A Brief History Of Hawaii's Moped Scene

This is a brief history of Hawaii's moped scene told through my personal recollections, experiences, and stories throughout the years.  This post's perspective is bias towards Puch mopeds because that was the model I grew up with.

Back in the early 80's, Puch mopeds ruled the streets of Hawaii.  Puch riders used a lot of ingenuity to make their mopeds fast.  They would modify them by boring, porting, polishing, cutting, d-restricting, and re-gearing stock parts to gain as much speed out of them.  At least 50mph with just 49cc magnum bore cylinder with L-ring piston setup.  If they were running big bore kits, the only ones available were the 65cc Zeta or the 70cc Autista.  (Check out some pics from GotRigid?'s site of a Puch cruise back then.)  The Puch moped's closest competition was the Tracs, Tomos, and the Honda Express*.  (*A popular choice among neighborhood paperboys who for some reason always had the fastest bikes!!).

Old school modified Puch Maxi - ZA50, L-ring piston, 49cc magnum bore, Bing 17 carb, bored out stock pipe, 18x32 gears

In the late 80's and throughout the 90's, Honda scooters started to take over the scene.  Scooters like the Aero 50, Spree, and the ever-popular Elite were the new choice for paperboys.  These scooters were easier to maintain than the Puch and aftermarket parts were easily available.  Modifying these mopeds were as easy as slapping on a big bore cylinder kit and aftermarket exhaust (Check out Wikispreedia for more in-depth information on Honda scooters).  As a result, the interest for the Puch faded.  No new Puch models were in production and spare NOS (New Old Stock) parts became a rarity.  I remember "The Moped Connection" on Kapahulu was the only shop that sold NOS parts on the island.  It was too unpractical to ride a Puch than their Honda counterparts.  Consequently, the Puch moped started to disappear as the generation who rode these them in the early 80's grew older and retired from the scene.  A lot of their mopeds also retired to either to the junkyard or their parent's storage sheds.  Only a handful of us remained loyal to the Puch as we rode around town on our Hondas.

Aiealien's Scotty's nasty Honda Elite

Just how I left it over 10 years ago!!

The turn of the century brought with it the advent of the Internet and the availability of Puch parts online.  Parts that I thought impossible to get or out of production were now just a click and PayPal payment away.  One of my first purchases was a Bing 17mm carburetor and 70cc Arisal kit from the now debunked puch.net and NOS parts superstore The Moped Junkyard.  This new discovery brought back a renewed hope of possibilities for the bikes I was so loyal to.  As I researched for parts online, I found websites selling parts that I never seen before and from as far away as Netherlands (shout out to Marcel at 50cc.nl).  My pursuit for online parts led me to realize that there was an "army" of people sharing my devotion to nostalgic mopeds.  I found the Moped Army community who convinced me to get that old "ped" out of my parents shed and start tuning again!!  Hondas still ruled the streets but I had a feeling that nostalgic mopeds were going to make a comeback.

Another Aiealien winnah

Presently, Hawaii's moped scene is dominated by scooters like Dios, Jogs, DD50s, Arandas, and everything in between (Check out this site on info on the current moped scene).  It's not uncommon to spot a "souped up" scooter buzzing around or a whole fleet of them on their monthly cruise.  There are also a number of scooter shops on the island that sell a variety of aftermarket parts for all these types of bikes.  With ample amounts of big bore kits, exhaust pipes, clutches, and pulleys, it's not surprising to come across an occasional scooter on the freeway going over 60mph next to you!!  But don't count out the Puch moped.  They along with other nostalgic mopeds are still around.  Parts are still not available locally but are readily available online at sites like Treatshq and 1977 Mopeds.  They have a number of aftermarket and NOS parts to chose from.  Us "old schoolers" now have a new generation of parts to tune our bikes with and will continue to keep that old school vibe alive.

That's my brief history of Hawaii's moped scene.  From its humble beginnings with the Puch moped to the present day Hondas, Yamahas, SYMs, and everything in between, Hawaii has always had a vibrant moped scene.  Whether it be a modern scooter or nostalgic moped, the "808 State" continue to represent the entire gambit of two-stroke bikes out there.  But no matter which moped group you belong to, let's keep tuning and riding like only we know how, with "Aloha".

Spreading the Aloha at "the land of the raising sun" Japan