Longer ago than I care to remember, I was given a 1978 Puch Newport
moped (say “Pook”). I said I don’t care to remember because like a lot of
things in my life, it became a project “I will get to someday” … (Let me
apologize in advance to whoever it is that administers my estate sale). It
chased me through a couple of garages yet somehow always found its way to the
back, where it would sit and sulk, gathering more patina.
About the time the eldest son was starting to drive, he thought
the poor-man’s motorcycle would be cool to have running. He saw it as a
bicycle, but faster. He and I both have fond recollection of beating the
corroded carburetor apart and trying to sort-out the rest of the fuel system, all
in 100-degree heat while being chomped on by mosquitos (they were THICK, like a
scene from an Alfred Hitchcock movie). We did get it to sputter and cough on starting
fluid, but the 40-year-old Bing carburetor wasn’t drawing fuel, so we couldn’t
keep it running.
It languished once more, going back to the rear of the garage to gather
more rust, until 3-years later the same kid bought a 25-year-old Lexus LS-400. Antique
Lexi have things going for them (remarkably tough), but fuel economy didn’t
appear to be one of them. He pulled out the Puch and got busy ordering tires
and other parts. I remember coming home and seeing him in the driveway
wrestling a new carburetor onto it. He pulled me in on the job, and after some massaging
and more starting fluid we managed to get it to running, but it sputtered and
coughed like it had COPD. We persisted and eventually got it dialed-in, it was running
pretty well and making more power all the time. But it didn’t take the progeny
long to realize that we were messing with a 25MPH machine, so he rapidly lost
interest and having money saved up, bought a Honda Ruckus.
So, yours truly now had a decent running, complete but ugly 1978
Puch Newport moped. I continue to piddle with it every so often, trying to
improve its performance and dependability. It will now bury the 30 MPH speedometer
if the wind is out of the right direction, and seems to start with ease. And in
my Puching around I’ve remembered what drew me to motorcycles in my late teens;
the feel of the air rushing over you, making even hot days feel cool, and the
immediacy of the road in front of you.
It’s dependable enough now that I routinely use it for running
errands. It has the stylin’ book-rack thingy with the spring-clip on back, so picking
up a few sundries at the grocery store is a realistic endeavor. Since it’s resurrection
I believe I’ve put about 180 miles on it, and this with a mere 1-1/3 gallon of
gas. So yes, internal combustion vehicles can get over 100 MPG (over 120 even!).
And it’s also cool not having to hunt and fight for a parking space in our
local shopping district. I just ride straight up to the bike rack and jump off.
Bonus: in this state, actual Mopeds don’t require registration or a motorcycle license,
but are simply a “motorized bicycle”. Yes, it is.
Crude, simple, effective and economical. I’d never ridden one
before, but I can see now why these things swarmed all over Europe after WWII,
all over domestic college campuses after the oil-embargo in the early 70’s and
all over SE Asian countries (Laos, Cambodia, etc.) yet today.
Your basic ‘get’er-done vehicle. If your needs are simple, what’s
not to like?
© 2017 D.W. Williams
