MOPED ARMY

Firstly imma Brit so my prices are different

But my first Puch Maxi was £140 needed a full rebuild.

At my latest invoice count I’m at around £1800 but my bike is quite fast and I’ve bought somethings more than once as I’ve developed the bike further and further.

I would think for around £100-150 you can rebuild a stock bike with an aftermarket crank and replace all the parts below and have a really reliable bike.

you’ve got everything that moves to replace plus seals, headset bearing, wheel bearings, tyres, tubes, cables (maxi has 4, speedo,starter, front and rear brake) crank, seals, sprockets, chains, gaskets, possibly brake pads and clutch pads also.

That’s before performance modifications.

but For £2-300 you could rebuild a maxi with a few performance parts and easily have a 40-45mph round city/town ripper!

Or for £1000+ a 60mph bike is possible

It really depends what you want and if you’re doing this hobby for yourself or to compete with the next guy a 25-30mph stock bike may be all you want.

I've managed to roughly break even. I kept very close track of expenses and incomes. buying, fixing and selling bikes to make the hobby work is possible. But only if you give your time no value. it is hobby. My main goal is entertainment, passing time w pals or whatever, vrsus I dunno whatever other dumb shit i'd waste time on.

Agreed .

I'd probably have to be pretty deep into racing or professional stunt ...

Yeah me too over the years, just breaking even pretty much/having the hobby pay for itself, wish it still was that way,

I’d buy and fix up a bike or two to sell every year, I used to love going to motorcycle/scooter shops, junkyards, swap meets to buy parts and stuff and sell it here on the forum or by word of the mouth for a reasonable price,

Even new stuff like a pipe I would try it out and if I didn’t like it I would sell it here on MA forum for less and gave shipped price, most times shipping price was more but I was always happy to see the parts getting used/peoples bikes running,

But lately I’ve made nothing/sell hardly anything, don’t go looking for anything to sell, it’s not worth it when I see people buy stuff from me and then resell it for double the price on fleeceBay or Gaglist or even back on MA forum whatever,

Cant buy things now for what I sold them for,

I have been totally blessed over the years with being able to buy small two cycle Motorcycles, Moped’s and parts for cheap or free and I’m thankful for that, I still got a few bikes and parts to play with, and anything I’ll sell, or give away it will be to people that I know that will use it not flip it,

Money is awful.

Don't chase money.

Chase experiences and learning.

Buy a few things then break them and learn. Then get used shit and play with it. Learn from your mistakes. Find garbage parts and adapt it to your bike. Garbage is free. It's knowledge that will save you from having to work to acquire money only to spend it on more garbage .

JBOT Rings true !

Money is just a tool to help you survive and gain experience and knowledge!

I would rather have my like new condition 66 telecaster, my telecaster custom, a 1965 fender Princeton reverb amp, sun bata bass head and 2-15” bottom, sure PA with two 6-10” cabinets which all were was totally clean and mint instead of money,

I would’ve rather kept my Kawasaki Enduro bikes G100, F7, F 11, or Kaw Big Horn other then money too,

Many cars too, 68 383 fury, 440 dodge Monaco cop car, 72 satellite Sebring plus, dodge RT, 72 Chevy Camaro, my 84 Bayliner boat with Chrysler 85 horsepower outboard as well as so many other bikes and guitars/equipment other than money,

There a still a few things that I owned most my life that I still have which may only be worth a few hundred dollars but to me are priceless!

Not to mention film pictures which nowadays pictures are worth nothing but back in the day pictures or super eight movies Were very expensive thing to have many of!

But you need money to provide for your family so in times lean so you got to sell what you got, Who cares about paper (well cloth paper) you can’t take it with you!

But like the T-shirt says “he who dies with the most toys wins” ha ha

I run my grandsons around the property,when it's dry. Maybe 90- 100 mpg. I think stock mufflers are quiet. Just my opinion.

Safety

Let's talk safety.

It is very refreshing to read the flood of excellent advice.

I am proud of this posting.

The old farts with tons of knowledge are waiting in line to help this young man.

This is what America is all about.

Now, if I could get you all to be San Francisco Giants fans, the world would be a better place.

I digress:

I am a bicycle rider with 70 years of experience.

Listen to me when I tell you how to deal with traffic.

You are very small out there.

Cars run in packs.

There are swarms of them...then there are none.

Pull to the side of the road when they approach.

Be patient.

Cars today roar by like they are being chased by then devil.

Let them go.

When the coast is clear, look twice in each direction.

Proceed. Enjoy your ride. Be amazed how these little machines give us so much pleasure.

Albert Einstein said you are either amazed by nothing or everything.

The magneto engineering has me completely astonished.

Hey Marin, I’m also newer to this Hobby and Im 21 so i know what it’s like being around your age and getting into this hobby on a realistic income for someone or age compared to being grown and having play money for everything.

Vintage Mopeds are definitely something that the older cats appreciate and it turns heads but it’s definitely not the cheapest hobby especially when finding parts I saved a Honda Hobbit a few months ago from being trashed in a Junk Yard for $50 and what I can tell you from what I learned being in this hobby for a few months is that things can get as expensive as you let them. For instance if you own a rarer moped, parts can sometimes become a pain just to even find the part and when you do they cost a ridiculous amount for a small bracket here or a Headlight there,

and if you are that type of person who likes to have every bell and whistle the bike came with when restoring, such as the plastic covers for the Honda hobbit like the horn cover, footrest, chain cover and belt cover can cost a good penny BUT you can always cut corners for cosmetics and save a lot of money BUT who doesn’t like a Kickass Looking Vintage Moped. I’ve restored a vintage Jetski and a BMW i drive everyday and out of both the forums I found for those two Vehicles neither one has been as helpful as the Old Heads on this forum. Lots of information on everything vintage Moped you could think of on here also try Treatland.com if you really can’t find parts there a weird company but do great business but carry some things you never think you would find for you bike. Good luck (Here’s a sneak peak of my Hobbit BEFORE and AFTER, It’s almost done) (edited)

I appreciate that, thank ya! And roughly with the paint, engine rebuild I did with gaskets as well and so forth, TJT Racing Variator, White wall tires, Finding a headlight that wasn’t destroyed now that wasn’t the easiest to find for the right price same thing with the Gas Tank just really good timing with a some guys parting out a few hobbits on the Buy + Sell Forum, the Decals as well everything roughly ran me $600 maybe $700 on the safe side

(I’m probably forgetting a few things) To nearly finish the bike and I’ve done everything myself to save money as well i finished this whole bike in less then a month only working on it on the weekends and if I wanted to truly finish it like I’m gonna I need to buy the Plastic Covers for the Belt and the Chain as well as the Foot Rest so we’re looking around $200 give or take just for those Cosmetic parts because the Foot Rest are hard to find now a days not destroyed. so I’ve put Roughly little under $1000 into it which seems like a lot but I love my project and to me having a 41 year old moped run and look New and having people ask me “Whats That?!” is something I enjoy and don’t mind spending a little extra money when i have it here and there the Key is everything in moderation if you can get parts little at a time since at our age we’re not making a 85K a year salary you know, you can buy a part here and there every Paycheck you can slowly start building up a bike piece by piece till you have a finished product not everything has to be bought at once unless you got the dough for it haha but if you need any help this website most likely has the answer to your question. (edited)

PA sucks for Moped fees. $120 to register and title. Ridiculous. Insurance is required, $75.00 Helmets not required, but recommended. Where in PA are you? If you are anywhere near Allentown, I'd be happy to meet up and help you out.

Cheers!

Lee

For me much of the appeal remains keeping it cheap and simple. If you own a more "substantial" motorcycle at the same time it helps in keeping perspective. A ride across town or twenty miles away are entirely different experiences whether on my puch or my BMW or my Honda civic. At one time I started down the path of more money more speed with the puch and began to realize I was losing that distinction that makes the moped a special joy. 30 miles from home on the puch. It's adventure. It's cheap cheap simple cheap tiny piston, barely a gearbox, no license, no insurance, cheap, .7 gal of gas and still enough to get home, cheap, light weight, cheap, go down alleyways, let cars pass cuz I'm in no goddamn hurry cheap cheap relaxing can't stop smiling cheap.

When I started to spend more to go faster some of this mostly inexplicable joy began to fade. Wtf am I doing in traffic now at 40+ mph? I have a perfectly good motorcycle at home for that. Fewer and fewer alleys and pathways and little off roads explored. Theres little put-putting torque left now that I've up geared the ratio and shit just fly's by in a blur now anyway. So of course, YMMV. I like anymore to keep the cheap ethos alive with the peds. For me the quest is to make the ride as reliable as possible for as little money as possible. And preserve what makes these glorified motorbicycles so basically fun.

What he said...

Bottle deposits to fuel a moped. As cheap goes, that's as close to putting up a sail and tacking your way along the road as I've heard yet

4 even if it's loud if you have consideration your neighbors will appreciate it like 9 to 9 as a general rule for ripping out of the house if you go any earlier or later cut off the engine and Coast in if possible or just shut off the engine and pedal it trust me in the long run it's worth it because they're your neighbors and they're not going anywhere