Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2017 i Scootering

Okay, okay… I’ll get the bad news out of the way now. To all the ‘hardcore classic enthusiasts’: there’s a news item on electric scooters over the page. If the reception Euro 4 compliant machines receive is anything to go by, the two-stroke crowd will be fuming about this… even more than usual! The styling of said machine is clearly Vespa-retro based, albeit a somewhat Frankenstein mish-mash. But the end result however, ain’t all that bad – visually at least. I guess if the pricing, performance and range all add up, they will actually become very popular mainstream vehicles in the future; maybe not so much to the classic scooter crowd, but certainly to the general public. This of course doesn’t affect our path here at Scootering, or our focus…

CUSTOM SHOW WINNERS Best of Show: Start Me Up Best Lambretta: Rattler Best Vespa: Prelude Best Street Racer: Acquiesce Best Engineered: Bandido Best Cutdown/Chop: Pugwash Best Restoration: 623 XUT (Li125 Series 1) Bests Paint: Rattler Best Mural: Start me UP Best Auto: Modified LD 469 DYA Among other events, such as Hayling Island, Exmouth, Warmwell and Teignmouth – Woolacombe is the largest rally that SWSC hosts and organises. Set within the picturesque north Devonshire landscape and held at the Golden Coast Holiday Park with a variety of on-site accommodation (including camping) there is also a complementary ‘happy bus’ service into Woolacombe (on Saturday) and Ilfracombe (Sunday). It promised to be a jam packed weekend with four bands, custom show, parts fair, ride out, Saturday afternoon entertainment and the grand finale…

Back in the mid to late 1960s, second-hand scooters were in abundance and the older models were extremely cheap. As a 14-year-old, Dave Tooley would constantly remind his father of the fact. Dave wasn’t particularly bothered what make it was, as long as it had two wheels – that was all that mattered to him. It didn’t have to be a runner either; Dave was keen to learn and get the machine, whatever type it was, back on the road by himself. His father duly obliged after seeing an advert for a stripped down LD 125, which had been pulled apart by the owner, who then lost interest in reassembling it. It cost no more than a couple of weeks’ paper round money and an excited Dave went to collect…

There’s no doubt that Mauro Pascoli is an incredible man. At 15, an age when most of us were struggling with teenage angst, he persuaded his father to act as a guarantor so he could open a bona fide Piaggio dealership. In the lean years of scootering he scooped up new old stock spares from dealerships across Italy and the quality of his remade parts is the stuff of legend. However his crowning achievement is the collection of Vespas he’s amassed over a lifetime. It’s not often I’m lost for words but the volume, variety and scarcity of his exhibits is overwhelming. The Mauro Pascoli Collection is a privately owned museum situated on the outskirts of Ravenna, around 80 miles south of Venice. Other than its scale, what separates this…

Originally called Armistice Day, a public holiday in several European countries, Remembrance Day is a time to remember and give thanks to the countless servicemen and women who fought for our freedom; those who gave their lives serving their countries, sacrificing their todays for our tomorrows. In the UK, the date of November 11 is not always the day of remembrance, instead the second Sunday in November is utilised as Remembrance Day. The Royal British Legion runs its national fund-raising poppy appeal, gathering much-needed funds to provide welfare support for former servicemen and women. The symbolism of a poppy is taken from the iconic and moving poem by Canadian John McCrae. The poem’s opening lines make reference to thousands of poppies being the first flowers to grow on the battle-scarred…

Looking back over the past 20 years Niall McCart, founder and owner of Walthamstow-based Retrospective Scooters, can recall some stunning original scooters that he’s stripped and restored or painted in non-factory schemes. “Now we’re being asked to conserve machines that in reality need a full rebuild,” he said. “In the past few years I think people have realised that things are only original once and there aren’t too many good, original examples left.” Thanks to our hostile climate and the misplaced attentions of scooterists over the years, few scooters that have been British registered from new survive. Ask any of the dealers who import scooters from the continent and they’ll confirm that good examples are getting harder to find. Fortunately when a customer approached Retrospective asking for a solid, original…

For me the day started with a very enjoyable tunedauto blast up through the Essex countryside. After a fill-up at Britain’s oldest town (Colchester) I started to spot fellow travellers as the link roads merged to our goal. Soon we were crossing the ‘Strood’ and into the principality of ‘Mersea’. The ample gate-staff were already busy, and after handing over my ticket I was quickly directed on site and choosing my pitch! One nice touch was that the rally literature and patch, this year, featured a tribute to the late Jonnie Bolland, sadly missed by many including myself. After years of organising this event the DVLC have got their setup down to a fine art; separate areas for both scooters and cars means the main field doesn’t resemble a car…

Scooters mean different things to different people around the world. To some they are the epitome of a place in time they wish to hark back to, while to others… just a menial mode of transport. They say a picture speaks a thousand words, and if that’s the case… here are 18,000 of the visual best, from the side streets of Bangkok. “Vespa City!” tuk-tuk driver Somsi yells over his shoulder. “That’s what the people of Bangkok call Chinatown.” We skip through another red light and above the blaring whine of his vehicle I can hear the distinctive pop-pop chatter of scooter engines surrounding us. As we approach the busy thoroughfare of Yaowarat Road, with its Chinese signs and the scented steam rising from the street-food stalls, we start to…

Operating as an independent dealership, Carnaby is able to offer a wide product range including LML, Scomadi, Sym, Peugeot and more recently Lambretta. “My ethos is very simple,” begins Richard Cooney, founder and owner of Carnaby Scooters, “customers deserve the broadest choice possible and it’s our job to help them find the perfect match for their needs.” Formed in 2013, Carnaby is a relatively new dealership but its growth has been meteoric. “My bias is towards Mod but I’ve loved, ridden and maintained all styles of scooter for as long as I can remember,” says Richard. “I’d been operating a building-related business for decades, particularly high value projects in the States. When the recession started to bite folding the business became a reality, without me having any real idea of…

As a style or sub-genre street racers, in some form or other, have enjoyed a degree of popularity almost from the very beginning. Inspired by competition scooters over the years, street racers have evolved in a multitude of areas. The basic template is generally, but of course never definitively, a striking racy (pun intended) paint job, that evokes an aura of power and performance combined with an engine that delivers. This is topped off with select aftermarket upgrades for better handling, braking and the like. Toby Taylor from Bridlington has a street racer Vespa that meets all the aforementioned prerequisites. And then some! Livery and artwork have been provided by Dave Dickinson, while the power unit is Chiselspeed built, tuned and set up, with plenty of trick items. Adding to…

Warren White is a member of the Woodley Scooter Boys, which was formed around three years ago by Warren’s pal, Phil Gibbons and also the Reading Comedy Mods SC. Warren’s main interests are ska music, the First World War and the Second World War, and these interests formed the considerations for the theme of Warren’s custom scooter. Warren explained that his final choice of theme was influenced by his respect for the sacrifices made by previous generations and he wanted to create a scooter which was a fitting tribute to those sacrifices, which should never be forgotten. Through Andy at Wessex Bike Works, Warren found Leeloo’s Airbrush Art. Warren said: “Andy’s a friend of mine and I’d told him what I was wanting to do. Andy put me in touch…

Scooter based electric transportation is now available via SSC and, the firm says, the world will be a better, cleaner and quieter place as a result. SSC has been involved in building electric scooters on a small scale, for their own interest, for over 10 years now. Previous designs have been based around converting classic Italian scooters which were branded as VTronic and EBretta. Ex-Brit and company owner Pat Joynt firmly believes now is the right time to step into series production of affordable quality electric scooters. He tells us: “The ethos behind our Buzz 1 model is based upon our passion. We have drawn inspiration aesthetically from designs of 50+ years ago – automotive design has lost some of its freedom over the years as manufacturing techniques have changed…

A DRIVING FORCE Shaun went to his first scooter rally, Skegness on a Vespa borrowed from a friend in 1984. Thirty years later he and his son, Shaun junior, went on the Skegness Rally together. Shaun junior’s style of fashion has a Peaky Blinders element of influence and during that Skegness trip Shaun captured an image of his son, which helped inspire him for the theme for his scooter. FOUNDATIONS SET A top paint job was one of the priorities at the top of Shaun’s list. Shaun explained: “I was looking for someone who had the skills and was up to the job. By chance I bumped into a pal and we got chatting. My pal showed me the paintwork Ty had done on his scooter and when I saw…

The W.o.T Rally was previously known as the Shires Rally and it’s now in its sixth year being held at the Ukrainian Youth camp, Weston-on-Trent, Derby. Camping is a treat at the countryside venue, which also offers good, clean facilities with on-site washing, showers and toilets facilities available. Arrivals started turning up early on the Friday morning. The weather offered a few pesky showers here and there but there was never any risk of this taking the edge off things. Over the course of the weekend the roughly 1200 attendees were treated to an outstanding line-up of fun events and entertainment. On Friday night Mansfield band Pretty Big Guns supported The Interceptors. On Saturday night, and back by popular demand were the highly entertaining Hung like Hanratty who supported the…

WIN a pair of Bridgestone scooter tyres & Trik Moto jacket! For your chance to win a pair of Bridgestone scooter tyres and a Trik Moto jacket, email us your HI-RES pics to: suys@scootering.com or post your pics to Show Us You Scooters, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ, and the least crap snap wins! Closing date: November 8, 2017. For full terms and conditions, visit: www.scootering.com/comptc Least crap snap…

Northern Ireland is blessed with some of the most stunning scenery in the UK and the Mourne Mountains are one of the jewels in its crown. Designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1966, it includes the highest mountains in Northern Ireland, the highest being Slieve Donard at 850m (2,790ft). The starting point for any tour of the mountains is the seaside town of Newcastle, and it’s quite possible to blast down the A24 out of Belfast and arrive there in around an hour. However, if time permits I’d suggest starting in Bangor, where The Guillemot Cafe serves a wonderful breakfast overlooking the harbour. From there, take the beautiful coast road along the Ards Peninsula to Portaferry. Having taken the short ferry ride across the mouth of Strangford Lough,…

1800 mile round trip My head was more wrapped around the prospect of riding over 900 miles to Seattle, and again back home to San Francisco. Turned out it was less of an ordeal than I anticipated, though towards the end of each day it did feel like an endurance ride. Many of us had the time, so the group I rode with took three days to our destination, giving us time to take scenic detours along the Pacific Coast and through a series of redwood forests. In logging country we admired a massive Paul Bunyan statue, and stopped at the obligatory drive-through Redwood tree. One of the highlights was scooting alongside a freight train at 70mph. The engineer blew his horn several times and waved at us. There is…

It’s a live music festival, with two stages providing a varied line up of alternative acts all held Undercover. Hence the name – rather than being outdoors and open to the elements, it all takes place indoors, and undercover, currently in the up and coming seaside town of Margate. The driving force behind the growing success of the Undercover Festival, Mick Moriarty, has huge connections with the scooter scene, being a member of Virgin Soldiers SC since the 80s. For a sizeable number of scooterists, the ‘lifestyle’ elements, including the music, are an integral part of the scene. There is no definitive type of music that appeals to all and some have no interest in musical genres. Those who do often have wide and varied tastes in what appeals. As…

Initially the Brighton Mod Weekender was a gathering of like-minded 21st century modernists, celebrating 60s modernist style and culture, under the banner of the New Untouchables. In recent years and certainly over the past five, or more, this event has snowballed into probably the second biggest annual gathering of scooters in the UK. Brighton hosts a variety of events across the year, some of which are aimed at Mods and scooterists. With outlets such as Jump The Gun, Modern Artworks gallery bar and cafe, along with others, plus Quadrophenia tours, this south coast resort offers year-round attractions for those of the Mod persuasion. August Bank holiday weekend invariably sees entrepreneurial types offering entertainment specifically targeting (pun intended) the Mod pound. Although it is primarily sold as a Mod weekender, as…