Moonbeam is 79" long, 52" wide, and 56" high.
It is made from a 1987 Honda Elite 150 motorscooter in excellent condition and another 1984 Elite 125 parts bike. It
weighs 386 pounds unloaded. It cost $2500 in materials and took a year, working half-time, to build.
The front tires have a 40" spacing and a 56" wheelbase.
The tires are 3.50-10 front and rear
For regular tires, I use Pirelli SC 30 tires, which are retro style scooter tires and
have a flatter profile and therefore more contact with the road. For driving on snow and ice, I'm stumped
for tires, since a scooter snow tire is an oxymoron. I simply don't drive in deep snow and ice.
The car goes 53 MPH on the level, but I never travel quite that fast.
I find that the best cruising speed is 35-40 with occasional speeds of 45.
Variable speed transmission. Just twist the right grip to go. There's no reverse, but
the car is so light, its easy to push backwards.
Fuel economy has been tested many times. On economy runs at a steady 40MPH, it gets 105
MPG. Around town, it's usually 80-85MPG. I frankly don't understand why this is better than the parent motorscooter,
perhaps aerodynamics.
The canopy can be snap locked in three positions, open,closed and midway. The heater, above
the driver's left knee,is in series with an identical small radiator back in the engine compartment. In summer, only the
blower of the rear radiator is switched on; while in winter, only the front one is on. This gives adequate engine cooling,
but not too much cabin heat in summer. In summer, the canopy is usually kept partially open.
There is a speedometer, gas gauge, fuel gauge (2 gallons capacity) odometer. the handlebar
switches control starter, horn, lights, wipers, turn signals and the right hand brake controls the two equalized front
brakes, while the left is the parking brake and rear brake. Two additonal switches control the headlight on-off, and
the direction of the heater flow, either down to the driver's feet or up to the windshield for defrosting.
Moonbeam seats two adults who are on intimate terms! More comfortably, it seats one adult
and one child. There is space for grocery bags behind the seat and on both sides of the engine surround. There
is good visibility all around the driver, and since the paneling is opaque, the interior is very light.
Learning to drive the car is immediate and easy, but the car is so light
and agile, you need to be cautious at first. It keeps pace well with traffic, accellerating smartly, and only
when you travel on 55 MPH roads, do you feel you are holding up traffic and pull to the right periodically for
others to pass. It has no business being on an expressway. Cars speeding past at high speeds soon makes you tense.
Moonbeam is a car to do errands in, about 20 miles or less from home. What
is amazing is how much of our car use is exactly that!
