dodge Rampage. Nate and I quickly drove his Rabbit and my Brat over to the Rampage and took many pictures, as these are possibly the 3 best trucks ever made. This Rampage happened to have a for sale sign in it, so while waiting for the owner to come having called him, I proceeded to test the truck out. Katelyn of the Bropeds had come along and then she was like "I've always wanted an ElCamino, but this is way cooler" and boom, she bought it. What a deal! How exciting. It matches my UPS magnum so nicely, it makes me want to get a Magnum LTD to match my Brat. Looking forwards to GRKZOO rally, and I hope to see you all there!

Lafayette Indiana's got a new moped gang

2011-07-18T18:18:00.000-07:00

Meet Travis, one of the Lafayetis who has finally been converted from those silly tomos mopeds to the simplicity of the Puch E50. He kept bugging me about the black maxi frame in my basement, so I finally let him start to assemble it. He has been coming over and working for a few hours every couple days for the last week or two.

After a bit of guidance from me, some hard work, a bit of time, a lot of looking at his phone and staring off into space, he has finally rolled this bike out of the basement. A clean bike is all about cable management. It's got new bearings and seals on the stock crank, with a good #2 Aluminum cylinder & 14mm bing with a Jammy pipe.
The plan is to mill the head later and lighten the clutch a bit, but for now the idea is to just ride the bike around and enjoy it. Perhaps now he can finish a ride, or spend some real time trying to fix one of those Tomos mopeds that he has.

Chicago & Flat Tires

2011-07-12T11:22:00.000-07:00

Chicago rally was this weekend, and I hate to say it, but if you were not in attendance, than you missed out. The HNR compound is perhaps the coolest clubhouse I've ever seen. It really does feel like a castle, with a courtyard and parapet wall. Garage space located away from living space, secret and secure alley access and more secret rooms than you can shake a stick at. I had a rally break down of sorts. P@ and I were riding doubles on the Derbi and suddenly I heard the tube pop and felt the tire get loose. So I pulled it over, to discover the cause. A 2 inch self tapping screw decided to stand right up as I ran it over and punctured my 2.5" Shinko knobbies, the tube, AND THE RIM! The tire was nailed to the rim! I had to hammer the bolt out. If you have to get a flat tire, I suppose this is the way to get it. The screw missed both spokes perfectly, centered in the rim, thankfully, so it is still useable.

Twomos

2011-06-21T14:26:00.000-07:00

I went from 0 to 2 Tomos in 3 days. My wife dragged the silver one home on Friday after I had left for the rally in Indy. This gave me a good chuckle, as who else is fortunate enough to have a spouse who not only understands my addiction but actually feeds it. The A35 Targa I picked up today after work, missing a back tire, brake lever and exhaust after the header. It runs quite well though. They came from two different sellers, but I'm guessing I should write a letter to Tomos telling them that the front fender of their Tomos mopeds are too difficult to install correctly, as the front fenders of each of these mopeds were on backwards. lolWhy were they off in the first place? How hard is it to remember which way it goes? Does this tiger sticker provide any magic?

Michigan Moped Racing League

2011-06-08T12:12:00.000-07:00

Well, this Sunday was supposed to be the first race, but it would appear that the events at the Jackson track have been canceled by the organizers, which was 3/4 of our race season. So while we are still welcome to come out and race on the other track dates at Palmyra and East Lansing, there won't be any racing in Jackson. Bummer :(

Blanco & Free Spirit

2011-05-21T19:29:00.000-07:00

Got a V1 Gloria Intermotor Blanco. It is the "ciao"ist looking v1 powered moped I've ever seen. I also picked up a very mint red free spirit. I like auctions, sometimes you can find deals, and I didn't strike out today.

Reunited and it feels so good.

2011-05-08T18:22:00.000-07:00

As you may recall, long time blog readers, I had a wonderful AD a while back in Seattle, and it ran so well that I sold it. At that point, I was moped cursed, and all my personal mopeds and even mopeds I borrowed broke. I realized that if I ever had a chance at another AD, I should take it, what ever the cost. One was discovered here in Lafayette and I traded two mopeds for it, a deal I would make again. It is 98% complete. Sadly, it is missing the kickstand, but I suppose I could make something work. It's a gem, and I won't let it go. Future upgrades include cylinder porting, circuit pipe, perhaps an upgraded carb, and certainly many many miles.

Cables & Wires

2011-04-26T13:41:00.000-07:00

On the new BFW moped coming up, I decided to simplify the wiring. It still has a horn, brake ligh, speedometer light and a kill switch, but it is much cleaner and all accomplished with one beautiful CEV switch. New cables look good, and if you spend a few minutes routing them correctly, they can look quite nice. To hide the wires for the switch, I drilled a hole in the handle bars and ran the wires down and out into the top plate of the forks. First time trying that, I think it really keeps the bars nice and clean while preserving all the function of a good switch.
I should be pulling this beauty out of the basement this weekend for its first road test to Sno Castle, the finest Sno Cones in all of Indiana. Yee haw.

Well there's your problem right there

2011-04-20T17:18:00.000-07:00

It's always nice when the problem presents itself in a very obvious fashion. Take for instance, this bearing, the cause of the nasty crunching sounds and refusal to turn over smoothly. A wirebrush to the crank to clean off the gunk, a new set of bearings and fresh seals make this bike pop to life. I love the feel of kicking over a bike with new seals, it just wants to run so badly you can feel it in the pedals.

New Moped Hauler

2011-04-19T13:22:00.001-07:00

"Custom-made truck for delivering mopeds to Flandria dealers. Probably made for the world-expo Brussels in 1958."

Do you ever look at all the wonderful things that were made in the glorious years of the middle century, and then ponder "what ever happened to that?" Is this still in operable condition? Sitting in a warehouse somewhere, forgotten? Disassembled for scrap? Used as a bus in some weird poor country?

Recumbent Magnum w/ Harley style ride

2011-04-18T09:40:00.000-07:00

I'd like to get this fabricator together with the Chopper guy and see what happens.

Garelli Rally SL

2011-04-13T10:19:00.000-07:00

I do love white wall tires. I would be lying to saymy motivation to acquire more Italian bikes didn't revolve around how good they look shod in 16" Sava whitewalls. On a side note, I live in Lafayette, home of Purdue University, and arch rival of Indiana University, who's colors are Crimson and Cream. I think I'm going to get hassled more than usual riding this around. I should also mention, having learned the proper method from Nate Bandit, I've successfully installed my first set of tires using only my hands. Savas were pretty easy, I'm sure I'll get a chance at some tougher ones.

Tohomos

2011-04-10T18:09:00.000-07:00

I picked up this little beauty last night, a wonderful little Tomos A3. In very good shape except for that it doesn't work. Previous owner said "I can build a V8, but this thing got past me." Well, after a quick inspection revealed no spark, no spark revealed oily points, which indicates bad seal. Just how bad? Watch this video.

Quite comical, if you spin the motor fast enough it sounds like the Absent Minded Professor's flying car. Too bad you can't make the bike work and keep that sound. At any rate, I'm going to order some new seals, a set of white walls, and call it a day!

The Good Life - Gangles

2011-04-08T11:34:00.001-07:00

Why don't you have a seat?

2011-04-06T16:02:00.000-07:00

One of the things that attracted me to mopeds is the fact that you can do almost everything yourself. I have rebuilt engines, polished chrome, stripped paint and powder coated. I have ported, milled, bored, fastened and loc-tited. I have torqued, I've welded, fabricated, ruined and created. It doesn't matter if you have ever done anything before. Read a bit about it, then give it a shot. At the end of the day, it's only a moped and has no large dollar value attached. Recovering seats is one of the things I take joy in. I'm getting better every time I try it. Just a cheap sewing machine, some remnant vinyl from the fabric store, and you are making your bike all yours. I did this one for Megan Bandit's LEM, I'll be making another one soon for my BFW's new moped.

Sometimes you try out an idea and it doesn't work, and sometimes it looks good. Either way, you did it and learned something. Go Mopeds!

Louisville to Nashville

2011-04-04T09:02:00.000-07:00

It was a sweet ride, just a smidge on the cold side the day we left, but the weekend was excellent, and 160 of the 200 miles were just plain awesome one lane black top through the hill country. We had about 40 miles of boring and annoying 55mph two lane highway, but other than a run in with a very polite Sheriff, it was uneventful. Especially for Shawn Bandit, who attempted to go with us, but didn't quite make it across Louisville to Nate's house before destroying his moped.

First stop, Lousiville

2011-03-31T06:24:00.000-07:00

Getting ready to leave for KY, where I will unload this big old monster and give it a real road test down to Nashville. The saddle bags and packing seems pretty good just around town, but nothing ever goes wrong until the road test anyway. These pictures are just for show, I've stripped the gear off for the road trip in the Brat, I'm sure it's good for 40mph, no reason to test it at 70. Have fun in LA all my west coast friends, and stop while you are dancing in a warehouse, and think of me, also dancing in a warehouse 2000 miles away, only more squarely.

New mopeds

2011-03-22T17:22:00.001-07:00

Got this one today. Gems from the conversation include "When I saw JCPenny made a moped I didn't believe it, but it says right there, made in Australia." Apparently JCPenny and the land down under are a logical connection. "I've got another moped , the only one that was actually made by Harley Davidson." This was in reference to a $300 pep boys mini-bike with a plastic V-twin where the real motor would be and a Harley sticker on the front fender. This wonderful bike is of course, is a combination of those chopper bicycles, a Pinto, a second bicycle, galvanized conduit and plenty of diamond plate. "I didn't want to weld it together so I made it just bolt together."

Zoom in and enjoy the awesome chain tensioner for the drive train, and check out the front fork used to make a triangle in the rear.

This is your piston

2011-03-17T11:48:00.000-07:00

This is your piston run with poor quality oil for a long time, then run with no oil for about 2 miles.
Dummy. But since it is an old honda express, there is no reason to buy new parts for it. Let's just clean up the cylinder, remove the carbon, sand this bad boy down and run it!

Derbi goes for an adventure

2011-03-11T14:52:00.001-08:00

I've been itching to go off road recently since I got these new wonderful tires. Shinko Goldenboys knobby style. It was mid 40s today with sun, so I decided to go exploring. Riding down any road that starts with "old" is always a great idea. What once was a main drag has now been replaced with a more efficient 4 lane road just a short distance away, that routes traffic away from all the stopping and turning. Now this wonderful "old" main road is a mopeds paradise. Sometimes you will discover fun winding roads, with ups and downs, perhaps a bridge that is now closed to traffic, but you can still sneak your moped across anyway. I found this awesome mountain bike trail down by the river, and it was just too tempting, so I got off the road and went for it. These tires handle great in the lose sand and mud, although I could just a little tighter clutch springs as you need more down low power to really rip around on the trails. The moguls are the best part. Unlike supercross moguls which you just bounce around on, these were made to go up and down and up and down gently, which is loads of fun. I even took a jump, which was pretty mild, but it is always fun to get the ped into the air. I then poked around and found a road covered in water because of the flooding due to winter melting away. The only hiccup I had today was running out of fuel. Which I luckily discovered on a large up hill, because a Derbi's tank is behind the carb. So once I pushed to the top, I put it on reserve and drove a conservative 20mph most of the way back into town before I completely ran out of fuel. A nice afternoon for a mo-push as well, and once to the gas station, a spirited ride home.

Sweet Baby James

2011-03-09T13:23:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the world, sweet baby james. Your new owner might re-name you, but for now, you know who you are. I tried striping this like the original Newport, but I have the hands of Michael J Fox, so that didn't work out. Perhaps I could do it with tape, but I can't really pull good tape lines either. Oh well. It is quite blue. You should have seen it before all the black and chrome went back on. For now it will sit in my basement and wait a few more weeks for some friends to come visit and help me carry it and hopefully 3 more out. I'm starting on the teal one today. Kind of less exciting to put them together when you are just going to look at them instead of ride.

Saddle Bags part Deux

2011-03-07T09:40:00.000-08:00

Last post I had sewed up some saddle bags. This post, I show the finished product. I took a little bit of left over plywood paneling, made a shell for the cover, stretched it over, drilled some holes, mounted some j hooks and a spring, and now I've got a sweet custom made saddle bag that fits excellent on the Derbi and just doesn't want to fall off. With the sissy bar on back, I'm about ready for my trip to Nashville. I need to finish up the other side with the mounts, but just imagine something very similar but on the other side. I'm quite pleased with myself and how these turned out. They cost about $8 to make, and a few hours worth of time. Much better than ammo cans. Ugh.

Saddle Bags & The moped culture of Lafayette

2011-03-05T12:22:00.001-08:00

I met up with a few local riders this Thursday night. We were supposed to go for a moped ride, but as many moped rides turn out, it became a fit it party instead. In the light of an apartment parking lot, we watched as two guys tried to repair a tomos that had been converted from pedal start to kick start. "Think this washer is important?" "Nah, but we probably should put in a gasket." The evening ended with the starting of the moped and a cacophony of destruction from the bottom end. "Do you think that washer was important?" So no real riding to be had, although my Derbi preformed admirably on the way there and back. I do love the knobby tires, which you can just see peeking in the bottom right of the picture. More successful rides will occur I believe at a later point in the year. The overwhelmingly Tomos supply of mopeds from a mysterious character shall soon be rectified with Responsible Jon's DeLuxe Moped sales now a legitimate garage business of Lafayette Indiana.

In other news, I began to prepare for my road trip in a few weeks to Nashville, and thought I should get around to making some saddle bags for the Derbi. I got some remnant marine grade vinyl at the fabric store for 50% off, made some quick measurements, cuts and ran it all through my sewing machine. It turned out pretty good. The next one will be better, as I'll remember to hem the edges before it all goes together, making it eaiser, but it is going to work pretty well. I still need to make the frame for the inside to stiffen it up, but I think that shouldn't be too hard either. I also made square corners on this one, I think the next one will have rounded corners, it might help ease things up a bit. Over all, pretty pleased. Nicely fitting moped saddle bags are something that are hard to come by and I think under appreciated. Perhaps I'll make a few and try to sell them. I imagine if they came ready to drop in and go, they would sell pretty easily.

I made an order with 1977 Mopeds 2 days ago and it arrived today. Living in the midwest is much better for receiving packages quickly! I got the caliper and master cylinder disc brake set up to put on my race bike, as rumor has it a new Thunderdrome series is going to start up in April and I want to be ready to race. The caliper looks very heavy duty, and even has the sweet little "abs" module that helps keep from locking the disc. I strongly recommend this unit for your disc conversions! Pair it with those sweet hydraulic forks or the incredibly cheap and awesome general forks if your are real cheap, toss on a CR80 17" disc brake wheel easily had from ebay for cheap, and your moped is another league of comfort and safety.

Maxi frames back from powder

2011-03-02T13:09:00.000-08:00

Amish Ernie never fails to impress. These frames came out primo. There are a few flaws here and there, but having been in the powder coating business, I would say my eye is probably more attune than the lay-persons. The flaws are almost all in spots that won't be seen when assembled. I might complain if I had forked over big stacks of cash, but boy oh boy can you get a good deal if you do a few frames at once. I'm very excited to put these 4 frames back together. It's kind of interesting to try and build 4 "identical" bikes at the same time without them all looking the same except for the color. My goal is to have 4 very different looking and styled bikes. We will see how it turns out. The weather is turning nice again! Get ready for a busy summer of mopeds!

Puch Literature

2011-02-22T10:15:00.000-08:00

Since old Ako got around to scanning some of his stuff, I thought I'd at least take some pictures of some of the stuff I have. Here is a Puch brochure featuring the AD.

If Puch was still available in the US, I'd have at least two new Maxis. One to ride and one to time capsule. I've thought it would be fun to take a restored moped, seal it up, and bury it, and then give a map to an enthusiast in 50 years and let them dig one up.

Motion Left, GR, TBS, MF, Guns & Bandits

2011-02-21T08:10:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was certainly fun. Andrea and I took a ride in the Bratmobile over to Goshen. It's about a 120 mile drive through the countryside of Indiana. Goshen is the nicest little town to ever be taken over by a moped gang. It is also a geographical oddity, because you sure as heck cant get there via any interstate. I hope you like little towns and Amish buggies because you will be slowing down for them frequently. Fortunately, I like both. Devin decided to have a get together at his shop and honored me by hosting the party in my honor. A mini-rally it could be called, with only one moped ride, where only 3 people participated. We mostly just spent Saturday in the shop, playing ping pong, excite bike, dancing, yelling, laughing, drinking and fixing mopeds or porting engines. In this photo, you can see Gangles diligently adapting his Polini for a Dio intake, and Bengry porting his fingernails. It was great fun. We also enjoyed the fair weather and after Wads and I mastered the tall bike, we tried to double team the super tall bike, with limited success. Those nice guys from Motion Left (and friends) made me a banner. It has been pointed out that my name shouldn't have an H, but most people spell my real name wrong as well, so I'm used to it. The pictures are slightly doctored ones of me doing responsible things. I've never had a banner made of me before, I'll try to not let it go to my head. I also spent the weekend trying to hard sell Gangles into buying a Subaru Brat. I've got a line on 3 sweet little rigs all together in one place and we are dreaming up a Brat run involving a 4 Brat convoy down the highway on the way home. The dancing is always fun at Motion Left, but sadly our party was not the most happening thing on the block, as a Quinceanera at the Wagon Wheel Event center next door was PACKED and BUMPING. In table tennis, I learned that it's hard to put a shot over the end of the table against a man with 3 foot long arms, but then again, I was playing Gabe left handed. I did manage to beat Devin several times this weekend, and there is a certain curve which I have plotted here that shows one's skill in table tennis compared to the number of drinks they have had. I'm not sure at which times on the chart I was winning my matches, so it's hard to say who is better. I'll just be sure to play with both eyes open next time and we will find out who is the best.

This is my perspective on the weekend. For a different view, please read Gabe's blog.

Hawaii Mike

2011-02-11T07:22:00.000-08:00

As you may recall, when I was in Oahu this fall, I saw a guy riding a maxi, so naturally, I chased him down and followed him home. This is the best way to make friends, because then you already know where they live. Make sure to remind them of this when you greet them. His name was Mike, and he just sent me some pictures of his newest build. He says

"Here are some pictures of the ridgid i am building. I just got a nice rear fender and am waiting on a seat i ordered so i can powdercoat the seat pan and fender then get the seat reupholstered. I just got those spokes and cleaned them up the cool part is that the date on the rims and the date on my frame match thay are both 12/77. Thats a stock repro pipe but i have a nos magnum pipe that i would really like to run on it but i dont have a stock magnum j-pipe."
The people of the island love to sit on the beach and polish everything. Spokes, hardware, cases, everything. I guess if I could sit on the beach all day, I might as well polish something.

The Hawaiians have always had their own moped style. Perhaps its the isolation of the island, or just the endless moped weather, but they have always made sweet bikes.

In Hawaii, you put a bicycle seat on your moped, and take the pedals off. It has always fascinated me how moped customization varies based on location. You can look at a moped and say "That looks super Euro" and people understand what you mean. The variety of bikes popular in certain regions of the US are also entertaining. No one in Texas has ever seen a Sachs. Iowa must have had a law requiring 1 Honda Express for every registered voter. Mopeds could be a fascinating case study for a sociology grad student who liked mopeds and wanted to write a paper on them. For me, they will just keep me awake, dreaming about them, or blasting without a care through the world of the night.

Nashville TN: Deadpeds

2011-02-08T07:30:00.000-08:00

Snow Pedding 2011 from Josh Duensing on Vimeo.

Long time blog readers might recall a night last winter or two ago when MF was visited by a Deadped, who rode along with us on the AD and managed to ride safely all night until he attempted to start it to go home. All that fun aside, the Deadpeds are hosting their 2nd rally, and it happens to be the same weekend as another event on the west coast. Since I've relocated, I'll be attending this rally, representing the MF and perhaps crashing a loaner as retribution. JKJK. Lose plans in the works to ride form Lousiville KY to Nashville. Looks like an excellent time, just don't bring a 1 speed bike! I'll be getting the Derbi re-shod with some good knobby tires for Hazard county roads and I am anticipating warm weather again. The forcast for this weekend even calls for high 30s! Huzza!

This is what it's like to ride a moped

2011-02-01T18:48:00.000-08:00

Come on. Live a little.

Let's ride mopeds recklessly!

2011-01-30T16:07:00.000-08:00

Derbi TT and the Arrow Pipe

2011-01-25T11:01:00.000-08:00

I got a nice little pipe from 1977 the other day, it's for my Derbi, as the title implies. It looks very similar to an Estoril because of the silencer, but that is about as far as I would compare them. This pipe, was of course, built for some newer Derbi, perhaps one where the swing arm pivots with the motor, as the rear bracket was at the very back, and had nothing to attach to. Also, the stud holes on the pipe had to be narrowed a smidge to fit the factory spacing of the stock cylinder. I had to go purchase a new dremel, because my old one was lost in the move apparently. Once I had the cut off wheels, I removed the factory welds, and put the bracket on the top of the pipe right near the stock hanger location, and it worked out quite well. A quick trip to Indiana Oxygen for some Argon/CO2, and my little pop box was back at it. The pipe feels solidly mounted, and with a 12:12 SHA, lightened vario weights and increased travel on the vario itself, the bike does nearly 40. It's too cold to get a real GPS reading, but I would venture it does a real 37mph at least. I'd like to put on a larger carb, so we will see what comes of that, I'm pretty happy with it at the moment. Knobby tires are great for the snow as well.

Also, here is a picture of a van in my neighborhood.
In case you can't read, it says "Juggabago". I wonder what an all Juggalo moped gang would be like?

Rural King

2011-01-18T18:06:00.001-08:00

My new favorite store here in Lafayette is called Rural King. It's the largest farm supply store I've ever been in. Farm supply stores have more in common with mopeds than most auto parts stores in my opinion. To begin with, there is always free popcorn to eat while you browse. Help your self. But don't let yourself into the cabinet below, as it is clearly labeled "Employee's only". Whatever is in there must be rare, it's the employee's only one. You can buy Grade 8 metric hardware from a bin by the pound. Yeah, by the pound. Since they are grade 8, they are also dyed red.

Pretty much any belt you could want.

A whole row of little mini-bikes. They retail for $350 I think.
They also carry every brand of oil that most mopeds call for. SAE 30w non-detergent, Type F. The also have 6v bulbs and the real cool penetrating oils that aren't found at auto parts stores.

If you ever come to visit, we are going to Rural King.

In more directly moped related news, I pulled a few Maxis into the basement and I'm disassembling them. I'm going to be rebuilding and powder coating them for sale this spring. I'm going to do 4 or 5 all together, I haven't decided which. I really enjoy disassembling these things. Putting them back together is even more fun once they are all pretty and new. New hardware, new cables, new tires, steel wool shined up chrome and polished clutch covers, new grips, just everything wonderfully new and carefully and cleanly installed together. My goal is to build 4 or 5 bikes that look nothing alike. Kind of tough, when they all start out as the exact same. We will see how it goes. Oh, plus I finally bought a moped with Cateye signals. They are complete, I just need to replace the battery. Not sure what bike I'll put them on.

K.S. Barnes

2011-01-16T20:42:00.001-08:00

Built in 1981 with help from Morgan's Mopeds ,Grand Rapids,MI This GN frame has cross brace support for early Cafe style seat.DeLorto 19MM carb on custom manifold using Methanol and Castor oil,modified 50cc cylinder w/cut piston,Mototech ignition,milled head,custom clutch shoes w/Hartman linings,custom adjustable "Blimp pipe" for higher RPM's (13,500) Digitron Tach/Temp gauge and 16 to 39 gear ratio. Runs around 60 MPH with this gearing.We built a lot of fast peds back in "the day". We had to make all our own speed parts 25 years ago.

Another Bratload: PLUS WIN MONEY!

2011-01-14T05:30:00.000-08:00

I picked 4 more bikes the other day, and these are in a bit worse running shape than the lasts load. At one point, all but one of these bikes belonged to me, and were sold off to college friends. At a point after I had left, the magic ran out of the mopeds and they stopped working. A friend of mine made it his job to go around and try to collect as many of these phil-powered mopeds as possible. I went and snagged them from him and will be attempting to put them back on the road, although several of them are missing vital components, and one is pretty well stripped down to not much, so it won't be just carb cleaning and new tires for these peds. Also, there is a contest associatedI will pay-pal $1 to the first person who correctly names (via comment) all 4 bikes pictured in the Brat. Good luck!

LOLOLOL @ Lance Campeau

2011-01-07T07:55:00.000-08:00

I was looking for a parts diagram of a Tomos A35 Kickstart motor over at tomosmopeds.org and found this hilarious gem as a sticky in the general forum. I will shoot myself in the face if Moped Army 2.0 looks anything like that UBB forum. Uuuuuuugh. It's like bizzaro moped army over there. Anyway, read this, and laugh at LC and people who just don't get mopeds.

Call me alarmist if you like but If you plan to increase the performance of your moped using a "Big Bore" kit, you need to consider the following...

-A larger displacement changes your motorbike classification. (From a moped to a motorcycle)
-If you fail to report this to the DMV and your insurance company, your insurance will become NULL AND VOID in the case of an accident causing injury or death.

*This means you will NOT be financially covered for medical expenses if you sustain a serious injury from crashing your moped.*

Here is a scenario of just how serious this could be...

It's a fine afternoon and you decide to put your new 80cc Metra kit to the test by hitting the throttle and blasting away down your street. After a few hundred yards your speed hits a whopping 47 MPH. At that moment, a boy steps out into the street without caution for danger. You see him but it's too late.... Thump... you fly off the bike. Your protective clothing allows you survive with non life threatening injuries. As you limp back to the scene, waiting for the police and ambulances to arrive, you see that your excessive speed has killed the small child who was only 6 years old.

You go into shock as the police arrive. After medical treatment, the police start asking questions (they already have statements from witnesses on the scene). The police officers are interested in your moped because, according to witnesses, you seemed to be going excessive fast for a motorbike that is only
supposed to have a standard displacement of 50cc. The bike has already been taken for evidence; it's now a criminal investigation.

It is already clear to the police that your bike has been modified. After a few days, you recover from your cuts and bruises only to find out that the police mechanic has uncovered the truth about your engine modifications. The insurance company is also interested in the police report. After looking over the evidence, your insurance provider denies your claim for any coverage. Their reason is simple...

-you signed a contract.
-When you illegally modified your engine, you broke the original contract.
-you then failed to update your policy to reflect the changes you made to your engine.
-because of these factors, your coverage is justifiably denied.

Your lack of judgment has just opened you up to a large civil suit not to mention that you have also taken a young life in the process.

Not smart....

So, with that information in mind... My ped project got started on the right track....

At this point Lance goes on to describe in painstaking detail how he increased his performance and speed with modified stock parts, WHICH ALSO MAKES HIS MOPED A MOTORCYCLE LEGALLY BY INCREASING HP AND MAKING IT GO FASTER THAN 30MPH, BUT AMAZINGLY HE HASN'T RUN OVER A 6 YEAR OLD CHILD YET. I can't wait for the video version of this.

Kalamazoo & QK

2011-01-04T18:46:00.000-08:00

I went up to Kalamazoo today and stopped in to visit Chad Burke of Mopeds @ Quarter Kick. Chad kept drooling on the BRAT and tried to pay me big money to put a giant sized QK decal on the hood, but I declined, even though I admit it would look pretty good. In the BRAT you can see my Puch Maxi and a TX50 Tomos AKA lil' tom. Trading $40 and a stereo amplifier for the two I feel like I got a pretty good deal on my way up to Kzoo. I had lunch with Dan Kastner and talked about moped shops. Hanging out at QK, I got to look at pretty much every rare moped in America. Including my new favorite, this 3 speed wonder-mobile. Best feature? It has a cable operated ringing bell, the trigger is right under the throttle. It's awesome.

Chad also showed me something he was working on, it's a little flange he had made up that welds into any Vespa pipe, and then miraculously, it is exactly a Hobbit pipe, even bolting up to the hole in the subframe for rear support. Then he talked about how Hobbit was a clone of Vespa with a better engine. The frames, the way the tanks mount, gas filler necks on the tank, identical. Vespa went square, Honda went round. Fun little tidbit. The moped shed is getting quite full now. Time for some warm weather to unleash some of these beauties.

Fantic Motor Concord

2011-01-01T17:13:00.000-08:00

Of my new recent moped additions, I've really enjoyed the Fantic Motor Concord Invader. It might make its way onto my keep list, we will find out. If it had a killer set of mag wheels, I think it would have to stay. Everyone likes Puch mopeds because they are like a blank slate, just waiting for customization. In my opinion, most Minarelli powered bikes are about as perfect as they come. Bianchi , Motron, Concord, Milani bikes are all pretty awesome.
Concord was starting to make some really awesome mopeds, it's such a shame that America refused mopeds after the 80's. Although it would be better for business if mopeds were widely accepted, it would remove some of the joy of discovering forgotten and neglected machines.

I just got a Brat-load of mopeds!

2010-12-28T09:54:00.000-08:00

Leaving behind Seattle and the Mosquito Fleet for the snowy agoraphobia of Indiana will not end my love affair with mopeds. It will evolve into something more suitable for the midwest. In Seattle, bikes are expensive, so you tend to take good care of the ones you have and make them fast and stylish, as they are usually the fastest and easiest form of transportation available to you. In the midwest, bikes require more effort to go find, as you end up driving 7 towns over to your friends cousins house who used to have one of those. However, the reward is usually a very cheap almost runner. Part of the joy of mopeds is sharing it with others, and thus, I need to stock up on bikes to spread around into Lafayette. So I've begun "importing". It's a process I used in Anderson to get my old gang together. The Creatures did it. You just get a butt-load (butt-load is equivalent to about 4 brat-loads, or 8 baby-butt loads) of mopeds, and then ride yours around, and when people ask to buy them, you can say "sure, I've got plenty." A good cleaning, some new tires and light bulbs, and you have a very presentable moped for a reasonable cost to sell someone. So I've got my shed filled with 9 mopeds at the moment, a ttxl in the basement, and I'm getting ready to start preparing these bikes for sale. Most of them already run. The trick is to make them work as good as new. They need to not leak, idle, run smooth, stop well and look clean. No busted switches (remove them!) no ripped seats (recover!) and rusted chrome parts replaced with good spares. I went to Ohio last night and got 4 mopeds from a guy. All run, I got an 85 Grey Maxi (now I have two! twinsies!) and 80 Red Newport 2 speed (with side covers!) a Yellow Moby 40t with the sweet brown decals, and my favorite as always, a moped I've never owned, a Fantic Motor Concord Invader! With a V1 and loads of style, this bike is excellent. The front air dam and head light are the look Hobbit's really were trying to capture. The side covers boldly proclaim in gold "INVADER" and the wonderful toolkit sits in its bright yellow cloth pouch labeled "Fantic Motor", hiding away securely under the seat. The built in switches on the Domino controls need some attention, but I really dig their style, so I'm going to try and save them.

All that being said, here is a little shot of my garage, and I hope to see my midwest friends at a welcome home party with a to-be-decided date, perhaps in Grand Rapids, most likely in January.

Moped Racing

2010-12-22T05:38:00.001-08:00

This video makes me miss being on the track already. It almost seems like another world where they would race those beautiful 50cc bikes. @ 7:34 seconds is perhaps some of the most graceful slow motion film of racing I've ever seen, it's mesmerizing. Someone please get a race league organized for the midwest!

Moped Nebraska

2010-11-30T08:16:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving ended up with BFW and myself in Nebraska visiting my parents. I was able to take some time and fire up my Derbi score from last year and the 50v. I had run both of them with the petcock closed to use all the fuel in the carb, and with a bit of fresh gas, both fired to life effortlessly. I replaced the fuel line on the Derbi and removed the intake restriction, and we took the bikes to Lincoln to go for a ride with some riders from there. It was a pretty nice day for the end of November, and we had a nice ride. Linda the Wiki goddess came up from Kansas even. We rode around, and I decided Lincoln would be a pretty good moped city. Free use in the state of Nebraska as long as you have pedals, and plenty of side streets and places to go via moped. You can even ride year round if you have a Carhartt tuxedo.
I popped the variator off the Derbi and brought it back to Seattle with me to optimize travel. You can see the washer on the right and the nub on the cheek to the left. The washer comes off and then the cheek nub filed down, means more travel. The Wizard is going to turn me some Delrin weights, and then I'll tap them to take set screws which allow you to adjust the weight for your setup. I've got a Ninja G3 pipe that I think I'll try to fit up onto the stock PP derbi cylinder.

There is also whispers of moped racing in Grand Rapids this year, which I would be very excited about, since I don't have too many other places to wear my leather suit.

Welcome HNR

2010-11-29T01:20:00.001-08:00

MopedHQ is moving!

2010-11-11T13:47:00.000-08:00

I offer no apologies for the lack of updates recently! How's that for a change? Want some more change? Myself and my BFW are moving to Indiana. What? When? Where? That's right, you couldn't expect me to live the rest of my life in one place! We will be moving in the month of December, to somewhere in the Lafayette area. It's centrally located to all the action in the midwest, with most rallies 3 hours away. It's an ambivalent move for me. I'm excited to see all my Midwestern friends more frequently, but that means leaving behind my Mosquito Fleet family. :(
The most exciting part is perhaps that I'll once again begin my own moped club. I'm going to start recruiting from the Moped Owners directory, where at least 1/3 of the profiles haven't been logged on since 2006, and most of them have pictures of these "mopeds"
Seriously, check it out, these look like they might be some interesting people. Talking about grand kids and DUI and fun things. With that in mind, I'll being posting more as my moped shenanigans begin to happen once more in Indiana, that great free moped state, home of the Ricker's pop and corn syrup.

Milwaukee: YES

2010-11-03T08:36:00.000-07:00

Makers of fine Tools, a city of Industry and Suds, home of the perpetually wonderful Cream City Cranks, perhaps the best use of alliteration of any prospective Moped Army branch, how could anyone say no to Milwaukee? Located just two hours north of Chicago, Milwaukee makes for an excellent city for Midwest rallies. Availible via ferry from Michigan, it makes for some awesome ride opportunities.

Yes, their rally shirts suck, but don't hold it against them.

These are solid guys. 11 members, the perfect number. Not a giant sprawl of anyone with a moped to make their gang look bigger than it is. 11 solid dudes. Vote Yes for the Cranks if you have the ability, you won't regret it. See you at your rally this year, in or not, Cranks!

Hot dang! Edited!

2010-10-26T08:48:00.000-07:00

So I went to Hawaii and guess who's house I found?

October has nearly got behind me. Here is what's been happening! First of all, I bought a Brat. Check out my new blog at http://bratitude.blogspot.com to enjoy those offerings and to keep the MopedHQ about mopeds.

Secondly, Pacific North West Moped Racing season has come to an end. Thanks to the 6 or so guys who consistently showed up, and thanks to the 5 or 6 more who always said they would come and did occasionally. Mike Naz finished first in season points, and thus since we were the only racing league to complete the season, he has been unanimously declared the Number 1 Moped Racer in the USA. Travis Knarpsworth was this seasons most winning rider, with 3 1st place victories and several last place "blued up / crashed" in first place moment. Watch for a heated battle for first next year as Travis attempts to learn how to keep his moped rubber side down. Big thanks to Mike Rafter for showing up to race this year. The rest of California really missed out, we have some awesome tracks and fun racing.

Immediately following the races, I took off for Hawaii and was there for a few days, one of which included renting a scooter and riding the island. I took some video of which I will upload later, some is cool to watch, most is not. This is what an officer of the Mosquito Fleet in the Moped Army looks like. Keep that in mind, prospective branches.

Undoing mistakes

2010-10-11T15:47:00.000-07:00

To correct the race bike after last races big wheelie, I went a head and dropped some bank on a nice set of hydraulic forks. By nice, I mean, the cheapest I could find. I got these from 1977 Mopeds, and boy, they sure don't seem cheap. Super heavy duty, excellent finish, a quality fork especially for the price. The casting looks almost identical to the magnum springer EBR's. They pretty much bolt right on to a hobbit using stock hardware, just adds about 2 inches to the front end height though. I'll be adapting these for disk brake use, thanks to West Seattle for the use of his wheel and caliper for the weekend.
I've got them mounted, but I haven't had time to snap a picture.

Here is Naz using the bicycle stand to fix the electrical on Gorilla's Peugeot. Works great to hold the bike while you spin the motor on a bike with no kick stand. Little known fact, Naz doesn't actually touch the bikes physically when he works on them.

Subaru Justy

2010-10-08T08:49:00.001-07:00

In my recent obsession with Subaru of the 80's, I've discovered a wonderful car I never knew I needed. A Subaru Justy. 3cyl economy car boasting 40+mpg, and 4wd. Also available with an eCVT. Thats right, a car with a CVT, only this one is electronically controlled. Look at that beautiful yellow little cube, how could you not want that car? Is there any reason they don't make awesome cars like this now? Or am I just unaware of them? At any rate, I guess I'm glad these awesome cars I want were made in the 80's, because that puts them squarely in my price range.

Subaru Brat

2010-10-04T11:03:00.000-07:00

The object of my most recent obsession has been the Subaru Brat. Never heard of it? It's a Japanese 4x4 El Camino with T-tops and backwards facing jump seats. They get around 30mpg, and have the wonderful Subaru pancake motor that runs for ever. The only real enemy of the Brat is rust problems. Shift on the fly 4wd, with some models having high/low range. A majority of the 82-87 models have "Fun Tops", or awesome windows that pop off or open up gull wing style. A majority of them also came with 4 or 5 speed manual transmissions. The rare "Turbo" model had a 3 speed automatic transmission, but who wants an Auto Trans? One of these sweet little rigs will be mine some day, as I'm on the active search for a rust free example to live and drive on into the 21st century. The Black and Gold model has to be the best color scheme. Perhaps someday I'll repaint mine to match. I would like to get a sliding rear window and camper top, so that I can take 4 people to a cross country moped rally pulling a little trailer of bikes, and enclosing my passengers in the bed in comfort and with enough room to lay down and nap! I haven't been as obsessed with anything like this for a while, I'll be happy to give you a ride once I get one!

Victory Explosion

2010-09-21T09:36:00.001-07:00

I'm not very good at this because I don't win ever. October race is in about a month, and it will be grand. I've been informed by the events coordinators that they have reserved good weather for us and mechanical failure of bikes has been insured against, so feel free to come out and race with your jankity street bike.

Ipone

2010-09-15T11:29:00.000-07:00

Mac Track #3 and Blowed up stuff

2010-09-13T12:52:00.000-07:00

This weekend was quite a good time. IanT aka Dr. Doom is back in the colonies from Manchester. Since there was a race this weekend, I prompted him to dust off one of his many mopeds he had scattered to the wind when he left and come race. He did, and he earned 2nd place for himself. Not bad for his first time on the track. I'm constantly impressed by the speed that can be coaxed from 50cc of french power. It is unbelievable. To watch something with 39% more displacement get blasted by a high revving little french bike is mind blowing. Here are the two of us partying. I'm on top of Eric's house, Ian is looking at the ground, and it appears that travis' shadow is watching us.

3rd place went to me on account of the tracking beating up Gorilla and Lady Gorilla, Travis spending too much time watching the super motos, Naz inability to make the race, Jessee's pipe falling off and that's about it. If Joe would have showed up, I would have beat him too. I couldn't lose, since I found a $20 in the parking lot on the morning of the race. I knew I would podium, although I was hoping from pure finesse and not the misfortune of my friends.

ALSO - I am an idiot and did a huge wheelie on my bike practice day, accidentally. Then I proceded to smash the front end, taco the wheel, rebound, eject the wheel, then land on the forks. Thanks to Nate from Portland who loaned me a front end and wheel for the race!

That being said, here is my Metra80 cylinder, now officially retired after some obvious sounds of detonation on the way to MM the other night.

Carburetor Identification

2010-09-09T10:06:00.000-07:00

What to expect when you are expecting (a moped)

2010-09-07T21:09:00.000-07:00

I wrote this e-mail to a friend once who thought he might be interested in a moped, and at the time I felt like getting ambitious, so I started to write a big long thing, and then never finished. I saw it the other day in my drafts box and realized that even unfinished, it's got some decent information in there, so I thought I would post it up since I haven't had anything to contribute recently. Check it out, it's long and you know this already, but you are reading this at work anyway.

What is a moped?

A moped is a unique combination of bicycle, motor and freedom. They are lightweight machines (70-110 lbs) powered by 50cc 2 stroke engines. They have automatic transmissions with centrifugal clutches, meaning no shifting or clutching. Most mopeds are one speed, some are automatic two speeds, and some have a continuously variable transmission (CVT). The top speed of most mopeds is 30mph, although depending on the state were originally sold, they may be limited to 20, or 25mph. Most mopeds were originally manufactured in Europe and imported into the US during the 1970's, with sales and imports declining until the late 80's, although a few new mopeds are still imported today.

How is it different than a scooter?

A moped has pedals that alone can power the machine, and thus, can be ridden like a bicycle. This is the easiest and most definitive way to differentiate a moped from scooter. Scooters usually range from 50cc to 150cc, and with either have a CVT or a manual shift transmission. Scooters have smaller wheels than mopeds, usually 10"-13" compared to a mopeds 16" or 17" wheels. Scooters are usually legally classified as different than mopeds and are subject to other regulations and laws that are not always applicable to mopeds (such as registration, licensing or insurance requirements) but this varies from state to state.

What do I need to legally operate a moped?

This varies from state to state, but usually all that is required is a valid drivers license. Some states, such as California, require a motorcycle endorsement. Other states, such as Indiana, don't require a license at all. California requires registration and plates for your moped, but the plates requires no yearly stickers and are lifetime. Washington calls for mopeds to be titled, and plated with yearly tabs, unless the moped is 30 years old and applies for a collectors plate. Michigan requires only a bill of sale to be registered and a small fee for a 3 year sticker to be placed on the bike. Indiana, on the other hand, requires no registration and plate to operate legally on the road. Check your states requirements for mopeds, and print out those laws when you attempt to register your moped. They are also handy to keep on the moped to show to police officers in the event of a traffic stop, as most police don't know or understand the laws regarding mopeds.

What is a moped great for?

A moped excels in high density areas of major cities, because it is small, cheap, efficient and fun. There are virtually no parking problems, as a moped can usually squeeze into about anywhere, and in some states, such as California, they are legally allowed to park on the sidewalk. At 30mph, they navigate surface streets at the speed of traffic, and can carry a rider and cargo easily around traffic. A moped is a great supplement to a primary vehicle, because they usually are payed for all at once (not another monthly payment) they are easy on gas (usually between 80-110mpg) and in many states don't require insurance and are cheap to register. This supplement moped can be used any time to take one person anywhere within a 10 mile radius of home in an urban environment at the same speed or even quicker than a car. Going to the grocery store? Toss on the baskets and bring home a few bags. Meeting up with a group of people at a sporting event or outing? A moped cuts through traffic and keeps you from having to drive everyone else!

What is a moped good for?

A moped is good as a primary vehicle in many situations, and many people in urban areas make mopeds their sole transportation by choice. I personally use a moped as my primary vehicle and ride it every day of the year. With proper rain gear, a moped can even be ridden comfortably in wet weather, although sunny days are certainly the best. In Seattle, it's very possible and not uncomfortable to ride year round. Riding during the winter in colder climates is still easily accomplished using warm clothing made for snow-mobiles, but the ice does present a hazard and should be considered carefully. A moped is good as a primary vehicle because it can do most of the things a car can do with less of the hassles, but there are some things a moped doesn't do well.

What is a moped not good for?

Mopeds are not made to transport more than one person. The few and far between mopeds that have a long seat and passenger pegs usually still have a weight limit of 250lbs, meaning it's over loaded with two passengers. Most mopeds are not good at climbing large hills, especially from a stop. Most mopeds are one speed, and don't have lots of torque, making most power at upper RPMs which they can never reach going up hill. The exception to this is a moped with a Variated (cvt) transmission. They have incredible low end which can usually climb most hills with little to no pedal assistance. I will outline which mopeds are variated later on. A moped is not good for people who just want to put gasoline in a vehicle and drive it. Mopeds are very simple, small machines, and the vibrations of the motor and the bumps along the road tend to knock things around and cause bolts to come lose. A moped is not usually a vehicle that can just be ridden with no maintainence. Since one of the main draws of the moped lifestyle is low cost, it can be prohibitively expensive to pay someone to maintain your moped. Most motorcycle shops won't work on them, or if they agree to, its on a no-recourse basis and they charge usually between $90-$120 per hour. A simple problem on a moped fixed by a motorcycle shop will usually cost as much as the moped did originally! A moped is not a hands off machine. The cheapest and most likely qualified person around to repair or maintain your moped is almost certainly you.

I think I want a moped, but how will I know how to maintain it?

Mopeds need maintence and repair, and since it's not practical or always possible to pay someone to fix it, that means you are the head mechanic in your moped fleet of one! Mopeds require very few tools, and most were originally equipped with a small tool kit, although they tend to get lost through the years. All you really need are a few basic tools.

Spark plug socket
Adjustable Wrench
Flat head and Philips screwdrivers

That's a really short list! That is definitely the minimum amount of tools, and I would recommend the following tools for a person more serious about the moped lifestyle. I will outline where to get most of these wonderful tools at the end of this article.

8,10,11,13,15mm box end wrenches
5mm Allen key (or a whole metric set)
1/4" drive Metric socket set with ratchet.
Vice-grip brand adjustable locking pliers, needle nose
Ignition points file
Piston stop (used for locking the piston in place to tighten and loosen certain engine nuts)
Flywheel puller (for your specific moped brand)
Feeler gauge

With these tools listed above, a person with no experience can usually accomplish about 80% of what usually needs attention and fixing on mopeds. Following is a list of things that you might already have around the house that are useful

WD40 or another multi-purpose lubricant
Electrical tape
Zip ties or cable ties
Steel wool
Sand paper

So you've got these tools, but you still have no idea what to do with them, right? Well, mopeds are incredibly simple machines, and really only require someone who doesn't get easily frustrated and can follow a process through logically in order to diagnose and fix problems.

I'm going to link to a very handy guide that will help you learn the logical process of solving moped mechanical issues. There are really only 3 things required for a moped to run. Fuel, Spark and Compression. So simply test to see if you have each of these three things. Find out which one you don't have, and you have an idea of what needs fixed. Make the missing element work, and your moped will run! Read this guide several times, it is very helpful.

http://www.mopedarmy.com/wiki/Fred%27s_Guide

So now you've got an idea if a moped is right for you, and you have a basic idea of what it will take to keep a moped running. The rest is wanting to ride a moped bad enough that you will stick with it.

Hero Puch 65cc

2010-08-31T20:54:00.000-07:00

My Hero Puch has arrived, and it's got the neatest box of any cylinder I've ever bought. THE OCTAGON.
Well packed and secure, it was also coated with oil all over.
Interestingly enough, it's wrapped in a sweet plastic, encouraging you to insist on genuine Hero quality parts.
This cylinder shot shows that the casting is a bit goofy.
The cylinder studs are square to each other, but a bit wonky on the orientation to the ports. I'd say the whole cylinder is is probably 6 degrees off. Curious if it will have any trouble bolting up to my pipe.

The ports looks pretty good on the inside though, not too rough. I do like the boost port up top. Hard to imagine that Metra80 makes so much power without the port.

Another oddity of things being blown up

2010-08-26T13:52:00.001-07:00

Alternate title is

HOW TO FIX YOUR MOPED IN ONE EASY STEP:

To fix a broken moped, simply take off the broken part, and repair it or replace it, put it back on, and then you have a working moped.

Tomos and the Mystery Hole

2010-08-25T10:58:00.000-07:00

Riding the Tomos the other day, I happened to look down at a stop light and saw a giant puddle of oil spreading out over the pavement. There was so much I thought surely it is from the Exxon Valdeez. Luckily I broke down close to Matt Smudge's work place, so I put my moped into his truck and he came outside and gave me a ride home. What caused the draining of transmission fluid? I thought the drain plug might have rattled loose. Nope, there was a hole in the bottom of the case. Suspiciously M6 size The odd thing was there was also this nice little core of metal still sitting in the hole as the oil gushed out around it. It also was strange that it hadn't rattled lose and wasn't completely ejected by the whatever mystery force created it. Opening up the transmission to see what decided to make the extra drain hole, I found this.
It's always nice when the cause problem is looking you right in the face. One of the cap screws that holds the case halves together worked its way out and dropped into the transmission, where it hooked onto one of the gears, and smashed into the case, bending the bolt and making the hole. The core of the hole fits very nicely against the cap screw, its kind of funny. So after a new case bolt with some loc-tite, I drilled the hole out, tapped it M6, and put in a short bolt with a bonded washer. I had never heard of these before, Naz turned me on to them. It's a snug fitting washer with some type of crush sealing rubber surface. I put that inside the case and turned a nut down on it, and no leaks of any kind. The Tomos lives again!

Hero 65cc

2010-08-23T12:12:00.000-07:00

I've decided that this kit is just too tempting to pass up. It looks awesome, has a big magnum style fin pattern, and it's ridiculously cheap. $77. Go buy one now. If you have a stock magnum, this would bolt right up with the angled exhaust, although you might have to do some intake adjustments. Either way, I'm looking forward to messing around with this cylinder. I intend to add some material to an E50, then open up those ports nice and wide. I'll adjust my 6p to fit this exhaust port, and pair it up with a 21 dellorto on a custom intake. I know some of the Cuperteens have run these, curious what they say about them. If I like it, I might snag one for my MagnumX, and I'll bet the stock MagX intake will bolt on without too much goofery as well. They do sell the matching head, but I realized the other day I have 5 magnum heads sitting in my cylinder box, and I"m not sure where they all came from. I'm going to mill one flat and lathe in a nice squish band for the 65cc when it comes. Pictures and fun things as they come along.

RIP Hobbit Trike

2010-08-20T10:03:00.000-07:00

A few more pictures from race day

2010-08-16T23:36:00.001-07:00

I like this picture, it's myself, Naz, Jesse (perhaps the only racer to not suffer any explosive bike problems this season) and Travis.
"My suit used to look like that but I accidentally put it in the washer with bleach."

"I love lounging in my leather pants, almost as much as I love having someone take my pants when I'm naked under a towel."

"Err Force 1"

I think I blue a seal on my moped.

2010-08-10T09:40:00.000-07:00

We had a really good time, and my moped ran very well. It's official now, I'm the slowest part of the bike. Matt Smith came and raced and had a good time. September's race should be extra fun, as MF resident PHD and European migratory worker IanT will be back in the states and has promised and crossed his heart (my words, not his) to race with us. It was also funny to watch so many mopeds all crash in the same corner on the slick track in the morning, as each one dumped a little more gas and oil on the track to make it even worse for the next. 5 mopeds and at least 2 scooters, and even a little kid on a dirt bike all bit it in one corner.

Also important to note, I got to eat at Sonic drive in, which makes this track excellent. Happily, the Sonic on the way to Mac Track will be complete by September, and I'll be glad to eat there too. Applebee's is way better than Olive garden.
But we will let the people decide.

Oregon Series and the Pacific Cup

2010-08-06T22:58:00.000-07:00

I like my bead blaster

2010-08-04T15:52:00.001-07:00

Races and nothing really moped related

2010-08-03T11:11:00.000-07:00

If you come to the races this weekend, you will be amazed.
Otherwise,
I'll entertain you.

Swamp Hobbit parts / KStar Thread Repair

2010-07-30T19:54:00.000-07:00

My race bike is just about ready for next weekends race, I'm holding out for some new tires, hopefully they will arrive in time! Some photos from the last few days of repairing things. Here is Joel's cylinder that I stripped the exhaust stud. Drilling and a quick Heli-coil has fixed this Athena thing-a-ma-bob.
After ensuring there were no more flammable gasses in the tank ....

I cut it open to try and patch some holes.
It was beyond saving, but I gave it a good try. These little buggers were too leaky and the metal was too thin to weld without melting it completely.

I've got another variator to use now on my daily rider hobbit. This one, amazingly, cleaned up.

How to Fix a Puch Maxi Seat Bolt

2010-07-27T09:13:00.001-07:00

Post Races

2010-07-26T11:20:00.000-07:00

After a brief trip and day at the track, I've discovered many things. It is impossible for the bus to leave on time or get somewhere without making a wrong turn. It is also terribly enjoyable to drive the bus, probably the best part. It was also quite fun to jump 4 train tracks in a row with the bus at 40 mph and watch a little dog fly up into the air. We also used the PA to harass other motorists. The track was hot as always, and it sure feels good to take the first lap in you wet-with-sweat leathers, and let those vents suck air in and cool you off. I trashed the ring on my race hobbit, which could be due to the seize it experienced at BD7 when it was in trike mode.
I ended up racing on the Wizards Loan-mos, a $40 Tomos A35 with a 70cc Treats Cylinder, Dialem Side draft 15mm intake and 15mm bing, and a circuit pipe. No real magic, other than assembled by the Wizard of Naz. It was probably faster than my race hobbit, or about the same, as Jesse and I still got to battle one another neck and neck most of the heat races. Sadly, Jesse was trapped behind a stock Aprilia Scarabello thing that was on the track with us, and couldn't get around to race me during the races, so I ended up trying to catch Travis, who never ever though I was so close to him. We would come out of the final twistys and into the straight and I would be about 10 feet or so behind, a few moped lengths, and a hard distance to close, and then he would walk away in the straight, and I would reel him back in during the corners.
Since I didn't have Jesse to try and stay ahead of, and was instead, trying to run someone down who outclasses me in skill, intelligence and moped speed, I ended up getting confused as to which way I was supposed to race on the track. Or I low sided.
This regrettable accident caused me to experience something that only Travis knows about, and that is coming in DEAD LAST.

Next race is in two weeks, and there will be camping and all sorts of fun in Oregon! Hopefully I will have a running bike of my own engineering by then! Thanks to all who came out to the track! Lets go have some fun!

And also thanks to Jihee for pictures!

Consequences will never be the same

2010-07-22T10:32:00.001-07:00

Finally!

2010-07-13T00:17:00.001-07:00

After nearly two months, the curse is broken, and I completed a Moped Monday ride without any mechanical failure! OH JOY!!!!

Piston flaws, intake restrictions and math

2010-07-10T07:37:00.000-07:00

I got a wonderful package of goodies from 1977mopeds yesterday. Most notably, it included a new cylinder and piston for my wife's bike. 50cc TCCD 7 port "Racey" cylinder. I like these cylinders, even though I've had a (2)stroke of bad luck recently. They don't make loads of torque, but put a reasonable stock gearing and up the compression and you do just fine, and they really wind out. They love small carbs, and if you put a 6p on them or some other such high RPM pipe, you can really rev the heck out of these things. So I got home from work at about 5:30, opened the package, and began assembling my wife's engine so she could ride it last night. So I pressed the bearings on the new crank (the Stuffy Alu crank), new seals, yamahbond the engine cases, assemble clutch, make a new thick base gasket to generate proper port timing and head clearance (as the stock gasket doesn't fully reveal the exhaust port) chamfer the cylinder and ring, set the ring gap, file this casting leftover out of the piston window (which remind me of the bushes from Super Mario Brothers), bolt on the head, install on the bike, and get it ready to ride in less than 2 hours. A pretty good clip, at any rate. Hopefully it all continues to work well. I've got a 12mm bing on it at the moment because I forgot my nice 14 intake and carb down at the shop. Here is a 14mm intake that I discovered a wonderful restrictor in. 10mm. That thing is tiiiiiiiny. It was on a freespirit, with a 14mm carb no less.

I also was working on my Hobbit race motor yesterday and was doing math to try and calculate very exactly the exhaust duration of my Athena cylinder. I'm aiming for around 190 deg, stock is 180, and with Travis' nifty little Wizard spacer, the timing ends up just over 200. I think I'll just end up raising the ports a little and not running a spacer, rather than space it up and deck the cylinder, but who knows. If you are doing the math, don't forget than it isn't really cosine but inverted cosine to use the formula correctly.

Harbor Freight blast cabinet upgrade

2010-07-07T16:09:00.000-07:00

Its been on my mind since DeLuxe opened up that I should have a small blast cabinet with glass bead for polishing. Aluminum oxide is great for paint removal and powder coating prep, but glass bead leaves such a nice finish on aluminum on things you don't really need or want coated, like engine cases and brake plates. Today, with super coupon in hand (20% off) I went to Harbor Freight and bought the $140 blast cabinet that was on sale for $119, and for some reason rang up $89, and then took 20% off that. It was quite a deal. Sadly, you get what you pay for. The cabinet needed quite a bit of adjustment to get it ready for work. The exhaust port was the correct size for a shop vac, but a little too small for my dust collector from the big rig, so I had to modify that just a bit. It doesn't come with any lighting in there, so I'll be putting in a nice flood lamp tomorrow. The worst part is the abrasive pickup tube. It's one tiny little metal tube with another little metal tube in side it. A terrible design, and then it is cheaply made, so you know its bad. This cabinet was hardly pulling any abrasive, so I built a new one modeled after the Skat Blast pickup. Night and day difference. The Skat Blast pickup tube allows fresh air to travel down the extra tube, instead of trying to suck nothing but abrasive, it allows abrasive to enter the air stream at a higher velocity. I then upjetted my gun (really, it has an air jet, I bored it out) since I have a big compressor, and now this thing polishes like mad. The cabinet is the perfect size for engine cases and other smaller items like brake plates. It would be kind of a pain to do a tank, but possible. You can see on the right half of this picture the case finished with Glass bead, and on the left half is the case finished with Aluminum oxide. GB makes a much nicer and more appealing finish. Hooray! Also of note, the Polini is back in operation after some honing, piston sanding and new ring installing. Free Spirit is back on the road too! Can't wait to blow these up shortly!

Today's Carnage: RIP POLINI

2010-07-06T20:20:00.001-07:00

Exploded my ring today on the Viaduct. Back down to Zero running mopeds again. The curse isn't a joke, it's real.

New Format: Here is What I Broke Today

2010-06-30T08:46:00.000-07:00

Today I am posting the 200th post on MopedHQ. I've been at it for a few years now, and given most moped blogs have 2 post total, both of which say they will update more, I think I've done okay at keeping you entertained with a stream of moped related blather. So here is a picture of all the stuff I broke good. The crank from the 50v I sheared a while back, I finally got it open, but I had to chop off part of the crank with a grinding wheel so my 3 jaw puller would fit on the cases. I then was pressing new bearings into the case and then I destroyed the cases because I'm a dummy and didn't have them supported nicely. Good thing I had an extra case half. There is also my piston from the 50cc tccd cylinder, which I seized on Monday and the ring was so stuck, that even after breaking it and spending about 30 minutes stabbing myself with seal hooks, I gave up trying to remove the last of it.

Onto things that are soon to be broken.
Here is a picture of me making gaskets for my Hobbit cases. I just put some grease on the case and pressed it down nice on my gasket paper to have something to cut around. This can work for making base gaskets nicely too, you just have to cut the hole for the skirt first.

The Wizard looks on while Joel works on a snowflake disc brake. It seems to be coming along nicely. We will see if the bicycle brake can handle the weight!

The Curse Still Continues

2010-06-28T22:53:00.000-07:00

Tonight I seized my new piston in my 50tccd on the Free Spirit. But up until it blew, it was running great! So that has to count for something. I should be able to dig the ring out of the piston without too much fuss and it will live again. I blame no mechanical component, and simply state the cause of the seizure as bad luck. Here is me holding the piston and standing outside Key Arena where I broke down talking to Travis on the phone.

"Hey Phil... where did you go?" "I seized my moped, where is the ride ending tonight?" "The ending of the ride is only for people who complete it, sorry." "No, I have another moped I can ride." "Why don't you just go on home instead."

In news related to mopeds that I am not currently breaking, but will be breaking shortly, I did some work on my hobbit cases for the new race bike. I opened the cases up to match the Athena kit, and I will either hassle the Wizard to cast a spell of extra aluminum on the cases with his magic wand, or I will put on some JBWeld to make some nice extra space for my base gasket. New bearings and seals are in place, and my new crankshaft looks great. A thank you to 1977 Mopeds for providing the crank and bearings, it's a great time to be involved with mopeds with new parts being made and things becoming easily available.

BFW BFF

2010-06-26T19:02:00.000-07:00

The Big Fat Wife bike had a Big Fat Failure. Despite the gouges in the piston, no culprit could be identified. Both circlips still in place, stock air filter on. Ring pin and ring all present. I do, however see a loose nut in the back ground of the picture. Lot's comforter there. The bushing failed for sure though. This crank is toast. So is the piston. I pawned the cylinder off to Gorilla for his brother, and now I'm trying to decide what cylinder to go with. My limitations are I will only use a 15bing and a boss pipe. Both of which are dictated by my BFW who likes the chrome of the boss, and wants a carb that fits under the side covers and is quiet (stock airbox). So I'm either going the cheap route with a 50tccd like on my free spirit, or the spendy way with a nice new Polini for her. I really would rather get her a Polini, they are great cylinders with wonderful torque, but costs 2x the TCCD. The only disadvantage of the TCCD is it doesn't make power till you really start to wind it out, and the BFW needs extra push to get her started. I guess we will decide shortly, as I'm sure she wants the bike back on the road for blood drive.

The Curse Continues

2010-06-25T11:13:00.000-07:00

Travis and I went on a ride across I-90 to hit up Mercer Island to try his perfect wave ride. It was great ride, we went for miles without stopping, riding curving roads over and over. No stop signs anywhere, it was super dee duper. Riding on the free-way is fun, especially during rush hour, because we get to blast through a tunnel in the carpool lane and ride at a leisurely 34mph across the floating bridge on little toys from the 70's. On the way back, naturally, the curse reared its ugly head, resulting in a soft seize on the freeway, to which Travis and I hopped off and tossed the bikes across the 3 foot concrete wall, which was easier than anticipated. The bike fired up and rode home fine, so we will assume the curse doesn't hate me so much to permanently break other peoples bikes, but wanted to let me know I'm not over it.

Piston rings and other things

2010-06-22T16:50:00.000-07:00

It appears I've angered the moped gods by selling my Astro Diamler. Since that day, I have yet to complete a full moped Monday ride, many of which ended up with me pushing or being trucked home. I sheared the crank in my Moby. The seat welds cracked off my Swinger2. The Free Spirit refused to climb hills or run under 15mph and got pushed home. Last night I took the BFW Maxi and was treated to that wonderful sound that Knarpsworth has been having in his Magnum. Then it died right outside the bar last night so I had to wait for Joel to come back and truck me home. Someone who knows how to make mopeds work all the time needs to come teach me. On the bright side, the bar we were at had Monopoly pinball, and the tilt sensor was off, so we lifted the front end of the machine up so the ball moved in slow motion and proceeded to play it that way building a monster score, and even taking balls that managed to sneak down the out lanes and gently guiding them back into the play field, somewhat like Labyrinth. At any rate, the only working moped I have right now to ride is my race bike, which, ironically, has been serving me very faithfully and reliably.

Here are some pictures of what I did today. My free spirit, in the SUNSHINE (hooray!) in Seattle with the top end off. Here is my piston, with a mysteriously missing pin and missing the ends of the ring. Cylinder looks great, piston has lots of blowby on it. New piston ordered today, and at least a bit of luck, in stock and perhaps the cheapest replacement piston ever @ 25$?

Gilardoni Cylinder Skirts

2010-06-20T14:27:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a long day in the shop. My Za50 is getting a Gilardoni to replace the Metra80, and I realized that the skirts are different sizes. The Gila and Metra have the same bore, but the Gila's aluminum skirt is a full mm wider than the Metra. I put a wrinkle black finish on my Gila to make it look more like the Metra80, as Travis would describe, the best looking cylinder out there. I disassembled the Za50 transmission and bored the case open. Even though there is a very nice mill in our shop, using a 2 in flap wheel in the drill is hard to beat. I realized my starter cable was beginning to fray at the end where it slips into the lever, so I decided to replace it. A quick trip to the local bike store gave me a nice new housing and barrel ended cable, which I hand filed to the correct size to fit into the two piece starting mechanism. Since Jihee was working on blasting her wheels, I thought I would work my Gila a little, and modified the ports to imitate the Metra80 large ports. Surprisingly, the Gila doesn't have nearly enough meat to open up the ports to Metra size, so I did the best I could leaving enough material to make a good seal. Jihee is also not tall enough to use the blast cabinet, so we had to use some phone books to help.
Finally, a little strike from the Mallet makes sure the motor knows who is boss.

Derbi Variant Zen Performance Pipe

2010-06-16T21:25:00.000-07:00

Updates of sorts

2010-06-15T15:18:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post to let everyone know I'm back from vacation, and I"ll be doing plenty of moped stuff soon as I have only one working moped at the moment, and it's my wife's, so I can't ride it. (The heavy duty suspension doesn't do well with someone less than 250lbs on it).

It has been brought to my attention that not everyone understands how to properly split gas when driving in a vehicle with friends. I thought I would lay out the system I use, and then take some feedback as to how well it works.

The day before the trip, I fill my car up to the top with gas and drive it right home. The next day, we leave with a completely full tank of gas. When we drive down to Oregon for the races, then head back, the tank needs filled when we hit Washington state, at which point, I will ask my fellow carpooler to fill the tank completely full. When we get back to Seattle, I fill the tank completely full to put it back where it was. So perhaps the person riding along gets a short end of the stick because the split of gas isn't exact, as they are paying for about 3/4 of a tank, while I only pay for about 1/2- 5/8 of a tank. It does make it easier for the occupant, who can pay with a debit card and their obligation is finished at that point. The price difference between myself and the passenger is slightly off, since I'm paying for slightly less gas than the rider. But interestingly enough, on the last trip, I put in 5 gallons of gas in Oregon, because we were making a trip back from the track to Portland, and then back to the track. So with the 5/8 of a tank that I put in upon return to Seattle, plus the 5 gallons in Oregon, I would say I paid for more than half of the gas on the last trip, which is more than fair. All this goes to say, Jihee, please ride with me next time cause your a good companion even if you don't think I'm paying enough for my gas.

My two favorite things.

2010-05-26T18:51:00.000-07:00

Today was take half a dozen kittens to work day, so I brought 5 and hoped no one would notice. Gorilla came in and honed out his brothers siezed up Metra65, to which this Metra kitten takes a look and approves the overbore. Joel came in on his first day off in 4 weeks and worked on making a seat for his Pinto that hopefully wouldn't fall off like mine did on moped monday. This is how you gauge if the seat brace will be big enough. Gorilla also came in and converted his snowflake to sealed and made some spacers, then made spacers for mine as well. What a nice fellow.

Also, Gabe, make sure your roommate sees this, I was thinking of him while I played with kittens all day.

Swinger2 Glam Edition pt 2

2010-05-23T14:58:00.000-07:00

So I finally got around to building this bad boy up from last year, as right after I posted it last fall, ol' John Elkhart (formerly known as Kansas John) blued up his rear wheel, so I donated one until he could get his rolling again, and it happened to be off this bike. Now it's together, and stupid and ridiculous. It's like riding Elton John down the street. Here are some pictures to prove it happened, and it will probably be sold off soon enough, as I just scored a sweet free spirit frame and a nice tank.

Pacific Cup Race #2

2010-05-17T11:09:00.000-07:00

Strangely enough, we have two moped racing events going on up here in the North West. The Pacific Cup and the Oregon Series. This was the 3rd race I've attended, and it was the 2nd race in the Pacific Cup. Naz got himself a first place finish, even beating a 50cc watercooled 6speed Derbi, and Travis low-sided in a corner while out front on the second lap, and then high-sided trying to get his bike started again, putting him a full lap behind. Too bad, he had the fastest qualifying time. Joe, Jesse and myself had a great 3 way battle throughout the day for first second and third of what some might refer to as "The Busch League" or perhaps "Scrub league", and I managed to pass and stay out in front of Joe by about 2 lengths, with him nipping at my wheel the whole way. What a fun race! There are no good pictures of my wheel, sadly, but you can kind of get the idea of what my bike looks like at the moment. I need to get some lightning bolts put on the tank and perhaps my number.
Racing makes for tender moments.

Interesting Burn Pattern

2010-05-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

The BFW Maxi wasn't running too well recently, and it was making a terrible squeaking noise from the magneto side. After pulling it in for service, I noticed a few things. The chain was super crusty and stiff, and very lose. New chain solved that problem. The clutch bell was trying to escape, and the outer circlip had come off, but was trapped by the clutch. The piston had this really gnarly stuff growing on it.
It seems like some kind of rust that might be running through the engine from the gas tank that is causing this weird carbon texture, but it remains a mystery. Some of that stuff was in the lubrication channel for the bearing, but it seems to be no worse for the wear at this point.
Also, since the Wizzard and I have taken that step in our relationship by moving in together, it left a small space open in the building which was promptly snatched up by some other moped lovers, and now right next to Responsible Jon's DeLuxe Powdercoat is this wonderful little space.

If only...

2010-05-11T20:36:00.000-07:00

#1 If only I had a nickle for every time I heard a new moped owner say "I'd love to get some low bars on this thing and cafe it out."

#2 If only I had a dime for every time I heard "I like this bike a lot, but I'm really looking for a top-tank" followed by #1

KHZ @ WB3

2010-05-04T21:31:00.000-07:00

KHZ Whiskey Business 3 Trip from Andy Lauzier on Vimeo.

I missed the release of this video, but it's shot and edited very nicely.

Race Bike 2

2010-05-04T09:37:00.000-07:00

Travis might be a pal and loan me some of his extra hobbit ding-a-lings, which could perhaps make my bike faster for the next race. Even if he doesn't, my bike will look hella faster. Just FYI. Gorilla is going to be jealous of my blingin' purple rims. I also am pretty sure that I've crossed the line from funny banter about how slow he is to actually making him mad. We will see how the anger works itself out on the track. Also, Travis believes that Race #2 of the Oregon Series takes place June 13 at Pats Acres. I believe Race#2 for the Oregon Series takes place May 16 at Mac Track.

Here is why I believe I'm correct:

Oregon Series
4/24, 25 – Mac Track – Post noon practice day on Saturday, race on Sunday
5/15, 16 – Mac Track – Practice Saturday, race Sunday
6/12, 13 – PARC – Practice Saturday, race Sunday
7/3, 4 – PARC – Practice Saturday, race Sunday
8/7, 8 – PARC – Practice Saturday, race Sunday
9/11, 12 – Mac Track – Practice Saturday, race Sunday
10/16, 17 – PARC – Practice Saturday, race Sunday

These dates make for one a month, which only seems to make sense for a series.

Here is why Travis thinks he is right:

Pacific Cup
Race 1 April 11th Seattle, PGP
Race 2 May 15th & 16th Portland, MAC
Race 3 June 13th Vancouver, GMR
Race 4 July 25th Seattle, PGP
Race 5 Aug 7th & 8th Portland, PARC
Race 6 Sept. 5th Vancouver, GMR
Race 7 Oct 16th & 17th Portland, PARC

As you can see, both Series claim that the race May 16 is their own. Perhaps they overlap? Which is it, then? I will be attending the May 16 race because I will be unable to make the June race in the Oregon Series because of a prior commitment. :( There goes my points championship.

Mistakes and Breaks

2010-05-03T08:33:00.000-07:00

What does Naz do when he forgets to charge his phone? Tomos powered phone.

Look at my Proma Circuit pipe, cracked in the header. It's welded now.

Don't screw up powder coating, it's a pain to remove.

And finally, this is a nice looking bicycle I did. Gold flake and transparent rootbeer brown.

More Photos From Mac Track!

2010-04-28T18:16:00.000-07:00

"I'm coming for you Tiffany!"

Following and overtaking this guy made me think of him as Baby Bowser from Mario Kart. He even had a mowhawk. I kept expecting to get a shell thrown at me.

A few of Travis showing off his 1st class skills.

Mr. Wizzard himself laying it down low

Thanks to this person for taking some awesome photos

Mac Track

2010-04-26T08:13:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from yesterday. Got up at 5am and home at 11p. What a long day. 7 mopeds turned into 5 by the time all was said and done in the last race, with one losing belt tension, and unable to start, and the other having a flat tire that couldn't be repaired. Joe from Uphill Battle and myself were pretty evenly matched, even though he only had a 13mm carb on his Ciao, and perhaps the most interesting riding style of 80% weight carried on the wrists, with brake levers pointing straight down. My bike was a little quicker, I think his had a higher top speed, but we were good contenders for each other. It is much more fun to race trying to pass and prevent being passed, than to just be on the track by yourself. Travis and Naz both were in top form, and took first and third places, with second going to Sabatino. I also got to race in the pewee novice class for a bit of extra track time, and was finally able to beat my nemesis, this 7 year old girl.
I also forgot to turn my fuel valve off and run the carb dry before pulling the subframe off the bike, so in order to get it in the trunk without that gas smell, I simply gave the bike a push start and let it use the rest of the fuel.

Thanks to everyone who came out, especially Matt Smith and Jihee!! Great travel companions.

Mac Track Attack!

2010-04-24T18:08:00.000-07:00

View Larger Map

I'm leaving Seattle at 5am Sunday morning to go race mopeds in Oregon! I've got my bike neatly packed away in the trunk of Andrea's car. It took 15 minutes to put in in the car, and I imagine about as many to reassemble it. Bolt for the subframe, remove the shocks from the subframe, remove the throttle cable, remove rear brake from subframe, drain fuel, remove front brake cable and wheel, and then the whole darn thing fits so nice in the trunk it's like they were made for each other. The car is full of gas and ready to go with my 3 sleepy faced companions tomorrow. Hopefully they will be a bit lax about sign in times and what not, but I think we can make our target, as I don't anticipate much Sunday AM traffic. Judge Reinhold has a new trick up his left sleeve, called a windowed variator. It's like notching the stock vario but nicer looking and smoother operating. Hopefully those few extra mph will do me good. I almost got busted on the bike yesterday riding it up and down my street. What I'm riding is obviously a race bike, no lights, and I still even had my number attached as I blast down the street. I see a police car two blocks ahead headed my way. I just passed an intersection and it was too late to turn off the street, and I would meet him at the next intersection, so I hit the brakes and pulled in directly behind a parked car, hoping he hadn't seen me yet. I look through the windshield of the car I'm hiding behind, trying to look "casual" and not "hey I was trying to hide from you" and see the cop car which had been stopped to make a left turn, shut off the blinker and hit the gas toward me. "Busted" I thought, imagining how I can talk my way out of this one, only to see the cop go flying by me and continuing on up the street. I quickly got my bike turned back on and zipped right home! That's a free-be!

The eventual fate of all loaner mopeds

2010-04-22T13:43:00.000-07:00

Whisky Business 3 was awesome. Even Max Mojo would agree, although I think the rake on his moped would make for a very shaky turning radius. The only thing that saved this frame from total anihilation was the cross bar that absorbed all the energy from the crash and then (I imagine) hit Mojo in the chin when it exploded out of its place. As of yet, I haven't heard of any deaths at moped rallies, but I am nervous for when there is. It's coming folks! Be safe!

In additional news, I'm now the proud owner of a MagnumX, which will follow in the Cuperzacko tradition of becoming a wonderful blaster in a pint sized container. It will reside in Indiana with my in-laws, to give me something fun to ride around when I'm in town. I anticipate forcing my children to ride this and live my dreams once I have children and dreams.

Also, this Sunday is the first official race of the Oregon Cup of moped racing, so this one will be for points. Which means I hope that I can get second place again, as a certain wizard mentioned that he cast a spell on a black and red wheeled steed, which promises to be very ominous. See you on the track Sunday!

Pacific Grand Prix Race Day

2010-04-12T09:16:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful day for racing yesterday, and Travis, Joel and myself piled into the Little Big Rig and headed out on a long trip to Kent, Wa. We stopped at an IHOP along the way, and I had the split decision breakfast. It was very good. We then trucked the rest of the way to the track, and unloaded the bikes. A quick tech inspection got us cleared for action, and we waited for the competition to arrive. And then they didn't. So it was just Travis and myself to race in the moped class. Sabatino had some excuse, Jesse had blew up his moped, CJ couldn't take time off work, Naz couldn't find leathers in time (but did get some that very day!) and so forth and so on. In fact, the turn out was pretty on the diminutive side, and then one scooter crashed, and another blew it self up, so there were only about 6 bikes to race in the 5 classes. So we all raced on the track at the same time. Which was interesting. Travis even managed to pass and beat one of the scooters in the race. Judge Reinhold performed pretty well, but insists on fowling spark plugs, even while giving a lean indication at top speed. Aside from switching plugs after each race, the bike worked well considering it was nearly 100% WOT the whole time. My leathers were the biggest hit of the track, and I have vowed to have a bike that looks just like them, so expect that hobbit frame to come together over the next month. I was very surprised, being my first time on the track, how fast it feels versus how slow it looks, as well as how well Gazelle tires hold the track. I did end up low siding, but I'm pretty sure I hooked my pedal causing me to drop it, rather than the tires just letting go. Racing is a pretty intense sport, it takes a lot of effort to move around a 100# machine, I couldn't imagine a 250cc or even larger sport bike. I anticipate the next race, and hope to be passed by many more mopeds.

Plain old good luck

2010-04-03T22:31:00.000-07:00

I spent today in the shop, anticipating to work on my own bikes, which I did. I also ended up having a giant amount of people coming and going working on their own stuff. It was pretty busy and loud for a while. Gorilla came and finished his purple ped. A customer came in and did some extra body work on her motorcycle frame. Joel came and worked on his Maxi as well as did some blasting. I made a new bracket for the exhaust on the magnum. It's much better off now, and Naz came and zapped it for me with the tig. I rode it home, and had a little trouble with rain shorting out my cracked spark plug cap. My Free Spirit got the TCCD motor, and that thing really pulls pretty impressively for a 50cc slug on a Puch. 14 Bing and a bullet pipe, 16 x 45 gearing. The brakes, on the other hand, were pretty faded, so I pulled the wheel open to clean them. Lo and behold, the lining had separated from the shoes and was fused to the drum. So instead of the lining pressing against a rotating drum, the lining rotated with the drum and the metal shoes pressed into the lining. Total failure. I need to order some new brakes for this rig, and then it will be blast city commute-mobile.

Farewell, AD

2010-04-02T13:04:00.000-07:00

The Austro Diamler has gone to it's new owner today after only one evening on Craigslist. I think it was my ad that convinced him. Godspeed, AD. May you spread the joy of mopeds to a new person and to that persons friends. In other news, Gorilla came down to the shop today and worked on his maxi. This bike was painted at least 3 times, rattle can on top of rattle can, so in order to expedite the sand blasting, I explained that he should go scorch the paint off the bike with my weed burner. This is what he brought back inside. I imagine Gorilla is the kind of guy who likes to burn his marshmallows when he makes a smore too. Be sure to meet this guy at Whisky Business 3!

Hobbit Driven Pulley

2010-03-31T14:40:00.000-07:00

Naz had some scooter cheeks laying around that he grafted onto a hobbit rear pulley. He put a Derbi Spring in there, and I've been testing it out on my hobbit. The larger cheeks give an improved low end and mid range, but we think the derbi spring, which is a bit longer than the hobbit spring, isn't compressing fully, which keeps me from fully variating. So Naz is going to knock the derbi spring out and insert the stock spring for me. What a guy.

Court is in Session

2010-03-30T10:13:00.000-07:00

Presenting the Honorable and running Judge Reinhold, ready to dispense justice on and off the track. It seems to idle nicely, and these wonderful Dio springs that Travis gave me in exchange for installing some for him seem to work very well.
I need to put a pedal chain, some plastic pedals, side covers, bar sliders and a few other details on this bike, but it seems to run okay up and down the street. I'm also going to reinforce the circuit pipe, since like most of these, the tabs have long since broken off. New petcock is on the way, and this thing stops on a dime, with some very clean and notched brake shoes. Also put some new transmission fluid in it, which it desperately needed. 12 days until race time!

THIS JUST IN: LATE BREAKING VIDEO EVIDENCE

Two Weeks

2010-03-28T20:18:00.000-07:00

I was remarking to Naz the other day, not only is moped racing the cheapest form of motorized sport, but it's also probably one of the only ones where the vehicle you will be racing is just a pile of parts two weeks before the first race. Hope to see you on the track!

Free Spirit and the Race Bike

2010-03-25T17:38:00.000-07:00

I snatched up a wonderfully complete little Free Spirit on Monday. It's got side covers and flywheel cover and what nots. I got it for a friend of mine, but since it's been sitting in my shop for a few days, I've fallen in love with it, as it is my first free spirit in my long line of moped family tree. I think I'm going to keep it! Which means time to say goodbye to another one of my mopeds. The one that gets the axe will most likely be the AD. What a rare moped, and comfy ride, off to teach the joys of mopeds to some new owner!

Judge Reinhold is still in parts, but inches ever closer to being running. Naz is finished with my head, which I should snap a picture of, and has begun to cast his magic spell upon my counter variator. I also spent some time working on my brakes today. Here is a pro-tip. Use NASCAR branded sand paper for that NASCAR performance in stopping.