How a love for vintage mopeds is taking two Chippewa Township brothers on the road
It’s a love affair that began for many Austrians in the 1970s and 1980s. Millions of MOtorized PEDal (moped) bikes were sold during that era, chiefly a brand named “Puch” – which is pronounced like “book,” but with a “p” as the start. Riders loved that the mopeds were reliable, easy to maintain, affordable, and got great gas mileage during a time when oil was increasingly expensive due to the 1973 oil crisis.
The trend quickly moved to parts of the United States and consumers could go to SEARS or JCPenney and purchase a moped from their catalog.
Advertisements of the moped from those eras show young people exploring the world together thanks to their bikes. Puch used taglines such as, “Puch is beautiful” or “Puch for everyday and leisure.” What the ads have a hard time communicating is just how fun the mopeds are to ride. To answer that question, the best local resource is the Kopsack brothers.
Chippewa Township residents— and twin brothers—Nate and Mark Kopsack have had a love affair with Puch bikes since they first rode one in college.
“My roommate had one and although I was scared to ride it at first, once I did it sort of became an obsession. We rode it to class, around campus, just about everywhere,” Mark reminisced during our interview. “We hoped that one day we could get back into these cool, very simple, mechanical miracles.”
And get back into them they have. The brothers have restored over 35 vintage mopeds, mostly Puch’s. To find these mopeds which are a distant memory for most, the brothers have to do a little digging. They’ve labeled their adventures #twinpickin and the experience kind of resembles the other “picking” shows on the History Channel. The brothers take their van to a home that’s had a bike buried in the barn, garage, or basement, and then inspect it and bring it home.
“Most of the bikes we find need to be fixed up, but the effort is worth it because these machines were so well built that they’ll last a long time and shining them up is just about as satisfying, therapeutic, and fun as riding them,” said Nate.
“When you’re riding them, you sort of forget about everything,” Mark said, “You can’t look at your phone, so you get to spend a few hours ‘unplugged’ and you can see your town in new ways and engage with the community. People will wave to you, ask you what you’re riding, it’s just fun.”
Where can one ride these mopeds? Almost anywhere where the speed limit is 35 miles per hour or under because that’s about how fast the bike goes. You may need to transport the bikes to a place with such a low-speed limit if a route isn’t available, but luckily the bikes can fit on a normal bike rack and can be lifted as they weigh anywhere from 70-100 lbs.
“The other weekend, a group of us took a few bikes to ride around Beaver and it was a blast,” said Mark.
It doesn’t require a motorcycle license to drive one of the bikes either because they have pedals, an automatic one or two-speed transmission, and are under 50CC.
Another benefit is that the mopeds get about 135 mpg so they are very affordable to ride. They cost about $75 a year to insure and about $10 a week to be a daily commuter. Compare that to a $30,000 car that costs around $200/week with gas, payment, insurance, maintenance to compare, and the mopeds turn out to be a perfect complimentary transportation solution for in-town living.
“Riding these around in our river towns is such an amazing experience, “ said Mark. “It’s carefree, safe, inexpensive, and fun. Why drive your car to the post office when you could just hop on a moped?”
Perhaps one day you’ll be able to get your own moped and do just that.
