We got the sad news yesterday that the Polini Cup is canceled.  We kind of saw the writing on the wall on this one.  This season started off a little slow, and didn’t really pick up steam.   It looks like last season was the high water mark for Moped racing.  So far anyway.

There is still plenty of race action in Denver, Portland, and eventually Ohio.  We have to make sure we support it better in the future.  Thanks PoliniUSA for the great times!

In other really sad news, one of our own have fallen.  Bruce Schrader aka Moochie passed away.  He was an amazing two-wheel enthusiast.  From motorcycles, to bicycles, he knew what he as doing.  He was never shy about helping either.  He was always helping.  He was the shop wheel builder, and treated it like a rare art.  RIP Bruce, you will be missed.

Everyone here at 77 would love to congratulate Megan Zielke, and Patrick Turner for their engagement!  Megan is the woman behind the man which is PT.

Megan, Pat, my wife Emily and I took a drive across Europe staying in tiny hotel rooms, and sleeping “family style”.  During that time, you could really tell they were going to be together forever.  It was meant to be!!!

Honda began with one man, and his love for vehicles.  Starting in the auto world, Soichiro Honda found himself in a country destroyed by war.  His car was too expensive to drive do to fuel shortages.  So, he designed and built the Honda Cub.  A moped in the the truest sense.

From there, Honda became the largest manufacturer of engines in the world.  It is from humble and basic beginnings that you can rise to change the world.  All of you guys and gals out there building bikes in your garage, or in rented shops, or kitchens.  Never underestimate where you can end up! By working with such small powered motors, you have a very unique view on how important efficiency is.  That carries over in everything that is mechanical.

This all leads to our Daily Special.  It’s a Honda Kit.  Not just any Honda kit.  This is a 77 exclusive.  We worked with our Southern arm to have them manufactured and brought to the American Public.  They have been so ground breaking that we have been shipping them back out to the rest of the world.

A good pairing to that kit is a Proma exhaust, and maybe a Boyesen Reed.  If you are going to go with a total rebuild, you need to get the Honda Stuffed Crank.  This is another part that we saw that was needed in bad way.  How many times have Variators broken off and gone for a spin because  the stock or aftermarket crank busted?  I have personally seen it twice.  The other cranks just can’t handle the RPM’s that you crazy tuners are hitting.  So we came up with the Honda Hobbit Performance Crank.  It is the toughest, best made crank on the market.  We have been sending a bunch to the Dutch Camino Tuners.  So you know it must be good.

With all this talk about racing, I am sad to report that the Polini Cup was a total flop this last weekend.  Pistol Pete, and Terry Dean were the only people to show up.

The next race is August 28th and 29th.  You have almost 2 months to get your bikes together.  You need to make it happen.  Moped racing is the best thing that happened to mopeds in the last 2 years.  It is fun to race, and if you make your friends come out to watch, it is great for spectators as well.  There has been a bunch of talk that racing is only for Rich kids.  I can guarantee that your kitted-out street bike would be a blast on the track.  You might not get first, but there would be someone out there for you to beat!  Riding on the track is an amazing experience at any speed.  If you don’t make the effort and goad your friends, then this racing series will disappear, just like it did back in the original round of racing.  Moped Racing is the cheapest form of motorcycle racing there is!  Don’t lose it!

I know it is cliche, but I looked around for about 15mins looking for Alyssa Milano on a moped.  You know, so I could do a “Who’s the boss” theme instead.  Anyway, I shouldn’t spend so much time digging in Google image search.  So, easy way out:

It pretty much sums up my day.  Oh, and I linked the uncensored version, so watch out!

On with the sale.  The Puch Techno Boss:  $58. Pretty rad deal.  You don’t have to just put this on a Puch, you can cut the header flange off, notch it and use it on a Sachs. You can also bolt it up on a Minarelli.  It will come off to the opposite side of what you want, but some creative bracketry, and you’re set.  If you are not stoked on the chrome, paint it black with BBQ paint.  The possibilities are endless here.

Because it is has such a huge header: (28mm), sometimes it is a bit tricky installing them.  We solved this problem in 2 ways.  The first is using brass tall nuts, instead of the steel stock nuts.  They are taller, which gives you more reach, and because they are brass, they take the abuse instead of the pipe when tightening them down.  The second way is to take a 10mm socket, and grind it down so that the walls of the socket are really thin.  This makes it so that you can get it into tighter confines.  Also, when you are installing this, please make sure you have a good exhaust gasket.  It is not just to make your neighbors like you.  If you are leaking exhaust, and noise, then your tuning is not right, and you will probably seize.

Have a good weekend!

-Dan

Since we are on a Puch run, lets just keep rollin.  I started to do the listing for the Puch 3-shoe this morning, only to find that the server was glitching out.  Some config changes, and a few reboots later it was back online.  Sorry for any of you that were up early enough to see it.  Everything is back up and gravy now.

Anyway, back to the Daily Special!  Puch E-50 adjustable race Korado standard spring 3-shoe clutch.  It is on sale for under $30!  I can’t even imagine how far mopeds have come in the last 14 years.  I remember when people first started messing with those after ordering them up from 50cc.nl.  It was mega cutting edge tech.  I bet after shipping and the conversion they must have been around $50 or $60.  Now, under $30.  It is amazing where this moped thing is going.  We as a community are forcing the need to fire up those presses, and get parts back into production that have been dormant since the 80′s.  It’s heart warming to see that all of it comes out of 3 dudes in 1997 riding mopeds in a small midwestern town.

But I digress,  go buy a clutch.  While you are at it, get some Paz Springs.  They are much stiffer than the stock 3-shoe springs, and will make you like the clutch even more.  Also, grab a clutch cover gasket.  You don’t want to accidentally tear yours while tuning and then have to resort to some sub-par sealant tricks.   Both are cheap and will make your life easier.

That brings us to some interesting photos that we were emailed by one of our customers.  He built an insaneo Tomos/Minarelli/Puch Hybrid motor, and this is what happened.

“SNAP. 87km/h full seize, Tomos engine, HPI – KTM clutch, 70cc
Minarelli Polini cylinder, Pin 12mm Peugeot piston.

Seems it couldn’t handle the 13820 rpm…”    -Dennis

Wednesday is here.  I got to start the morning by watching a giant thunder cloud roll in, and turn the morning dark.  Thunder cracked, and the storm was gone as fast as it came.  That is pretty much how this week is going.  You made it halfway to hump day, and here is the reward.

You have seen a crank like this before.  It is for the Puch E50 engine, and on the surface looks like the DMP stuffed crank that has had so many failure issues.  This ain’t that crank.  We had it made in Asia just for you.  It is a whole new construction.  We have sold dozens of them, and haven’t had any negative reports.  We would love to see someone push it to failure though, and if you break it, email me and I will give you a prize.  However, I will know if we sold it to you, or if it one of the DMP’s.    Anyway, it is a great crank that is getting overlooked, and here it is for cheap.  Don’t forget the bearings and seals while you are at it.  for under $80, rebuild that wrecked Puch you have been meaning to get to.  Or, buy it as your rainy day crank.

Blood Drive 7 is coming up, and it looks like it’s going to be a blast.  This is one of the oldest rallies in the country, and is put on by one of the oldest and best Moped Army branches.  I wish I could make it, but now that I am back in Kzoo it on the other side of the world.  Don’t let that stop you though!

BD7 from Adam Burd on Vimeo.

The Puch Polini is pretty much the gold standard for cylinder kits.  They rev out really high, you can bolt them right on, or port the shit out of them.  Compared to other kits though, they have retained their value, and have even increased in price.  It makes you really think whether or not you should really throw down for one if you are going to port it and then promptly blow it up.  It makes buying a Parlini for half the price seem a little better deal.  Well, we are hoping to help you out.  Today’s Daily Special is a Puch Polini Kit for under $200.00.  It has been awhile, if ever that we have seen it that low.

While you are at it, pick up a new Hi-Comp head.  They are regularly $30, so you with shipping you are out the door on a Polini with a head for under $250.00  Not too bad.   Hey, while you’re also at it, grab a Bing, and a pipe!

Ok, we know you gave up on the blog. I am working to restore your faith in it.  I am going to start by buying your readership.  I will be listing up the Daily Special here until whenever we get sick of doing it.  I am going to tell you right now, I won’t be doing the Daily Special on the weekends.  It will basically be a Weekdayly Special.  If all goes well, who knows.  We might end up with a Weekender Special.

The first thing we are doing are Gazelle Tires.  We are going to try and make these specials as universal as possible, but some days you Puch riders will win, and others will be Derbi Days.  I might even get desperate and throw a bone to you folks on the Roadmaster.  If you have an idea for a special you want to see, hit us up on here, and we will take it into consideration.  There are many days we need to cover.

Sorry to tell you this 77 Blog readers, but I am back to being head writer.  Tommy has moved on to making sick sales displays, and Noah is in a design internship for the summer.  So, you are stuck with me, the most boring blogger of the team.

In the moped news:

Hells Satans Rally is coming up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT8iUDar5IM

People keep building stupid mopeds: http://vimeo.com/11960128

It is summer!  Get out there and Ride!  I just moved back to Kalamazoo, and once I get my stuff unpacked and my mopeds up and going, expect to see me around the Midwest, and East Coast more.  I have to say, I now know why there is such a divide between West and East mopeding.  It is a long damn distance to try and get you and your bike across.