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

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

Show notes: If you have been following my blog you know I have had a few interruptions in my regular routine. I’ll try to catch up and there is allot to catchup on.

First, Amerivespa is now open for registration. If you haven’t been over to the sight click on over and you can find more details on the event which is being held in Chattanooga Tennessee. I am still not sure if I am going to make it. I am suppose to be in Denver on that weekend for a wedding, Marcel’s boss’ daughter, so it’s kind of a big deal. I may have to settle for only one or two days and make the rally a stop over.

Another significant event is happening this weekend up in New York city. It is the NYC Scooter Block party. I got an invitation by email, but with everything else going on I just could swing getting up there. The videos that have been produced from past parties make it look like on of the years greatest rallies. Maybe someone can give me a report on how it went.

As I have been catching up on my reading I saw that Don Burnside (DB from the mini podcast) is still listening to SCTRCST, but more interesting, he is a big music fan and recommended The Roadhouse podcast. It reminded me of the kind of roots blues and that I grew up loving, so I am suggesting you check it out.

I have gotten a few emails from listeners who are talking about getting back into riding after laying off for a number of years. Doug in Sacramento wrote asking about where to go for model comparisons and at first I wasn’t sure what to say because many of us in scooting have pretty bias opinions. I thought for a while and decide to tell him to do as much local in store research as possible and ride a number of different bikes. I have said at other times, before you by that beautiful chrome filled 50cc make sure it fits your riding needs. But beyond this, I do think it is good to have a few references to fall back on, especially if you are just starting. Scoot magazine reviews are always fair and honest. I heard April Whitney talk one time about how they will not review a scooter unless they can have it for several weeks, to really test it out. They also have seen allot over the years and can compare brands and models. After that I say go to some of the scooter blogs where testing is a regular part of their work. These are the ones you always hear me talking about like The ScooterScoop and 2strokebuzz. Another which has quite a few reviews is David Harrington’s Just Gotta Scoot. Along with his written reviews he frequently talks about his test rides on his podcast of the same name.

One of the more exciting pieces of news for me came out a few weeks ago from Italy when Piaggio announced it was producing a GTS 300 Super. Now my GTS 250 has plenty of power for hopping on the freeway, but I must say, the idea of having more is enticing. There were a number of bloggers who posted the announcement and a few pictures on their websites, but if you want to see the original story and numerous pictures, well over two dozen, go to the source at motoblog. It is an Italian site, but is easily translated by your Firefox browser or through Google translation. Don’t miss it. Hope we see this one in the US very soon.

For those of you looking to book some last minute travel, Vespa Week is scheduled to start in a few days in Treviso Italy. This should be one of the years biggest Vespa events with the power to draw thousands of Vespa fans from all over Europe. The event beings on May 29th and goes through June 2nd and if you have never been to this part of Italy it is beautiful and of course like most European rallies, there will be plenty of touring and racing. You can find out more about the event at the Vespa Week website.

Websites and blog

• Brian over at 2stroke buzz pulled up with a link that I also saw regarding Japanese customized scooters.
• Andy over at the classic scooter collector picked up a motor-less Lambretta LD Mk1 which has an amazing story.
• Ever wondered why anyone in their right mind would live in the Pacific Northwest of British Columbia just look at the website that Orin over at Scootin old Skool turned me on to. It is called Bobskoot’s Wet Coast Scooting.

Music for this show

This show is dedicated to Sean Costello. Sean was one of music’s most promising Blues player who died suddenly this past April, a day before his 29th birthday. I think you will agree, we have lost a gifted individual. Visit his website and find more of his music at itunes and the Podsafe Music Network

 

 Episode 60 [28:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download