7 posts tagged “mopeds”
Fall riding went quickly and before long I will be sliding around on ice and snow. I can't wait! I still use my moped daily for transportation whether it's for class or work. Weekly rides with the Bropeds fell apart after our Rally in AUGUST. So pretty much no rides outside of town. Dallas and Kate, the founders of the Bropeds broke up a while back and its really effected the gang. Dallas used Kate's garage for the hangout, but now he's drifting through Bloomington and Kate's onto other things. I have tried myself to get everyone together, but too few have the same passion that I have. It's a shame, but I have to admit the Bropeds have seen much better days. Now onto my bikes. I have modded my Pintomos to house a double seat which has already toted Jenn and I back and forth a few times. It's a strong daily runner and I have put hundreds of miles on it. Jenn's moped is currently resting for the Winter and will probably go into hibernation sometime this week. My dad's Tomos is running great, I was able to check it out last weekend. His Puch Magnum is also running well, though it still needs somethings to make it a torque monster. I really want to pursue the Magnum, but my budget is tight and winter is approaching. Maybe Christmas break will bring new parts/toys to the fleet. Right now between the family we have 5 mopeds, 3 currently running. Not bad, not bad....
Today I received two FREE mopeds from a fellow mopeder who lives near Indy. He had grown tired of them and just didn't have the time or space. He offered them to anyone down in Bloomington since he had ridden with us a few times and knew we were hard core. I was super excited when he drove down and actually dropped them off at my front door! So now I have two 1979 Columbias. They both have German made engines branded "Solo" and should be running in the near future. I'm super excited for three reasons: First, free mopeds! Second, I can fix them and possibly get more riders for our group. Thirdly, I can sell them and finally get that 37 inch LCD tv I have wanted! Man I'm totally stoked!
So a couple of weeks ago my car battery died before Easter weekend. It was a bad fuel cell and luckily for me my father was kind enough to lend me his credit card. So after hauling a 50lb battery across town I thought that was it for my super nice 2000 Honda Accord. I was wrong. This morning I woke up to find my front driver's side tire was flat. I was dumbstruck, what luck! Again thanks to my father's superior knowledge of how the world works I was able to contact AAA and have them put on the spare. So now I'm on the lookout for a tire place that can patch a hole. I am still able to make it to work and school thanks to my mopeds, so for all those non believers, it's time to buy one. I currently have 3 running mopeds, so I can mix it up a little during the week. Thank god for Mopeds!
Over the past few weeks I have been helping a buddy of mine tune his recently kitted Puch Cobra. While I enjoy helping others tune/fix mopeds, it made me want to work on mine a bit. So last night I took apart my Tomos top-end to find massive amounts of buildup and rust in the exhaust. I spent about an hour cleaning it and will hopefully finish up tonight. This little cleanup should provide me with a bit of a boost and overall better performance. This upcoming weekend I will be coming home to visit family for the holiday. I will be wrenching mopeds with my father and possibly bringing one moped home to store for summer.
Here in Bloomington it has been 70 and sunny for the past few days. Jenn and I have been on several rides already and even went on a group ride with the Bropeds this past weekend. Everything on her Moby is working correctly and is good to go for the upcoming Louisville Rally. My moped not so much. I snapped the throttle assembly last weekend and had to JB weld it back together. It seems to be holding O.K., but I went ahead and ordered a new one. It happened on the night we went out with the Bropeds. About a mile outside of campus my throttle handle broke and to make matters worse I had to switch my gas tank to reserve. I made it to Dallas' garage, but barely before running out of gas. He gave me enough to get home. That night I tried fixing my handle without the JB weld to no success. Once I got the stuff it took me 4 tries and a screw to hold it in place. I will upload a picture of it later.
Jenn and I are becoming official Bropeds/Hopeds this weekend. It just so happens Little 500 is going on too and we have to stay away from all the cops. We are not 100% sure of what we have to do, but I know there is a scavenger hunt. Oh boy! I will upload some photos today of what everyone is riding in the Bropeds.