got me one of these again. this one is going to be a quick bike when done, but itll move my big ass. ive restored a few of these before, even took one cross country this should be fun...
Wardie ran one 650+ miles in 24 hours on the LakeErieLoop a while back, It was the Tomos version with a top tank. Unbelievable what he put it through.
Hey?!?! Where did that thing come from? I've never seen them before! I know about the Puch ones, but is this Hustler something different, a different year, different model? They look really cool. Really classic "bike" lines. Please tell me you're gonna throw 15-20Hp at the thing.......
let me answer a few questions quickly. the bike i took Xcountry was a tomos ST that was only modified with a new exhaust pipe and rejetted carb. later on it got an H4 headlight "upgrade" (still couldnt see shit). you started it by kicking it back like a motorcycle, but you were using the bike pedals. it would run up to 40+, but cruised around 30-35 (depending on the gear) the Puch that i restored you started by pedaling your ass off then pulling in a clutch, basically compression starting it. that particular one got a bullet headlight and completely rewired with a good pipe. itd hit 40 on a good day, but did around 30 with only minor mods. and the blue one, the "hustler" is an old Tomos with the A3 motor. i just added the name for shits because its such a small, absurd bike. its going to hit around 55 when im done, but that obviously wont be stock. going to throw a 70cc kit on it (actually, im hoping a 74cc kit and get to 60)
I have a 1977 Puch with 24,000 miles. I bought it new, and all the miles are mine. It has the ZA50 2 speed engine, and would climb anything. I have owned about 6 mopeds total, including Tomos, Peugeot, and Motobecane. I sold a Tomos A35 a couple of years ago, it had custom made decals on the tank that said "death wish" Pretty much what riding a moped is all about. They worked fairly well back in the '70s, but with todays traffic, much higher speed limits, and most drivers on cell phones, they are suicide machines. In town a moped will get you killed faster than a Hayabusa.
Why, no, no; it won't. I'm not dead. 61,101,405,682,551 moped riders are not dead. Now some, of course, are, but this begs the question: are the incident rates for mopeds significantly greater than for other PTWs? In towns or elsewhere? As we advance in age, and in bodily infirmity, our imaginations may expand, and amplify the (admittedly) inherent dangers that seemed less real, less immanent than they did when we were younger, more fit, hale, limber, and of greater stamina. Visualizations of gory mishap may begin to loom, unbidden and large, and take on dimensions of inevitability that they do not have. And if reaction and response times, focus, physical strength are not what they once were, we may lose confidence, may think that the arena has changed, and not ourselves. I see a great deal of posts on the matter, but I for one have never been threatened, assaulted, or harassed when riding the public streets on a 50cc moped or scooter, and I think that this is because on most local streets and roads here, the volume of traffic and consequent clogged pace keeps speeds very low. Except for highways and high-speed cross-county roads, it doesn't matter how many CCs or horsepower you got - you can't travel any faster than me. I will routinely beat autos off the line at lights; I hold no one up, I impede nothing. You may well live in a different sort of place where drivers and riders are more aggressive, more feral, more prone to psychotic episode than here but the real danger in my area is and continues to be distraction and inattentiveness of cagers. Hyperbolic generalizations not supported by fact - that this class or that class of PTW must, will result in your death due sheerly to a particular type of bike alone are unwarranted. If that were in any way true, we'd all be riding alone in empty pastures.
I actually think Hayabusa's ARE dangerous, and are only to be played with at your peril. If you have the front up in the air on a scoot while riding down the road, the front wheel and guard are sensibly skinny, allowing a reasonable view. When a Busa has it's nose in the air, the front wheel/brake/guard assembly, and that bloody great fairing. is wide enough to block half the highway. I personally think the designers should be brought to task on what is obviously a safety issue.
nice peds i had two tomos bullets have a puch maxi ska executive now, rare model. kick start version of the E50 motor. dont know why people think it is amazing that these can do a lot of miles. simplest engines ever. like 3 moving parts. not much to go wrong! most faults are caused by people not leaving them alone lol
and you love it, Dave; you know know you do An interesting point. I once heard Tom and Ray Magliozzi, the Tappet Brothers, rage at length about the sheer irresponsibility of manufacturers, in an age of petroleum shotage and safety concerns, putting 300+ horsepower in light plastic-bodied production cars and bragging about it. They were objectively correct, of course, but GM, Ford, et al, are only filling market sector desires: lotsa people want and will pay a premium for cars that cannot be legally or even safely driven to anything near their capabilities; the heart wants what the heart wants. Inherent lethality? The single most lethal production vehicle ever made is the Chevrolet Camaro IROC Z28 (that's for Philistines, of course; my preferred Nutso, No-Justification-Whatsoever car is the Subaru WRX). But this is all the other end of the stick: not native slowness, but built-in excess incontinently used that gets people killed. That is not the fault or design flaw of the machine - it's the nut holding the wheel. Well damnmyeyes if I ain't done another threadjack.
HAHA! Just to keep him safe right? I like these little things. My uncle had one when I was a little bloke. I remember sitting on the carry rack behind him as he rode to the shops, waving at the girls (he was 16). That "Hustler" does have nice lines, looks great.
