Vive la difference
AsItypethisintroduction Scootering is on itsannualEuropeanadventure.As you’ll seeinside, we’vebeenguestsat this year’s Perpignanrally andcalled in to seeour good friendsatSIP fortheir open day. If that seems alittlelight on results, don’t worr y. We’vebag gedsomesuperbcustomscooters andinter viewed aFrenchscooteristabout his experiencesofthe early1980s BritishMod scene, a fascinatingstory that puts adifferent perspectiveon howweBrits seethatera.
However, Idigre ss.Duringmytimewith Scootering I’ve been fortunatetoattendmany European events,and thething that always strike s me is howtheycan be both incredibly familiar andyet completely differentatthe same time In thepastwe’ve coveredthe histor yof‘modern’ European scootering;which,likethatofthe UK, emergedfromthe Quadrophenia era. At the rallyinPerpignan,the cultureofrally patche s, Northern Soul,Ska and‘full blown’ customswas very much in evidence.InGermany,the sceneis generallymoreakintothatofmotorcycleculture, with ‘patched’clubs,extremetuningand amuch broaderselection of musicbeing played
This year’s Perpignanrally washeldata Chateaux surrounded by vineyardsand therideout,mostly, followed thesun-soakedMediterranean coast.
Unfortunately, illnessand arapid return home preventedusfromattending SIP’sspectacular open day. This wasarealshame as we were looking forwardtobeing treatedtoBavarianbeerand more sausages than anyone couldreasonablycount.Yes, theclothes maybeslightlydifferent,the accents certainlyso, butwhereveryou call home,these events allshare onething:aloveofscootersinall theirmanyforms Yes, thereare alot of attractionsfor Britsat European events,but this cultural exchange isn’tonewaytraffic. Attend anyofthe BritishNationals and it’s almost guaranteed that there’ll be scooters from Europe in attendance.Why?Because alittlevariety is good forthe soul.Meeting people with shared passions is areassuringway to breakdownbarriers, experience somethingnew andrealise that,however well things maybeorganised ‘athome’ (wherever that maybe) there’salwayssomething that canbe adoptedand adaptedtomakethingsevenbetter. My suggestion is oystersand ice- cold white wine afterthe Isle of Wightrideout this year.How aboutyou?
Whatever your plansthissummer, Scootering hasyou covered. If youwantpeopleatyourevent, there’sour freeeventslisting andifyou want to shareyour adventures youcan either‘Show us your scoots’or‘Send us a postcard’… just getintouch and we’lldothe rest ■ stan@scootering.com
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Scoo tering Magazine
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CO NTENT S
3Welcome The joys of European rallies
8Scooter Girls are Go! Lynn and Anita’sKelso assignment
16TheKnowledge
The facts behind Adie Horrocks’ 127mph Vespa
22News
Product reviews and more
30Stompers
We chat with the legendary Kinks drummer Kenney Jones
34Treasure
We catch up with one of our early feature Lambrettas that’sstill being well ridden
40Empire building -the Lambretta way
The story of how Lambretta rose to prominence
44Escape to the chateau
Ascooter rally held in the grounds of aFrench chateau!
50 Show Us Your Scoots
The riding season’shere so show us what you’re up to
53Te ll us what you’ re thinking
Modern traffic and how to findyour local Scootering stockist
54Subscriptions
Never miss out on your favourite mag and save money at the same time
56Send Us aPostcard
Aday at the races and Armando’s open day
60Lambretta TV Montecarlo
Icons of Italiandesignfused together in amost uncommon way
68Big Chris’sClassicCor ner
Awell-loved VespaGS160 hits the road once more
74Vicand Ted’sexcellent adventure
“If only ascooter could talk.” Well, this TV tells quite astory
80Air Jordan
To many of us, the 1980s are now just memories, butfor anew generation,it’snow the influence.
86Gijon or bust
Vespa World Days,May 1-4, 2025
92This month in the garage
Dan reflects on ignition systems, with aparticular nod to the ever-popular SIPVape units for both Vespa andLambretta
96PX-treme tuning
Our P2 gets apacker,but will it improve its performance?
100Italian Stallion rolling revival
It’stime to tackle oneofthe mostcrucial
assemblies in anyLambretta build: the final drive
106Gran Turismo Spor t HPE300
This month,it’sback to basics with a no-nonsense service: oil, filter,plug, pressures, andapre-summer safety check
110Race Chat
Action from BSSO Round 3at Cadwell Park
116Buyer’sguide
Stats and opinions on new scoots
120Tales from the vault
Astory of nottoo careful running in
128Final word
Acarefully styled Series 2
130Next month
Apeek around the corner to see what our August (yes really) issue has in store.
Scooter Girls arego! Gi areg
Lynn
and Anita’sKelso assignment: Kelso National Rally,May 23-25
Th is year’s Kelsowas theusual mixtureoffun andfrivolities, as reported on by BigChr is andh is ‘ScooterGirls’.
After thetorrentialdownpours androadclosuresoflastyear’s trip to theScottishNational RallyinKelso nearly destroyed theirspirits,Scooter GirlsLynnand Anita were prayingtoany godthatwould listen foratleast abit of respitefrombiblical storms.Thistimetheywantedtoarrive notbrokenbut in good spiritsand up forhavingfun in this wonderfulScottish town.Laughingand enjoying ascooter rallyasitshouldbe, in thecompany of good matesand likeminded folk
Scootering withoutborders
Forthose who don’talready know,Kelso is aver yprett ymarkettownsituated in theScottishBorders,abeautifully picturesqueareathatjustbegstobe ridden through. Incredibly therally is nowmorethan20years old, with the first onebeing held in 20 02,and since
then it hasbecomeafirm favourite among thescooteristmas se s. The facilities aregoodwithplent yofspace andagoodselection of tradersatthe market.Isabell andKaren,the main organisers,along with theirteamreally do puton afantastic,enjoyable event andare both easy-going andapleasure to work with
Therally events such as thetraders’ market,customshowand evening entertainmentwithlivebands on both nights,aswellassomegreat tune s played by theDJs foryou to shake andshufflealong to,isheldonthe showground just over theriver from thetown.
From therally site on theshowground thetownisjustashort walk past the famouswell-stickeredtownsign. Here ever yone pauses foraquick photo opportunit y, then headsoverthe
bridge andintotown, whichbuz ze swiththe amas sedannualscooterists’invasion. With its racecourse andfishing, Kelsoattractsplent y of tourists,soaccommodation is plentifulin andaroundthe town;thatis, if youdon’t want to take advantageofthe campsite
So,withall that on offer, theprayers, incantations or spells that hadbeencastby thelassesmusthaveworked, as thankfully theScooter Girls, alongwithColin,had aver y pleasant anduneventfuljourney north. They hadset offfairlyearly on Thursday,withevery intentionof making agoodweekend outofit, arriving at theiraccommodation,which wasone wing of amansion house, at about4.30pm. Afteraquick nannynap,itwas time to head outfor abev vy or two… Lynn said thetownwas fairly quietonthe Thursday nightwithonlya couple of Lambrettas visiblyparked.
Saturday
Thefollowing morningthere wasjusttimefor aleisurely wander roundthe town as more and more scooteristsbegan to turn up,again in beautifulridingconditions.
At midday thelas se s, plus Colinand asmall posseoftheir othermates,wandereddown to theshowgroundtoget theirtickets forthe weekend. Goodybagswereissuedtoeveryone who at tended by scooter, andthe rule s
Old school…
Praying to theweathergods seemed to work!
Detail on TheParade’sGone By shows why it’sawinner
It’sthe thought that counts…
24 Hour Party People
Goody bags were issued to ever yone who attended by scooter, and ther ules were strictly enforced.
were strictly enforced. This upsetafew folks, includingC olin,who,havingbeendeniedhis plunder, went back up forhis scooterand rode it back to thesite, thus qualif ying forthe scooterriders’ goodybag.But as it states on thetin,thisisa scooterrally
Anitaand Lynn were sent on amis sion to take some lovely shotsofpeopleand scooters forme, andthe pair of them took theirassignmentver yseriously,asoverthe course of theweekend Imusthavereceived 50 0image sbet ween them.Somegreat shots anditwas wonder fultosee theevent from someoneelse’sperspective
On theFridaynight theScooter Girlset al decidedtostayinthe town andafter a walk roundand some scranheadedfor the Legion,which is atraditional meetingplace for therallygoers.
Ihad awanderintothe hall whereitwas full of folk having agoodtimeand doingtheir funky thangonthe dancefloor, butafter astupidly crazybusyweekand an earlystart loading thevan with assorted goodies, Iwas beat
Quiet beforethe storm.
Futuretta V2
andheadedbacktoget my head down.After gettingall snug Iwas awoken by my van’salarm goingoff time andtimeagain untilIeventually managedtosor titbeforedriftingoff into a lovely slumberwhile beingserenaded to sleep by thesound of OceanColourScheme, who were theliveact forthe evening. To be fair they soundedprettygood, to thepoint whereIdid consider shakingmyselfand gettinguptogo andwatch them play,but tiredness, laziness andold ageconvinced me otherwise.
Iwas deep in thelandofnod,wellthatwas untilGoofy woke me up knocking on thedoor. He hadlosthis vankeysand wondered if he hadleft them on my stallwhenhewas talkingtomethe previous evening. It wasnow fiveinthe morning; we checkedevery corner butfound nothing! That wasit, Icouldn’tget back to sleepproperlyagain andbegan to setupScooterroller HQ
On Saturday,everyoneawoke to adampstart as it hadbucketeddowninthe night, andasthe dayprogressedthe wind picked up somewhat andthere were afew intermittent showers. This didn’t seem to dampen many spiritsthough, andthe ScooterGirls,Colin andgangagain wandered down to therally site to checkout the stalls andsee thestunningmachinesthatwere resplendentlydisplayed in thehall. As long as Ilive, Idon’t thinkIwilleverget fedupwith seeing agoodcustomscooter.The amount
Be st in show: Pure Decadence
Vint ageVespa: Rally(entr y#8)
Cust om Ve spa: PX225N408END
Vint ageL ambr et ta: Jet200 SXI970
Cust om Lambre tt a: TheUpsetter
Au toma tic: 24 Hour PartyPeople
Street racer: RB SType(entr y#35)
Engineering: Yambretta
Cu tdow n: DreamWarrior
Pain twork: Hell Bound
Murals: TheParade’sGoneBy
Chrome work: Futuretta
Engr aving: TheParade’sGoneBy
of effort that goes into showingoff your pride andjoy is trulyamazing;evennow,after allthese years, I’mstill in aweofthe builders.Itwas then time formetopackupand head home as Ihad anotherstupidlybusyweekahead of me
Forthe lasses,after afew more bevvie s, awashand apolishuptheywereout in the town againtocelebrate yetanother wonder ful eventand catching up with people that they hadn’t seen forawhile.The twoliveactsfor theSaturdaynight that were So SallyAddicted andThe Beat featuringRanking Jnr, both of whichset thedancefloorshumming
It wasthenoff foracosy, contentedsleep in theirniceaccommodation before theScooter
Girlsand Colinmounted up andheadedhome on theSundaymorning.Another seven-hour ride on twoVespa PX machines andaLambretta,in very windyconditionswithout missingabeat, before making it safely back home from another fantasticKelso ScooterRally
Thankyou to allthe Scot tish Number Ones involved formakingithappenagain Seeyou next time
Words: BigChris
Averybig thanks to Lynn andAnita forthe help with thefeature as Iwas stuckatmystall tradingmostofit, andfor thetrillionpictures they sent me
TheKnowledge ElvingtonWorld Records Weekend:
127mph Vespaestablishes eightnew records
Scooterracer Ad ie Horrocks hasestablished eightnew speed records. We askedour resident sprinter,Stu Owen,toexpla in howthe magichappened.
Q. Whereand when didthe record runs take place?
A. Over theWhitsun bank holidayweekend, Straightliners held theirWorld 2RAT records meetingatElvington airfieldinNor th Yorkshire. Themeeting ranoverfourdaysfromMay 2225 andthe variousclasses allowedridersto establishnew recordsoverseveral distances.
Q. Howlongisthe tr ack?
A. Thetrack is measured over 1.25 mileswith four disciplines: standing star tmile, mile and aquarter,flying quar terand flyingkilometre, wheretop speedonly, notthe time,isrecorded. Adie is no stranger to this type of event, having achieved 122mph in 2022,soitwould be some step up if he wanted to go faster
Q. Were ther emanyscoot er en trie s?
A. Theonlyscooter entrantwas Adie Horrocks, who took twoVespastocompete in the175 and 250ccscooter classes.
Q. Howisar ecord se t?
A. To establisharecord, arider canmakeas many runs as they want in an allotted one-hour time slot.The best tworunsare then taken, and theaverage of them givesthe speed. Usually, therunsare made in opposite directions to allowfor wind conditions,but at this meeting, topfuelregulations were used,where all runs were completedinthe same direction. Therefore, over thefourdays, arider’s highest speeds mayberecordedondifferent days,but only theonesthatare completed within the one-hour time slot on aspecific daycan be used to getthe mean average.
Q. Howdid things go in the175cc clas s?
A. Firstupwas hisattempt on the125cc BFA/ FRTsmallframemachine producing36bhp;this is no slouch,and good things were expected.To understand howdifficultspeed attempts are, he doesn’tjustget on themachine,windthe throttle on andgoasfastashecan.Sighting runs arerequiredtoensureeverythingworks well andcheck outthe trackand weatherconditions. Adie waswellaware of that,and on onerun,he almost gotcaughtout with afreak side wind Travelling at around 108mph,hegot aviolent tank slapperwiththe handlebars swinging from side to side.The only waytoget outofthiswas to bringitunder controlgradually;braking would have instantlythrownhim offinspectacular
fashion. Thankfully,heregainedcontrol,even though it wasanervous moment by hisown admission. However, as anyracer will tell you, theonlyway to getoveritistoimmediately go back out, notgivingany time to ponder what just happened.Thisphilosophypaidoff as he went faster andfaster, recordingatop speedof 117.365mph over the1.25-mile distance.
Q. What were hisfnalr esults in the175cc clas s?
A. Themeanaveragesinthe best one-hour time slot were as follows.
Standing star t1mile: 112.79mph
Standing star t1.25mile: 116mph
Flying quar termile: 114.57 mph
Flying 1kilometre: 109.76 mph
Q. What abou tthe 250ccclass?
A. Forthiscategor yhestill rana smallframe, butthistimeusing a244cc BFA/FRTengine. Before themeeting,the engine showed 49bhp, so bigthingswereexpected, butthatdoesn’t always mean things will go as planned. Again, he slowly increasedhis speedovera setof sighting runs,and allwentsmoothly. However, as he begantorampupthe throttle on one run, it almost endedindisaster. At around the one-mile point, he felt thebackend dipand presumed it wasanundulationinthe track, butitwasn’tthat; therearshock absorber had snapped. He realised somethingwasn’tright andlet themachine naturallyslowitselfdown. When doinga topspeed run, if acomponent fails, asprinterwillalwaysallow themachine to slow down on itsown.Applyingbrake pressure when thecause of aproblem is unknowncould causemoreproblems.The consequenceof theshock failingmeant thebacktyrewas now foulingonthe engine casing with aplume of burningrubberexiting from therearofthe frame. To make mattersworse,the undersideof theexpansion pipe wasgroundedonthe floor, creating sparks that couldpotentially have set thefuelonfire
On one run, he almost got caught out with afreak side wind. Travelling
at around 108mph, he got a violenttank slapper with the handlebars swinging from side to side
Thankfully,Adiemanaged to controlthe machinetoasteadyhalt, andthoughthere wassomedamage, it waseasilyreparable Unfazedbyhis pyrotechnics displayat 120mph,hejumpedbackonboard andwound thethrottleon, andone runrecordedaspeed of 127.514mph.Keentocapitaliseonsuch afantastic result andthe favourable wind conditions at thetime, he completedasimilar oneinthe allotted one-hour slot to record the highestpossibleaverage
Q. What were hisr esults in this clas s?
A. He hasset anew benchmarktowhich others must nowaspire, as theseare therecords he establishedinthisclass
Standing star t1mile: 125.5mph
Standing star t1.25mile: 126.37mph
Flying quar termile: 124.14mph
Flying 1kilometre:120.7mph
Q. Is ther eany controversyabout theser esults?
A. Allthe reco rdscomplywithregulations andare accepted as such.However,when it come stosprinting andtop speedevent s, thereare,attimes,shall we say, some he ated debate sastowhatshouldand shouldn’tbe allowed. Adie’s engine sonb othmachine s
were notfacto ry casing sbut be sp okeitems from BFAMotori. Some mightregardthisas an advantageovernot usinggenuine factor y ones,which is true,but theoptiontocho os e is down to therider.Ona Lambretta, Eric Cope hasachieved127mphonafacto ry casing anda full framechassis.However,if we go allthe waybacktothe factor yrecordbreaking machines of Piag gioand Inno centi in thee arly 1950 s, theirimpre ssivespeeds andrecords were in full-blown stre amliners andifs omehad theirway,those reco rds shouldn’ts tand.Adieand many others befo re himhavedared to go into unknown territor yand pushed theb oundarie sofwhat is possible on as co oter waybeyondwhat anyone couldhaveima gined. It wouldbea rather bo ring wo rldifwetried to putbarrier s in theirway to obstruct theirendeavour sand therisks they arepreparedtotake.
Q. Howlongdoyou thinkthese recordswill st and?
A. At themoment, Adie is theone holding therecords,but they arethere to be broken Speaking to him, he’s sure that he cango faster,but thequestionisbyhow much.He’s determined to tr y, whichcan only be agood thing. As foreveryoneelse, here is thenew benchmark, andhowever youdesignyour chassisand whatever engine youfitintoit, theserecords arethe ones youhavetobeat. Good luck to allwho tr y.
Q. Are ther eany funf ac ts abou tthe records?
A. Thequarter mile is adistanceof440 yards or 1320 feet.Adie’srecordonthe 244ccVespa forthe flyingquarter mile was124.14mph; therefore, he completed the1320ftdistancein approximately7.9 secondsand travelledatan averageof167ft persecond. There’sfoodfor thought!
Words: Stuart Owen
Images: Thanks to Paul Fishwick Photography
IThe spirit of #63
nApril 2022 the worldof scooter racing was rocked by the first fatality experienced in Britishscooter racing. Stefan Manoli was in hisfirst season of racing andwas an all-round good guy wholoved scooters.
He was asmallframe Vespa fan and it was natural that Stefan wouldjoin Team Hornet, who are dedicated to racing smallframes. Dave Bristow is the head honcho at Hornet Racing and has built the teamaround racingthese machines. Speaking to Dave, he cannot help but feel some guilt as not only was ithim who got his friend Stefan into racing, but Dave is chair of the British Scooter SportOrganisation, and it wasdown to him to deal withthe fatality of his close friend as well as the organisational side.Headmits it was ahorribletime for everyoneinvolved in the sport. Despite this, Stefan’swife Shelley and daughter Nat asked that the race scooter be given toDave in the hope that it could be resurrected and returned to the track so that Stefan’smachine couldstill be used in some way.
Dave’slast memory of Stefan was the funeral, and after many weeks Stefan’s badly damaged race scooter finallyfound its way to his workshop via the scooter communitywho had come together to help. Dave says he was naturally very cut up when the bike arrived. It was very damaged. The engine went to be the Team Hornet spare; Stefan wouldhave wanted that.
As for the remains of the frame, that was harder to deal with.
For ayear and ahalf, Dave just couldn’t bringhimself to deal with it or even look properly at the broken chassis. The lossofa close friendisalways hard, especially in these circumstances.
Finally,D ave had the cha ssi sd ippe da nd sandblast ed, alth ough he w ondered if anything from th em achine that w as just so be nt would ever be retrievable. Even tual ly, he deci ded th at th em ain spine of the
This month Paul wonders if we leave abit of our souls in the scooters we ride,and specifically Hornet Racing’siconic Manoli racer.
frame could be re use da nd that went of ft o John McLoughla n, who jig ged and straighte ned the spine while Da ve or der ed replaceme nt leg shie lds and an ew rear end. Just nine wee ks be fo re the sta rt of th is year’ss ea son he fin al ly had al lt he par ts needed to re build the racer.S coote rp aint and restoratio nb usine ss Essex Itali aw as entrusted to apply the pa int. Encour aged by Stefan’sw idow Shelle y, after three da ys of solid w ork the scoo ter was to gethe ra nd ready.D ave says tha ti ft he roles wer e reversed, he would want his ow nm achi ne taking back out.
It was Dave’swife that asked theobvious question; after all, he’sracing adead man’s bike. Dave wrestled with this,but thesoul of the scooter is in that frame, andofcourse a little bit of Stefan’s spirit is in there too.
When Iasked Dave how it feels to be racing it, his reply was that on track all he’s thinking aboutisracing andcatching whoever is in frontofhim, butonceback in the paddock he often thinks about it. He still wears ablack armband andwill neverforget Stefan. Afew days after arace meeting, he will clean the scooter andcheck it over Always Stefan comes into hismind.
Ipointed out that right nowheisleading the championship on this machine, and we
couldn’t help wondering: what if it were to become achampionship-winning machine? What if?
Dave’sresponse was asmile. Youcan’t count yourchickens, but if it was still the case at the end of the season then Stefan would have looked down over some great days of racing andwould surely be smiling. All would be good.But if there was no championship,hewould still be smiling. Technically,scooters are just chunks of metal. But they do have asoul.
He pats theheadset after every race to thank it for bringinghim home. It is poignant. He will neverforget whose bike it was. And that is okay
Speaking to Dave about this was very touching. But my overwhelming feeling is Dave is not alone. We have all lost scootering friends who were part of ourworld. Riding the machine of afriend who has gone is rare. ButIcannot help feeling thatmany of us leave alittle bitof our soul and spirit in the scooters we ride. Watching Dave racing, andwinning, on this machine brings alump to my throat, butwin or lose we know Stefan will be there in spirit with that big grin andsmile thathewas known for What aspecial thing it is to have that piece of metal frame spinein#63 Vespa smallframe.
The soulofthe scooter is in that frame, and of course a little bit of Stefan’sspirit is in theretoo
The custom scooter scene goes way back, certainly toMods in the 1960s, and if one considers accessorised machines, probablyeven further back. However,noone can deny that the golden era of custom scooterswas in the 1980s, where every part of amachine, from the bodywork to the seat, the wheelstothe engine, was not only improved but enhanced way beyond what was ever thought possible. As more and more were built, it soon became necessary for shows tobededicated to them, and naturally,this happened at rallies. Most of these shows were held outside regardless ofthe weather and could often be chaotic, being located on the designatedcampsite and spread out inan uneven fashion with crowds surging around each machine.
When the chance to holdthese shows in an indoor venue became possible, the whole thing became more organised, and itmade those running the rallies wonder why they didn’t also have designated custom shows. It was agreat idea because it allowed the owners to displaytheir machine properly in aclean environment and encouraged others to join in. Before long, thecustom show circuit became an important part of the whole scene, and thankfully,itcontinues However,one aspect of it is often discussed, andmorerecentlyhas seen alot of debate: that of transporting custom scooters in vans. If we look back to when the shows first started at rallies, virtually all themachines on show were ridden there. The reason was that thecustom scooter on display was most likely the same one used bythe owner toget around on. Even if they owned another,itwas always the custom onethat was used to get to arally.Thiswas the natural thing to do, showing off thework
Riding not hiding
This month Stu considers the ethics of taking acustomscooter to its destination in avan…
they had created, and there was nothing wrong with that. As time passed, the machines became more elaborate, not onlyinthe paint schemes but also with chrome and engraving. This was when the ultra-competitivenature emergedand is why people started putting them in theback of avan.
Ashow may have been 100-oddmiles away from the owner’shome and havingspent the week cleaning the scoot until it was spotless, then ridingingoodness knows what weather, it could be filthybythe time it arrived on site. If someone was taking their scooter in theback of avan,they could wheel it outinto the hall, gleaming, while those ridden all the way wouldlook dishevelled. The competition to be the best forced this back-of-the-van trend to happen andwas an inevitable consequence of the competitive spirit.Asthe 1980s wore on, many of these ‘van scooters’ became iconic. Purists still insisted on riding their machines to shows, but it became an increasinglysignificantdisadvantage to those whodid so.
The other problem was the displays, because it seemed thatwinning was no longer about the scooters; ahuge backdrop dedicated to the scooter’stheme was also required to win atrophy.These becameincreasingly lavish in their creation,and acategory for best display was soon formed. That’sgreat, but there was no chance of packing it allontothe sprint rack of aLambrettatotransport it there. The display itself required avan, so it seemed logicaltoput the scooter in there as well, which iswhat many did.
The seemingly unfair advantage was protested about andled to the formationofbest ridden classes, and this wasverymuchthe correct thing to do. The only problem wasthat the shows were split in half, andwhen the results wereannounced it tookforeverto distributethe trophies, because there were so
If we look back to whenthe shows first started at rallies,virtuallyall the machinesonshow were ridden there. Thereason was that the custom scooter on display was most likelythe same one used by the owner to get aroundon.
many categories to dealwith. However,itdid give the ridden scooters more appeal and appreciation; not only had someonebuilt a stunning scooter,but they’d also ridden it to the show.This led to some bending of therules, driving most of the way in avan,only to get the scooter out acouple of miles away and riding it the short distance to the venue. Before long, supermarket car parks nearscooter rallies were ahive of action as owners used places like this to carry out the deception. When they were caught doing so, doubt would be cast on their credentials and some calledfor disqualification because they saw it as blatantly cheating. The furore of it all died down, and eventually it settled into aworkable format that has continued to this day.
For the record, I’m qualified to discuss the matter because Ientered machines in custom shows for awhile. Sometimes it was by van, while other times Irode them there, even if it was apain to try andget the thingclean enough before the judging started. Going back to the beginning of this piece, some people are currently unhappy about customscooters being transported in vans. Ultimately,‘riddennot hidden’ is allwell andgood but look at it this way.Ifanowner has spent months, even years, creating astunning customscooter that’scost them thousands of pounds, then it is their choice how theywanttotransport it. If they want to risk it on the road, not just from the weather but from stone chips, potholes and careless drivers, thentheycan do so. On the other hand, if theywanttoprotect thevast amount of work theyhave put into creatingitby transporting it in avan,then they are perfectly within their rights to do so.Weall marvel at these stunning creations, butultimately,it’sthe owner’schoice what theywish to do with them.
Imagine riding this scooterall the way to acustom show,carrying that displayonthe back!