Picked up a pair of puch maxis recently, both off the road for 5++ years. Haven't had a moped in awhile (3 or 4 years), but seemed like a fun and cheap project for the winter.
The forks on the first were shot completely, so instead of buying a new set of the crumby puch ones, or the $$$ upgrades, I installed the forks from a 1974 Honda CB125s that I had bought for some engine parts, put new fork seals on them, rebuilt the front mechanical disc brake, and installed them. Required about 10mm of spacing on the triple tree. I also put the CB rear shocks on, though I need to make some better bushings. They only dropped the swingarm by a few mm, whereas the forks were a few cm longer, so it has a little bit of an upright, 80's UJM look. Figuring that a beefy moped should be used for adventure, I installed some ammo cans, reupholstered the ripped seat with waterproof canvas, which I had around for making bicycle panniers last year and made a tank bag (with an old bicycle cruiser tube at the top). Was thinking of installing a couple PVC fishing rod holders in back next.
With the increased height, the puch center stand doesn't reach the ground. I think when its a little warmer, I'll cut and weld an extra inch into it.
Still haven't wired it up. I'm thinking two systems - the moped one for the coil and a 12V one with a battery in the ammo can (or two) for the headlight, taillight, blinkers, and horn. I guess I'll have to make the 12V one not grounded (since the motor one will be grounded), but the circuits will be simple. I've got lots of switches, courtesy of the CB handlebars.
Would love to upgrade the engine/pipe/ignition, but not sure I can justify the expense (haven't had to buy anything new besides the fork seals - $6, cheap ebay universal blinkers -$15, ebay brake levers - $8, and a new petcock, $15 and I need to get a headlight). Maybe once I see how it rides, too cold for riding now here, but next week maybe... I have a knobby tire for the front, need to get one for the back.
Its a heavy bike, but I'm pretty skinny (150), so I think it should be able to handle it and it'll be nice for the dirt road that I live on - better than the stock forks, I'd imagine. Once I load fishing/camping stuff on, it'll probably be pretty slow, but that's alright.
I'm terrible at project photos or build threads (started a couple on a motorcycle forum, finished the projects without taking a single photo), but will try to be better.
Any thoughts from moped folks would be appreciated. I had a stock, terribly rusty maxi awhile back that I rode for a year or so, but I don't have a whole lot of moped experience.
