Did you drive around on mopeds in your youth?

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

Or was that a Scandinavian thing?

I don't mean the Neapolitan bagsnatcher scooters. I mean beauties like these.

[DCI Harry Batt]

Did you drive around on mopeds in your youth?

No. Didn't really have them here.

[Stumpy Pepys]

Did you drive around on mopeds in your youth?

UK posters of a certain age will now start reminiscing about their old Yamaha Fizzys.

[Toby Gymshorts]

Did you drive around on mopeds in your youth?

Yep, this thread's got evilC written all over it.

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

Did you drive around on mopeds in your youth?

I already picture evilC looking as sharp in style as the kid here, although older.



Taking the point in a
formation. He's first down the street then the other kids arrive into formation one at a time in an epic Technicolor dolly shot.

[treibeis]

Did you drive around on mopeds in your youth?

I thought you Swedish lot all rode round on a Flakmoped:

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

Did you drive around on mopeds in your youth?

Haha, no. But this is still a big deal. Especially in smaller towns. It's not allowed to go faster than 30km/h

[WOM]

Did you drive around on mopeds in your youth?

This was my youth screamer-arounder in. Not this exact one, but exactly this one. Not so much screaming either, obviously, but still...

[treibeis]

Did you drive around on mopeds in your youth?

Pietro Paolo Virdis wrote: Haha, no. But this is still a big deal. Especially in smaller towns. It's not allowed to go faster than 30km/h

Is that a raggabil?

I was in your home town a few years ago for the Gothia Cup. The car park of the small shopping complex near to our campsite was full of cars like the one in your picture. And all the drivers and occupants, male and female alike, reminded me of Stig Tøfting.

[Stumpy Pepys]

Did you drive around on mopeds in your youth?

Lots of these when I was a kid; mostly driven by 70s housewives from what I remember. Still beloved of wannabe London taxi drivers. I suspect they're completely indestructible.

[G-Man]

Did you drive around on mopeds in your youth?

Those mopeds PPV talks about were (perhaps still are) ubiquitous in Germany when I was young. They are known as Mofas (Motor-Fahrrad, or motor-bicycle). I borrowed one once; I thought at their speed they were a bit pointless.

[treibeis]

Did you drive around on mopeds in your youth?

G-Man wrote: Those mopeds PPV talks about were (perhaps still are) ubiquitous in Germany.

Where I live, they're very much a hipster's plaything. A Schwalbe is the hippest one of all.

All my mates back in the day had mopeds as soon as they were old enough to ride them, but I could never understand the appeal. Okay, girls would sit on the back and put their arms round your waist, but that still wasn't enough.

[WOM]

Did you drive around on mopeds in your youth?

The appeal? Mobility...freedom...independence. What's not to love?

[slackster]

Did you drive around on mopeds in your youth?

I had a Fizzy whilst in 6th form. Loved it 'til I skidded badly and decided motorbikes weren't for me.

Remember first seeing French Mobylettes and thinking how weird they looked. Hired one on holiday over there and it was good fun to pootle about on - although nowhere near as good as zipping around on scooters around The Med.

[treibeis]

Did you drive around on mopeds in your youth?

WOM wrote: The appeal? Mobility...freedom...independence. What's not to love?

They made more of a racket, stank more and cost more money than my pushbike.

[WOM]

Did you drive around on mopeds in your youth?

You don't need to sell me on them.

[Felicity, I guess so]

Did you drive around on mopeds in your youth?

G man wrote:

Those mopeds PPV talks about were (perhaps still are) ubiquitous in Germany when I was young.

The small German town near our RAF base was noisily dominated by a gang who rode Puchs but dressed as if they were Hell's Angels.

In a near-mythical encounter, my brother (then known as 'Big Jock' and a wild-living 18-year old) took on their 'leader', who warned him loudly before the figtht about his black belt in something-or-other.

there are various versions of how my brother beat him up (I wasn't there, but endlessly heard about it from wondrous-eyed schoolmates), but Herr Puch comes out of none of them well.

My ability to be a mouthy bastard, an aggressive punk etc and not get beaten up is entirely down to people whispering in the background: 'That's Big Jock's wee brother!'

[treibeis]

Did you drive around on mopeds in your youth?

Felicity, I guess so wrote: In a near-mythical encounter, my brother (then known as 'Big Jock' and a wild-living 18-year old) took on their 'leader', who warned him loudly before the figtht about his black belt in something-or-other.

I bet he also gave a run-down on how many hours his course lasted, what grade he got in the final exam, which position he occupied in the regional rankings for his age group and what his official title was ("Ich bin Träger des schwarzen Gürtels gemäß der Verfahrensordnung des Deutschen Karateverbandes, Nordrhein-Westfalen Süd, Staffel-West. Du Arschloch, du!")

[linus]

Did you drive around on mopeds in your youth?

Moped culture is very marginal in the US, its heyday was teh late 60s/early 70s in parts of California, but even there motor culture in the US has always been completely dominated by cars.

France might have had the strongest moped culture, along with Italy though the latter was more of a scooter culture than a moped culture. The Peugeot 103 ruled for over a decade, while the more utiltarian front wheel direct-drive Solex defined the genre well before that, it's to the moped what the Citroen 2CV was to cars.

[Felicity, I guess so]

Did you drive around on mopeds in your youth?

I bet he also gave a run-down on how many hours his course lasted, what grade he got in the final exam, which position he occupied in the regional rankings for his age group and what his official title was ("Ich bin Träger des schwarzen Gürtels gemäß der Verfahrensordnung des Deutschen Karateverbandes, Nordrhein-Westfalen Süd, Staffel-West. Du Arschloch, du!")

Magnificent!

If we can work Elmpt, Kreis Viersen into it, I'll memorise it and interrupt the 'God! Your brother, right..' anecdote at the next reunion and perform it in German. With hand movements and all.

[G-Man]

Did you drive around on mopeds in your youth?

Magnificent indeed.

[ad hoc]

Did you drive around on mopeds in your youth?

We have one of those motor scooter things at home, which we inherited when my brother in law died. This spring I'm determing to have it serviced so it runs and have a go on it. Can't remember what the make is but I know it's (East) German. Looks quite cool (in as much as a sort of motorised bicycle can look cool). I'll take a photo of it next time I'm there.

[Glass Half Empty]

Did you drive around on mopeds in your youth?

I remember going to the bike show in London when I was 15 and coming over with a desperate desire to own a Fantic Chopper, it didn't happen and I battled through my 16th year on a very tired Fizzie which spent more time seized than running..

Evidence of how bloody bonkers teenagers can be; this of course is the 125, the 50 cc version is even less likely to have cut it with the Windsor Chapter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1Gp4cuUh8U

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

Did you drive around on mopeds in your youth?

treibeis wrote:

Haha, no. But this is still a big deal. Especially in smaller towns. It's not allowed to go faster than 30km/h

Is that a raggabil?

I was in your home town a few years ago for the Gothia Cup. The car park of the small shopping complex near to our campsite was full of cars like the one in your picture. And all the drivers and occupants, male and female alike, reminded me of Stig Tøfting.

That's not a raggarbil.
These are raggarbil and raggare

[Vulgarian Visigoth]

Did you drive around on mopeds in your youth?

The Northern European love affair with American cars (I include the Netherlands here as well as Scandinavia) deserves a book.