Shindig Happens This Weekend

The Scoot! crew will be in San Jose enjoying Josh Rogers' "September Shindig" rally. It is year 9 and Josh is only a week away from his wedding. Madcap fun will ensue! Josh is also one of us three publishers of Scoot!, but long before we took the helm, he single-handedly put on this rally. It is lots of fun and is unique to the big "stand around and chat about scooters" rallies. It is smaller and more intimate with irreverent games, a bit of off-color humor and some long rides. If you are in the Bay Area this weekend, make an effort to catch it.

James Cornell Comes Home

You may have seen my previous posts about local scooterist/motorcyclist James Cornell who was seriously injured in the Isle of Man race. This week he came back to the states and is continuing his recuperation in San Francisco. Two local news organizations have covered his return:

NBC11 TV

SF Chronicle Newspaper.

If you are interested in finding out more information or donating towards the mountain of medical bills that James will face
Visit the James Cornell Fund website.

Suzuki Burgman Test cont.

Stop on our ride.

Almost to the end of our test ride. We stopped at a wine tasting place to buy but not taste wine. I'm not really a wine drinker so I chatted outside while some bought wine inside. Incidentally, that night at dinner I did have a glass of red wine which the waiter secretly kept filling up while I was looking the other way.I must have had 3 glasses that night inadvertantly! On the bus ride home I was starting to doze, so I was glad to crash into bed. After a 7-hour scooter tour of the beautiful area north of San Francisco I was pleasantly exhausted. A full review of the Burgman will run in our Winter issue.

Suzuki Burgmann Test snap

Suzuki Burgman launch

Our tour started at Fisherman's Wharf and we stopped for some pics at the famous area under the Golden Gate Bridge. I've always been reticent to ride over the Golden Gate because it is so windy and I think some drivers are looking at the views instead of paying attention to the road. Not sure my 61 Vespa 150 would be up for it. :) But the Burgman was a great ride. Lots of power- it didn't even notice the wind. I wish I had some pics of us riding over it- nearly 2 dozen Suzuki Burgmans. Some people asked, "Are you some scooter gang or something?"

Indoors at SF Classic Day Show

Live from SF Classic!

I mostly manned the Scoot! booth, so I snapped a pic of my view of the show. I didn't win the fancy scooter. Matter of fact I haven't won anything at a rally for over 2 years. I guess I used up all my luck the time I won a scooter at Vespa Club Los Gatos' rally.

Wha'appen?

I got to meet & hang out with Dave Wakeling's reformed English Beat when they played in San Jose last week. Bosco and I chatted with Dave and Lynval Golding of the Specials who has joined them for the tour. The band played English Beat and Specials tunes and had the crowd bouncing. Read more about our interview in the Winter issue.

For now the Fall issue just arrived from the printers. You can get an advance copy at this weekend's San Francisco Classic rally. Subscriber issues will be shipped early next week. Shops should also begin to see them next week.

Bratz know what is cool...

Bratz Kidz scoot $3O

Found it at at Target. Installed the battteries and got it to chase the cats around the house a bit.