Meet Rowdy & His Rare, One-of-a-Kind moped - The "Whizzer"

If you’re a college student living near any campus, chances are that mopeds are a pretty common, if not daily sight. We see our fair share of them trotting down the streets, characterized by the all-too-familiar buzz of their single-stroke motors, sometimes tolerable, and other times deafening to the ear. Recently, I ran into someone who had one of these mopeds - but this wasn’t just any of the mass-produced run-of-the-mill Vespas that we can’t seem to get away from; this one was unique in just about every single way.

Let me start by saying that this entire article proves that procrastination can pay off at times. I came upon this scooter by chance during a warm fall day in September of 2013. I had let my car’s fuel tank drain until the light came on that week, which meant that I had to make a run to the nearby gas station for a fill-up. After staring at the pump for what seemed like an eternity, The click of the handle indicated a full tank, and I closed it up. When I turned around to put the fuel pump back in its holster, I saw what looked like a Schwinn bicycle with a lawn mower engine attached to it sitting at the pump across from mine. Instantly, two thoughts came to mind: When is the last time I ever saw a moped filling up at a gas station? And Why have I never seen one quite like this? Needless to say, my curiosity got the best of me, and I had to have a closer look. That’s when I met Rowdy.

Rowdy is a resident on Milwaukee's upper east side, and a student at UW-Milwaukee. He's an all-around Wisconsinite and authentic Milwaukee lover -- and no, that is not any nickname or alias he goes by, Rowdy is his real and authentic name. It’s unique, badass, and definitely one of a kind – just like the moped he was driving. After making an introduction and taking a few pictures of this unique scooter, I got to ask him a few questions about its origin, and the story behind it - which proved to be an interesting foray into this little red moped's history.

It’s called a Whizzer, and its looks definitely give people who have a chance to look at it a feeling of nostalgia. As I had thought upon my first glance of the scooter, it was a classic moped recipe - a Schwinn bicycle that was powered by a small single stroke leaf-blower motor mounted to it. That sounds like a pretty simple set-up, until you get to figuring out how it works. What I love most about this moped is that it’s not like any other modern one that you or I have ever seen. In order to use the 40-horsepower single-stroke motor, you have to use the pedals to get it going. Once you do, it's good to get you up to a modest cruising speed of 30mph, and while these features make it a highly functional moped, it does cause quite a racket. It's seat is comfortable, which is ideal for making small trips across town, and its fat tires give the Whizzer great grip when weather conditions are less than ideal. All of this is sounding like a good set up, which is probably inspiring you to open a new tab to run a Google search for one; which might lend itself to some bad news: if you’re in the market to get one, you might be disappointed in what you're about to find out. 

You won’t find one sitting in your local showroom any time soon, and if you’re lucky enough to see one for sale on the second-hand market, grab your wallet or your camera, because you’ll be looking at 1 of the only 20 in existence. According to Rowdy, this one-of-a-kind moped was the result of a family friend.

He shared with me that his aunt’s friend had a factory that was closing down, and she had a surplus of single-stroke motors lying around the warehouse that would be soon locking its doors. After some clever thinking, she took these motors and mounted them to 20 mid-80's Schwinn bicycles that were only modified with beefier, more grippy street tires to accommodate the power of the new motors that they would be carrying. He stated that they cost about $500 each, but because he was close with his aunt’s friend, she sold it to him at a bargain price of just $200. Quite the steal considering their rarity. Rowdy went on to tell me that he tried to take his particular example on the highway to get it back to the east side of Milwaukee from Bay-View after purchasing it, but that strong gusts of wind in combination with speeding traffic made for a pretty unsafe situation, and went on to take the back-roads instead. Good decision Rowdy.

What we’re looking at then isn’t just another moped - it's a mark in history. The Whizzer's rarity and uniqueness make it much more than the mass-produced Vespas that we are used to seeing on roads today, and if you learn about the history of it, it's like seeing a rare classic car whenever you find one. Most importantly, Rowdy is proud to own a Whizzer because it’s no ordinary moped, it’s the Ferrari Enzo of the moped world.

–Mike Wiencek