History
The Puch Maxi arrived in 1969 and became the defining US moped — roughly 1.8 million built before production wound down. Austrian Graz engineering paired a sturdy pedal frame with the bulletproof E50 (single-speed centrifugal clutch) or ZA50 (automatic two-speed) engine. Either way you get chain final drive and functional pedals, not a scooter CVT.
American tuning culture centered on the E50: Bing carbs, clutch shoes, expansion chambers, and 70cc kits. Newport is the US trim name on many tanks; mechanically it is the same family as the European Maxi. Dealers sold them as cheap campus transport in the 1970s; today survivors are project bikes, daily riders, and show pieces.
What makes the platform endure is parts depth. Treatland, 1977, and Myrons still stock cables, bearings, and top ends. A rusty Maxi with a seized cylinder is often worth saving because the frame and trans are so common in the used-parts stream.
Buying tip: confirm whether you have E50 or ZA50 before ordering a kit — reed and piston-port logic differs. Check the VIN plate and count transmission speeds under the side cover before you commit to a pipe or cylinder.
Quick specs
| Final drive | Chain + centrifugal clutch |
| Pedals | Yes — functional |
| US price range | $500–$1,400 |
Full platform guide → Three build paths (mild → wild) → Manuals & PDFs →