Author: illnoise

Scooterist Jeff Tudor’s band, The Shifties, are going to tape their segment for Chicago’s favorite dance show, Chic-A-Go-Go this Saturday night (July 12) at 6pm at CANTV studios. 322 S. Green St., Chicago. If you’ve never been to a taping, go, it’s like Soul Train, but hosted by a hand puppet and Miss Mia, and they play really diverse music and anyone who shows up dances, some people dress up in costumes, people bring their kids, it’s a blast.
In the meantime, check out the Shifties’ Can’t Go On (mp3).

Finally, a rally for Mods without the nusiance of scooters: Wilderbeat, in Port Burwell, Ontario, Canada, August 15-17, a mere CA$75 at the gate. For CA$22 you could see the Rolling Stones, Flaming Lips, AC/DC, and Rush play in Toronto on July 30.

JKSC has organized a group rideout from Chicago to the Screw City rally, meet at ScooterworksUSA Friday at noon. The time Ryan and I rode up, it took like seven hours, but we had issues.

19-year-old newcomer Shamim Khan wins the Gulf Monsoon Scooter Rally and LML suffers defeat at the hands of a, wait for it, Kinetic Marvel.

Seriously, look out for bottle rockets and don’t drink and ride.

Racecar Bob and Ana just got back from ten days in Italy. In Rome, after grabbing a stack of Vespa Granturismo brochures, then they bought “Helmet Ears” by Tucanourbano. Tucanourbano has lots of other cool stuff, too, like riding gear for kids, the perfect baby shower gift hint hint.

Dear good sir, My name is Mbwike Smith and I am from Nigeria. I would like to purchase 30,080 of your fine 2SB tool bags. They look like much fine products.
Continue reading “Best Mersh order ever!”

Our friend Chris Bednas posted this story on some Chicago motorcycle lists this week, it’s a great story, and he’s given us permission to reprint it here:
Continue reading “Not My Last Ride After All”

I’ve really been digging these guys lately, and I wanted to link up to their catchy pyschedelic track “Strawberryfire,” but they have some kind of crappy deal with eMusic so you can only get a 30 second sample. But they DO have a sweet go-karting, Davida-and-jumpsuit-wearin’ video for their new single, “Please.” Don’t they look like dorks we would hang out with?

Actor George Clooney recently donated ten specially-equipped scooters to Rome’s emergency services department. The scooters will carry defibrillators and will be dispatched when ambulances can’t get through traffic or narrow streets. Thanks for the link, Nancy!

If you’re like most of the people in Vespa’s target market, you’d never pay $4200 for a scooter if you knew that, for a mere thousand dollars more, you could get it in two-tone with a couple accessories. Thankfully, The Sharper Image is looking out for you. It’s pretty, but not “$1000 more” pretty.

The Highland House in Highland Park, IL closed Sunday. The restaurant had been a popular motorcyclist meeting place for 25 years, and even back to the fifties, when it was Hal’s Pizzeria. Hundreds of bikers would meet and eat at the Highland House every Sunday morning before heading off for day-long rides in Wisconsin or Northern Illinois.

Second to Last SC has announced the live music lineup for the Slaughterhouse Rally Saturday (August 30) show at The Hideout: Waxon Seven, The Sonnets, and Mega Super Ultra. MSU will be playing a special show covering the UK Version of The Clash
in its entirety.

I just got a tip that there’s been some sort of scooter show going on at Presidential Towers just outside the Loop here in Chicago… sorry, that’s all I know. Anyone have any other info?

Andrea spotted this treat in an interview with Eric Bana in The Guardian: “Oealthough I have a very big love of Italian motorcycles, so maybe there’s some connection there.” [interviewer] A strapping fella like you would probably ride a Ducati, not a Vespa, correct? “A Vespa’s not really a man’s motorcycle, is it? It’s transportation. A true motorcycle should definitely be anything but comfortable transportation.” The Hulk has clearly never broken down on a Vespa 150 after riding sixty miles in the rain.