Detroit resident Kyle Williams is a man on the move and uses his Italian motorbike to get around Detroit and its environs.
Photo provided by Kyle Williams
Detroit resident Kyle Williams of Detroit, 26, typically, can be seen around the city on his pimped-out, dark orange Italian motorbike.
Williams is a man who got fed up a few years ago riding his dream car, a Challenger, in the city and paying for “outrageous” insurance that cost him over $1,300 a month.
“[That’s] before I put gas in it,” Williams told The Michigan Chronicle recently. “It got to the point where insurance was all I could afford … I was 21 and considered high risk.”
Williams said that he got to a point where he couldn’t pay his car insurance.
“[I] let my car sit in my garage,” he said adding that he wound up looking online for a bike to “get around easier in the Motor City.”
When Williams looked around, he saw different mountain bikes and ended up landing on something different altogether.
“I ended up seeing one bike, a Garelli Italian motorbike. It doesn’t look like a minibike,” Williams said, adding that it doesn’t have obnoxious headlights or taillights that mopeds have. You can put blinkers on it – it looks cool.”
The sleek, eye-catching, vintage bike can be customized, too.
Williams, who takes his bike to Moped Works in Detroit for regular maintenance, is one of many Detroiters looking for alternative transportation methods for recreation or even business.
Alex Samu, owner, of Detroit Moped Works, said that his shop is the “biggest vintage moped shop in the country.”
“We serve the country, the world – Midwest definitely,” he said, adding that from repairs and shipments to everything in between the shop is open for business for those looking to buy city bikes, electric and gas scooters and minibikes.”
Samu said that minibikes are more for “city folks” than vintage mopeds, which didn’t initially have a large clientele base.
“The electric bikes are really good,” he said for an older clientele and others looking to zip around town. “You can ride them in bike lanes, the sidewalk… they are not super-fast but quick.”
Williams, who rides throughout the city and the suburbs, said that it’s the accessibility and ease of transportation for him.
“I want the type of freedom and energy you get from mopeds,” he said. “Not only can you travel around Detroit … you can tie it to any pole… you can whip around traffic… you can ride on any major street.”
He added that the moped community (dubbed Moped Monday) is a big one that even extends beyond city limits. He and a group of his moped friends regularly ride to different cities including Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and, on occasion, Toledo.
“I never thought I’d be riding my moped – it is a lifestyle,” Williams said. “Now all my friends all have mopeds now.”
Caitlin Malloy-Marcon, deputy director of the Department of Public Works, City of Detroit, told The Michigan Chronicle that Detroit has and still is dedicating capital dollars to improve all modes of transportation.
“Aside from cars and public transportation, the city has built out robust pedestrian and bike facilities to ensure people of all abilities and budgets can get around,” she said, adding that the bike club culture, like the moped culture, has grown in the city. “Recently, bike club culture has exploded in Detroit and there are dozens of registered bike clubs that might meet weekly or monthly to ride together. During the pandemic … we saw record numbers of Detroiters out on foot and on bikes using parks and shopping locally.”
Malloy-Marcon added that the city is currently running a safety campaign and planning effort “Streets for People” to encourage the use of alternative transportation and to do so safely.
According to city statistics, between 2014 and 2018, 529 people were killed in traffic crashes in Detroit and another 2,102 were injured.
“It is critical that those of us that are fortunate enough to afford a car or are able to drive treat it as a privilege and look out for all other users of the roads,” she said, adding that the future is bringing about a new promise in the realm of alternative transportation locally.
“The field of transportation and mobility is constantly changing but making sure city streets are safe for our most vulnerable users, elderly, people with disabilities and our youth, who may not have access to a car should be kept a top priority,” she said.
Malloy-Marcon added that the city partnered with MoGo Detroit Bike Share, a Detroit-based non-profit organization, to offer a service that promotes health, safety and connectivity, and electric scooter companies to expand the choices “Detroiters have to move about.”
“If the city were to only build infrastructure that is safe and convenient for drivers, we will have done a great disservice to the 25 percent of our residents who do not have access to a car,” she said.
Jeremy Rosenberg, MoGo’s marketing and digital media manager told The Michigan Chronicle that the organization has thousands of casual and member riders that are part of the MoGo community.
“Pre-pandemic, the vast majority of MoGo’s riders came from members, who were most often commuting. When the pandemic hit, our ridership shifted to more casual riders as people had more time to spend outside,” Rosenberg said. “Now, as things start to go back to normal, we’re expecting member and casual ridership to balance out and increase simultaneously.”
The Michigan Chronicle’s own Jillian Nathan, who’s been a regular MoGo bike rider for over three years, said that in her experience she hasn’t always seen Black people riding on bikes and it’s important for more of the community to get out.
“I think it is a very unique way to explore the city and to show younger folk there is the opportunity to ride bikes as well,” Nathan said while on a MoGo bike.
More information can be found at mogodetroit.org.
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