Blast From The Past: 1965 Wards 50cc Moped Restoration

Four years ago (when my big plan was to focus on vintage motorcycle repairs...but auto diagnostics is way more fun :) I had the opportunity to complete a ground-up restoration on a 1965 Montgomery Wards Riverside 50cc moped.
The owner had the Wards sitting in his garage for 20 years, looking for someone to restore the rusty cycle and make it rideable again. I accepted the challenge. The process was much more time-consuming than I ever expected. The end result however was definitely worth it!
Now, after sitting for six months, the owner called me up to help him start it up. All it needed was an "Italian tune-up"...hey it was made in Italy after all!
Enjoy this Blast From The Past!
-Ivan

[@rupertfly]

I so enjoyed watching this video. I turned 16 in March 1965 and took delivery of this exact same moped plus the cream leg shields which were an optional extra. In the UK where I live, it was called the Motobi 50cc. It gave me my first taste of freedom and I travelled great distances with my much loved friend. Thank you for sharing.

[@Makapo3791]

Always liked little bikes. There was an old Honda on my Grandpa's farm I would have loved to restore but it was just too far gone, the engine was totally seized solid. Love that oil measuring system, I wish more 2-strokes had something like that.

[@CHIBA280CRV]

Fantastic job !

[@SteveRobReviews]

Cool vid buddy awesome work you have done. Looks great..

[@Adam-bw4lw]

im pretty sure you whold ride that thing all day 😂

[@Pablo_Automotive]

nice motorcicle ☺

[@GhettoWagon]

So... You can't hookup the fancy OBD2 scanner to this. That's a weird moped I have never seen one before. I think Puch had the same kind of fuel cap with a oil mixing cup in it.

[@charlesmiller5078]

With a added benefit of killing mosquitoes while your sightseeing. Nice job restoring , left just enough of the old to keep it looking nice. No cup holder ? GPS, Am/Fm radio, What were they thinking.

[@arciefan]

Thoroughly enjoyed this blast from the past. I'm certain it had to be time consuming , so be proud of what you accomplished. The nice thing , now in this age, you are able to share with us via the magic of you tube and the internet. Your's and Eric O's are my two favorite auto repair channels. Thanks for the great post !

[@haywardsautomotive6156]

That's in great shape. Mopeds were big in the 60's along with mini bikes & go karts. Nice to see one still running down the road! You did a nice job with the restoration!

[@SouthMainAuto]

Super cool Ivan!

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

Thanks Eric! Are you up early to do some engine swaps?

[@SouthMainAuto]

Yes sir! in at 4am home at midnight!

[@Adam-bw4lw]

+South Main Auto Repair probably planting some weed lol

[@MrBen527]

That thing is awesome!!

[@MrFreddywise1]

@@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics wow fantastic job Ivan ...

[@Goodsnout]

You should have filmed the whole restoration.

[@wtbm123]

Pretty cool . I like it I have one something like it only i believe sears may of sold mine

[@wyattoneable]

What a cool project. Keeping old stuff alive is commendable. It looks like a lot of fun for the owner.

[@gregb7761]

i have one just like it only 1964 model. my uncle bought it new. still runs like new and still has same spark plug it came with new

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

How many miles on it?

[@gregb7761]

@@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics around 1600 miles havent had it out of the shed in 3 yrs

[@sketchbreaker]

hey I have the same exact moped.. color and all. Do you know what these are worth? Mine runs great, I use it in the summer to putt around town. I believe mines is a 1968 though.

[@anonymuswere]

yes, Pennsylvania requires a motorcycle licence for scooters and mopeds, including the modern Battery electrics, and they must be registered as well.

[@MegaGeorge1948]

Talk about a carbon footprint!

[@fieldsofomagh]

This bike would do nicely for rounding up the cattle at a leisurely pace of course.

[@zfloz9895]

It's your naber dream, since he was 10 year old. :)

[@everybodysjonathan]

Nice restoration. I have the same model in my garage now. its waiting for its new life.

[@tickyul]

Yeah, lookin a LITTLE bit ultra-polluting.

[@eddiemartinez265]

Yep that's a bug killer.

[@GarthGoldberg]

A string trimmer on wheels.

[@MrMountaincycle]

I have a friend working on the same year, 1965 M. Ward moped. I noticed you installed a new coil. My friend also needs a new coil for my 1965 Montgomery wards moped. Can tell me where you located yours?

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

go to treatland.tv moped parts. Any generic $20 single-wire coil will work.

[@mhazel4777]

i had one as a kid delivered newspapers on it

[@mikepratali5582]

digging the "in progress' Photo with the explosion of parts EVERYWHERRRRREEE!!! way cool... good video

[@cojones8518]

The Angry Mosquito

[@edwardjames6070]

the biggest problem is getting parts. I don't know if benelli parts can be acquired anywhere, but the piston, cylinder, and ignition points you would definitely be interested in getting. ignition points are a short-life item. you can take sandpaper strips to them, but they will keep burning out. mopeds ARE alot of work to keep running, regardless of what other people might tell you.

[@tecnaman9097]

There's a Harley in there just waiting to escape...

[@joeweider9471]

really nice clip! this looks like vermont or somewhere in new england? also, this was the first bike i ever had, paid 40 bucks for it, and it kept conking out whenever i went up east road hill in bennington! :D

[@garrettestey6163]

I have one of these that is not running. When the spark plug is out it turns over fine but when it's in it gets really hard to pedal and the magneto struggles to turn. Do you know what the problem could be?

[@turokmakto9033]

I'm bidding on one of these

[@caduceus33]

Good thing you showed the In-Progress photos at the end. I would never have guess that this fine looking moped looked so bad to begin with!

[@baxrok2.]

Oh man, oil gas mix brings back memories of my Yamaha RD400 Daytona Special. Never should have sold that thing. Haha, I love the cup built into the gas cap on that moped, very convenient. Nice job on the resto Ivan, well done!

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

Hey John, two years ago I fixed up a 1967 Yamaha YM1 2-stroke twin. It had the revolutionary "Yamalube" oil injection system that metered a precise amount of 2-stroke oil right into the fuel/air stream. That bike ran so clean I didn't even notice much smoke at all! I have a soft spot for old bikes, especially Yamahas. BTW thanks for the Gorilla Pod camera stand :)

[@andrewc.usarmyretired8304]

I just picked up one of these, any additional advice to get it running, where did you get the parts

[@todayintheshopbanksy5904]

Totally get why your neighbor wanted to keep her going. Really lovely

[@HUBBABUBBADOOPYDOOP]

That was great, Ivan! Thanks for sharing.

[@carslover3509]

love it

[@alanmaier]

When that beast was built, the EPA didn't even exist! So this was allowed to have the mosquito fogger system!

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

I think it would run a bit cleaner with the 40:1 ratio and synthetic 2-stroke oil in the mix :)

[@alanmaier]

Oh I am sure it would. Make it seasonally adjusted.... 20:1 when mosquitoes are out and 40:1 during a dry summer ;)

[@sixpacksandsrts9122]

+motoYam82 So what would a rule of thumb be fit synthetic 2 stroke mix. Half ? If using synthetic ? My stihl equipment calls for 50:1

[@alanfarenden9378]

Might run a bit rich with less oil in the mix. No O2 sensor or anything else to tell you; haven't done a plug chop in 30 years. Good work.

[@SDsailor7]

Do they still give out registrations out for these since they are so tough on pollution these days?

[@johnmckamy6398]

whats the mixture on that sucker, man!!!

[@Adam-bw4lw]

25:1 maybe ?

[@eddiemartinez265]

20 Part's gas one part oil'

[@zackbrown9321]

Very cool, man. Very cool.

[@hoopty_dr2371]

I love history.

[@dirtdauber970]

Awesome

[@tommattox4877]

Nice

[@billyr9840]

Nice !