Upcoming Event: San Francisco Classic

One of the first rallies that I attended was Kings Classic in San Francisco. I think it was the one with the flaming die patch. I didn't buy a patch because I thought it was lame to buy one if I didn't have a scooter. I was on the back of my friend Paul's P200 and I had never seen so many scooter in one place; taking over the streets, ignoring traffic signals, populating the air with blue smoke. It was exhilarating.

The Rally Kings are gone, but the event lives on in the form of The San Francisco Classic which takes place this weekend. San Francisco is a great town for riding. I'm so used to scooting around that town, that I hate riding in a car and would rather tow my scooter in a truck and park it on the outskirts so that I can get around. Silly but true.

This is a classic scooter rally for vintage bikes. No one begrudges the new bikes, but it is an old-style rally that should be left as it is, like an interactive museum.

I'm planning on being there on Saturday. I am seriously behind on the next issue, so I can only spare one weekend day.

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!

LALO today in San Francisco

Today is the San Francisco Loose Association of Lambretta Owners ride. Since I don't own a lammy, I won't be riding, but I will meet up with the crew at the end of the ride. House mate Lori & my BF Jon rode up there this morning while I went to the nursery to get some tomatoes and pole beans. Yum!

Upcoming Event: High Roller's Weekend

My housemate made our hotel reservations for the Las Vegas High Roller's Weekend which take place March 19th-23rd. It is the event's 10th anniversary. I have attended, four of those rallies and enjoy them immensely. The attendees come from all over the US and even other countries, mostly from the UK. There are some far flung scooterists that I see only at this event.

If you get a chance to attend, I highly recommend it. The itinerary is packed with fun stuff and the city is such that if you aren't interested in an item on the itinerary, you can do one of the millions of things that Vegas has to offer.

A new event this year is the "Put Up or Shut Up" scooter build-off in which people entered last fall and will show up with a bike that they have built over the winter. I'm excited to see what shows.

I'll be tweeting from the event, so if you can't make it you can spy on my doings. To follow me on Twitter, add Scootmagapril.

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!

For Sale: Josh's Chopper

In the area where I live, my friend Josh's Vespa chopper is legend. Josh took and old trashed scooter and turned it into a showpiece. As a machinist he created all sorts of custom parts, and added the right touches to make it a mini-chopper; cool not campy.

The era of this scooter in our midst has come to an end. Josh has put it up for sale on eBay.
I'm sad to see it go, but all things must come to an end. The bike has appeared in both Scoot! and Scootering magazines. It's a super fast bike. I hope that whomever buys it takes good care of it and rides it often. It is a true showpiece that has performance, too.
A fond farewell to Josh's Chopper!

Rattle My Bones rally makes the news

Rattle My Bones in Minneapolis made the local news. Looks like great weather and turnout.

Cannonball Run 2008: Starts 9/11/08

This year's Cannonball Run starts on Sept. 11 at San Francisco's Ocean Beach and ends up at Ocean City, Maryland. There are nearly 30 people competing this year. I was glad to see it is not all twist-n-gos this year. I was worried that the manual shifts would give way.

We're in the midst of finalizing our sponsorship plan for the event. I'll post what we're doing when it is ready. I wish I could drive a support vehicle on the event, but my schedule once again won't capacitate it.

You can get more info on the event here.

We'll have a reporter in the field, so look for an article in an upcoming issue.