King Tutt Putt rally- San Diego

I'm flying out to Washington D.C. this weekend, so I can't attend KTP, but if you are in the San Diego, CA area, check it out. -April

KING TUT PUTT #11

MARCH 17-20, 2011

San Diego, CA

Friday March 18th

FIRST RIDE OUT

• Meet up at 9 a.m. at the new Motorsport Scooters shop located at 3955 Pacific Highway, San Diego, CA 92110. Map

• We hit the road at 10 a.m. to RD's Log Cabin located at 26650 San Felipe Road, Warner Springs, CA 92086. Map

• After tent set up, there will be an optional ride out to Agua Caliente and putz around at the springs.

• After the springs and a little R&R back at the campsite, we head out to the Santa Ysabel Casino for $4.95 roast beef dinner special and all the gambling you can stand!

• We finish the day back at the campsite for grab-ass fun and booze by the campfire!

FYI: Ron, the owner of RD’s Log Cabin is allowing the Pharaohs the use of his campground at no charge. In exchange for his generous offer, the Pharaohs ask that you folks attending the King Tutt Putt show your support of Ron by patronizing the bar at the Log Cabin til closing at 1 a.m. The bar offers excellent booze and food at great prices. After the bar closes, we’ll start up a bonfire at the campsite and tap a keg or two for your continued drinking pleasure. Support the Pharaohs and RD’s Log Cabin and don’t be that guy!

Saturday March 19th

SECOND RIDE OUT

• Meet up at 9 a.m. at the new Motorsport Scooters shop located at 3955 Pacific Highway, San Diego, CA 92110.

• We hit the road at 10 a.m. to RD's Log Cabin located at 26650 San Felipe Road, Warner Springs, CA 92086.

• After tent set up, there will be an optional ride out to Borrego Springs for lunch. Map

• After returning to the campsite, there will be an optional off road ride (dangerous... yet fun as hell!) for experienced riders. Dinner at RD's is free with the purchase of a rally pack!

• The Amalgamated and Ottley Mercer will provide Saturday night's entertainment inside RD's Log Cabin!!

Sunday March 20th

PACK YOUR CRAP AND GO HOME!

• Breakfast at RD's is free with the purchase of a rally pack!

• Pack up make our way back to San Diego

• See you next year!

High Roller's Weekend Reg. Closes Tonight

Pre-Registration for the as Vegas High Roller's Weekend closes tonight.  Dates are: February 24th - 27th, 2011.

Register here.

After that you can purchase rally pack and limited t-shirts friday and saturday. The Events schedule has been updated, so read that for full details.


"Like" it on Facebook.

I won't be there this year, but Josh from Scoot! will be.

"Big Wet One" Itinerary

The San Francisco rally, The Big Wet One, is a unique rally in that it is hosted by multiple clubs/scooterists rather than one club; it is planned with very little lead time, perhaps a couple of weeks; and it is planned to coincide with a cold, rainy time for the city (thus the name). It seems that it is tailored to fail, incorporating what would seem to be counter-intuitive plans.

But it works. And while I don't attend every year, I have yet to be rained on, so the name is typically a false promise.

If you are in San Francisco next week, try to make some of the events.
Here is the schedule (subject to change):

Thursday 01/6/11
9pm: Ride to Cafe DuNord (2170 Market St.) where local DJ Dr. Scott and Band the
Titan Ups will get your feet moving.

Friday 01/7/11
8pm: Meet at Lucky 13 (2140 Market St.) for a city lights ride led by SSSC, to
the DNA club where we will celebrate BWO founder Mole's birthday with the ska
sounds of Monkey and DJs Dion and Mickey Angry.

Saturday 01/8/11
10am: Meet at SF Scooter Centre (127 10th St.) for two options:

1. 11am, Patrick and Oz want to take you on an adventure ride. Make sure your scooter is fast and reliable cause you never know how far these guys willl go in a day!
2. 11:30am, The Lone Wolf Drunken Texan SC Wants to challenge you to their version of an alley cat ride. You scooter can be less reliable for this one but make sure your brain is tuned up!

Saturday night
8pm: Dress up proper and ride your classic, then meet at the Orbit Room (1900
Market St.). At 9pm well head out to explore the city on our way to the the
Crescent Hotel (417 Stockton St.) for some late night mod fun in the Burritt
Room.

Sunday 01/9/11
Noon: Meet at Cafe Greco (423 Columbus Ave.) in North Beach for a group led
"Mural Ride". We'll wind up at Bender's (806 South Van Ness Ave.) for beer and
burgers.

April on PRI's Marketplace radio show

A few weeks ago I taped a segment for PRI's Marketplace show. I listen to it each night on my journey home from work. I never thought that I would find a business radio show interesting, but for the past few years I have found it to be both entertaining and engaging, and the interstitial music is pretty good, too. :-)

So when I heard a spot called Road Warriors, which gives a peek at what type of music folks listen to while traveling for business, I thought I'd submit my own suggestion. I had two choices, first something from the Smiths, but I ultimately chose a song that is, in my mind,  totally connected to scooter rallies: Twenty Five Miles by Edwin Starr. The song is a popular mainstay on the playlists at rallies and all-nighters, and it has a great marching beat. It is about a man who has been walking for "three long days and two lonely nights" to see his woman. Once he gets to 25-miles away he's rejuvenated and bursts into the song.

Listen/See the transcript here

I've driven fairly far to get to some scooter rallies, and I've ridden in lots of rally events where that 25-mile road marker comes up and it brings this song to mind. I actually sing it to myself a lot when I'm riding. Luckily, I wear a full-face helmet! The song is irresistible! A few years ago, Harold Ray Live in Concert did a great cover of it. 

It was fun to hear the segment and the editor cut-in the song nicely. Made me want to hear it all over again!

Another cool Road Warriors segment is Joshua Smith's submission. Listen to it here.
Blog entry soundtrack (of course!):

Scooter Invasion: Des Moines

Perhaps the last place that you would expect to see a flock of scooters would be Des Moines, Iowa, but this week's issue of Juice (supplement to the Des Moines Register) covers The Corporation, a local scooter club that is hosting hosted its first scooter rally this last weekend, the Hostile Takeover.

NOTE: I had set this up to post last week, but somehow it never moved from my draft folder. Doh! So I had to revise the post. What is cool is that my friend Norbert just came back from Iowa and brought me a copy of this exact issue. Cool!

Check out the club's website for more info.

blog entry soundtrack:

Doodle Bugs are Back!

Quiz: What is a Doodle Bug?

A:

or



B:















If you guessed B, you are right, If you guessed A, you mistakenly chose a Hasbro Cootie.

Doodle Bugs were American-made scooters that, while only manufactured for a few years in the 1940s, must have been quite popular since so many exist today. Like Cushmans and Salsburys, many of the bikes have low horse-power Briggs & Stratton engines. Powerful enough to propel a youngster around the neighborhood, but not so much as to get him in trouble (or so was the thinking). These early, simple scooters provided a great sense of freedom for their young owners. Many of those original Doodle Bug riders have returned to the fold and bought new (to them) scooters and hold rallies to share their enthusiasm and knowledge.

The Daily Freeman-Journal just ran an article on the upcoming Doodle Bug Reunion which happens this weekend in Webster City, IA.

Bitten by the bug? Find out more about the Doodle Bug:

• Doodle Bugs on Wikipedia
• Vintage Motorbike Scooter Museum
• Yesterday's Rides Motorworks
• See my post on this event from 2007

Blog entry soundtrack:

Upcoming Event: So Far So Good

The SF Scooter Girls know how to party...in an organized and responsible way. Go ladies! That sounds funny but I love a fun, organized rally, and these ladies can bring it.  :)

The San Francisco Scooter Girls Present:
So Far So Good IV – I Left My Heart in San Francisco

An all rides no raffle rally.

Friday Sept 10:
Meetup: 5:00 PM

• San Francisco Scooter Centre - 127 Tenth Street (at Mission), San Francisco
• Leave: 6:00 PM (led by Rachele)
• Arrive: 7:00 PM
• Broken Record Bar and Grille - 1166 Geneva (at Edinburgh), San Francisco

Saturday Sept 11:
Breakfast: 9:00 - 11:00 AM

• Green Bar – 101 Clay Street - Embarcadero 3 – 2nd Level, San Francisco
• Kick-ass breakfast provided by SF Scooter Girls at Green Bar
• Scooter parking provided by SFSG on Drumm Street at Clay
• SFSG breakfast, back by popular demand is as follows:

• Scrambled eggs, bacon & potatoes
• French toast w syurp/butter
• Italian sausage w assorted peppers
• Down home grits w sharp cheddar cheese *new edition by request*
• Breakfast breads: carrot, marble, lemon poppy, orange cake and bagels
• Coffee, tea, assorted juice

* There will be bottles of water and cookies to grab for the ride*

Breakfast begins at 9:00 a.m, we'll serve 'till 11 or so---see you there!

• Leave: 11:00 AM (led by Lauren)
• Arrive: 2:00 PM Park Chalet – 1000 Great Highway (at Ocean Beach), San Francisco
• Meetup: 7:00 PM Silver Crest Donut Shop - 340 Bayshore Blvd., San Francisco
• Leave: 7:30 PM
• Arrive: 8:30 PM Serra Bowl - 3301 Junipero Serra Blvd, Daly City

Sunday Sept 12:

• Meetup: 10:00 AM Philz Coffee - 201 Berry St (at 4th Street, near King)
• Leave: 10:30 AM
• EB Meetup: 11:00 AM
• Doyle St. Café - 5515 Doyle Street, Emeryville
• Leave: 11:30 AM
• Arrive: 2:30 PM New Zealander – 1400 Webster Street, Alameda

Upcoming Event: San Francisco Classic

This weekend is the San Francisco Classic rally in beautiful San Francisco. Josh has to miss it as he is teaching a Motorcycle Safety Foundation class. I'll be at the Saturday show selling Scoot! issues and swag. Stop by my table if you are there.

Check out the schedule for the event.  It's vintage only, so dust off your old standby and get riding!

No Reason to Stay Home this Weekend

I remember when scooter rallies were few and far in between. Scooterists would be lucky if there were one or two rallies each year within trucking distance. Now that there are so many scooterists the US, and many more rallies, there is hardly an excuse to stay home on the weekend (unless you are working on your scoot!)

This weekend is one of those jam-packed scootering weekends. Here are some events that you may consider:

Classico Moto Italia
San Jose, CA
Vespa Club Los Gatos puts on their famous scooter rally. What is this # 17? Who knows, but if you remember the first one, you are old.  This is a typical rally in the old style. Expect an award showwith choice bikes and a long ride on Sunday.

Pittsburgh Vintage Scooter Club City Rally 10
Pittsburgh, PA

The club's 10th anniversary rally; pulling out all the stops. Saturday night has a gig with ska band The Pietasters.

May Day 2010
Eugene, OR

Oregon clubs really know how to put on a shindig. Top Dead Center is no exception. Their May Day rally is all the typical things you would expect from a rally, but like you would have done it when you were in your 20's and weren't worried about getting up for work on Monday, the corns on your feet and an upside-down mortgage---ya know, fun!

Blog entry soundtrack: "World Leader Pretend" by R.E.M.

More Scootouring photos

Forgot to add these... Checkout the custom dog tags they made for the event!

Snapshots from Scootouring

Just a few pictures that I took at Scootouring. What a blast! Read more about it in the next issue of Scoot!.

Got nothing to do on 4/17...Why not make history?

From our friends at Scooter Therapy:

When: Saturday, April 17th, 2010
When: 1-2pm
Where: Scooter Therapy. 12 N. Few Street, Madison

We are organizing an event to get into the Guinness Book of World Records! The current record for longest parade of mopeds is 674 riders. UW Madison can easily beat this number as we have the highest mopeds per capita in the world! We are going to blow them away in magnitude and length (two aspects). We plan to start at Scooter Therapy, Inc, 12 N Few Street. After everyone gets a number to pin on their shirt back, we proceed East on East Johnson Street to First, right on First to East Washington. There we pull into the Fiore Shopping Center parking lot, regroup, then proceed West on East Washington towards the Capitol for the filming. After passing the film people, we will head back to Scooter Therapy for the bike show results, and hopefully give away a new Genuine Roughhouse moped to a lucky participant. Our sponsors will be at the event along with media coverage and approval from Guinness Book of World Records.

Randy Knudson of Scooter Therapy has confirmed that if the UW Madison students break the world record, there will be a raffle for a FREE NEW MOPED from Scooter Therapy. You have take part in the record breaking ride in order to be eligible for the raffle.

Invite EVERYBODY you know to this event and make it HUGE!

Costumes and decorations are encouraged.
If you need any information please feel free to call (800) 411-1543 from 9-6 m-f and 10-3 on Saturday.
We would like to get started numbering and such early, so there is no big rush toward start time. This is a first time attempt for us to try this, and we do not really know what kind of turnout will happen. But rain or shine it goes on. There will be eight classes for the People's Choice Bike Awards. Eight Trophies, Best of Show, most miles Traveled, Duct Tape and Zip Tie special, Most Radical, And more. Lots of giveaway items.

Scooter Therapy Inc. and the Genuine Scooter Company hope you can attend and have a great time helping us secure the World Record!

Check it out on Facebook

Where will Scoot! be next weekend? SCOOTOURING

Fingers are crossed that next weekend is blue skies and warm temperatures, for I just got out my camping gear for the Burgundy Topz' Scootouring camping rally.

 The Topz are one club that knows how to do it right and if you are in the Sacramento area (or within driving distance like we are) then get thee to the rally! I'm so excited, I just bought a new hat for the occasion!

WKRP on TV

From what I have heard this year's WKRP was not to be missed. Did I hear chatter of 400 scooters in attendance? The local news did a spot on the rally which you can see below. Scoot! pal Bob Hollis was even given some screen time.

Upcoming Rally: Rides of March; 3/26-28, SLO

Upcoming  rally for those in California. Rides of March is in San Luis Obispo, which is about halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, on the coast.

ITINERARY:

Friday Night: March 26th, 2010 

6:30pm: Meet at Madonna Inn .

7:30pm: 1 Hour ride leaves for McCarthy's Irish Pub. (NOTE: Has moved next to Foster's Freeze)

Saturday: March 27th, 2010 

9:30am: Meet at Sunshine Donuts on South Street and South Higuera

11:00am: Ride leaves for long ride of South San Luis Obispo County.

2:00pm: Arrive at Ramona Garden Park

Famous Strange Brew Scooter Crew Tri-tip BBQ

Raffle of restored Vespa Smallframe, etc.

Saturday Night:

 7:30pm: Meet at Foster's Freeze on Nipomo and Marsh

8:30pm: Ride leaves for ride around SLO

9:00pm: Arrive at Frog & Peach English Pub for Live show.

Scooterists overrun Downtown SLO till????

 Sunday Morning: March 28th, 2010 

10:30am: Meet at McCarthy's Irish Pub. (NOTE: Has moved next to Foster's Freeze).

11:30am: Ride leaves for South County

1:00pm: Arrive at Bulletproof Scooters in Grover Beach for BBQ by PushStart MSC and Goodbyes

Cannonball Route

Just got this info from Bagel:

Vancouver, BC to Portland, ME - 3270 miles
13 states, 3 border crossings

ROUTE MAP

Day 1: Vancouver, BC to Grand Forks - 325 mi
Day 2: Grand Forks to West Glacier - 331 mi
Day 3: West Glacier to Lewistown - 314 mi
Day 4: Lewistown to Bowman - 347 mi
Day 5: Bowman to Ortonville - 369 mi
Day 6: Ortonville to Ironwood - 362 mi
Day 7: Ironwood to Sault Ste. Marie - 311 mi
Day 8: Sault Ste. Marie to North Bay - 270 mi
Day 9: North Bay to Lake Placid, NY - 365 mi
Day 10: Lake Placid, NY to Portland, ME - 276 mi

This year it is the high route, with crossing into Canada!
Who is up for it????

Raising Scooter Awareness in Savannah

I saw this on the WTOC TV website. A small rally where scooterists wanted to further the eco-friendly reputation of scooters. It's a smart angle for the local shops to sponsor events and make connections with local media who are eager to provide their audience with local eco-friendly options.

Hey, we're sponsors!

Did you know that Scoot! sponsors scooter rallies? While we aren't flush with dough, we do like to send free subscription gift certificates, collectible back issues and random cool swag that we get from manufacturers.

We're sponsors of the Vesparados' Endless Summer Rally next month. It's a fun rally. I have attended twice, and enjoyed it a lot. Santa Barbara is ideal for scooting. Go if you can!

Want to submit a rally report?

I have been doing this so long that I often forget that not everyone knows about our rally report process/policy. If you have ever wanted to contribute a rally report, read my suggestions below.

We love to get rally reports from the field. We often sponsor rallies, and I ask the rallies to furnish a report so that we know what happens. We can't be everywhere, ya know?
Ideally, rally reports should be:

• 400-800 words long, either pasted into an email or attached in MS Word, Appleworks or plain text (txt) formats. We use Macs, so don't use Wordpad. We can't open those documents.
• Accompanied by at least 5 photos, preferably digital jpeg or tiff images at the highest quality setting possible. The minimum resolution we can accept is 300 dpi. Although dpi is usually for printers, most digital cameras use this as a measurement.
• Emailed to April: april AT scootmagazine DOT com
• Make sure to include: Rally Title, City/State, Date of event, # of bikes or attendees, sponsoring club name (if any), website address (if any) for readers to find out more.Don't forget your name & address, as well as the name/address of any photographers who contribute.
  

The point of a rally report is to share what is going on around the country, and to inspire others to come to the next rally or to create their own rally. The report shouldn't be a blow-by-blow chronological itinerary, but should instead show what made the rally particularly fun or unique. We want to inspire others to join in on rally fun!

Anyone can contribute a rally report, but if you are not affiliated with the rally, check with the organizers, first. They may already have plans for a submission.

While we cannot pay our contributors, we an send copies of the magazine to express our thanks.

Still got questions? Email me.

Happy scooting,
-april

Blog post soundtrack: "Dance With Me" by The Lords of the New Church

Scooter Rosa Rally Coverage

Revolution Moto in Santa Rosa, CA threw their 3rd Scooter Rosa rally which provides scooterist with great rides in gorgeous Northern California wine country, but also raises money for the local Big Brother and Big Sisters. The rally was covered in The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat. The article also has a companion video.