Who Rides a Moped?

[burnt_bean]

Re: Who Rides a Moped?

Last summer my g/f and I went to a Waikiki moped rental and decided to ride from Waikiki to Kaneohe through Waimanalo. Uhh... bad move. LMAO... we went through portlock and up the coast via Kalanianaole hwy. Comming down the side of Hanauma bay in 1 lane 2 way traffic at 5 pm, I was thinking, "This is a damn good reason to not have a moped". So as I'm stressing out and grinding into the guardrail, inches away from being runover or falling over the guardrail and off the cliffs, my girlfriend is just laughing her head off and "can't wait to grind @ Zippy's in Kaneohe". Having barely survived, we decided to put gas in Waimanalo riding on these cheap, BRIGHT YELLOW tourist mopeds getting the stink eye from all directions. We are getting near Kam hwy and I run over a machete on the side of the road which popped up and about cut me up. Bruised and bloody we get to Zippy's, and after my delicious double scoop chili and rice, I discover that my moped wont auto start. Kickstart is broke too. So I'm checking the oil; running over to Checkers and asking them for help; trying to call the rental guy for service but he's not answering cuz he sucks. So after an hour and a half of tweaking in the parking lot I get it kickstarted but its dark now. So, with the best idea of the day, my g/f decides to ride to her family's house 2 blocks away. After an hour of scorning and being made fun of, they let us stay the night, and load up the mopeds in the truck the next day(thanks Uncle Bulla). The best advice I got about mopeds.... "Mopeds are not safe on this island". I'm pretty sure they hate us now.

Don't think I'll ever ride one again.

[WindwardOahuRN]

Re: Who Rides a Moped?

I am printing out some of these replies for a friend of mine who is considering buying a moped.

Not that my telling him that we had yet another moped rider brought in after being creamed does any good. I waved Tony Ching's accident in his face too. He thinks I'm just a nervous Nellie.

[brianca]

Re: Who Rides a Moped?

I'll be riding a moped from hawaii kai to town in a week or so for my commute. hawaii is mecca for tweakers, and there is a huge, very active community of riders here. it's possible that I'll step up to a scooter or a motorcycle, but I really like the idea of being able to use the bike lane, so it'll probably stay a moped.

I've talked to several people making the same trip recently, and they are all glad they made the switch to the moped for the trip in to work. they all had stories of bad drivers, but nothing too serious.

I'm hopefull it'll work out well.

[WindwardOahuRN]

Re: Who Rides a Moped?

I'll be riding a moped from hawaii kai to town in a week or so for my commute. hawaii is mecca for tweakers, and there is a huge, very active community of riders here.

Good luck to you.

Side note: You might want to rethink your use of the word "tweakers."

I don't know what your intended meaning of the word is but here, it's synonymous with a user of methamphetamines. And yeah, Hawaii is a bit of a mecca for tweakers but I fail to see how it relates to the questionable joys and benefits of riding a moped.

Tweakers are people who shouldn't be on the road using any form of transportation, especially not a Fisher-Price donor-cycle.

[GeckoGeek]

Re: Who Rides a Moped?

I don't know what your intended meaning of the word is ...

Probably talking about guys who like to mod their moped for more power or at least to make it cooler.

[brianca]

Re: Who Rides a Moped?

yeppers. tweaking on their rides. making the go faster or accelerate faster. lots of after market parts for the mopeds here.

for more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tweaking

[WindwardOahuRN]

Re: Who Rides a Moped?

Oh. So you're talking about modifying the moped? I thought that was illegal, considering the presence of mopeds on bike lanes.

[Palolo Joe]

Re: Who Rides a Moped?

Oh. So you're talking about modifying the moped? I thought that was illegal, considering the presence of mopeds on bike lanes.

I'm pretty sure the moped riders who modify their rides don't use the bike lanes...

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: Who Rides a Moped?

Oh. So you're talking about modifying the moped? I thought that was illegal, considering the presence of mopeds on bike lanes.

It is. But I suspect that won't stop her.

Motor: maximum two horsepower (one thousand four hundred ninety-two watts, or a maximum of 50 cubic centimeters displacement); may not be modified to increase power. (link)

[WindwardOahuRN]

Re: Who Rides a Moped?

I'm pretty sure the moped riders who modify their rides don't use the bike lanes...

I'm thinking they might if traffic is heavy.

[WindwardOahuRN]

Re: Who Rides a Moped?

It is. But I suspect that won't stop her.

I see a bit of a fine might be involved:

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscur...0291C-0206.htm

[brianca]

Re: Who Rides a Moped?

What's legal and not depends on what you do to it. There are plenty of mods that will improve performance without increasing the power of the engine.

When modified for performance they become a motor scooter rather than a moped and are basically required to follow the same laws as motorcycles.

[Palolo Joe]

Re: Who Rides a Moped?

I'm thinking they might if traffic is heavy.

Nope. The majority just weave in and out of traffic. I personally hate it, but it's a fact of life on Oahu's roads. And it's probably part of the reason you see so many people brought in for treatment.

I see a bit of a fine might be involved:

There's a phrase that comes to mind: "It ain't cheating unless you get caught."

The last moped I owned got modified as soon as I bought it. Had it for about a year and half before it got stolen. Never got hassled by the police.

[WindwardOahuRN]

Re: Who Rides a Moped?

What's legal and not depends on what you do to it. There are plenty of mods that will improve performance without increasing the power of the engine.

When modified for performance they become a motor scooter rather than a moped and are basically required to follow the same laws as motorcycles.

They don't become motor scooters.

They become illegally modified mopeds.

[brianca]

Re: Who Rides a Moped?

There's a phrase that comes to mind: "It ain't cheating unless you get caught."

Heh. That's certainly true of the guys running big bore kits and whatnot. The only problem they run into that I've seen is when they get clocked going too fast for a moped.

I'm more talking about simple mods to increase acceleration and torque, but not horsepower. Taking 20 seconds to get up to 40mph won't cut it. that's what I'd be trying to cut down on. A lot of the mods you can do for torque actually cost you top end power so your top speed is slower, but you get there faster. I don't really have any interest in doing 50-60mph on a moped. It's nice to know that those resources are here if I ever want to use them, but I can't see doing that stuff to my ride. I'll just get a motorcycle if I need the speed more than I need access to bike lanes.