What are the Best Vintage Moped Brands?

I love bikes of all shapes and sizes, but vintage mopeds have a special place in my heart, so I thought I’d talk about the best vintage moped brands out there in case you’re in the market.

When I think of vintage mopeds, I think of bikes with pedals or pegs. Scooters are a whole other topic, which I might discuss at a later date.

I currently own a Tomos Golden Bullet. But the Tomos isn’t the only vintage moped I’ve owned, and it likely won’t be the last. So, with that, let’s take a look at the best moped brands you can own.

Mopeds are great little get-around-town machines. They get fantastic gas mileage, usually offer a rack or case for storage, and are simple and easy to maintain.

Vintage mopeds can be picked up for a few hundred bucks. I bought my Tomos for $350, and it’s still running well three years later. It’s from the 1980s, and extremely simple and easy to work on. If you have a couple of screwdrivers and a socket wrench you have all you need to maintain the bike.

Here are the brand’s I’d look for if you were looking for a vintage moped.

Tomos

Tomos was a company out of Slovenia. The company started making bikes in the 1950s. There are a long list of models, and all of them would be good for you to have. They have two-stroke and four-stroke models. The company went bankrupt in 2019, but there are tons of used bikes out there and plenty of parts.

Puch

Puch is perhaps the best-known and most well-loved moped maker out there. These can demand a higher price, and many people collect them. The bikes are all small displacement machines, but they tend to have a bit more style. Because of the rabid fan base, there’s plenty of parts out there and tons of information on the mopeds.

Garelli

Garelli is another great vintage moped brand. The company made bikes as early as 1919. There are Garelli bikes still being made today, but the classic mopeds form the 60s, 70s, and 80s, are what you should look for. There are some parts out there for these, and they’re generally cool-looking mopeds.

Motobecane

Motobecane made bicycles, mopeds, and motorcycles from 1923 to 1981. The French company has some wonderful machines, and you’ll find there are parts out there for them if you look hard enough.

Trac

Trac mopeds were made by a Korean manufacturer in the 1980s. I owned one of these bikes a while ago, but I ended up selling it due to the fact that parts were tough to hunt down. With that said, it was even easier to work on than my Tomos when I had parts and it was a blast to ride.

Jawa

Jawa mopeds come out of Czechoslovakia and later Slovakia. There are several models, and they can be hard to hunt parts down for, but they are exceptionally simple machines to work on and well-kept ones can serve you well.

VeloSolex

These are more bicycles than the typical moped. They are often referred to just as Solex. They’re made by a French company and are actually front-wheel drive. They can be perfect for riding around a neighborhood or if you have a sort commute. They’re about as simple and easy to maintain as a motorized bike comes.

Other Mainstream Motorcycle Brands

If you look back through the history of just about any large motorcycle manufacturer, you’ll find that there’s a moped hidden away somewhere.

Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, and even Harley-Davidson have dabbled in mopeds. Generally, these make for excellent options.

I prefer Honda’s mopeds, and actually, the best selling motorcycle of all time falls into this category: the Honda Super Cub.

If you can find one, I’d look at these brands first. Why? They’re typically easiest to find parts for and there are plenty of service centers that will still work on these bikes—though you should be able to do everything yourself for these basic machines.