Hello, Before the crazy electric bike phase we are currently going through in every city in the world, there was a Moped craze. It was around 1964 in So Cal. It took over So Cal communities like the current electric bicycle dangers we are all facing on every street in the USA. The little things are faster than just pedaling with the small motor. But, the pedals made the designation not a bicycle and not a real motorcycle. So, at the time, it was a faster way to get from one place to another. For us, riding around on a friend’s Moped on a hot Summer day was pretty cool…(pun intended.) But, there was always the fear of a normal size car or even a little VW running a light and blasting us off of the little wire wheel vehicle. For some, it was a bad omen to go between stopped cars, up to the front of stuck traffic. The drivers hated being in a “stuck” traffic area, and to see young folks scooting up the space between the lines of cars was not the most friendly of things to see or do. Jnaki One of my friends allowed me to use his Moped to cruise around Belmont Shore and all the way to Bixby Knolls. Now, that was our primary hot rod/cruising sedan locations. During the summer, nights, “out and about” was the thing to do and be seen. So, we are still alive and able to recollect those little moments that the under powered Mopeds actually were fun to ride. Dangerous, yes, but with the warm night time atmosphere, a simple faster way to get from one place to another. The nights we took off on the Mopeds were hot Summer nights. No helmet was required and t-shirts plus Levis were the mode of the day. Definitely shoes were necessary. Although there were some that wore sandals to keep up with the summer attire on short rides. When it was necessary to “fill up” it took only pocket change to have another hour or so of little bike fun. Did we pedal, well, the start up was always a pedaling situation and then hardly ever was the normal mode. Why pedal when we could go with some motor power? YRMV
The Jalopy Journal
