Rusharound

I went to my first Scooter rally yesterday thanks to my friend Chris, whom I will always deify for riding one of these things clear across the country.

A couple of weeks ago he told me about a gathering of scooter nuts in Worcester — with an “I’ll try anything once” mindset, I joined him.

More detail, a slightly unfortunate story, and some photos after the jump.

I met Chris at his place and we put my Vespa and his 1964 Lambretta into his trailer.

Inside the trailer that I covet.

A little later, we arrived at Ralph’s Diner.

Ralph’s Diner (stolen photo)

Like the Land Rover rallies I used to frequent, scooter rallies start out with lots of people standing around talking about bikes, modifications, and their own heroicism. Soon enough we went for a great ride to a nearby tower.

Leaving the tower

Leaving the tower.

See that picture there? That’s pretty much what you see on a group ride. The backs of lots of people’s shirts and, if you’re lucky, the potholes ahead of you. Our tour went around Henderson Lake and Wachusett Reservoir — a great ride planned by local scooter phenom Doug.

We ended up back at at the diner where we started. The scooter that most caught my eye was the Atomic Fireball, a limited edition paint job on a new-but-retro-looking “Stella”

The Atomic Fire Ball

Chris’ bike and my bike were the only ones predating the 1970’s and they stood out because they had been so carefully restored. In fact, there was even a moment later on in the afternoon when E V E R Y last person gave my scooter their undivided attention.

Because someone accidentally knocked it over in the parking lot.

The guy was checking the tires of his 2006 Vespa, stood up, and accidentally got his pocket caught on my handlebars and — thud — my bike was on its side.

Estimated damage: $500 (unconfirmed, probably too low) to buy a replacement cowl, colormatch the paint and all that. Really put a damper on the event. I’m not posting a picture of the dent — this is a family-oriented site.

HOWEVER – on a great note – traveling with Chris is always fun and I was glad to see what a scooter rally is like. Next time, I’ll bring a huge glass aquarium to put around the scooter so bystanders can’t accidentally knock it over.

Created with Paul’s flickrSLiDR.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 8th, 2007 at 9:03 am and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.