Scootering March 2020

Thanks to everyone who got in touch to praise the ‘bike engine special edition’ we did last month, which paid homage to those crazy-engineered machines with ’80s hooligan engines fitted. The edition seems to have been very well received. I did get wind of one negative response to the special edition, someone claiming we now ‘only feature scooters which have bike engines in’… although I had to measure criticism against the fact that the complainant was a strict ‘purist’ when it comes to scooters, and also didn’t seem to understand that it was a one-off special edition. As I said in my column of that month’s edition… you can’t please everyone! Another great response was to my plea for more Vespa owners with ‘beefed up motors’ and ‘fancy engineering’ to…

There’s room at the inn (or rugby club)! The Easter National at Whitby now has a campsite for people attending the event, located at Whitby RUFC. It’s awell-known and friendly venue. Prices are as follows: £15 per person for camping from Friday, £10 if arriving Saturday. A supplement of £5 per car and £10 per van, caravan or camper is payable. BSRA Championship for 2020 begins! All scooter riders across the UK are welcome to take part in the BSRA Championship for 2020. Why not enter this year’s championship? It’s really simple: ride to every BSRA National Rally and this year’s bonus event (Mersea Island) and be in with a shout to win. You could win a fabulous trophy (to keep), free insurance, a cash prize, free entry for the winners (male and…

In his quest to find the perfect riding jeans, this season Stan will be putting a pair of RST’s Tech Pro jeans through their paces. The jeans are constructed from heavyweight Cordura denim that’s been reinforced with Kevlar for enhanced abrasion resistance. Critical areas have additional protection from a terry knit Kevlar lining and Level 2 CE armour is fitted to the hip and knee joints. RST claims that “the Tech Pro jeans have been cut to ride in, even on the aggressive riding position of sports bikes. With this in mind, we’ve added stretch areas over the knee and in the seat for comfort and enhanced ergonomics.” Initial experience is that they are indeed comfortable to ride in and Mrs Stan, not a woman to issue compliments easily, even believes…

Tyres are without any doubt one of the most important components of our scooters. They provide the contact and grip to the road and are therefore not only responsible for safety but also for the fun factor. BGM’s goal was to develop a tyre which runs through bends and roundabouts when it is wet, the same as you would ride in the dry! Coupled with the needs required for today’s engine outputs, there was only one way: a completely new development. Two things determine the driving behaviour of a tyre: the rubber compound and the structure of the tyre. The BGM tyres are constructed and produced in Germany. All of the innovations from recent tyre technology have been incorporated into the tyres. The specially co-ordinated material mix with high silica compound…

Yes, you heard it right – as the headline suggests, a new project to claim bragging rights to having the fastest scooter in the land is under way. The scooter in question, a Vespa small frame, is currently being built by Taylor Sturgess in the workshop of Replay Scooters. The idea is for it to be fully road legal and not just a one-off race machine built for that purpose only. Rather than just try and see how fast it will go in one direction, Taylor wants to do a proper two-way record attempt which is a much harder discipline to achieve. Scootering magazine will be following the project closely, right up to its (hopefully) successful conclusion.…

This information is provided by Stephen Hattersley, of WildWood Legal, a firm of solicitors specialising in claims for injured scooterists. Stephen, a qualified solicitor for 25 years, has been riding scooters for more than 30 years, and has acted for injured riders across the UK. He knows the tricks and pitfalls that insurers use and pulls no punches in his dealings with them. He rides to work every day and understands the challenges you face out there. Q. I had an accident but it is a while ago. Am I too late to bring a claim? A. Time limits do apply to personal injury claims. Ordinarily, court proceedings need to be started within three years of the accident date. The court can extend this period but there needs to be a (very)…