MOPED ARMY

Congratulations on getting your moped back.

I went through the same headaches when I got mine back last year:

- ignition switch broken off

- front wheel had been replaced with a BMX wheel (they apparently had destroyed the original one)

- Light switch was ripped off

- Reflectors were broken off all over the bike

- The throttle cable had obviously broken and been replaced incorrectly

- Handle bars were bent

Don't be surprised about the police not noticing. When I caught the kids riding mine around they weren't wearing helmets (which is illegal here), they were under 16 and didn't have driver's licenses (which is also illegal), it had no license plate (which is illegal), the cops knew they these kids by name (and knew they were crooked) and they were riding around on one of the busiest streets in the neighborhood where cops go by all the time. In the two weeks they had it, they had obviously never been pulled over. The cop I spoke with to report the theft didn't even know what a moped was!

You'll get it running. The punk kid(s) who stole it, ran it hard until it stopped working and then gave up on it.

It is nearly impossible to permanently kill a moped.

Chris.

Yeah, my friends had their mopeds stolen a couple of weeks ago. They had pretty beefy cable locks and some punk kids still sawed through them and took the mopeds right off the porch!! A few days later, my friend was walking down the street and noticed his Yellow Batavus Top Tank stashed in the bushes. Everything was okay with just a few things broken. I now lock both my Mopeds with U-Locks and am still nervous about them being stolen...

REPOST (Older Post pasted here)

Hereya go folks, gadgets to make sure your ped stays YOURS.

http://www.cpcares.com/FMxmtr.html

No Reccommendation.

http://www.electronic-kits-and-projects.com/fm_transmitters.htm

http://www.electronic-kits-and-projects.com/surveillance_bugs.htm

http://www.electronic-kits-and-projects.com/car_motorbike.htm

Bunch of sneaky Brits, but good at it, this is more complex stuff.

http://www.amazing1.com/security2.htm

Model # TT7K is a personal Fav, $40.00 worth of real security.

Page three also has a handy thing fer keepin hands OFF yer 'ped.

http://www.amazing1.com/security3.htm

I use Model # Charge1K myself, but it's a bit, umm..extreme for campus use.

Alarms are prettymuch ignored in this day and age of car alarms, tracking devices are much handier, most moped thieves don't go far....and as for preventing vandalism one of those zappers does a nice job of keeping hands off.

(Pity the doggie that lifted a leg on my ped a couple nights ago, but then, that's why they have leash laws..)

You shouldn't use common chain, it's just too easy to bust, I reccommend heavy aircraft or elevator cable (home depot has it !) and a pin-across lock, which looks like this.

||---||||||||||||

||---||||||||||||

|||||||||||||||||

|||||||||||||||||

But on-campus the most effective defense of yer wheels is an "example" or two of what happens to folks who mess with your moped...a little of that will go a long way.

-Ree

I got two "new to me" pedals and shafts off of an old ten-speed that I bought for parts. They are a bit bigger then the original pedals, but so long as I remember to rotate the pedals so that the pedal facing the turn is "up," that shouldn't be a problem. Cost--$5.00

I replaced the ignition switch with a kill switch. I got the kill switch going through the hole in the spedometer housing where the old ignition switch went; however, I am thinking about disconecting that from the wiring but leaving the switch as a "decoy" and putting the true kill switch in a more remote location of the bike; but, haven't decided on that yet...

The bike still runs like crap, I've got spark and good fuel flow... I cleaned the plug [which was filthy despite only being a couple of weeks old] and drained the gas tank just in case the thieves had put something in it out of spite [or stupidity], so I am thinking that it is either the carb or the timing, but haven't got it nailed down past that yet.

Thanks for all the help and I'll keep you posted...

Kyle

P.S. The punks in question managed to cut through a heavy cable lock, I am looking at possible getting a Krypton U-Lock, but haven't decided on a new lock yet....

I'm not surprised about the kill switch being open = run / closed = kill. A kill switch actually grounds the live end of the spark plug so that sparks will not happen any more.

How is your compression? If they ran straight gas through the thing, they might have worn out your rings or cylinder or piston or wristpin or bearings. The best way of testing is to head to the nearest mechanic and borrow one for the sixty seconds it'lll take to test (assuming you do not own a compression tester already). This will <b>really</b> help in diagnosing what is wrong!

Chris.

I just bought a Kryptonite U-Lock after all this discussion. The nice feature about it is that it is a combo lock, instead of a key. Its so nice to not have to carry a key around everywhere. The one downfall though is if you are in a super dark spot, its kinda hard to see the numbers. Kryptonite also sells a really thick cable that works with the U-Lock so one can thread the u-lock between the forks and the wheel and then connect the cable around a post or something.

Rob

But, I like extreme....<<

Just remember that you'll need to mount a small 12v battery to power that model, cause a Targa doesn't have a battery, normally.

I plan to take mine off afore headin to BBQ4...I don't wanna fry you folks.

-Ree

i personally like the vigilante aspect of the moped army ... so hunting down moped theives is exciting. of course ... you often end up w/ a severely damaged moped in the end ... so perhaps deterence is much better than vengeance. especially if vengeance will lead to future retaliations ...