Transfer station "Gems"
 

Found this sweet "Barn find" moped in the junk pile at the transfer station. Engine turns over and has spark. A little TLC and I will be "Crusty Rider". Maybe a Rat Rod moped? Also this lawn mower exactly like the one I bought last year. Still had gas in it and starter right up pulled out of the pile.

Amazing. You would think that some sort of “free list” would be available in most communities. I give stuff away on Craigslist all the time. Easier and cheaper than hauling it away to the dump.

I think people clean out garages, etc and it's easier to chuck it than to give it away on CL, etc. I have spent a lot of time trying to give stuff away.
I think the moped is going to need a new carb-not sure if it's worth it. It sat for many years with gas in it. It's got crusty, white residue. I tried to clean the carb and it's not getting fuel and the white stuff was impossible to remove.

I like the moped.

We have been cleaning out stuff from our house the last few months,,, lots of good stuff we don't use anymore.

We just set it out on the curb and folks come along and take most or all of it, no problem. Sometimes people go to great bother to ask if they can have it.

I figure once it is on the curb it is no longer mine.....unless it hurts someone then I expect it would be my problem to deal with.

I'm always amazing at what people will come and take if it's free. I tore down my almost 30 year old cedar fence where the bottom quarter of every board had rotted. I thought I was going to have to get a truck and take it all to the dump. I put it on craigslist for free and it was gone in a few hours without any work by me.



My nearby transfer station has a very strict dumping only, no picking policy.

The white stuff is an oxide of the base metal. Tougher than the parent metal. Really cheap new carbs are or have been available from China.

Or take it to a guy with a good small engine service. He may have something used that is serviceable.

We just usually set things out by the road. Usually gone in no time. That lawnmower looks current. Ignition systems seem to flake out on them far too early sometimes.

I took a bunch of old redwood fencing off of a friend’s hands once, not in great shape, but not as rotten as you describe. Cedar and redwood can be useful, came in handy many times.

Same thing at my transfer station. I’ve been able to toss a few things in the truck now and then. One time there was a large, large bundle of wire of different types. I looked it over, there was no co-ax, which nobody wants, I was about to take a load of scrap copper and brass to the buyer anyway. On the receipt they give you a breakdown for how much each category was worth. The wire was about 25 bucks, it was the only wire I took in. I hate to throw away metal. Stuff has been pre-mined and pre-smelted. Steel is worth next to nothing, can be hard to give it away, some of the recycle yards have a bin for it fortunately. Unless I have a bundle I often put aluminum in the same bin.

I read once that we throw away enough aluminum each year to rebuild the entire US air fleet four times over. Sort of freaky to think about, I gather it takes a lot of electricity to smelt the stuff.

I can get a new carb for like $50. The moped is pretty worthless, so I don't want to spend much on it until I know it's viable. I got it to run by spraying oil into the intake so I know it will run. I'm going to take the carb apart again and double check all the passages.
The thing is 40-45 years old so pretty niche as far as parts are concerned.

Freebies !
 

If you take some time a new carby won't cost more than $30 delivered .

Peugeot made pretty good MoPeds, parts are still available as MoPeds never seem to go out of style fo some .

there's a hge club called 'The MoPed Army' ~ find it and they'll either help you find the carby or give you some $ for it .

I too have always been amazed at how much good stuff Americans throw out .

The curb stone is great, the landfills and transfer stations freak because of liability issues and the knowledge that once they let you look, thousands more will be right on your heels .

Thanks Nate-Yea I saw that. Got it to run for about 10min then it stopped and I could not start it. I'm sure the fuel system is full of crap. At least now I know it runs. Before I spring for the new carb I'm going to put some new inner tubes on it so at least I can see how it rides and if it has any more needs. The compression release is broken so I have to start it will a drill at the flywheel for now.

I think the carb is trashed. There are 2 idle jets (tiny) that are inside the carb and not accessible. There are instructions for redrilling the passages but it seems iffy and a lot of work + it still needs parts anyway. I can get a new, correct, non China made in France Gurtner carb for less than a bill so I think I will spring for it. The China carbs don't have the correct airbox for my model and I don't want to reuse old parts if I buy a new carb. My objective was to see if it ran before I spent money on it so I am satisfied.
Rode it a little in the back yard(tire was flat so I could not ride it on the street) was difficult since it won't idle and I had to take it off the stand with the engine racing.
Didn't help the flat rear tire much. Cleaned the bike with the power washer yesterday and it does not look too bad. So now waiting for parts.

Another Fools Errand
 

(sniff) You make me proud ! .

Can't work a thin bit of wire brush bristle through those clogged jets ? .

Many older Japanese carbys have pressed in jets that are not difficult to remove for cleaning....

MoPeds are a trip ~ Marvins MoPeds in Fullerton, Ca. is a great place to look for parts, he used to put on MoPed rides near the beach, they were great .

No there is no way to clean the ports due to the location inside the carb bore. But I did discover the exhaust system is extremely plugged with carbon/soot which will cause all sorts of running problems. Once I get it cleaned (quite a process as the carbon in the head pipe is rock hard) I will see how it runs.

Two Smoke Exhaust Cleaning
 

That's pretty common, I'm sure there are you tube videos on hos to clean out the restricted exhaust .

I prefer soaking it a few days / week to soften it all up then run it hard, it'll smoke like a mosquito killer but will clear out if you run it on the pin a while .

This is why it's important to use the autolube device and also fully synthetic two stroke oils .

I'm sure there are older dirt bikes guys who can give you better advice, cleaning out the mufflers was a regular thing when I lived in Guatemala City C.A. in the mid 1970's, Attachment 164738 I'm astride my 1937 EL Knuckle Head Harley there , my brother in law next to me .

A Peugeot 102! French mopeds can be tricky. I had a Motobecane VLX that i pedaled home more than rode.

I highly recommend looking into treadland.tv they are an awesome moped parts supplier and carry various upgrades for that bike

The Gunther carb is kind of trash unless you want to keep it stock. Your best bet is to get a Dellorto SHA carburetor. They're like $75. You can get chinese knockoffs for like $40 but they are hit or miss. Treatland sells intake manifolds to fit various carbs as well

Congrats on the find!