The Return of the Moped, with Tim Seward
- Buck City Biker
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Depending on which decade you were born in, the word moped probably means different things. In its original form, though, a moped was a low-powered motorcycle with pedals — there for that extra shove when you needed it. Or when you ran out of fuel halfway home on a Friday night and the wallet was already empty.
Tim Seward, founder and chief design officer at ONYX Motors, is a true believer in the format. He's been riding mopeds since the 80s, and in 2025 he built the ONYX RCR 80V — a machine that sits right on the fault line between e-bike and motorcycle, deliberately claiming the original moped space in between.
We sat down with Tim to talk about why mopeds suddenly make sense in 2026, and why he reckons its long-overdue comeback is closer than most people think.
“The moped was never meant to be impressive. It was meant to be useful — and that idea still holds up.” Tim Seward
Mopeds: Misunderstood, Not Obsolete
Somewhere along the way, moped became a punchline. Either a wheezing two-stroke from your mate’s teenage years, or a plastic-bodied commuter thing nobody admits to riding. Both miss the point.
At its core, it was never about image. It was about access. Cheap to run, easy to live with, and quick enough to hold its own in traffic when traffic wasn’t trying to kill you. Pedals weren’t a gimmick — they were a workaround. A way to keep moving when everything but perseverance ran out.
“Pedals were there so you could keep moving. That’s not nostalgia — that’s good design.”
Strip away modern baggage, and the question isn’t why mopeds? It’s why did we stop paying attention?
When Gas Mopeds Stopped Making Sense
Seward didn’t pivot to electric through ideology. He got there the same way most riders do — by getting fed up. Fed up with machines that needed constant attention, made too much noise, and couldn’t be relied on to get him where he needed to go. The romance wore thin fast. Breakdowns weren’t an if, they were a when.
“I didn’t wake up wanting to build an electric bike. I just got tired of fixing the same problems over and over.”
The real shift came with the realisation that the internal combustion part was doing more harm than good. Electric didn’t make the idea radical — it made it simple enough to ride every day without worrying about what might go wrong next.
That move, from tolerating the downsides to questioning why they existed at all, is where ONYX began.
The Gap Everyone Else Ignored
Somewhere between e-bikes pretending to be bicycles and full-size electric motorcycles pretending everyone commutes like a MotoE competitor, a gap opened up. And for the most part, the industry either missed it — or quietly stepped around it.
What got lost along the way was the original moped idea: a motorcycle with pedals, built for short hops and daily use. Not an e-bike with too much power. Not a loophole. A tool.
“Everything got louder, heavier, and more complicated. Nobody stopped to ask if that actually made riding better.”
That distinction matters to Tim. The RCR 80V is a true moped, and the clearest expression of what ONYX is trying to build. A deliberate nod to the original format, not a workaround to avoid calling it something else. In a market full of blurred lines and regulatory grey areas, that clarity is almost rebellious. While much of the industry chased bigger batteries and headline top speeds, ONYX doubled down on usability.
“We didn’t want grey areas. We wanted something you could explain in one sentence.”
Weight over excess. Torque where it actually matters. A machine that can move with traffic when it needs to, but still fits into the legal and physical realities of urban riding.
The irony is that this middle ground was never new. It was just abandoned — and in doing so, the industry forgot that sometimes less bike doesn’t mean less riding. It means more.
Why 2026 Is the Right Time
This idea may not have landed five or ten years ago. Not because the bikes weren’t possible, but because the conditions weren’t right.
Regulation is catching up — unevenly, sometimes clumsily — but the direction is clear. Machines that aren't 100% legal are becoming harder to live with, while purpose-built vehicles that can be registered, insured, and ridden without looking over your shoulder suddenly make a lot of sense.
At the same time, rider priorities have shifted. Fewer people are chasing outright performance for its own sake. More are asking a simpler question: does this actually work for how I ride? Commuting, working, getting home on time — the unglamorous miles that make up most real riding.
“This isn’t a breakthrough — it’s just things lining up the way they probably should have years ago.”
The technology has matured. The expectations have changed. And the moped — in its original, honest form — fits neatly into a world that values practicality over posturing.
The BCB Verdict: Less Bike, More Riding
The Moped is making a comeback. Not as a novelty or a workaround, but as a legitimate tool. Lightweight, simple, customisable, and built around everyday riding.
The RCR 80V happens to sit neatly in that space. It isn’t trying to replace your motorcycle or pretend it’s something it isn't. Instead, it’s built for the miles most riders actually do — riding without needing a plan.
That’s where the appeal lies. Mopeds work when they’re allowed to be honest machines: easy to handle, fast enough to move with traffic, and open enough to be personalised rather than locked into a single idea.
For riders fed up by overbuilt solutions and regulatory guesswork, the return of the moped feels less like compromise and more like clarity.
Less bike doesn’t mean less freedom. Sometimes, it just means you ride more.
Ride safe, folks
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