mopeds and other two wheeled slow fun

[kiya]

Anybody here own one? Know much about vintage ones?

I think i'm gonna buy one this week for some joy riding and looking for pointers..

I've got a guy i'm dealing with that's been building vintage ones for years, most of what he builds is black/olive colored and looks like it's been through a war which is exactly what i'm looking for.

A part of me wants an Indian brand moped purely because the Japanese are so obsessed with Indian brand motorcycles, mopeds, and scooters..

[Yardsale]

I have a 1983 Suzuki fa50.

not the actual pic, but that color.

[levon777]

I used to have suzuki sepia ZZ 50cc when I was 14. Had lots of fun with it. I would get Vespa if I had some extra dough.

[poopslush]

Right now I have a 96 Kinetic TFR

Not the best bike out there, but I'm slowly upgrading it (Simonini racing pipe in the mail) and I plan on transferring the upgrades over to a vespa ciao when I get the money.

kiya-

If you don't know much about mopeds, go shopping for one with a friend who does. People are starting to try and sell mopeds for way more than what they are worth, and you don't want to get burnt, plus you'll probably want to have some money to spend on exhausts, engine kits, bigger carbs, etc. Also peep http://www.mopedarmy.com/

[drewtetz]

cross-post from motorcycle thread, but this guy's mine:

it's at a friend's house for the summer, getting repaired, but it still fills me with joy. i don't know anything about mopeds that i didn't learn from mopedarmy or my friend jesse. they're so goddamn fun.

if i ever come into any large amount of money at all, the very first thing i'm going to buy is a vespa. the old-school rounded scooter aesthetic is so fucking cool.

[kiya]

Holy shit Drew, that thing is cool looking..

I've got a guy that's been building mopeds for over ten years finding one for me so i think i'm in good hands so far... we'll see what he ends up finding..

[Charlie Delta]

I'll snap pics of mine when I'm in france in a couple of weeks.

It's a year younger than me but still going strong, got it from a really old farmer, nest of mice in the sidebags came with the deal...

And I remember you talking about that guy, got any pics of his stuff?

[kiya]

Got one...

Riding around the city today.. woohoo.

1980 Peugeot 102sp, baby blue.

[esem]

Moped Army

[Jason Kidd]

hey kiya is that a 50cc? or do you have a motorcycle license..real interested getting one myself, gas is a bitch here in socal

[drewtetz]

fuckin' badass, kiya! i am driving out to california now so i can ride around on the back of it. i'm probably going to giggle.

and wear a scarf.

[julianpace]

Im actually saving right now to get a silver vesp from http://www.antiquevespa.com/ check it.

no real experience with a moped and my friends all say ill look like a douche, but i personally think that ill look like a baller and what with gas prices now a days its over 4 dollars here

[kiya]

hey kiya is that a 50cc? or do you have a motorcycle license..real interested getting one myself, gas is a bitch here in socal

It's a 49cc and no, you don't need any sort of license OR insurance/registration in California to ride a moped.

[polishmike]

i have the same vespa (in storage for like 3 years) and it's a fun thing to ride. just remember the wheels are fucking small and it could get hairy when you hit some bigger wholes.

[sybaritical]

I never realised but there's a bunch of us in London own Vintage Vespas. Mine's a 1973 Vespa 125 TS. Currently wrapped up in my yard waiting for me to clean the carburetter. Almost there saving for a paint job too ... maybe get it done by the end of summer.

[LIVENUDEGIRLS]

mind telling how much you paid? just want some perspective. I have similar curiosities as you did when you originally posted.

Got one...

Riding around the city today.. woohoo.

1980 Peugeot 102sp, baby blue.

[jimmyc]

I had been watching this on ebay,

I know It's a Mini, not a Moped but I thought it would be a steal at $650.

Then two idiots bid it up to $1300! That's about $500 more than it's worth

since it's not even close to being in mint condition.

My dad bought me one new in '78 for $400. Oh well. Several people I know

have put in pre-orders for a 2009 Yamaha C3

They are a little overpriced but you can't beat 115mpg

[poopslush]

frute scooters out of this thread

[ThyAllMighty]

i am going to get neg repped, but i just got a yamaha vino 125, it's pretty fun and it LOOKS vintage, hahahaha

i like that you guys like mopeds/scooters, most of my friends think they are gay

[poopslush]

I got my Simonini proline exhaust in the mail today. The stock exhaust on the Kinetic was horrible, and the new pipe alone (plus upjetting) added almost 10 mph to my ped. I had to remove the kickstand which sucks until I get a single leg one on there.

[Jackboot]

Im actually saving right now to get a silver vesp from http://www.antiquevespa.com/ check it.

no real experience with a moped and my friends all say ill look like a douche, but i personally think that ill look like a baller and what with gas prices now a days its over 4 dollars here

I'm a Vespa enthusiast and when I read this I just thought I'd mention...Vespas restored in Asia are known for being shoddly bodged death traps. These Asian scooters often have well over 100,000km on them and and the Asian shops don't have the proper tools or parts to make them anywhere close to safe and certainly not a real "restoration". Any reputable American shop will refuse to do service on them. The site you sneakily obscures the fact that they are having third world labour "restore" these Vespas and then importing them to the USA.

Please don't buy one of these bodge jobs - there have been instances of the frame snapping in half while riding due to welding two frames together. Do some research and you'll come to the same conclusion yourself. Google: vietbodge, viet bodge vespa asian restoration, or just visit the international scooter BBS and read the horror stories there.

[fre-co]

here's what I have now, another London vespa rider.

this was a moped that I owned

[fre-co]

To the guy buying from antiquevespa:

Before you buy anything, find out where the bikes are imported from. I have heard a lot of horror stories about Vietnamese vespa restorations. Make sure you get a genuine Italian vespa. I have no idea about that company or where they source their machines and do the restorations.

edit: I didn't see Jackboots reply before I wrote this but yeah.....

[BTT]

when i be in teh asia, i be riding mopeds all day. shit is mad fun.

[kiya]

New Simpson helmet...

[shapiros]

anyone have any experience with honda passports from the 80s? i'm thinking of picking one up to ride around at college.

[sonny]

just picked this guy up last week. my first moped, a '79 vespa grande. looking forward to a nice indian summer cruising on this.

[kiya]

It's so on.

[Charlie Delta]

So I take it there is one of these waiting for me in a couple of weeks so I can zoom around the bay saying "ciao!".

?!?

[Klaas]

I got exactly somthing like this:

I don't ride it anymore. It's stored for now.