Syd?s Moped Run is held each November, just before New Zealand?s summer kicks in. The run was started by Sydney James Falconer in 1995. Falconer ran the event for many years on the Saturday that fell closest to his birthday. After he passed away, his son Keith continued to run it for several more years.

?Dad was a hard man,? Keith told us. ?He wasn?t one for rules and regulations. He rode bikes all his life, like Triumphs ? biker?s bikes mainly ? but as he got older, he moved back to the smaller stuff. Our family tried to give him a party for his 70th birthday, but he refused. Instead, he sat down with his old cronies from the vintage car club, and they mapped out a moped run, which had to be pedal-powered when it initially started.?
Falconer rode an old 50cc Puch with pedals, or alternatively, his Ducati Cucciolo. He was a great one for specials, a hard case. Falconer ran the event for nearly 20 years until his health got the better of him.

Attendance is impressive. On the 25th anniversary run in 2020, organizers stopped counting when they reached 306 participants leaving the start, with more who kept joining in. It was a significant jump from the very first run, which had about 45 riders.

Some of these bikes belong to the local Quake City Rumblers, a moped club that pines over modified classic Japanese mopeds and helps with marshalling duties at the event. Your eye might catch a rusty metal panel lookalike scooter, perhaps a Honda Joker or something ...