New London to New Brighton

The Parka Run. Someone doesn’t understand that “Vintage Only” and “please be able to do 45mph or faster” is a contradiction.

10 thoughts on “New London to New Brighton”

  1. heh, Matt, I didn’t realize it was your rally, I thought you were just hosting the site for someone else. SNOB! And for the record, at the moment, none of my bikes exceed 0mph.

  2. Ironic that the ride is from New London to New Brighton, but that new scooters are forbidden–or is that a coincidence? Damn your Canadian eyes, Alannis Morrissette!

  3. according to the Minnesota DVS, a “Classic Motorcycle” is “at least 20 years old and original in appearance.” Most states call that “Vintage” rather than “Classic.” While “Vintage” has many implications, it’s generally considered by most car and motorcycle enthusiasts to mean a vehicle more than 20 years old. I would argue that while the Stella is based on a classic/vintage design, it’s sheer newness denies it “vintage” status, just as 2001 Vespa P200, while virtually unchanged since 1979, is not “vintage.”
    I think that’s generally a fair way to separate “vintage” from “not vintage,” but to most people, the decision comes down to snobbery. keep in mind that by the DOT definition, a 1983 Honda Elite is “vintage,” but my guess is that the people organizing this ride would scoff at it while happily accepting a 1983 Vespa P200. Other “vintage” scooter collectors would argue that the P-series isn’t “vintage.” I happen to like Pre-P-series Vespas much more than P-series, but I would never exclude ANY scooter from any ride I organize. If other people want to, that’s their choice, but they should clearly define their terms. I can see why people would want to do that, it’s kinda cool to have a big group of old scooters riding together, but my opinion is that scooters are scooters. Plus, my old Vespa looks so much COOLER next to twist and gos, heh. In this case, I just thought it was funny that they ruled out many vintage scooters with their speed restriction, a Vespa 50 or Lambretta LD125 will have a hard time keeping up. Many vintage scooter/motorcycle show ads always promise “ride not to exceed 30mph.”

  6. Jeeze Bryan just because your scooters suck doesn’t mean that everyone else’s does! If someone shows up on a Vespa 50 that would kick ass but I hope they realize that they will be going on a 150-200 mile ride and we’re not waiting for him! It’s for safety reasons since we will be hitting some hiways. And ok I will change it to VINTAGE ITALIAN SCOOTERS ONLY* happy? Man some people….

    -Matt

    * includes Vespa/Lambratta licensed scoots as long as they are vintage..

  8. We had a little brouhaha last fall over what was considered “vintage” up here in Minnesota. All was well until someone posted on Minnescoota’s site, “And before someone asks, Stella no.” Not willing to be dismissed out of hand without a fight (or at least a thumb-wrestling tourney), I tossed in my full 1.5 cents worth.

    Nothing was settled, naturally.

    So, is there any consensus? What is? What isn’t? What doesn’t matter? What day is this? (Skip that last question.)

  10. M2-Now I know why you are THE scooter dork. That joke is so 2003.

    bgk

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