# Traveling on a minibike/over powered moped



## Jamie charlton (Jan 24, 2016)

Right now I am getting ready to start traveling again. I was gonna go with one idea but circumstances changed that. I am going to be taking my Mini-bike/moped instead. It gets a nice 75 mi to the gallon, and im sure it wont be hard to gas jug for it. the main problem/question is the fact of storage, I currently have a milk crate attached to the front and have a glove compartment. But since i am going to be traveling a decent distance on it instead of day trips i need more storage and i need to figure out a way to carry my guitar and not have it get in the way. Any ideas, thoughts or suggestions are welcome and would be greatly appreciated! 

The attached pic is my bike.


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## Eyegor (Jan 24, 2016)

This has been around awhile and may have already seen it but......
http://mopedtrip.com/


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## callmeG (Jan 24, 2016)

Saddle bags would help increase your luggage capacity, but probably not do much as far as holding a full size guitar. I'd totally travel on a minibike if I thought I could do it without getting pulled over every 5 minutes. I've done some moped traveling before, but now you need almost as much shit to ride one as a motorcycle.


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## Jamie charlton (Jan 24, 2016)

callmeG said:


> Saddle bags would help increase your luggage capacity, but probably not do much as far as holding a full size guitar. I'd totally travel on a minibike if I thought I could do it without getting pulled over every 5 minutes. I've done some moped traveling before, but now you need almost as much shit to ride one as a motorcycle.


for the most part as long as you are not doing anything crazy or drawing attention to yourself there is no issue. I have ridden at least 400mi in total just driving around ny state and some of Connecticut and mas and have had no issue at all. right now my main issue is my guitar I really am against leaving behind considering its my main source of busking.
also eyegor im looking into the site now, thanks


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## Eyegor (Jan 24, 2016)

One other thing I remember seeing.........
https://bigbonedbiker.wordpress.com/2013/09/11/kitty-litter-panniers/
Plastic waterproof panniers made from buckets


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## Dmac (Jan 24, 2016)

Just strap it around your shoulders, like a backpack or satchel and go.


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## creature (Jan 24, 2016)

would a traveler's guitar be an option?


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## Jamie charlton (Jan 24, 2016)

not really.... im broker than broke. lol


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## Jamie charlton (Jan 24, 2016)

also strapping it around the shoulders is not a good idea, it causes a lot of drag and i have ride through winter to get out of the north.... so thats not a good idea do to a lot of cold air getting trapped on my back.


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## creature (Jan 24, 2016)

what about 2 parallel 2x4's (of good wood) about 36" -42" long, bolted to your seat to make an extended rack?
from the top, like this

--------------------
( ==)
--------------------

from the side (with yer guitar & panniers or pack:

<<====>>=&=[==]=

the rigging on your front is interesting.. if it doesn't interfere with steering, it's good counterbalance if you load the back..btw.. i would avoid any liquids up front, since the sloshing could be difficult to control..
you've ridden her, though, so you know how she is, fer sure..

anyways, just a thought..


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## Jamie charlton (Jan 24, 2016)

I really like that idea, i just might do that. I have the wood, and it would make it so much easier to attach other things to it also. And yes i know.... liquid on the handlebars is a really bad idea, and the milk crate works great and does not interfere with the steering... also if i do that i can also mount another milk crate or two to it really easily. then the only thing left would be to some how make it so that the contents of the milk crates dont get wet.... might be as easy as just getting a small tarp and some bungiechords.


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## creature (Jan 24, 2016)

cool.. i'm glad it seems reasonable.. thanks!


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## creature (Jan 24, 2016)

keep the heavier stuff closer to the center!

if you do use crates, mount 'em low..


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## creature (Jan 24, 2016)

& avoid pine, unless yer gonna change out to oak, later on..

you might even get away with 1 or 2 16" extending cross members, or additional parallel (2 deep) 2x4's, if you find you need clearance..

for any wood to wood connecting work, use screws!!

& of course for wood to metal, bolts &/or u clamps, double nutted.. (1 nut on top compressing & holding in place the one below)..


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## creature (Jan 24, 2016)

AMENIA FUCKING NEW YORK????

HOLY SHIT BUDDY, YER MY NEIGHBOR!!!!

in cali, right now, but raised in the hamlets of Lloyd..

gardiner, highland & amenia!!

though new paltz is where i hung from 14, until i had to get back to the ocean..

God.. i remember the junk yards..
& the Orchards!!

& the Hills, with snow, Rolling..

& a girl i nearly married..

i remember the CHG&E power plant, lines crossing from the valley up to Minnewaska..

the hudson bridge & the inexorable corrosion of the cities, east & south..

sounds like your family has been there a while..

i think the Amenia kids got split up between new paltz & highland, in my day..
hopefully you guys might have gotten a smaller school of your own..

new paltz grew like shit because of the college, & highland because of IBM, but our class was usually about 1/2 the size.. which says nothing, because when you grow to be a monster, size does little to relieve basic character.. 

but yer profile says farmer, so that's damn great : )

shit, man.. 

treat yer family right & go out & goddamn explore!


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## Fanatical Steward (Jan 25, 2016)

I guess other people can learn to appreciate certain types of family.


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## Jamie charlton (Jan 25, 2016)

I'm actually headed out to the west coast. Im also a programmer so it would be a a lot more ideal for me to head to the west coast.


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## Jamie charlton (Jan 25, 2016)

here is what i ended up doing. I had an old metal framed backpack and mounted it up.




works really well surprisingly, gives me a nice back rest and very little drag on it either. i was gonna go with the 2x4 idea till i realized i didnt have the hardware to do it. i hope to add it though when i do have the chance


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## creature (Jan 25, 2016)

interesting.. good rig up.. : )

never got even close to being able to code..

my fucking word, just the trees & road bring back memories..

that looks like 44/55, down there, where i did a survey on a huge ass piece of land in.. 2004?

i've got stones & pins set in a lot of places, out there..


O, Man.. & the stone walls..

i've traveled all over the country & i have never seen walls so common or long or strong as those of new england.. the farmer's walls of ulster county are second to none..

should you ever come back, or have a chance before you split, you should go to the ulster county clerk's office.. in 2005 you could *still* handle original maps dating from the early 1800's..

they may have digitized & put them away, now, but the used to be in the old map books, down in the basement..

anyways, drink in the home of your youth, just in case you find your dearest freedom, elsewhere..


if yer on good terms with your family, they'll see you through this, & love & help you regardless of how many miles you cross.. you are about to learn & experience more than even desire and imagination can prepare you for.. 

it's funny.. crazy people don't even realize how hard core their fucking balls are..
be carefull, try & be wise, be cautious, be trusting, but be way fucking sharp...

if you are going to do this, mofo, i pledge my friendship to you.

you will see what that means if (or when) you ever need to call it in.

before all else, do *not* distract yourself..
do *not* fucking observe yourself.. not unless it is the sort of abstruse kind of thing that happens, as when watching bugs & ants & wondering at the nature of their consciousness.. 

i was lucky.

when i was a kid, there wasn't any way spread immediate experience any thinner than the thickness of the gel behind my eyes, and i assure you, every moment you spend outside of that is a moment that will not have been what it most fully should have..

at least for now..

a guitar is good.

i fucking salute you.
yer on a goddamned minibike, so maybe i should kowtow, too..

if you see Kate WestCoast, remember to do homage..

**do not measure your success by distance**

all outgoings with the minimum margins of safety & comfort are prone to discombobulation (&perhaps even destruction) at any given moment..

the thing is to say " oh fuck!!" & then do it, or something like it, again, until you have a sense of whether or not what you were fucking stupid enough to try in the first place is what you want to be stupid enough to keep trying..

& if the answer is 'yes', well.. then you have found your path to happiness..


it is just as hard to fail & try again (& just as intrinsically meaningfull) as it is to proceed from any other starting point... there is no interruption..

the point, of course, is not to 'get something', but 'to do what must be done'..

i hope yer bile takes you 19,000 fucking miles & more..

--- make sure you take decent tool set, right?


in any case, good luck, & a lot of folks here will have yer back..

peace,


c


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## Jamie charlton (Jan 25, 2016)

Im not originaly from this area, i ended up here by sheer chance, right now im living on old rt. 22 between amenia and wassaic. One of the old luther farms. I have been here for the last 2 1/2 yarrs and due to that beautiful minibike i know this area better than most of the locals lol. I have done some trqveling in the past... Just have been sadly stuck, this i hope will be a new start in a better direction. Also we both know i eill question myself along the aay, but to me that is the point, to question myself and define myself better and descover some things. For the most part i have just hitched and walked. So to me this minibike thing is going to be a whole new expirence and i am looking forward to the challenge. But as always the challenge will be the beautiful and amazing people i am leaving in wassaic... Some i might not see again but one at least i really hope to see again. I hope that as i move onto this next chapter that the people i am leaving will have a smule and a new page in their book of a person and times worth remembering, a page they dont forget and look back from time to time and smile.


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## creature (Jan 25, 2016)

cool beans, mofo.

hate to tell the harley boys this, but..
yer fucking minibike has more cc's than 10 of theirs, fucking combined..


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## Jamie charlton (Jan 28, 2016)

Im really tempted to do a small call out to anyone with mopeds/minibikes that want to travel... Funnily enough the larger the group the easier. When you have like 5+ people it makes the chance of police hassel less due its that much more of a challenge/hassel for the police to actually do anything.. Also would be really awesome to have a group of people scooting accross the us on minibikes and mopeds


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## moofasaorcasperorwhatever (Jan 30, 2016)

if youre worried about your gear getting wet contracte


creature said:


> cool beans, mofo.
> 
> hate to tell the harley boys this, but..
> yer fucking minibike has more cc's than 10 of theirs, fucking combined..


ehhh i beg to differ.... also kind of confused are you using cc's as a ball reference such as "your moped has bigger balls than ten harleys combined" also i like to believe although a good 50% of harley riders are fat old men who only ride when its sunny 10 miles down the road some of us are long distance do or die riders... anyways if @jaimie charlton if your worried about your gear getting wet well ridding contractor bags or just regular trash bags work great


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## Jamie charlton (Jan 31, 2016)

moofasaorcasperorwhatever said:


> if youre worried about your gear getting wet contracte
> 
> ehhh i beg to differ.... also kind of confused are you using cc's as a ball reference such as "your moped has bigger balls than ten harleys combined" also i like to believe although a good 50% of harley riders are fat old men who only ride when its sunny 10 miles down the road some of us are long distance do or die riders... anyways if @jaimie charlton if your worried about your gear getting wet well ridding contractor bags or just regular trash bags work great


Just concerned for my guitar


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## Dmac (Jan 31, 2016)

I really feel like you are going to get a lot of unwanted attention from the cops. I hope that I am wrong. Your upcoming travel should make for good stories. good luck.


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## creature (Jan 31, 2016)

1st off.. CC's as balls..

not being disrespectfull to Greybeards or the soldiers of true & good fortune..

i *am* saying that probably *less* than 1 in 10 harley riders are hardcore enough to try & do his kind of ride..

no mistake, & i hope that clarifies.

that being said.. & looking at the laws..


the fucking, fucking, fucking FUCKING

LAWS

which keep a guy from puttering down backroads, slowly...

i think you are fucked..

most cops in a neighborhood might say "ha ha, ride it home, son & don't let me see you on the road again"

you *cannot* register a minibike in NY.. looking at other states.... well... nebraska?

NY is a Near Nazi fucking state.. you cannot even operate motorized fucking *bicycles*..

i hate.. **HATE** fucking new yawk, as a goddamned fucking fucked up fucking sick political entity..

i HATE it..

motorized bicycles are fucking illegal to drive on the fucking streets.

fucking *great*..

if nothing else? take yer pack & guitar & get the hell Out..

dig this fucked up piece of shit page:
http://nysdmv.custhelp.com/app/answ...ikes,-mopeds,-atvs-and-other-special-vehicles


"law enforcement officials can arrest you and give you a ticket for the violation of several traffic laws"

shitfuckers..

NYS is tin the lowest fucking 5 *worst* fucking states, politically, all around.. add can's ass & oak lame a hole & you get 3 of them..
(politically.. NOT geographically or culturally.. that shit has to be reserved for cities...)

you apoparantly *can* use it offroad..dunno if there's any offroad connections across the country, but an interesting thought..

shit..

i'm sorry i spoke up, man..

it yer sweet 'lil beasty can take you 100 miles into the untrailed woods & back again, & yet you can't even... but.. wait..
wait..

the *reason* they give that it cannot be registered is because "such vehicles cannot meet the required safety standards.."

hold on.. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=make+a+minibike+legal&t=ffab

searching 'how to make a minibike legal' no quotes

one fast link...

for dirt bikes.. http://www.motosport.com/blog/how-to-make-a-dirt-bike-street-legal

& this:
http://www.answers.com/Q/What_does_it_take_for_a_mini_bike_to_be_street_legal

http://www.oldminibikes.com/forum/general-minibike-talk/19488-mini-bike-street-legal.html

an interesting tidbit about tires, from the above.. _"Or try to register it as a motorcycle since the engine displacement is higher then 50cc. This requires some additional things like DOT approved tired which I was never able to find for a 6" wheel bike.
I do not believe either requires turn signals and there are universal hand/arm signals that motorcyclists can use instead of turn signals."_

DMVs are the most fucked up, stupid & evil creations within the bureaucratic interface between governments & US fucking citizens..
they are like farts from fucking satan..

in any case check out 'limited use motorcycles' & dig around on alternatives..

the main thing, if you decide to go ahead with it, is to put *active* fucking plates on it, using that specific vehicle to obtain..

anyways, another:
http://www.moped2.org/laws/new-york.htm

& an interesting point from findlaw.com : "For example, many states require all motorcycle seats to be at least 25 inches off the ground. "


(BTW, Eyegor, nice link!! thanks!!)


i saw a 60 or 70 cc bike registered legally in AZ.. fucking *sweet*..

check NJ & CT, too.. maybe you can hitch there & register, if anyone is willing to rent you a tent space or something..


way fucked up.. 

sorry, man..

but i'm down to help, if need be..


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## creature (Jan 31, 2016)

& BTW.. this nation is fucking ***huge***... 
you'd *probably* be best advised to use the most rural routes you can find.. things that take you along sectional dirt roads where cops don't enjoy going, or will be friendly to you, if they see you are just adventuring..

despite can's ass being a place of hellholes & dicks who hate longhairs & anyone who flashes any kind of hippy/alternative colors, you might be able to get through, though i advise avoiding..

look at Indiana, Illinois, etc.. possibly new mexico, if it goes slow.

if you do this trip on anything 125 cc (rated) or less, i vow on my sacred, drunken honor to assist..


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## Dmac (Jan 31, 2016)

Do you have a head light and tail light? without them you won't get far. maybe you will get lucky and have not troubles.


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## Jamie charlton (Feb 3, 2016)

I have both headlights and tail lights, reflectors all powered by a solar pannel and car battery in the milk crate. Also i know uts illegal af but personally... Thats what makes it fun, for the most part once i get put of NY the laws ate a little more lenient and i can pull the i didnt know card and hope to not get pulled over by the same cop twice. They have to hive a warning first so basically ut comes out to... What is this? Get it off the street. And instead i just get out of the area. I know pa aint gonna have to much of an isdue with it, neither Maryland, Virginia or north carolina. For the most part i just need to get out if the North east and im fine, im actually all geared up and ready to go, i was gonna leave today but its pouring rain.


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## creature (Feb 3, 2016)

buddy..?

you just ask, & whatever i can pull out of my hat, i will.


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## Jamie charlton (Feb 3, 2016)

Problem is i really dont want to register it... If its above 49 cc which it is, you have to have a motorcycle license which leaves me fucked


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## Jamie charlton (Feb 5, 2016)

Okay, the setup has changed.... The pack wont hold up, i now have panier on both sides, made anothed custom exhaust so i dont set the paniers on fire (straight pipe so now its loud af), now using a much smaller pack on my back and still thinking about guitar but probably just on my back. Also where the pack was is now a small 1 gal gas container. Front rig is still the same, ilk throw a pic up when i get the chance


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## creature (Feb 5, 2016)

i notice you mentioned a car battery.. that might be a bit of overkill.. there are small 12 volts out there, if you come across them..

post up a pic.. sounds pretty amazing, regardless!!


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## Jamie charlton (Feb 6, 2016)

Trust me as soon as i get the chance the car battery will be replaced with a smaller one. Also being charged with a solar panel on the top of the milk crate in the front. Thinking since im carrying a large af battery i might just add a cigarette lighter to power shit lol.


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