Spotted on Flikr...

I set-up a slideshow that displays items on Flikr that have scooter-ish tags. Sometimes really cool images come through and I try to highlight them.
This image was in the photo collection of aisaider2008 who has all sorts of old European photos. I just love this one with the decor on the scooter, the excited kids, their old style shoes and clothes, and the loving matriarch in the back. Wish I had one of these photos in my family collection!

When in Birstall, get your hair cut

Saw this story on line about a scooter-loving mod who has opened up a mod/scooter themed hair salon. According to the salon owner, "My inspiration came from being one of the founding members of the Spen Valley Saints, which has given me the reputation of being a mod hair specialist."

So if you find yourself in Birstall, in the Leicestershire area of England, pop in for a mod do.

Did you know.....?

From this week's "Did You Know" corner....mo-pedding is against the rules for NBA players. Well, I think that also extends to scooters as evidenced by the recent hullabaloo with Monta Ellis, who recently became the highest paid player on the Golden States Warriors NBA team.

He soon after injured his ankle in a "mo-ped" accident and tried to cover it up since riding is a strictly prohibited activity in NBA contracts. Who wouldda thunk that riding was so dangerous as to be strictly prohibited.

Us scooter & moped riders are f*ing insane....livin' on the edge!

Maybe we should send Ellis one of our cool Scoot buttons?

TODAY: Lambrettaworks Grand Opening Party

Unfortunately, I will be in the midst of a 4-day video production class and will miss most of this event. My class gets out at 6pm, so maybe I can drop by.

If you are in SF, stop by the new Lambrettaworks location and wish them the best.
According to their invite:

Please come by between 2-6 PM to welcome us to the City, gawk over our collection of scooter paraphernalia, and mingle with other scooterists.

We will be having a ride led by a member of Secret Society Scooter Club that will leave the shop at 4PM to tour the City. Then back at the shop, the local 60’s Garage band ‘The Parties’ will play at 9pm.

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Cafe Scooter

I saw this little scoot parked at the restaurant where I had lunch.
Reminds me of when a dog waits patiently outside for its master. : )

GoGo13 Scooter shirt

Parker Jacobs who was a past designer for Paul Frank Industries, works on the current show Yo Gabba Gabba and is part of the ska band GoGo13 sent me a link to a cool shirt they have on the band's merch site. The caption reads "save gas" but it should also say "be cool" as everyone at your next scooter rally will want to know where you got the shirt.

Incidentally, GoGo13 is the band that did the uber-cool ska song "pick it up" for an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba where ska is used to teach kids to clean their room:

PICK IT UP


A great way to start my morning, "pick it up, pick it up, pick it up..." I've got a terrible cold, so seeing this video "picks up" my spirits!

Sew News has scooter on cover

The hobbyist magazine Sew News has a woman riding a scooter with a fun scarf blowing in the wind. Looks like the super-cute Buddy scores another mag cover!

Follow me on Twitter!

I have 4 people following me on Twitter, so you can imagine I'd like to bring along a lot more. If you wanna get the scoop on what's going on with the magazine, scooter gossip, or my yen for cold drinks, then check me out on Twitter! I've been using Twitterrific from the Iconfactory on my iPhone.

And if you have a cool scooter-related Twitter feed, let me know.

Cannonball Update....

Looking for an update to the Cannonball Run? You can see the results thus far here. According to Mike Bobadilla (Vespa Club Los Gatos), Sunday was brutal:

Bad day on CBR...Jess crashed. Rich crashed. Marcocet crashed.
Biohazard crashed. Jim T crashed. Jim T broke ribs and collarbone.
40 miles of bad road on gravel and dirt. Jim T was the only serious
injury, but this CBR is racking them up.

For more view from the road, check out these blogs:
Rocket & Roy's Scooter Cannonball Adventure 2008
Jess from Modern Vespa
Coast to Coast on a Vespa with Joe Hamilton
Bagel's Scooter blog Lots of info!
David's Scooter Cannonball Run Blog Lots of pics!
The Long Way Around with Rich
Pete's Cannonball 2008 blog

Scooter Ride in Giant Robot magazine

I met some folks from Giant Robot at Comic Con. They told me that they have an article about a guy riding cross-country on a Honda Ruckus. I haven't had a chance to pick it up, but you can get it at bookstores or from Giant Robot here.

Bagel's Cannonball Blog

I must know a lot of people who love long rides and weeks of torture! Tom D. aka Bagel is participating in the Cannonball Run (again!) this time on his shiny new-painted GT. You can follow him and his adventures here: http://bagelsscooterblog.blogspot.com/.
Best of luck to Bagel as he and the other riders take off from San Francisco on the 11th!

More Scooter Stuff from Sur la Table

I communicated with Sur la Table about the upcoming Lambretta ornament and was told that there is also a placemat and coaster set with a "Cat-n-Rat" theme which is a cool cat riding a Vespa with a scarf-wearing rat on his shoulder. Leave it to a Vespa to bring old enemies together. I'm sure the French cheese in the picnic basket doesn't hurt, either.

Got to Sur la Table to get the placemat set for $40 and the coasters for $15.

Misadventures in Buying a Vespa- LAist

I found this interesting piece at LAist, a community website for Los Angeles-area folks. It highlights the usefulness of comparison shopping for scooters. This summer, most scooter were in high demand with not enough supply to fulfill orders. I heard reports of many dealers adding on premium charges, which may be the case here, but I haven't followed up with the shops to see. Many dealers that I work with on a regular basis charge anywhere from $150-$250 for PDI which is the assembly and testing that they do when it arrives.

Even if you are buying a scooter from the only dealership in town, you should still call some other dealers to get prices and see if they compare. Additionally, I agree with the writer's suggestion to only buy from a scooter dealer, which I have said numerous times before.

Sur la Table Scooter Ornament

Thanks to Andy H. for alerting me to this super-desirable Scooter Ornament from Sur la Table. It says that it is not available until later in the month, so order now to ensure you get one. The caption makes me wonder who is working at SLT? They used the term "scooterist" so they must be in the know. =wink-wink,nudge-nudge=

It is clearly a Lambretta, so Lammy Lovers can rejoice to get something that isn't a Vespa. Now, whee are the Fuji Rabbit and NSU ornaments?!?

Scoot! to Sponsor Rider in the Cannonball Run

Our long-time friends, Pete, will be riding in the Cannonball Run this month on Scoot!'s SYM HD200. I've known Pete since I got involved in scooting in the mid 90s and he is a talented rider, great photographer and really embodies the spirit of scooting. He has written several articles for scoot and contributed lots of photos. When I first met him, he had a red P200, similar to mine, and he wore a helmet with a mounting bracket for his video camera.

Pete will be documenting his trip on his blog. The race begins on Sept. 11, so check back after then for more updates. For now, he and Scoot! are trying to secure him more sponsors for necessary things he'll need.

This should end up being another great article for an upcoming issue of Scoot! so keep an eye out for it.

Good Luck Pete!

Don't forget about our Scoot! flikr pool

Earlier this month I started a Scoot! Magazine specific pool where you can link your Flikr photos. If you want to share your rally pics or even upload photos of you bikes for submission to the Show Us Your Scoots section, it should be a fun, useful way to share your scooter pics.

I uploaded a few to start, but will go through my iPhoto for more.