SHOW NOTES: It’s only been a few days since I returned from visiting Denver, possibly one of the best scooter towns in the US. Although it was a quick trip, I took part of the afternoon on Saturday to visit three of the city’s scooter shops. Each has a distinctly different feel and it has prompted my to pen a few observations on the scooter scene.

The first is Sportique Scooters, a mainstay and one of the first shops I visited back in 1984 when it opened in an old abandoned west side gas station. These days, Sportique is pushing new scooters, although they still do vintage restorations. Last week when I stopped to check-in, I was impressed by the number and variety of people trying out new automatic scooters and I was glad to see Sportique letting everyone test ride and touch everything they had on the lot.

An extreme contrast is Erico Motorsports. Although this is not an exclusively scooter oriented shop, they are an authorized Vespa dealer and their showroom exudes European style and class. They have a collection of vintage scooters and motorcycles on display that you rarely see outside of a museum. They are the Vespa dealer, but I sense that their real passion is for the sport bikes, the 700cc plus rockets that you see all over Denver.

The place that is becoming my favorite Denver shop is Casa Lambretta USA. What is really funny about this place is that it is the antithesis of Erico Motorsports, yet it is right next door, in the same building. The Denver shop opened about four years ago when Jon moved from Miami to Denver. Jon Kroge is the top dog in the Denver shop (there is another in MIami) and a mechanic that has been wrenching and restoring classic Italian scooters for years. One of things that impressed me, was that several riders were out front wrenching on their vintage bikes with the help of Jon and with tools from the shop. Now how often do you see that. The shop not only restores, but races vintage scooters and has helped organize this summer’s MSRA races in Denver. Next race is July 28th.

Blogs and Websites

• Steve Guzman is in Los Angeles doing a series of scooter reviews for another site. Check for the videos on The Scooter Scoop.
• Scooter Dave got back from the 2008 Gasoline Rally in Indianapolis. And posted up a load of great pictures.
• Italian auto giant Piaggio plans to manufacture bikes in Pakistan where there has been 25% growth in motorcycle sales in the past year. Pakistan? Oh well, I guess they are going global.
• Tuveo, the Italian equivalent of you tube has a highly produced video if the 2008 Toscano Rally.

Music for this show is from the Podsafe music network
The Safe Drugs

 

 Episode 63 [25:14m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In general my life is or has been very good. Some days are sad, but this has been a really sad day. I have had Bella and Courtney as constant companions for more than twelve years. They were my company on that long strange diversion through Texas and then very patient travelers when we moved out here to Richmond. Maybe more importantly, they have been my family and were a part of many memories Marcel and I have created together.

Courtney died four weeks ago and after a week of suffering, today I took Bella to the veterinarian as her kidneys failed and she drifted away. Now I am left with Danny, the stepchild and once “the dog from hell” we rescued when we lived in Central Texas. I hope I can continue to treat him with the kindness he deserves.

My honest thoughts? I have not been this tearful in years. Some days are just plain sh*t.

Show Notes: I have notice that every time I turn around there is another scooter on the road here in Richmond and many of them seem to be the Kymcos and Genuine Buddys. Just this past weekend I delivered my own Vespa Sprint to Scoot Richmond for an adjustment and it seems that their once bulging inventory of Genuine Scooters were almost all gone. I looked at Chelsea and said, “so business is good”, my first clue being she had a perpetual grin on her face. Her smile got even bigger.

There have been way too many news stories clogging up my news reader all of them about how popular scooters are becoming. I noticed the onslaught of repetitious reporting once gas hit $4 per gallon. I am not going to talk about them, because most of them are boring, but it is worth mentioning that have been getting more emails from newby scooterist looking to buy their first scooters.

On the forums, like twostrokesmoke questions about buying cheap Chinese scooters are common. These are usually posted by the naive individual who obviously has not been following the forum and he/she is usually taken by surprise at the hostility and flaming that their post elicits. Usually the conversation turns around and is helpful, but just as often these people are ridiculed and disappear from the forum. Personally, I like some of the members who take a more educational approach. given that there is a lot to learn about in scooting.

Alix from the Peace Scooter ride and I have been trying to connect via Skype for about two weeks now and it was just yesterday that I was able to catch up with her. Over the past month she has made her way out to the west coast and I tracked her down in San Fransisco where she was meeting up with friends and attending a local rally. She is heading out for points north, like Eugene, Portland and Seattle so check her website for ways to connect with her as she comes through your town. Given the upset with and derailment of Vespadition, it is nice to see Alix continuing her ride and connecting up with people along the way who have a passion for what she is doing. Make sure you help her out, there are ways to donate to her ride and the charities she has chosen. My sweet PEACE Scooter T-shirt arrived just the other day and you can get one too. Click over from the SCTRCST link or look on the website for how to order.

Blog posts and links

• Orin’s post on the Seattle All city Scooter Community Day
• Honky Tonk Dragon’s observations on the race
• The Sportique Scooter Uproar
• Marco Quaretta and his Vintage Scooter Workshop in Livorno

Music for this show

Some of you who have been listening to the show for a while know that I have been amateur musician for a number of years and even held onto my dream of being a rock star late into my 40s. Just to prove that all hope is not lost, I want to turn you on to a musician that I had the pleasure to play with back in the 90s when I was making the bar band circuit in Boulder, CO. The Hillbilly Hellcats are a rockabilly group fronted by Chuck Hughes, a fellow we all considered a guitar wizard. On on memorable night, Chuck jump on stage and proceeded to play note for note rendition of Stevie Ray Vaughn’s Lenny, leaving me wishing I had the opportunity to play with this kind of  talent every night.

 

 Episode 62 [23:05m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Not enough time for all my scooter endeavors like the blog and the SCTRCST podcast. One up side is that I have been saving up all my notes and will have a killer show this week, including music from a guy that I played with in the bars around Boulder, CO. Look for the podcast show to be posted shortly.

The few days I had back home in Port Angeles were relaxing and I was lucky enough to see Little Billy and Jeff (Jaybee) before I left. Bill has taken his Vespa GT and rattle canned it with a flat color that pops, then accented the fender, legshield and cowls with hand painted pinstripes. It seems that some people have been blessed with all kinds of hidden talents. His friend Jeff has two projects going and another club member is restoring a Simplex scooter