The things you see working at a moped shop. + Moby Turbo kit pipe, Demm Smily head options,

So I finally got around to posting some random M.O.P.E.D. photos, my lightroom has been screwed up for the last month but I finally figured it out.  It's interesting working at a shop because you see tons of weird fixes, modifications and personal stylings. I really enjoy working on all types of bikes that I wouldnt have access to without the shop. Sometimes you just need to do a tune-up on a sweet Batavus to remind yourself why mopeds rule.  Here are some pics from around the shop.

 Focus..... Warbux magnum came through and made me think of the older days of Chicago moped shops.

 An interesting boost port modification. 

Some times I leave little notes for people.

Which way does this huge arrow go!~?

 "yea it runs, just need it jetted" Also look at that petcock a centimeter away from the carb haha.

 One of our favorite customers got in a fender bender.

 We got it sorted out.

Motion Left Relics from the past.

 Moped Trivia: NAME THAT PART!!!!

 Got to install a Motobecane Turbo Kit side bleed pipe.

The rear pipe mount on the engine cases took some fiddling but it ended up mounting fine.

 I had to remove the kickstand and hack the mount for the pipe to not rub while fully variated. 

So I was VERY excited to finally work on a derny bike. The gentleman who inquired about getting it worked on was relieved we actually knew what it was. If you dont know, a derny bike is a E50 powered (usually) pace setting bike for the Velodrome races. Check out videos of the racers drafting them, it's cool. BTW this bike has a throttle dial and is completely fixed gear, it was fun to ride. The fellow who brought it in said "Mr. Bianchi....imported this from Germany" Idk how true that is, but it was exciting to have in the shop. 

Puch E50, 21mm PHGB, 80cc Metra kit and a pipe that doesnt exactly perform at all. I installed a condenser and this came with no lighting coil, pretty sweet. 

 Bonus funny Derny bike video, the Thin Lizzy and radness starts at 1:05.

 A BEAUTIFUL 1986 General 5 star came through the shop recently. We installed an 80cc Polini, 15:15 SHA, and a Zen pipe. It was almost a shame because of how everything on the bike was pristine. 

 Next was some funky Sachs fixes we saw. This guy gets A for effort and working with what he had. 

 What a very nice homemade Sachs transmission cover.

So I picked up a Demm Smily for cheap cheap and had to address a few issues. First the piston was gone so I grabbed a stock 38mm Minarelli V1 piston and threw it in. Secondly the head was stripped out and after a failed helicoil attempt, I went and dug in my parts pile. I found that Tomos and Puch stud pattern was a direct fit with the Demm. Out of all the Tomos and Puch heads the Tomos A3 seemed to be the most similar in size and looks to the stock Demm cylinder. The only issue was the head was too thick and the cylinder studs barely stuck through the holes in the head.  I just took the head to a drill press and drilled the holes to be more shallow. With all that done, I ran a stock puch head gasket and it works great. I sold the bike to my neighbor and he has been ripping hard on it. Demms are such fun little stock bikes, everyone should have one for going to garage sales on.

Derbi T.A.T. Build start and Derbi Piston port differences.

Soooo if you havent heard, a bunch of us are doing the Trans American Trail on Derbis.  The idea was thought up by Blk Blk Shawn L and its a pretty rad concept. The trail spans from Tennessee to Oregon and its mostly off road. Check out the site Here! and like or donate if you'd like, anything helps. Lots of rad dudes are working together to make this happen! This isnt limited only to Derbis but we thought it would be rad to all ride the same bikes and to coordinate tools and parts between us. If you want to join, that would be rad! 

So I tracked down a 1979 Derbi T.T. for my T.A.T. bike. It was completely seized and pretty shitty when I got it. What a better bike to destroy....right? 

Ive been doing some thinking and I can only afford to take a couple weeks off at the shop. So Im planning on just doing the trail up to Denver so the shop doesnt get too far behind. With all the discussion between us planning on going there are some very modified bikes in the works. My bike is going to be sort of an experiment/test of the stock components of a Derbi.  I am planning on riding a completely stock Derbi other than pipe, gearing, and frame mods. That means 12:12 Dellorto sha, stock top end, all the goodies! I am such a fan of stock bikes and I really feel like gas mileage is going to play a big part in this ride. The T.T. has a stock 1 gallon tank and I recently purchased a sweet Acerbis front fork tank that carries 1.3 gallons ($40 shipped ebay!). 

I need to convert the Acerbis tank from siphon fed to having a petcock, but that shouldnt be too hard.  So 2.3 gallons and a 12:12 should get me a ways down the trail. I just worry about people using kits and large carbs because we all know how off and on throttle kills mileage.  

Im rebuilding the engine right now and trying to salvage any stock parts possible. Got lots of ideas about this bike! Everyone is coming up with super rad ideas for their bikes, its inspiring.  Anyways stay tuned for some dumb offroad stock Derbi updates.

Next: DERBI ENGINESSS

Ive been wanting to posts pics of Derbi PP differences for a while. I finally have 2 piston port engines off bikes and next to each other.  As you may know some Derbis (Laguna Sport / RD-50 / C-5 Diablo) came with tubular cradle frames and some came with stamped step through frames (SLE / T.T. / SL). All of these models came with either piston port or pyramid reed engines depending on the year.

 Well the engines that came on the tube framed models have a few differences than the ones that came on the step through frames. The differences were for clearance and mounting issues, check these pics. 

Step through frame

 Engine uses 3 mounts, one top front, one top rear, and one bottom rear, just like how most traditional moped engines bolt up to a frame.

Tubular frame

Uses 3 mounts as well. one top rear, one bottom rear, and one bottom front. It's hard to see the bottom front with this photo. See how the top front mount isnt used and doesnt even come with motor mount bushing in it. If you used this engine on a step through frame, you would have to figure out a solution for the front motor mount bushing being absent. Also note how close the head fins are to the frame.

  

 Left: Step through PP engine. Right: Tube frame PP engine.

Look at the engine studs on this tubular frame style PP engine. They only stick 1 and 3/4 inches out of the case compared to the 4 inches the engine studs stick out of the step through style PP engine. It is designed this way so you can remove the head and cylinder with very little clearance room of the tubular frame. Food for thought for anyone experiencing clearance issues on a custom build. Also note the 2 bolts under the crank case, those are the front engine mounts for this engine. 

Left: Step through style PP cylinder. Right: Tubular frame style PP cylinder. 

 The reason the right cylinder has large holes is because the engine nuts are 3 inches long because of clearance issues with the frame. 

 Tubular frame style Derbi head.  This is one of the 3 inch deep engine nuts for holding the head and cylinder on.  Dont lose these!!!!! Important!!! Notice the large holes for the large nut. 

 Traditional step through frame style PP head. <--- long title. Regular sized holes for engine studs. 

So if you have a random Derbi engine or are doing an engine swap, hopefully this can help you identify you engine or plan ahead for a build. Freaks.

Below is a random Derbi discovery. A stock v1 ring works as the bottom ring on a stock Derbi piston.  Who knew?!

Rando photos of the week + CMON Atomic, really?

Just a week at the shop and snapped some photos of what i thought was rad/dumb.

 Puch Newport with auto start (no starter clutch) and oil injection.

 Oil reservoir. .

 Injector.

 Really though, what color are these? silver? light pink? light purple?

 Cmon dude, take some pride in your first puch. 

More Atomic ZA50 oil injection plugs came in today. Not stoked at all on these. They hand made and you can totally tell. The only time I could ever see these coming in useful is in a shop setting where its easier to just pop one on in 5 mins instead of making one and taking 30 mins all together. I would never use these at home. Atomic makes some good products but these and the puch center stand spacers are pretty poor quality. See them here, not worth $10 IMO https://www.treatland.tv/puch-za50-oil-injection-block-off-plate-p/atomic-za50-oil-plate.htm. The gasket it comes with is nice +1.

 My fav noped! 1986 Suzuki shuttle (FA50) in Lilac with white seat. So hot.

HEY LOOK GASKET GLASSES! HAPPY DUDE YEAR.

Ciao Welding and INDIAN MOPED!

Building a Chicago based Ciao loaner for my gang members to use at near by rallies or around town. Its a slow build because its a some what free build. The frame was given to me from Sam Mckay and has been in Blk Blk for some time. Willie used to own it and ran a reed kit on it, you can see the subframe section cut out for the intake. Have a Pinasco 75cc kit and a few other goodies lined up for this thing. It already has the Malossi 8.8 to 1 gears in the rear transmission wooo! Look at those horrible welds!!! The coolest part of being in Blk Blk is spraying black over all the fuck ups in a build.

Used this haggard maxi seat to soften the blows.

So YEA!!! Finally got this sweet Indian moped off of HNRZ Elyse for free! She needed room in her garage and I feel like I'm the only person in Chicago that wants one. It came with no wheels but I had these Indian mags set away in my pile. Of course they were missing the brake hubs and axles but i found 1 compatible set, just gotta find another. I'm super stoked on this thing for real!!!! Picture me rollin!! Who wants an Indian loaner!!???????

 COT DAMN!

 Paint job is so WHET.

 Guys you know what this means right?! It goes atleast 24mph!

 Chief Keef

 Got my fork lock functioning so I can park right out front of the Smash Mouth concert with confidence.

 ELECTRIC START?!?!

 Not original.

 Rack for Big K's

 Came with a couple extra gears for trail riding.

 Cleanish.

 I am absolutely addicted to mineral water....more specifically, TOPO CHICO.

Is that not the most insane emblem for a drink youve ever seen? AN INDIAN DRINKING LIKE ENCINO MAN OUT OF A RIVER. hahahha!