They weren't thought of as "mopeds" as that term hadn't been invented yet.
It's just the way bikes were started in the days before clutches, gearboxes and chain drives.
Regarding Indybums, someone huffed off of a group I on recently as someone termed his Chief an "Injun" which he considered to be a reference to cowboys films of the 1950s etc and far too racist to be countenanced.