Pete and Laz

Pete and Laz
Yeah, Pete it's rough...but it's a runner.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

And now, a Moped intermission...

A while back I posted this moped
 It looks like a survey party has been through, and the cactus have grown  quite  a bit.
Decided to stop by and see if it was still there, and see what changes had happened in the garden. Caught my friend in the middle of yard work, sprucing up for a  visiting mother-in -law. Got to be tough to weed around those prickly cactii. He told me his daughter and boyfriend were looking for another moped, this moped thing seems to be catching on.

This moped caught my eye as I was driving by.
A cafe inspired moped.
An interesting double silencer equipped expansion chamber.
It said Moto Minarelli on the engine cover.


Looks like it would be a fun one to ride.




So SFB and Kawa , what have we here?  I'm assuming it is someones custom work . I did a quick web search and came up with pretty standard looking mopeds. With the K& N air filter, expansion chamber, seat and tank, and racing crouch bars, I am assuming this is a custom. Unfortunately the owner wasn't around to query. I'm wondering, do people race mopeds,well- other than street racing? Any way , presented for your viewing pleasure.

5 comments:

  1. Looks like a custom jobbie to me. I bet it's fun to ride. I feel I should recognise the tank but I can't quite place it. I've occasionally read about Funky Moped Racing but I think that's more of a casual doing-it-for-a larf sort of thing. I wouldn't be surprised if there were serious moped racers though. Some one has clearly put a lot of effort into that one. Very nice!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Not sure what its been built out of Larry, but it looks interesting... do I sense a new West Coast moped owner coming up?


    kawa

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh no, not another moped....well, at least it's not a Fantic Chopper!

    Actually I was intrigued by this as well due to the cafe racer influences....a Moto Minarelli....seem to remember reading that Minarelli motors were used in some wee trials bikes back in the 70s...Dalesman, Saracen or someone, can't quite remember at the mo.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'll have to see if I can catch the owner if I see that one again. I missed my chance to become a moped owner years ago. There used to be a fantastic salvage yard known as "The Gerber Dump". It was situated on several acres out on Gerber Road, out by the "Sacramento Raceway". The place had piles of bicycles that were 20 feet high and more. Mopeds and motorcycles too. Actually, just about a little of everything. The actual name of the place was B and E Salvage."Bennie" the owner had the sole salvage rights to the county dump for years, and then he got a deal on it later. Something about the county feeling bad for putting him out of business when they consolidated the dump business and shut him down. Anyhoo, the place was fantastic. A lot of the motorcycle stuff I have now comes from there. There were mopeds of all kinds out there. But I was too busy getting other things. I have plenty of small motorcycles that are close to being mopeds. I have a pushrod Honda 90, that is very moped like ('cept for pedals). A fleet of Honda 100's and 125's. A couple of XR-75's, that will make dandy pit-bikes. Who knows, if the right deal came along I might join the ranks of crazed moped owners...hmmmmm, maybe a Fantic Chopper?

    ReplyDelete
  5. If you're still wondering:

    http://pipeburn.squarespace.com/home/2012/7/2/motomatics-step-up-your-game.html

    ReplyDelete