Coming out of retirement.

Yes, I've decided to come out of retirement.

I have decided to consider the possibility of thinking about maybe contemplating whether to give serious consideration to the pluses and minuses of seeking some real and honest employment.

But I've made a decision to re-enter the fray.

I am going to Stockport Scooter Rally the back end of October.

Big deal I here you saying.
But its not decision I've made lightly.

These have always been seriously heavy affairs entailing lots - and I mean lots - of drinking and partying.

I used to be a regular on the Scooter scene, had some great times and made lots of really good friends.
Been all over this great country, from Oban to Great Yarmouth to Llandudno and Rhyl to Kelso and Cleethorpes and far, far more.
The Custom Show on the last weekend in October in Bridlington was always my favourite.
Lots of great bikes on show, some fantastic bands and DJ's playing the best of music.....all washed down with plenty of beer etc whilst having a really good laugh with good mates and total strangers.



There aren't any good videos of the night time shenanigans - well, none that don't contravene site T&C - so just thought I'd post a couple of random YouTube video's.

I've been to Bridlington countless times and always had a good time.
The place is literally heaving with Scooterists and local businesses make an absolute fortune - it helps subsidise the other 51 weeks in year!

Pubs are filled to the rafters and many have live bands on etc.
Cafe's and restaurants do a roaring trade and the takeaways are hilarious at 2 or 4 in the morning.



The videos don't really do it justice and fail to show the numbers and the atmosphere.

For various reasons I haven't been to a rally for about three or four years now.
I miss the scene and some of the mates I used to see regularly at these events.

For some unknown reason Bridlington Council decided to bump the rental fee for The Spa - venue of the Custom Show and the official v.f.m. show on the nights - to such an extent that there was no option but to hold the rally at Bridlington one year and Southport the next.
Traders were up in arms but all to no avail.

Anyway, after being cooped up in the house for far too long I've decided to book digs for Southport and jump back into the fray.
I dread to think what effect it will have on this out of practice soon-to-be 56 year old....I fear the worst.

My personal rally favourite.....written by two scooter lads,

Their version of Drivin South is probably the best one ever recorded:

Lots of drinking and partying……

Got my vote lol

a reply to: Freeborn

Did the runs myself in the early 90's.I was the only 'young blood' in the club who was actually on the road.I'm 45 now so most of the other members were your age.
Bridlington,I remember being told by a local chick that they only go out there when the scooter rally was on.Music to my dirty young ears!
East Coast Connection was my club.
Happy days.

a reply to: Freeborn

Have you considered upgrading to the American version at Sturgis?

a reply to: Freeborn

Enjoy, mate, but be careful. Car drivers seem to have been hit with a silly stick over the last few months.

Oh, and post photos!

a reply to: glen200376

That's a hike, Aberdeen to Bridlington.

Some mates of mine regularly do the Euro rallies, that's too much for me.

The only Euro Rally I did was Euro 2000.....and only because it was at Witton Castle and I was asked to do the security!
Only needed two of us, we were reasonably well paid, got two slabs of beer each and a taxi too and from the do,
Most of the evening various mates were talking to us and bringing us beer as well.
But it started absolutely belting it down, torrential.
When the meal and presentation was on me and my mate were in a hut having our own private little rave; Glastonbury was on and I swear The Prodigy were playing but my mate insists it was The Chemical Brothers.

We'd been told not to let anyone into the rally if they didn't have a pre-paid band.

Anyway through the driving rain and the radio we heard a noise.
'A Vespa' I said to my mate.....and sure enough some guy was coming up the approach road on a T5 - always been a Lammy man myself.
I noticed his headlamp was held on with cable ties and the legshield looked scratched.

He was wringing wet and struggled to get his helmet off and he looked absolutely knackered.
He started talking and it was immediately apparent he was American.
I asked him if he had a pre-paid band and he said he hadn't....so I said he couldn't come in.

After he for his breath back he told us he'd rode his scooter across the US to New York, got on a boat and sailed to Southampton.
He then set off for Witton Castle only to come off his scoot near Wetherby - hence the cable ties etc.

I still wouldn't let him in.
He offered us £70....but I still wouldn't let him in.
He upped it to £150, still a no go.

The man for L.A. was distraught.

After about 15 minutes of this we grew tired of the game and let him in for the correct amount if £70, much to the hilarity of one of my best mates who had come to the gate to see how things were going.

The Yank came to see us a few hours later and told us he was having a great time and the journey was worth it.

The point is people literally come from all over the place and from every walk of life and meet and have a great time.
The only thing every person has in common is the love of scooters.

As with most things I have lots and lots of stories about the scooter scene.

Really looking forward to getting back into it.

The scooter scene was quite vibrant in Scotland, are you still in touch with your mates?
Ever consider dusting the scoot off?

About time you old folks get up off your asses and do something. Jk bro looks like fun

originally posted by: Blaine91555
a reply to: Freeborn

Have you considered upgrading to the American version at Sturgis?

Pee Wee Herman going against bikers only works in the movies.

a reply to: Blaine91555

I will NEVER go over to the Dark Side.

Plenty of bike rallies over here....I don't think there's anything on that scale though.

There used to be quite a lot of enmity between scooterists and bikers - look up Mods and Rockers - but that's disappeared over the years and now there's mutual respect between the two.
en.wikipedia.org...

A good mate of mine who was really into the Biker/Hells Angel scene and lifestyle once had a stall at one of our local rallies.
He had a great time and whenever I bumped into him he would delight in telling his mates of his night with a load of scooterists.

Here's a couple of videos of his funeral, a true Gentleman.

a reply to: Whodathunkdatcheese

Yeah, lots of idiot drivers about....seem to have multiplied umpteenth times during the pandemic, especially my sworn enemy; BMW drivers----Big Massive Wankers!

There'll be plenty of photos mate, hardly as cultural and sophisticated as AM's in his Italy thread!

I am looking forward to going into training as preparation for the rally....I might start tomorrow night.

a reply to: Freeborn

Cool. Former Vespa 300gts owner.

a reply to: Freeborn

I think they're both great. Some of the bikes and scooters are works of art.

Honestly, the old Hells Angel's image was way overblown. The bad groups did exist, but mostly biker clubs in the US are just professionals and business people who like to blow off steam and have a little fun. My interest and involvement was in the 1970s, but mostly I liked the bikers' bars since they would not tolerate bad behavior ironically.

Sounds like a fun event.

a reply to: Freeborn

If it was a classic Mini Rally I'd be there with you.



Then again, a Cornish Rattler Scooter, ah heck, I'm sold

a reply to: Cymru

I have a couple of mates who used to do the Beetle Bashes but none who do the Mini's - probably because none of us can fit in one nowadays!

Talking about Cornish....

A few years ago I was due to meet up with him at a scooter rally in Exmouth if I remember rightly.
Then he went and got himself banned....twice.
Unfortunately I have no contact details for him.

There was also talk of going to Beautiful Days - a festival I have always really wanted to go to - and I think we had plans to kidnap carpy and thoroughly corrupt him - not that lawyers require much corrupting!

I could have picked you up along the way.

Who knows what the future holds?

a reply to: Blaine91555

I think they're both great. Some of the bikes and scooters are works of art.

I've seen some amazing scooters.
The paint and chrome work defy description at times.
Some of my mates have spent an absolute fortune on them....and each and every one of them ride their scooters as well, too many park them up in a garage and take them to rally's and shows in the back of a van.

One lad I know took his bike in a van, stopped on the outskirts of the town where the rally was being held and got his scooter out and rode it into town trying to pretend he'd rode it all the way.
He was ridiculed and I disowned him!

I have no problem with people going in cars etc, just don't pretend otherwise.

Honestly, the old Hells Angel's image was way overblown.

They have their moments.
Not so long ago there was a lot of trouble between different biker gangs - in the Midlands I think - and a couple of people died.
As far as I'm aware they fighting over the speed trade - I didn't think many people still did speed!

Most of the old guys I know calmed right down, they just loved their bikes.

The bad groups did exist, but mostly biker clubs in the US are just professionals and business people who like to blow off steam and have a little fun.

Every scene has more than its fair share of weekend warriors.

My interest and involvement was in the 1970s,....

Never took you for being that old.
I started getting into the scooter thing round about the Mod Revival and Two Tone era.
en.wikipedia.org...
en.wikipedia.org...(music_genre)

.... but mostly I liked the bikers' bars since they would not tolerate bad behavior ironically.

There was a bikers bar just down from one of my old locals - which I ended up running at one point - and I had some great times in there.
A lot of punks and skins went in there too.

Never any trouble and always very friendly...even to strangers.

I've always preferred the more 'traditional' and dare I say 'rougher' pubs.
The reality is there tends to be far less trouble in these places, they are very much self-policing.

I rant two of my own pubs and they were what used to be described as 'spit and sawdust' establishments and has some very rough and dodgy characters in them.
Incredibly rare for there to be trouble - to be fair it did help that most of them were/are mates of mine and I'm sort of 'well known' around these parts.

The first two locals I drank in on the council estate I was raised were tightly run places.
Lots of big drinkers and no nonsense sort of guys.
Again, there was rarely any trouble....but they were very clanish and the whole pub stopped if strangers came in.

I remember taking a mate of mine in one of them back in about 88 or 89.
He was a BIG Rasta....I pissed myself laughing at the reaction.
He became quite good mates with some of my oldest friends.

Sounds like a fun event.

They are.
If you are ever in this neck of the woods - you never know - I'll take you to one, you'll thoroughly enjoy it.

a reply to: Freeborn

We should arrange an ATS vehicle agnostic Pub rally

a reply to: Cymru

We should arrange an ATS vehicle agnostic Pub rally

We should just cut to the chase and arrange a weekend on the razzle somewhere.

Meet-up's have been mentioned before but never materialised.
Real life has an awful habit of getting in the way.

originally posted by: Freeborn
a reply to: Cymru

We should arrange an ATS vehicle agnostic Text Red

We should just cut to the chase and arrange a weekend on the razzle somewhere.

Meet-up's have been mentioned before but never materialised.
Real life has an awful habit of getting in the way.

The clue is PUB RALLY

a reply to: Cymru

Deal me in mate, try and get some of our Jockish friends involved.
Quite an eclectic bunch.

One of my favourite pub pastimes is letting off a verbal incendiary device in the middle of a conversation then sitting back and watching and laughing as fireworks go off....I think there could be plenty of opportunities for me to indulge myself.
🤣🤣🤣

Being realistic nothing is going to happen till at the earliest the back end of the year or even next year.
I suspect people might want to wait and see how this damned pandemic develops.

It would be great fun though mate.

My only regrets would be that Cornish, StuMason and more tragically Woody and Blup wouldn't be able to make it.
I miss all four of those guys.