Moped History: 1977 Honda Express

It was May 16th, 2009. My girlfriend and I were scouring through a

bunch of junk at the Brimfield Fair in Brimfield, MA. We turned the

corner of a big red barn and saw this green beast just sitting there.

The man selling this moped said it belonged to a friend of his in

Michigan. He was asking $400 but my girlfriend and I offered him

$350 cash on the spot if he could prove to us that it was in running

condition. After a few attempts he got it to idle briefly before it ran

out of gas. He accepted our offer and so began my moped addiction.

When we got home I was shocked to discover that there were so

many parts available for it on eBay. With the help of Ebay and

BikeBandit.com, I was able to fully restore the Express. Besides

replacing the tires, tubes, bulbs, and battery, I cleaned and painted

the muffler and muffler guard, cleaned the gas tank with vinegar,

cleaned and rebuilt the carburetor, replaced the missing air box,

filter, carburetor cover, mud flap, and installed a new key ignition

switch.

I've put a couple hundred miles on the Express since restoring it. It

resides in northwestern CT where I ride it on weekends.