Peugeot – Page 2 – Wreck Rebuild Repeat

March 8, 2013March 23, 2020

The Trip That Wasn’t – 2012

The idea of going camping via a moped has been in my brain since I started riding one. It doesn’t seem like that big of a challenge.

I mean you can make a moped go about 50+ mph without really a lot of work or even knowing what you are doing. You can make the 50+ mph bike reliable once you do know what you are doing. The US is covered in little roads that can get you any where , granted not very quickly but you are on a moped! So I figured that 80-100 miles out of the city to a campsite would be a reasonable first trip and Leah didn’t even think I was crazy when I asked her if she would come.

So we packed up our bags, over loaded our mopeds and headed north (crossing over to Manhattan, up through the Bronx and across to Broadway and then north to Yonkers and beyond).

We made it to Tarrytown, NY before it started raining, my pannier was a little melted, my throttle cable broke but luckily we “roughed it” in a Double Tree hotel…they gave us warm cookies and a place to chain up the mopeds. Phew!

The next morning we loaded back up (with better distribution of weight) and headed out…made it all the way to Montrose, NY when the magical nut that holds Leah’s Moby clutch in place vanished and the clutch rolled away as we pulled into a parking lot to figure out why she was over-revving! Oh yeah and on the way we had to stop as my panniers actually caught on fire…oops!

So after walking up and down about 3-4 miles of road looking for the escaped nut (yikes), and riding to every NAPA and other auto parts store on the map we gave up and camped out at a local bar until Larry and Becca could come save us…in their Fiat 500! Thanks to the bar owner we were allowed to lock our mopeds up in the basement so we could get them the next day.

So after getting home and recovering we rented a ZipCar and then our mopeds made it home….but don’t worry we didn’t give up that easily!

June 14, 2012

Mopeds for the People

I was just getting good at regularly posting and then life happened. Hopefully you guys/gals/marmots/etc… aren’t counting on something exciting from me all the time.

I have been wrenching like mad though!

First up is my friend Eric’s Peugeot 103. He picked it up a while ago as he road the Green Machine and decided that a variator was in his future. He got a solid frame but the engine was never happy. We tried different coils, checking for air leaks, new points and this moped was a no go.

I had some parts from previous build that I wanted to sell and Eric wanted fast so I built him fast with an emphasis on reliable…now that I’m writing this the moped is going to explode, sorry Eric.

I had an already built 70cc Gila engine that just needed new seals. So new ones were pressed in, added a used Multivar (I <;3 them), a Leo Vince Pipe, a 19 PHBG, and boom.

Everything should work right! Wrong? I was again foiled by an ignition that didn’t want to play…stupid unfriendly ignition!

Enter the Motobecane CDI!

This CDI is inexpensive, easy to setup, and makes a great big spark!

Now we have a winner!

So that put Eric back on the road and with a little carb tweaking he is a happy camper.

Now my buddy Larry went and sold off all his mopedy-goodness in the process of acquiring some racing motorcycles…the guy has a thing for fast.

Then he had an “I miss my silly mopeds” moment and we got to talking. I had a nice 103 frame that I was planning on making go as stupidly fast as possible, skinny tires and all.

So it became time to make another zippy 103! I started with making the 3rd eye transfer and cleaning up the stock cases.

Then it was the usual:
70cc Gila kit
2 Pedal Polini reed block
19 PHBG
Moby CDI and Trail Tech Regulator
Malossi Multivar
Polini Spring and Launch Lever

The twist was a Ninja G3 pipe. These are great all around pipes with a really wide rpm range. Really any pipe works with what is listed above its just a matter of picking a pipe to match your ride style and terrain. My favorite is the Doppler as its got crazy top end and hits really hard but the low end is smooth. The Ninja G3 has better low end but winds out close to the Doppler top. Then if you are doing a ton o city riding the Leo Vince circuit has crazy low end and good kids but keeps you from winding out to far. (that was why it’s on Eric’s build, he rides to work most days).

So after some tweaking of the pipe mounting bracket and the M-bars from my MB5 (I’ll write about that’s eventually too no worries) this is where we were…

Add the electrics and tada! Red ripper number 2.

I was sorry to see her go but I knew Larry loved it so that was good and anyway I have too many mopeds 😛

Well as fate would have it Red came back. Larry had other projects he needed to fund (like a crazy general build that maybe I can sneak a few pika of) after getting the silly moped bug back in his blood so I bought Red back.

Now I know what you’re thinking, “you just said a few sentences ago that you had too many mopeds!?”. And you would be totally correct. So I sold the very TSM I was going to build for this blog…no yelling, let me explain!

I still love TSMs but my legs are short and sitting on a TSM makes me stand on my tip toes in a most undignified way. So I sold it to my friend Lindsay who is having me build it for her. See, I will be blogging about it and building it but it won’t be mine. I should of named this blog Lindsay’s TSM. If only I had a crystal ball.

Well that is all for now and I’ll be posting Red’s rebuild in a later post…let’s just say its a big engine and a clutch pulley and more silliness!

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!!!

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…