Over to Nathan to tell us about the build and a little more about Motomatic… “So I have been into mopeds since 2000 and started working on them for a living in 2006. I had heard about some moped racing going on in San Jose that summer and went to check it out. That day I met Mike Rafter (ex pro skateboarder) and he asked me to build him a moped. It took another year until it was finished and “step your game up” is what I came up with. The bike started out as a batavus hs-50. I made the motor mounts, rear end and seat. At the time I only had an oxy acetylene welder so all of the welding on this bike was done with that. I bent all of the tubing with a vice and torch. There is no body filler on the frame and I did all of the powdercoating also. I built the wheels out of parts from 4 different bikes and trued them myself. The only things I didn’t do on that bike are cover the seat and paint the tank.

Mike and I became friends and we decided to start Motomatic together in late 2007. Moto Matic Mopeds specializes in custom mopeds and hand made moped parts. In June 2011 Mike got a different job and left moto matic so now it’s just me. It can get a bit overwhelming at times but I love building custom bikes and parts. I have always liked small vehicles and there is something about mopeds that appeals to me more than motorcycles. When I build a bike I try to upgrade anything I can and still keep the look of a moped.”