The coolest Moped (Motoped) ever

WOW. A lot of money for something that is a lousy motorcycle, and a worse bicycle. The worst of both worlds.

 

the new fixie hipster teleportation vehicle : just add growler rack and man bun elastic holder

 

I actually designed something like this and built a prototype about 10 years ago in China. I couldn't get it sold in the US. No one wanted these kinds of bikes. I made an electric version also -- couldn't sell that either.

This uses the same motor -- a common 49cc Chinese made engine and a simple chain drive. These are open market items as are most of the parts on it. 49cc was legal in all states then but not sure now. It may be illegal in CA. The rules change all the time which is part of the problem.

The price of this is crazy. Believe it or not, it shouldn't be more than $799 and certainly less than a grand. At this price it will never sell. $3 grand for 49cc? Are they nuts?

 

I mean it looks cool..but $3K for something with 2 hp? Just go buy a dirt bike or an old CBR or something.

 

Nah, it says "tactical" in the first sentence. That + black paint?

They'll sell millions.

 

If retail should be $799.00 what was your proposed cost of production?
thanks

 

I ride a Aprilla 49.9cc as my regular summer driver. I paid $1000 for it new about 4 years ago. I go everywhere with it but the highway. No problem 40mph uphill, 50 on level, and 60+ downhill. I also go where cars cannot go, ie per attached picture I use a short cut through a park to get downtown and arrive in rush hour in less time than car. Plus gas mileage is amazing....close to 200 miles per gallon (1.38 liters per 100km).
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2nd pic.
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While you most surely can make really inexpensive scooters and mopeds there is a world of difference between a quality machine and a piece of Chinese junk.

We've developed a small 70cc heavy fuel 2 stroke for military program and when you start looking at things like advanced computer controlled direct fuel injection you can spend more than $400 on just fuel injection hardware.

In our case fuel injection is necessary to get really good fuel consumption on 2 stroke since with a carb 20% of the fuel goes out the exhaust. With direct injection the fuel is admitted only after the ports are closed so the fuel consumption is as good as a 4 stroke. Another benefit is that a direct fuel injection 2 stroke is also almost as clean as 4 stroke.

The good stuff isn't cheap, even though the parts aren't that big. If you're looking at forged aluminum wheels, chrome moly frame and top quality hardware it's going to cost you.

Just because this is a moped doesn't mean that it should cost any less than than a single cylinder 125cc street bike that is built from similar quality parts. Even more important is the fact that the production numbers for this aren't that high and as we all know, higher production allows you to spend more on tooling and use lower cost processes.

Lastly, high performance bicycles have list prices from $2000 to $3000 and even at a discount sell for $1500 to $2000. Compared to that something with a motor on it doesn't sound unreasonable for $3k at the low production numbers these are seeing.