Motogiro d’California

Motogiro d’Italia is a motorcycle touring rally made famous in the 1950s and revived in 2001.  The event, showcasing classic Italian machines, is venturing outside Italy for the first, of what I would imagine will be annual, Motogiro America. The oil leaking event will be held in and around Monterey, CA preceding the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix in July 2008.  Webbikeworld.com reports that the routes will include a lap around the racetrack at Laguna Seca as well as scenic rides around the picturesque Monterey Bay area.  There is a range of entry classes including a “Vespa Class.” Hopefully other vintage Italian scooters will be allowed as it would seem very fitting to have some of the beautiful Lambretta D race machines participating (I’m talking to you, Alex).  It sounds like a dream week for any Italian Iron enthusiast.

Girlbike supports P.E.A.C.E.

Crystal at Girlbike/ScooterSeatCovers, who just finished a big charity ride herself, is offering a limited-edition peace-sign seat cover to help raise money for Alix Bryan’s cross-up-down-and-around-country P.E.A.C.E Scooter Ride. And Steve from the Scooter Scoop just bought a 2sb jersey. I feel like I should be giving more back to the scooter community, or at least giving scooter-relief.org the $200 I collected for them at Slaughterhouse two years ago that’s still hiding under my mattress. I’m an idiot. At least I didn’t spend it.

P.E.A.C.E. & Scootstars

Alix B. and her Genuine Buddy are a week and a half into their P.E.A.C.E. scooter tour, and blogging away with gusto rarely seen on epic scooter tours. We should probably interview her or something. In other scooter tour news, Josh and Peter the Scootstars have another dead 50cc Chinese scooter on their hands and are apparently stuck in Chicago weighing their options. We’ll hopefully hook up with them before they escape.

Tuk Talk in London

Jo and Ants of Tuk to the Road fame will appear Tuesday (December 12, 2006) at the Royal Geographical Society in London at 7:30pm to talk about their travels and show a short film. The pair traveled 12, 500 miles across Asia and Europe this summer, raising nearly £33,000 to date for Mind, and are currently working on a book.

Cold Weather Challenge 2007

Ryetronic’s Cold Weather Challenge is back! The full rules are here, but to summarize, it’s a contest for scooters (no motorcycles, sidecars, or three-wheelers) to determine who can ride 10 miles or more (distance is used only as a tiebreaker) in the coldest weather before February 28, 2007. Last years’ winner was Kent Messer of Ithaca, NY, who rode in -6.5° on December 14 2005. If you live in a sunnier climate, fear not, runners-up are grouped by state. The Cold Weather Challenge is sponsored by Crafty Planet, who reminds you to knit responsibly this holiday season.

Burgdog

Bill Meek and Sandy

Reader Bill Meek responded to our “Burgmania spreads” story:

It’s great that a 2-stroke site has information and links about the Suzuki Burgman. Here’s an interesting newspaper article about a Burgman rider (me) and his unusual passenger that I thought you might find amusing.

We certainly did. Bill and his dog Sandy have covered over 10,000 miles in the last year. Sandy even has her own website with photos, press appearances, and videos.