SCOOTERCAST Episode 80 [20:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Fall has finally made it south of the Mason-Dixon Line and I have said goodbye to 70 degree afternoon scoots . It has been raining, but this past week it turned cold. One of our club members, Dave, suggested a First Gear riding suit. It is perfect for the sub-50 degree weather we have been having.

My new project bike was dropped off in the middle of the night last weekend. It is a well used 1966 Harley Davison Sprint 250cc. The old girl is a twin to the one my dad gave me when I started high school. I won it on eBay using auto-bidding software. I was tired of being out bid at the last moment. The one I like is called eSnipe. It places a bid with as little as six seconds left in the auction and by-passes the competitive bidding that takes place in the last 5 minutes of an auction.

I am in Richmond, Virginia and the bike was in Maryland. At first I thought about driving up to get it, but remembered an email that came a few months earlier from Uship asking to advertise on my website. I declined their offer. In the past I have shipped via Forward Air. It is dependable and safe, but expensive, so I have been looking for an alternative. Uship is an online service where shippers compete for your business. There is a sign-up process, and it cost a couple of bucks for each shipment, but the whole thing is very easy. After you register, just provide a few details regarding the scoot or bike. As soon as you post the shipment on their website the bids start rolling in.

On the site, every shipper is rated by customers who have used them. My bike was handled by Will from New Jersey. He brokers shipments up and down the east coast. All I had to do was give him the contact information of the seller and he arranged for pickup, stored the bike in a locked building and made delivery to me within two weeks, all for only $150. All payments were handled securely through pay pal.

Even Marcel’s was excited to see new two-wheeled purchase. Her only comment was, “well it’s not as rusted as the last one.” The last one she is talking about is my 1965 Ducati moped. I have been putting the finishing touches on it by mounting the tires, adjusting the shift cables and waiting for a few last minute parts to come. Before and after pictures will be posted soon.

For those of you who have been wondering, just because I bought another motorcycle, I have not given up on scooting. I am still a big Vespa fan-boy. Besides, it is part of my Italian heritage, si?

Music for this podcast features Want Nobody Tell Me How To Live My Life by Boo Boo Davis from the Podsafe music network.

 

 SCOOTERCAST Episode 79 [23:07m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

SHOW NOTES: I don’t know how you organize yourself, but for years I have relied making lists. Right now I am walking around with a pocket full of paper, mostly illegible chicken scratch. I started using my iPhone to keep track of my thoughts and the combined list of my electronic and paper resources has grown so much I thought I had better bring some of them to you before I get lost in all my ramblings.

My first note is almost three months old. It is a follow-up to an email from a listener in England who asked about the Wigan Casino in the midlands. Looking at the club’s history is like jumping into a time-warp. The Wigan was the place to go for a dance club in the 70s. The doors first opened at 2am on September 23, 1973. While we in the U.S. were wasting time on disco, the DJs at the Wigan pulled vinyl soul from the 50 and 60s, without being particularly about where it came from as long as they had the ‘Wigan sound’. It had to fill the huge 1940s ballroom which could hold over 1200 smart dressed members. An ante room known as Mr. M’s was another dance area that brought the total capacity of the venue to well over 2,000.

People came from all over England and at the height of its popularity in 1975 the Wigan had over 100,000 members. The final night came in late 1981, after many of the best-known DJs had jumped ship and the manger Mike Walker committed suicide. The club lives on in the minds of people who were there and many who were not, kept alive through a strong northern soul music movement in England. Numerous fan groups flourish on the internet, especially in MySpace and Facebook. If you want to know more about the Wigan look for a copy of For Dancers Only: the Story of the Wigan Casino by Chris Hunt or check the following websites for more on the club and the music.

• Wigan Casino Video
• Souled Out – Movie about the Wigan
• Northern Soul Online
• Soulclub
• East Van Soul Club
• Seaside Soul Club

Other Links of Interest to Scooterists

• Blue Smoke Studio, is scooter blog, a mash-up of humor, art and scooter musings by Kevin Montanaro. He is in Vermont, originally from New York and has some gorgeous pen and ink drawings of classic scooters.
• Sweet Honey, Bitter Lemons; travels through Sicily is a book about Matthew Fort’s odyssey and his passion for the food, scenery, and Sicilians. It was a nice follow-up to our trip to Sicily.
• Last week was the Indian Summer Rally here in Richmond and my P200 sidecar rig drew some serious scooter envy. There were meet-ups, rides in the rain, a gymkhana, duck-pin bowling and a bunch of door prizes mostly donated by Scoot Richmond, Check out the pictures in the gallery section of the website or at the 7hills scooter club site.

Music for this show is from the Podsafe Music Network and features Hey Hey Sister and Not Responsible by Laura Clapp