Mopeds – Page 2 – Wreck Rebuild Repeat

March 5, 2012

Wheels for the Wife

Between work, my 10 million other hobbies fly fishing, paintball, rock stardom, backpacking, etc… and moped parts blowing up see NYC Streets vs French Pipes I seem to always have some past moped project to write about. With this post I might actually be caught up to the present completely!

My dad once said that his favorite hobbies were the ones he shared with my mom…mushy I know, but if you’re going to spend forever with someone you might as well spend time together doing fun stuff! So I’ve been trying to get Leah (my wife as of Sept 17…now it’s in a blog so I can’t forget the anniversary) to ride almost as soon as I got my first moped. On a trip to the fabled HandyBikes in Columbus, OH, I found a near perfect Tomos Silver Bullet sans engine. I picked it up planning to build it for Leah. To my delight she said she wanted to build it herself! Then we moved to NYC and the moped sat disassembled in a closet for a couple years…mopeds aren’t quite the priority for her that they are to me but this past year she got things underway…

and soon learned that putting tires on sucks!

but she got the rolling chassis together in an afternoon with minimal help from me…one of the many reasons I married her…that and she asked me!

This past summer she rebuilt the engine from the ground up. She only has to put up on a pipe and wire it up. She hasn’t built it quickly but she knows everything about that moped. In the interim she’s been riding The Tomonstr but my mopeds are a bit over the top and the riding position doesn’t really suit her.

That got me thinking that I’d build her something and my friend Johnny had the perfect bike. A nice clean Moby 50V. It took a little while of working on him to get it but he eventually relented to my groveling. He hooked me up with a 70cc Parma kit and a 15/15 SHA! So I cleaned up all the chrome, kitted the engine, and tuned it up (still a little rich for break in). The moped runs great and the orange is Leah’s favorite color win/win! On to the goodies.

She had mentioned that the collapsing saddle baskets on bicycles were cool so I ordered a set of Wald 582 Folding Baskets with basket liners. I think these look great, are built really well, and they were easy to mount up. All in all I think the moped turned out great!

I was going to make this a Christmas gift but I couldn’t stand to wait so it became a Birthday present! Leah thought I was going to show her something I bought for myself. After I finally convinced her that the Moby was for her I was pretty sure she liked it.

and considering she wanted to go for a ride ASAP…

I’d say I’m positive she liked it. I have a ninja pipe sitting on the shelf for when she’s ready!

I’ll keep you posted for when her Bullet is finished as I’m sure it’s going to be a mover too!

March 5, 2012

NYC Streets vs French Pipes!

I took The Green Machine out for a couple of rides and its running even better than before! The NYC streets are still essentially the surface of the moon (why are my taxes so high?). I’ve heard of Doppler silencers falling off but never expected it to happen on a busy street! I pulled out, the bike hesitated, and then I was riding a monster chainsaw!!! I pulled over and turned around just in time to see the guts of the silencer hit by a car! Great!. Then as I pulled out to go get that part, the actual baffle cylinder got launched another direction and promptly squished…

NYC streets 1 Doppler welds 0!

After getting back to the garage it was time to rebuild this thing. Two hours of hammering things back into round, grinding off bad welds, and I was almost there. Luckily, my garage is next to a motorcycle shop who’s owner is a great source of info/and he welds! So the 3 spot welds were replaced with one nice weld the whole circumference of the baffle mounting plate. A little repacking of the baffle material and some M6 nuts and bolts and I’m back in business. Screw you NYC roads! This thing is solid!

PS..it broke off again…I’ll need to re-engineer this thing…ugh.

March 4, 2012

The Return of the Green Monster

I’ve finally found the time to assemble the Gila + Polini cases engine and with a little bit of this…

this case should be sealed up tight!

I wanted to use the Polini spring that came with the cases but I’m sans the hardware to mount to the case. I cut up an old 103 engine mount and created a mount myself. It ended up looking pretty good but I have no idea if it’s putting this mount in the correct location. I’ll have to see when I get out to the garage…I’m guessing it’s a tad off…hmm

I’ve never used a launch level but it sounds like fun and it comes with the case so what the hell!

Next up add my trusty Multivar and the old 2 coil points. I’ve heard horror stories about these points but I’ve never had a problem (other than some flywheel slipping) so I’m going to run these until they self-destruct.

I have to get better lighting in my work space. These pics are a bit dark…sorry about that

At the garage it quickly became apparent that the Polini spring is not going to work (crap) I was so ticked off that I forgot to take a pic of the mess…I need to look at some cases to see how the spring fitting/exhaust mount fits/looks so I can copy a set. Until then then the launch lever is coming off and the old Doppler spring is going back on…I have another lever somewhere that might work…I just need to remember where I put it…

I can wait on the launch lever so I decided to button this project up!

Gave the moped a push an it started right up. It’s still a bit rich (95 jet) but its still pretty cold here in NYC so I’ll leave it alone until April.

Bring it Spring! I’m ready!!!

February 10, 2012

Same Old Kit. New Monster Case!

Well I said I was rebuilding the Green Machine’s engine and so it begins. After being lazy and bolting together the Gila power plant, the original seals made it a year and a half before giving into the high compression. This failure was totally my fault too. (note to self — riding dubs on an air-cooled moped on the hottest day of the summer is not a good idea)

The kit, piston and head look perfect and I had this Polini race case just laying around so what the hell lets get to building!!!

FAG bearings and monster transfers, this whole setup should be a bit more durable than the stock cases, more or less.

I’m going to smooth out the transition from the case to the cylinder transfers. I’m just trying to make the transition gradual as I’m not looking to add the giant transfers to an already smooth running kit. So mark it up.

Grind away the excess…

Next up bearings, seals and closing this thing up!

January 30, 2012

The Sparta Sidetrack

Working on a moped on your landlords front porch is a great way to meet new people. About a week into moving to Brooklyn Leah and I had met more people in our neighborhood than anywhere we had ever lived before!

Our neighbor Carlos asked me if I wanted another project. I said I’d take a look. Well to my surprise he had a clean Sparta in his basement. The moped looked pretty good with the exception of having a few broken spokes in the rear wheel. I asked if it was his and he said it QA now…basically it had been his cousins moped and one day while being chased by local cops for riding the wrong way in bike lanes he hid it in Carlos’s basement. But then he ended up moving back to South America and leaving the moped to Carlos! The back wheel was broken when he road it down the steps into the basement with police in chase…with a story like that I had to get it going again.

This was a total stock rebuild. I managers to track down some spokes and fixed the rear wheel, cleaned up the wiring, plugged up the decomp, new plug, flushed out the tank and it started right up. I rode it around the block once and then posted it on Craigslist. It was only on there for a week when a kid came and picked it up. Noah is now wrenching and riding all the time!

Now that I had the Sparta out of the garage I could get back to my main projects…Tomonstr an the Green Machine.

January 29, 2012

Green Machine (or John Deere’s moped)

My favorite moped of all time is a Peugeot 103SP in green…any of the shades of green! After riding Jeff’s from sHs I wanted a French variated moped but I just figured they were had to find. I was skunked twice on Craigslist deals in the Pittsburgh area and mostly gave up looking. Then the move to Brooklyn happened and having no job was a great way to keep me with only one moped.

Once a job was acquired I was always looking for a 103SP or a moped with a Minarelli (I wanted to play with the 90cc kit). The Orphanage had exactly what I wanted but not anywhere near what I could pay. I’d saved the picture as a benchmark for my search but nothing turned up. Then I found an orange General top tank in nice condition, so I picked it up.

I bought some new tires and set to work stripping and cleaning the moped. Winter struck and the NYC moped scene slowed down (except for a few of us who where thermals under our jeans as we are nuts). I then started getting mystery text messages about someone lusting about my General. Little did I know that Cliffy wanted one more than me!

I was picking up tubes from the Orphanage and while talking with Ryan mentioned that I couldn’t believe the 103SP was still there. I was sitting on it imagining when I’d get one. To my surprise Ryan asked what I’d pay. I apologized ahead of time as I knew my offer would be low and then Ryan said he’d take my offer! Yay Orphanage! I paid for half on the spot and called Cliff to sell the General.

In the mean time we were asked (M23) if we had some mopeds for a commercial but everyone we new only had mopeds in parts (winter rebuilds). Eric’s Magnum (The Great Snack) was running and to get a second he made the final payment on my 103SP. So I hadn’t even had a chance to ride it and the moped was crossing the Williamsburg Bridge. Eric did send me this:

After the shoot the Green Machine was safely parked in our garage and I paid Eric back for the rest of the bike. I’d started on Tomonstr but was still in search of parts so I began making som little adjustments to make the SP’s seating position perfect.

A quick ride around the block made me realize I was almost there but the seat still wasn’t quite right. I kept the SP engine stock for a while while I began absorbing everything I could about variators. Luckily I’d seen how they worked in sHs and Pete had built a fast 103 in M23. So outside of the Sparta sidetrack I began building my dream machine.

70cc Gila kit, Malossi 70cc Hi-Comp Head, Doppler Spring, Doppler Pipe, 21 Dellorto PHBG, Polini 2 pedal reeds and Malossi Multivar. With a little case matching for the third eye and some tuning this is, in my opinion, the most bulletproof Peugeot setup you can build.

[Keep in mind a 50cc water-cooled setup or even 50cc air-cooled engine can create a ton of power but it’s all happening at crazy rpms. So once you leave the land of stock, pick what you want to replace more often; Hi RPMs wear top end parts faster, Bigger displacement wears bottom end parts faster…either way shit breaks…welcome to mopeds ;-)]

Well I just finished it in time to ride it for M23s rally. I was going to wait to tune it but the weld holding Old Blue’s tank on broke and I needed a ride…

Well stock gearing (12×56) made this thing a wheelie machine! I was expecting quick not “oh shit the front tire is off the ground again!” The moped was running great but the seating was still not quite right. Time to make a new seat mount up.

Seating solved + gearing and suspension tweaks and the Green Machine is perfect!

Specs:
70cc Gila Kit
70cc Malossi Hi-Comp Head (decomp plugged)
Stock Cases matched and third eye added
Polini 2 pedal reed block
Delloroto 21 PHBG
Doppler Spring
Doppler 70cc pipe
Malossi Multivar
Stock 2 coil points

This build made it for over a year and a half before the seals blew out. When i opened it up everything still looked new! So now it’s rebuild time and this time I’m starting with a polini race case but that’s for another post…

January 28, 2012

The Making of a Tomonstr

While I was happily vested in the make Old Blue as fast as possible project I started thinking that a dual-sport moped was the obvious next step. The problem was I had no idea what I was doing with frames nor can I weld (currently on my todo list). My only option was to work with available parts and what I could bolt or cut.

After looking at a Tomos Streetmate (thanks Ari) I realized that most of the parts could fit on a Targa or Sprint frame so I only had to find a Streetmate fork, wheels and swing arm to make something interesting. So off to the burbs to pick up part 1 – a white Targa frame. The engine was going to Leah’s Silver Bullet project (more on that later) but everything else was good with the exception of some surface rust in the tank. Part 2 came next as my buddy Seth and I cannibalized a Revival. With a little cursing and cutting I ended up here…

So I now had an idea where this should go and was beginning to get lost in moped acquisition disorder or MAD. I got as far as cutting the old seat mounts off and then suddenly ended up with an orange General for a week or two…sold it to a friend…then a Sparta…fixed it up and sold it…and then my 103SP…which is hear to stay.

Then to make things more exciting we (M23) got kicked out of our garage…so everything was packed up and taken home via subway and stuffed in a closet…luck would find a garage in my neighborhood before our eviction so other than general panic everything worked out great. I was a little distracted. Heck in the mean time M23 hosted a rally, I collected the remaining pieces I needed for franken-bike and built out the first version of my 103SP…Leah went away to Germany on a work trip for a month so it was the perfect time to build this thing. Thus the Tomonstr came to life.

A ride or two later I realized that the old 103SP shocks didn’t quite have the necessary travel or stiffness to keep me from bottoming out. So time for new shocks…which now hit the pipe, so with some patients and a torch the pipe is all good to go and Tomonster is ready for anything…

Specs:
A35
70cc Alukit
70cc Hi-Comp Head
Treats e50 CDI
J Cams intake
Mikuni VM20
Estoril pipe
Boyesen Dual Reeds
Sebac 360mm Shocks
Revival Front-end
Shinko 244 Dual Sport Tires
27 x 22 for street
26 x 24 for dirt

Coming Soon…spring paint job!!!

January 27, 2012

The Beginning!

It all started in Pittsburgh, PA while taking my friend Leah to an engineering convention in the city. On the way there 3 people (who I’d later meet) rode by on mopeds while we sat at a stop light. I told Leah I had always wanted a moped (they looked like a lot of fun). She replied “then why don’t you have one?”. Considering my moped obstacles had recently all been removed via divorce/better job/not living with parents I said “I have no idea!”
That night I went home and began the google adventure. A little reading and Craigslist searching and I was off to Columbus, OH to pick up Blue…already NJ fast with an 70cc Alukit and Bi-Turbo…

So I set to work to clean Blue up and make it look as close to stock as possible…with a sweet trunk of course…

WTF was I thinking!…a trunk!…mission old man moped was accomplished. Now I’d caught up with the mysterious mopeders I’d seen go riding by, SwitcHandSignal…quite possibly the nicest, best people I know…I miss you guys, move to Brooklyn already!…anyway I soon learned that I new nothing but how to use tools and cut stuff apart so began Blue 2.0

Straight bars, bobbed fenders, new fairing, homemade bar-end mirrors and finally rid of the stupid trunk!

Now riding regularly with sHs I discover a moped can be fast and go up Pittsburgh hills! Back to reading and time to tweak this thing…after lots of time, reading, and wrench days we end up here

Hi-Comp head, J Cams intake with Mikuni VM20, Estrol pipe, hidden premix bottle, chopped fairing, real bar-end mirrors (the homemade ones sucked) tweaked clutches and 26×22 gearing.

The bike was quick went up any hill an I rode it to work every chance I got!!! That was a great summer wrenching and riding and even sHs brought me into the gang! Blue and I go to a mini rally in memory of Becky and John’s dad (who I’m bummed I never got to meet but hearing the stories he was a great guy!)

Then I moved with Leah to NYC…without a job…for six months…without Blue to work on I’d of gone completely crazy…sHs points me to Mission23 and the Orphans…yay! Moped people (I really am that dorky)! So I start to ride with M23 and Blue gets even faster as I lose weight and the gearing goes up to 28×22. Plus case matching the 70cc Alukit and replacing the rings makes a big difference too!

Blue and I go back to Pittsburgh to the farewell sHs rally and then WB and finally here in Brooklyn…Blue then was usurped by new mopeds as it was time to move on. I thought about selling Blue…and for a while it lived in Second Stroke Mopeds showroom but after deciding a newb would kill themselves, on it I decide Blue would be decommissioned and parts repurposed.

Blue is gone for now but it will be back and better than ever…it’s just a matter of time…

Thanks for the ride my friend…