SHOW NOTES: Scooter Club of the Golden Triangle and Christina Chen report that the big shots of Amerivespa decided to hold next year’s event in sunny San Jose, California. The rally will coincide with the 20th Anniversary of Vespa Club Los Gatos who will play host to the event. So there you go, no excuses that you didn’t have enough warning and had a scheduling conflict, like a wedding to attend. I’m planning on going, hope to see you there.

There are already pictures posted and blogs being written Lets start with Scootin for a Cure. This is someone who really knows how to enjoy scooting. Her first post came early in her ride last Tuesday. They came down through  WV to Middletown, VA and proceed to ride through the great smoky mountains. Bobo, the famous long distance Vespa rider had come down from Maryland and was joined them for the ride into Chattanooga. If you haven’t heard of him, Mark Bobotec is a famous long distance scooterist who has ridden his Vespa on Cannon Ball Runs. He regularly to events all over the US. Last time I spoke with him he was trying to decide how much of the Cannonball Run he is going to do this year.

From what I can tell rain was an nuisance at this year’s event, especially during the organized rides, like to visit Coker Tires. But as usual, the pictures seem to bear out that the rain didn’t dampen the spirit of the event. There was plenty of hobnobbing, eating and drinking. I haven’t been able to locate any scooter fan produced video on the web yet, although there are several local media videos. I understand that Steve Guzman is working on something, so I’ll keep and eye out for that, but in the mean time scoot.net and flicker have plenty of rally pictures to enjoy.

Music for this show is from Enri at the Podsafe music network. ENRI is a project built around the Italian Hammond organ player Enrico Zavalloni. The line-up includes members of Vip200. In 2000, together with Montefiori Cocktail, Vip200 were Italy’s premier 60s lounge scene band.

 

 SCOOTERCAST Episode 67 [19:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Thanks to our reporter abroad, Errol in Toronto for bring this story on scooting in Jerusalem and Tzahi Ziv of IFI Motors, which is importing the American-made Vectrix scooter. Click here for the original article. “Do you realize how many lawyers drive scooters to work in the metropolitan Tel Aviv area?” Ziv asks, potential sales figures gleaming in his eyes. “There is definitely a market in Israel for the Vectrix.”

SHOW NOTES: I have been getting emails from all over, telling me about your local scooter events. Sorry I don’t have time to cover all of them, but I have plans later this summer or early in the fall to recap with links to some of the better videos. Speaking of rallies, for those of you who have asked, I will not be at Amerivespa this year. I had hoped to make it, but another commitment to attend a friend’s wedding in Denver has changed that plan. (that is were I am posting from today) Although I can’t make it, it sounds like a number of other bloggers and regular scooterist are going to be there. Send me your pictures and videos and I will see about posting them on the website or give me a call (206-888-6174) and I will try to get you on the show.

Some of you have written asking about why I talk so much about Italian scooters. Well, I am Italian, but mostly, it’s like a lot of things, you talk about what you know. Then the other day I noticed that someone had linked to the scootercast website from The Burgman Riders Forum. It a was pleasant surprised to find an active scooter community talking about Suzuki Burgmans. These big machines are made for the open road and I understand that they are very comfortable for touring. The forum has a lot of threads going into modifications and accessories and there are  numerous links to spare parts, technical references and people who can mentor you.

I got an email from Alix last week. You know, PEACE scooter ride. She is planning to be in Washington, DC on August 8th and then will head back to Richmond on the August 9th where we hope to have a big scoot-in at ScootRichmond to welcome her back. If you haven’t checked her blog lately it’s worth a few minutes of your time. If you want a reminder that the whole world doesn’t think alike, and there are some pretty incogitant people out there, it’s post you must read to believe.

To digress from scootering for a minute, while I was about reading this I was keenly aware that in Virginia, a moment in history was being created. On Monday, a Statue and Civil Rights Memorial was unveiled on the state Capital grounds honoring Barbara Johns and other African-Americans who were part of the fight to end segregation of schools in Virginia. It seems a  wry irony that the monument sits on the same ground were the politicians of Virginia actively resisted desegregation into the 1970s. I think Alix would have been proud to see this, it was one kind of PEACE and along some reconciliation, yet acknowledged that we do not have equality, but things are more equal, and somethings are worth fighting for.

Podsafe music for this show came from Ariel Publicity out of New York and the Stilentreatment. Their music can be found at the Podsafe music network or their website.

P.S. Here is a link to the webpage on sidecars.

 

 SCOOTERCAST Episode 66 [21:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Weather here in Richmond has been uncomfortably hot. This means getting out early to take care of all those chores. Since selling our 2002  Mini Cooper, I have been meaning to organize my tinkering space, the garage, and this weekend I finally got to it. The problem with cleaning up is that I always run into more projects and in this case I was reminded when I ran across the neatly organized parts from my Ducati Falcon. I am pleased to say that I am back on track with the project and the frame is at the powder coater. Next comes chrome and paint. It has only been a year since I started, not bad for amateur restorer.