NEW: Scoot! # 57 is now available

The August 2010 issue features:

• 125cc Scooter Throwdown: Compare five popular 125cc models against each other
• Reader's Rides: Red Bull Lammy, Root Beer Vespa, Deathproof Lambretta
• Product Reviews: clothing, safety gear, helmets, books
• Maxi-Scooter Security: tips for saving money and heartache
• Rally Reviews: Amerivespa, New Orleans, California, Arizona, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Florida
• Regular features: Scooter Collector, rally calendar, classified, Show Us Your Scoots, and the Unlovables comic strip

Pistol Pete= 2; Slow Race=0

 photo by John Davenport/Express-News

Our pal Pistol Pete won the AmeriVespa gymkhana Slow Race, which was written up in the San Antonio Express-News [thanks to Eric Amendral for the alert]. From all reports, it sounds as if AmeriVespa was a blast!

UPDATE: it turns out that the newspaper was wrong (can you believe it?!?!) and Pete actually won Slow Race. The Gymkhana winner was Jason Curci of Pensacola, Fla. Thanks to those notified me of the correction.
Blog entry soundtrack: "The Horror" by RJD2

AmeriVespa Weekend in Full Swing

Unfortunately, Scoot! Josh had to cancel his trip to AmeriVespa, so we are not in "'da house." But there are several friends who are and I can watch their videos and check out their photos and almost feel as if I'm there.

Joel Martin from Martin Racing Performance is shooting videos. here's the group at The Alamo.


The KYMCO team rode from South Carolina to Texas, around 1,400 miles, and documented the journey on their KYMCO blog.

If you are on Facebook, check out how Scoot! contributor, Pistol Pete documents his journey to and participation in AmeriVespa on The Scooter Stoke.

Also, check out Steve Guzman's blog, TheScooterScoop for lots of reports on the goings on at the event. Here's a photo from the blog of the Sachs MadAss winner:

Amerivespa 2010 Website Debuts

This past July the Vespa Club of America announced that the 2010 Amerivespa will be held in San Antonio, Texas. The website for the event went up today. The event runs from May 27-31st and you can see the itinerary as it stands. You can also sign up for a newsletter and become a fan on Facebook.

Goodbye, Amerivespa!

Had a great time! Congratulations to VCOA and local hosting club, Vespa Club Los Gatos!
Woke up this morning (after sleeping for 9 hours) to sunburn and dehydration. Must have had a good time!
Read the full report this fall in Scoot!.

Sunday Picnic

-- Post From My iPhone


Bad photo of a small portion of the parking lot.

Late nite-- post Amerivespa partay

Scooter Haus 2:14 AM
Josh snoring in a plastic chair after a long day at Saratoga Springs.

-- Post From My iPhone

-- Post From My iPhone


Alex Azam from the Burgundy Topz and Eric Dutra from VCOA chat during a break in the gymkahana. Dig Alex's cool outfit.

-- Post From My iPhone

Bikes entered into the concourse at Saratoga Springs.

Snoopy Scooty

-- Post From My iPhone

Scooter Daddy's custom shirt with Snoopy & Woodstock scootin' around. Scooter Daddy also gave me some cool ornaments, one of which is Santa on a Lambretta! Thanks, Waid!

Stop #3: Moon Zoom

-- Post From My iPhone


One small corner of this 2-story vintage shop in San Jose.

S.I.P photo bloggin' @ Amerivespa

Check out what some crazy German scooter-tuning nuts (I say that affectionately!)experience at Amerivespa at the S.I.P. blog.

Excited to finally meet Ralf & crew in person.

Amerivespa Starts TODAY

I'll be remote blogging and Twittering from the events. Thanks, iPhone!
OH... I'll also be riding my '78 Vespa P200. Can't be social networking the whole time. Keep checking back for updates and photos.

Washed, polished & recharged...

Came home from work to wash my trusty P200. Put something called "Ice" on it but the rattle can't be made to look like multi-stage pro paint. Changed the spark plug. Better to start out fresh. Battery is charging as Jon said that my lights looked dim.

Next... properly inflate tires and locate my reg + insurance. Where did I put those...?

With 600 or so scooters running around, I had better be on my best behavior and have all my papers in order.

Camping at Amerivespa- try these 2 treats

When camping you need marshmallows. I'm not a fan of S'mores as they have the wrong ratio of marshmallow: chocolate: graham cracker. So check out these two versions:

Marshmallow & Grasshoppers: Take a toasty marshmallow and plop it on a Keebler grasshopper cookie which is a chocolate wafer covered in mint chocolate. Exquisite! Impress your friends!

Local TV show View from the Bay just posted video of The Melting Pot's S'mores Fondue, which I think looks especially tasty. A scrumptious blend of marshmallow, chocolate, graham crumbs and Bacardi. Now that sounds like scooter camping!

See you all @ Amerivespa!

Twitterers @ Amerivespa...

If you are at Amerivespa, don't forget to use the #amerivespa tag!

Follow me @scootmagapril

Amerivespa 2009- Ths Weekend!

I can barely believe that Amerivespa 2009 happens this week. It's in Scoot!'s backyard-- the Silicon Valley. Last weekend the heat was unbearable, but this coming weekend is supposed to be pleasant. Yes!

Scoot! has helped secure donations for the raffle (including several brand new scooters!) and both Josh and I are leading rides. Mike and his crew from SF are throwing the Friday night shindig and Scoot! is hosting a scooter movie show after the Saturday night banquet.

I'll be leading a Shopping Ride with my housemate, Lori. If you are interested in hitting some unique vintage shops and gift boutiques come along! You can see some of the stops here:

View Amerivespa Shopping Ride in a larger map

Josh is leading a ride to Alice's Restaurant, a popular destination for two-wheel riders in this area.

We'll have a booth at both the Friday and Saturday vendor events. If you are here come by to say hello!

AmeriVespa 2009- San Jose, CA - Registration Open

Registration is now open for Amerivespa 2009 which will be held in the San Jose/Silicon valley area of California, the Scoot! home stompin' grounds!
Sign up now so that you can be sure to get all the cool swag!

We'll see you there!

Miss Vespa USA? Discuss...

When the brainstorm came for Amerivespa 2009, I had a few suggestions including starting a Miss Vespa USA contest. When I suggested it, lots of people laughed thinking I was making a joke, but I was totally serious. I wasn't saying that we needed some beauty pageant with a bathing suit and talent competition. I was thinking that it could be a way to highlight women in scootering and to recognize women who were great examples of people who scoot and what scootering can do for someone.

I envisioned a component where the contestants could submit an essay about what role scootering plays in their respective lives. Have they met new friends? Has scooter club membership brought out new leadership capabilities that they never exercised? Has the freedom of scootering affected their parts of their lives?

Since this is really AmeriVespa, I figure that perhaps there should be some Vespa trivia.

But other than that I am a bit stumped. I don't want it to be a hard, exclusionary thing. But, I also want it to be meaningful and inspirational. So after much mulling over, I thought that I would put it to the readers for suggestions.

What components would you like to see added to the contest to make is relevant and inspirational to other women riders? Feel free to leave a comment under this entry.


Blog entry soundtrack: Utah Saints- "New Gold Dream" Love what they did with Simple Minds!

AmeriVespa 2009- San Jose, CA

Just attended a planning meeting for AmeriVespa 2009 which is in my town. Vespa Club Los Gatos is the hosting club and the local scooterists are excited to help out. Not sure if the July 4th date helps or hinders attendance, but it should be lots of fun, especially with all the great riding available around us.