BUILDING A MOPED TO DO THE T.A.T
Soooo, originally the idea was for all the moped dudes attempting the TAT to ride Derbi branded mopeds. The reason for everyone to use the same bike was so that we could swap parts as needed for the inevitable breakdowns that will occur. The Derbi moped is one of the most revered in all of mopeds for their great-low end torque and style. At the time we started originally planning, I only owned a Derbi flat-reed motor with no actual Derbi frame. I ended up buying a Derbi frame in December 2013 with the intentions of building up a Derbi TAT contender.
At about the same time a friend of mine, Alex Groh, was spending the winter in New Orleans. Alex (also a former pinball-run racer) was planning to ride the TAT on his only Derbi. Alex and I started to organize our Derbi's to get them ready when we had a revelation of sorts. Alex owns more Honda Hobbit mopeds and engines than he knows. I own 3 myself and 8 (?) engines. We both have WAY more experience with the Honda engine and have most of the inevitable replacement parts so, the decision was made to break from the crowd and ride Honda mopeds.
As luck would have it, I was able to buy a moped that I had put some welding work into a few years ago that the former owner never got around to building. Here are some pictures when I welded the tank, crossbar and seat she wanted installed:
And here are some of the pictures of the building process i have done since acquiring this Hobbit:
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| I built this "highboy" crazy exhaust |
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| Playing with shock heights and handlebars |
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| I needed to make room for the cylinder head |
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| possible new design |
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| I ended up using the piece I cut out of the frame, flipped 180 degrees |
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| Frame reinforcement and auxiliary tank holder |
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| playing with auxiliary tank shape and design |
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| Building auxiliary tank (my first) |
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| Forks rebuilt and chopped |
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| installed with custom swingarm, playing with extra rack ideas |
