Category: Rallies and Rides

Lake Erie Loop 2006: POC Phil’s report

Lake Erie Loop entrants

Phil and the Pink BuddyHere’s Phil Waters’ report on this year’s Lake Erie Loop, a low-displacement motorcycle race around Lake Erie to benefit the Aluminum Cans for Burned Children Foundation:

Any scooter or bike 200cc or under can compete. Bikes over 200cc can participate in the non-timed “tourist class.” All proceeds go to help burned kids, so you can feel good about breaking the law and destroying your scooter or bike. There were 18 contestants this year. We proved that scooters posed a real threat, 5 scooters were entered and ALL of them completed the course with 2 of us taking home trophies.

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Norway Kart track reopened to cycles, scooters

Our first post on 2001’s newly-blogified 2strokebuzz was about a MASS practice session at Norway Kart track. The track, then a favorite for racers and spectators for its layout and proximity to Chicago, was later closed to motorcycles and scooters, and (correct me if I’m wrong Ryan) then closed entirely. Apparently they’ve re-opened, and CIMR held a practice day there today for motards. In other local racing news, MiniMotoTT is organizing track days at Michiana and Rolling Green with possible races in 2007. Thanks to Ryan for the info.

Organized Drag Racing
at Scooter Weekend Meinerzhagen

A sign of scooter rallies to come in the U.S.?  I could only hope.  Also, I could only hope to not stick out like the creepy old guy hanging out near the playground.

From the Scooter Center scootermatic news letter:

The Whitsun bank holiday weekend is over and so is a superlative Scooter weekend! Despite of two accidents on Saturday morning it was a great weekend with lots of joy for everyone – custom scoots, racing, sprinting and meeting great people! Thanks a lot goes to our customer MCE Sport Matthiesen for the invitation as well as for the properly organised Run. We are looking forward to next year Whitsun – a day off and awesome good scooter meeting!!! What else one can want!?

 Small, grainy, but none the less interesting photos here.

Vespa Chicago reopens in Roselle

2sb reader, Wezul, reports:

I just spoke with Sam [Tomaino]. Vespa Chicago has relocated to Roselle on Lake Street. Phone number is (630) 936-7980. Helpful? I hope so. Enjoy your ride!

Thanks, Wezul! Vespa Chicago‘s website has removed all references to West Suburban Auto Group, and lists only the Boutique address (557 W Diversey Pkwy.) so apparently, Tomaino has parted ways with WSAG but kept his Vespa dealership. Presumably, the boutique will stay open, with service and sales support from the Roselle location. We reported last month that Joliet-based MotoplexUSA and their Chicago location, Old Town Motocycle Shoppe, were to become Vespa dealers, but they have yet to return our emails to confirm or deny the rumor. It’s unclear whether that deal was Tomaino’s backup plan, or if Chicago may yet still have two Vespa franchises.

SHXII is on, needs your help

Screw City Scooter Club will continue the Slaughterhouse Rally tradition this Labor Day weekend with Slaughterhouse XII. There’s a planning meeting tomorrow (Tuesday 6/6/06) at 8pm at the Cobra Lounge, 235 N. Ashland Ave. Stick around to hear the cheery melodic tones of Cealed Kasket, Soul Collector, and Crunch the Clown (Can you tell Kathy planned the meeting?). Note: If you’re new to scootering, nothing can build up your scootering street cred like helping to plan Slaughterhouse.

Allez Cats Reunion

ModChicago Allez Cats reunion at Delilah's

The Allez Cats Reunion at Delilah’s Thursday night was a successful start to the ModChicago weekender, don’t miss the rest of the events. It was neat to see some old “faces,” in person and photos, the music was great, and the booklet the ACSC put together is a fantastic reminder of the era before the internet and twist-and-gos changed scootering forever. Sun-Times music critic and author Jim DeRogatis was there, so look for a story tomorrow.

Mod Chicago weekender starts Thursday

interdit.jpg(Man, I love Dawn’s poster). Remember, the Mod weekender starts tomorrow night with the Allez Cats’ reunion at Delilah’s. (complete schedule). We’re looking forward to seeing some old faces and hearing some great tunes (Grover is a god), even if we’ll be among the less-snappily-dressed. The rest of the weekend brings more parties, rides, and a visit to Chicago’s famous Chess Studios.

Galewood 2K6: Goodtimes

J. Hodge closes in on M. Bedell in lap two

Another (the last, or is it?) Galewood has come and gone, but our high cholesterol levels live on. Congrats to Bacon Cookoff winners Mark (3rd), Kristina (2nd), and Quentin (1st, first two-time winner). No one got hurt on the three-wheeler OR the bouncy castle. We’re gonna call John Hodge the winner of the Chicco showdown not only because he was fast, but because it’s just too weird that a 8-month-old that can’t even stand up can ride a Chicco. There are lots of photos on scoot.net and here are more from Dawn (who took the photo above). If you missed it, or didn’t get enough bacon, Durso sent us this blog of daily bacon recipes.

Mod Chicago reunites ACSC, adds scooter rally
to June 1-3 Mod Weekender

allez cats sc (photo: mike park)

MODchicago‘s annual “Our Way Of Thinking” festival of Modness is coming up next weekend. OWOT is always a good time, but this year they’ve stepped it up a few notches with more scooter-related events and a special scooter section on their website. Best of all, the event has spawned the new Mayday Scooter Club and the reunion (Thursday, June 1 at Delilahs) of the Allez Cats Scooter Club, one of Chicago’s big clubs of the 80s and early 90s. The site also features an archive of ACSC memorabilia including Mike Park’s photo (above) of the club in front of the old Vespa of Chicago on Clark Street (which closed just a month or two before I got my first scooter). OWOT also features a party at Design Within Reach’s Evanston store and a tour of the Chess Records studio. Whether you love or hate Mods (no comment!), next weekend should be a blast for everyone.

Galewood 2K6 Update

We’ve updated the Saturday Galewood schedule. In short, meet at Rutherford-Sayre Park (Oak Park Ave @ Shakespeare Ave) for Kickball at 1pm Saturday, and Moe is having a scooter garage sale/impromptu swap meet at 1848 N. Nordica at 4:00, then the BBQ starts at 5:00 with judging at 6:00. Complete details can be found here. (Update to update: there will also be Chicco Scooter races at the BBQ, so if you have a toddler and a Chicco scooter, bring ’em.)

“You can probably see that we’re pretty tough”

bb on wc

Another of Chicago’s greatest moments in televised scooter crashes: Wild Chicago’s segment on DeathScoot 2000 (Slaughterhouse VI), YouTubed for your pleasure, just this minute, by Chad. Ignoring the fact that every voiceover describes the exact opposite of what is being pictured, it’s still a classic. Goodtimes!

“Tracy! are you OK?”

WLS scooter crashI heard about this when it happened a couple years ago, and never thought I’d get the chance to see it, but thanks to the dual magic of Tivo and Youtube, here it is: With mere seconds of instruction and an unbuckled half-helmet, WLS Channel 7 meteorologist Tracy Butler crashes a Vespa, during a PR piece with Vespa of Chicago’s Sam Tomaino. God bless you, Vespaway. Now if only I could find Les Nessman’s Vespa crash on WKRP…