EPISODE 88 - SCOOTERCAST Scooter Internet Radio: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

If you follow me on Twitter you know that I made a quick trip to Denver. I had plenty of time to explore the depths of my ipod and found two podcast you must know about. The first is “Digital Flotsam”, a nice break from a monotone life, with PW Fenton a creative writer who reminisces and remarks on himself and the world. The other is irreverent and will likely offend anyone who has even a speck of moral or ethical standards. “You Look Nice Today” seems like three frat boys in conversation, looking for any opportunity to exaggerate the truth or perpetuate an obvious lie. Wait and listen for those moments of brilliant humor.

I am compelled to seek out scooter shops. On this trip to Denver I wanted to visit Sportique Scooters in Englewood. The original store is an old gas station on the west-side in Denver. I don’t know the whole growth story surrounding Sportique, except to say that some of their success has to be credited to Colin, one of the original owners. If that name sounds familiar, it probably because he has been around forever and is an author. Colin is now calling the Englewood store home, where most of Sportique’s vintage bikes are being sold. The shop had plenty of vintage and new Vespas, Lambrettas and a surprising Honda Ruckus with a stretched chrome frame and performance exhaust.

Colin talked about how he is going to keep the next Big Ruckus that gets traded in, referencing it as a good scoot for old guys. Here is one of Denver’s early scooterist, who has his own sorted scooter past like all of us talking about slowing down and getting old. I guess no matter who you are, eventually you start to recognize that things never stay the same. Colin has done a lot for the scooter community over the years and with a fourth shop planning to open in northern Colorado he definitely qualifies as a successful businessman, even though he likes to throwout around the f-bomb a lot. Thanks to Sportique Scooters for the welcome and friendly conversation.

Music for this show features The Mourning After and Chris Trapper of The Push Stars from the Podsafe Music Network.

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