MOPED ARMY

First moped:

Maxi, 100%. And I really don't care for Maxi's at all.

If you don't like the real hydro suspension and disk brake, you are a loon, but you could always swap to standard maxi gear with someone else's take-offs.

Batavus is slow and underwhelming.

Garelli is plagued with crumby rubber clutches.

Slow gets hard to deal with after a bit, getting run off the road sucks, just something to think about unless you live in the boonies, traffic really moves these days, and you better keep up. Puch, were it my choice, and I don't like them, but tons of parts to get them going realistic speeds.

Have fun with the electrical abominations too. Stock wiring has been hacked with 8 AA batteries and switches. I'm just not feeling it for no $700 sorry. (edited)

https://www.mopedarmy.com/forums/read.php?1,4261587,4261587,flat=1#msg-4261587

The maxi's thread on this forum.

How about $600? (may be able to bring him down in price a bit): https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2543420765786784/

I've been there looking for my first. I did what they said NOT to do. I bought a non running a35 Tomos that looked good, had new tires and was more or less complete for less than $300. A slightly tatty Tomos or Puch would be a good pace to start due to support and parts being plentiful. Unless you love Jawa or something else that has limited support and are skilled enough for the challenge. (edited)

What part of Grand Rapids are you from ? (edited)

Ha . We lived on Northlawn a couple blocks North of Fatboy's for 17 years .

That 2nd one he showed for $600 was a nice stock one. That's the one I recommended getting. There's 2 different puchs we're talking about here

Thanks for all the good advice. I'm looking at the $600 Puch I think. Seems like the best bet for right now

wow...awesome conversation 2020....best advise.....we can be lucky, and score a bike thats unmolested loved, and ridden, and ridden some more with zero issues stock. understanding the limitations of the engineering is key...ya wanna ride fast with zero issues? buy a motorcycle.....puch like a derbi they wanna run. puch's dont break like derbi's. they a whole nubba lebbel.......ps love my garelli's ride, but garelli can be problem children, and its all about rubber clutch/parts. outside that bombproof, and a sweet ride.....notice no minarelli mention. i'll be keeping that to myself..haha...they make up the other half of my hoard...My 2 cents

From top to bottom in your original post the links are: Puch, Batavus and Garelli. A Batavus is NOT a Puch. (edited)

That looks respectable and complete other than needing mirrors. Ask for some kind of proof or documentation of rebuilt motor. Anyone can say anything.