I bought my first my first Batavus Regency on June 24th. It was
listed on Craigslist by a guy in New Britain, CT. Apparently he had
bought it from a man who was later shot and killed by the state police.
He was mentally unstable and one night attempted to attack his
mother with a kitchen knife.
The bike was in decent shape, except for the tins which were pretty
beat. The bike originally ran a double chain with a chain tensioner and
coast on the right side. This bike features 17" chrome spoked wheels.
The sprocket on the pedal crank was bent and I have yet to find a
replacement for it.
in North Reading, MA. My better instincts convinced me to buy it;
parts for these bikes and the M56 engine are difficult to find. This
Batavus did not run either. It features 16" Grimeca snowflake rims
and a single chain drive. The tins were in near perfect condition. Also
included was the crazy long luggage rack and original stock folding
buddy pegs. The seat was usable but pretty trashed. I was now
confident that I could create at least 1 running Regency.
An original Batavus Regency HS Advertisement.
Having returned to Brooklyn for a freelance gig in Manhattan, I began
to miss working on my mopeds. To this point I have done all my
moped restoration in Connecticut. I live in a 5 story walk up and a
moped hobby in Brooklyn just didn't seem feasible. Till...
One day I got off work early to visit the recently opened Orphanage
Moped Shop with a question regarding one of my Regencys. I struck
up conversation with Nathan and he mentioned that they had recently
bought a Batavus Regency off a guy who begged them to take it off
his hands. This Batavus was in very nice condition and had about
only 750 miles on the engine. This bike also had the 16" Grimeca
snowflake rims, but in immaculate condition and also a single chain
drive. The challenge to this moped project was that is was missing the
Encarwi carburetor, air box, filter, and engine covers. Having bought 2
Regencys just days prior I knew that it was meant to be. I would buy
this bike and now build 2 running peds from 3 rejects.
Currently the 1980 Batavus Regency purchased from Orphanage is
running. It starts to 4 stroke at about 25 mph which is either due to
an air leak somewhere or the exhaust pipe is restricted. It won't be
long before I have this problem resolved. Then it's off to motor
vehicles to have this puppy registered to roam the streets of Brooklyn.
The 1978 Batavus Regency is almost running. I ordered a brand new
seat off Ebay and it will arrive this week. I need to cut a new gasket
for the carburetor to stop if from leaking like crazy. Then Vroom!
Dearest Moustachio,
ReplyDeleteSnaap!! I just picked up one of these puppies, and she's nearly ready to go, except, someone ghetto rigged up a random tank from some other 'ped... you wouldn't happen to have an extra still kicking around?
(p.s. This blog just got seriously bookmarked.)
Keen Mister Moustache,
ReplyDeleteI just got a 78 regency and it's the most beautiful thing I ever did see. Problem is, the cheap-shit carb won't stop leaking all over the place. Is there room in there for any other kind of carb or what?
thanks,
sketchlou
hilarious. just bought a 1980 myself. beautiful. certainly bought it for the looks. my first moped. yes, it leaks. and i just drove it home from brooklyn to harlem. on riverside drive in upper manhattan it suddenly started to sound like a fucking hog. quite lovely deep rumble actually. didn't mind. but sure enough, the muffler's come loose. need to look at it now. hope it goes back on easily. can i just ride around without it? is that not a good idea?
ReplyDelete