-The explosion of mopeds happened in the early '70s
during the oil crisis.
-You're not a motorcycle. You're not a scooter.
You're not a bicycle.
You're kind of in this weird gray area.
You feel like an outlaw.
-It's pure terror mixed with pure exhilaration
at the same time.
Sometimes you don't know if your brakes are gonna work.
-They're just like a funny joke, and it always makes me happy.
-Oh, it's just amazing.
It's the best, like, freedom.
You're like, "This is it. I can go anywhere."
You can't, but you feel like you can.
-I got into mopeds maybe five or six years ago.
I had been way into drifting and into modifying cars,
and I kind of, like, stepped out of that for a long time.
I didn't have a car.
I didn't have any motor -- like, any motor vehicle in my life.
I was just skateboarding and riding bicycles.
I was like, "I need something
to kind of start cruising back around on."
Me and my good friend, we bought mopeds on the same day.
400 bucks or whatever, and that was it.
-I feel like you're always in a box of some sort.
At home, you're surrounded by all these walls.
You're in your car.
On a moped, everything's louder, and the wind's in your face,
almost like a high, you know?
Like you're taking it all in. You're using all your senses.
It's awesome. [ Laughs ]
-One thing led to another, and mutual friends were like,
"Yo, you know your buddy's in a moped gang."
I just started hanging out,
and then before I knew it, I was a prospect.
-Prospecting's, like, such a motorcycle-y word.
Everyone in a moped club says "Oh, yeah, moped gang."
But it's a club. Like, we don't --
We don't run guns in our bedrolls.
It's kind of just, like, a leisure club, I guess.
-I'm one of those people that definitely shouldn't be
riding them on the streets, I think.
[ Laughs ]
Moped Army is a council of moped gangs
that have all gotten together and created this alliance
that basically centers around an Internet message board
and scheduled meet-ups in different states
with different gangs hosting and stuff.
We're one club in the larger catcher's mitt of Moped Army.
It's cool knowing you can go to almost any state in the country
and find a couch to crash on
and a bike to borrow while you're there.
Moped Army takes care of its own, for sure.
The Latebirds take care of their own.
[ Camera shutter clicks ]
-This is the kind of stuff that I enjoy doing on a moped,
you know -- exploring and finding little places in L.A.
that, you know, not too many people get to see.
This hobby of ours just kind of got us all together,
and we just clicked.
These guys have just shown me so much.
I've got to different parts of the country,
and they've exposed me to so many types of inspiration
that it's just awesome.
We're constantly kind of, like, completing against each other,
trying to make ourselves just better people.
And I feel like it's an honor to be a Latebird.
-I have never had a group of friends
as solid as I have with the Latebirds.
We tell each other stuff
that most dudes wouldn't tell each other.
-We're so different, all of us, you know?
But we all share that same common bond --
our love for mopeds and our love for just hanging out.
We're good friends, you know?
And that's kind of what being a Latebird is.
-It's cool because you get to share your experience
with everyone, you know?
You get to fool around and joke,
and there's this sense of camaraderie.
I like just being a part of a cool group of individuals.
-I get something from this group of people
that I've never gotten anywhere else.
It's a sense of belonging.
Someone's always got your back.
There's been times where I was like, "All right, this is it.
I'm moving out of my apartment.
I'm breaking up with my girlfriend.
Who the [bleep] do I call right now?"
Latebirds.
-The last drop of gas could get used up in the world
and, you know, we'd still be hanging out together.