Moped Nebraska

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

MopedHQ is moving!

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

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!

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

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

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.