Scootering November 2020

l am very much a man who loves to see what all the 'latest gear' is for scooters, I love it when the latest products and shiny new items are released by manufacturers . That sort of thing is always a welcome distraction for me, but it is such a pain when I'm behind on deadline and trying to work on the magazine. The second I see a press release for something new, it immediately grabs my attention, no matter what else I'm doing ... everything else gets pushed aside while I devour the information for the new goodies! But this month, in contrast to being completely captivated by the 'very newest' of items, I was deeply engaged by the 'very oldest' of items, specifically the information contained within the…

Super Hoodie 2.0 Oxford's overview Reinforced riding hoodie with CE protectors and 100% DuPont Kevlar fibre reinforcements . Stu'stake The Super Hoodie 2.0 is a soft poly-cotton jacket on the outside, but a technical garment on the inside. It's lined from shoulder to waist, and shoulder to cuff with 100% Dupont Kevlar, which provides abrasion resistance in case of an accident. The hoodie is probably one of the most comfortable pieces of rider wear I've ever worn and its look has an urban-street feel, which delivers presence and style. In terms of practicality, the hoodie's YKK zip is sewn on to both the outer and the anti-abrasion lining, for maximum strength. The garment is also mesh-lined for comfort and comes with CE-marked elbow and shoulder protectors; there is also a pocket in the back…

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 wonder if you can clarify the legal position regard ing group rideouts in EnglandLast ? week, a small group rideout was planned but by the time we arrived at our destination about , 30 scooters had amassed and even though everyone was very sensible about distancing we do not want to place…

When first introduced, the scooter made a quick impact as it mobilised nations across Europe after the Second World War. The main reason was its cheap price and affordability at a time when income was low but not forgetting also its practicality. It was aimed at everyone being able to ride one, hence the step-through design but its low-powered engine was possibly seen as a slight drawback. The adverts at the time promoted the scooter as ideal for local commuting and to start with the pub I ic saw it fit for that purpose and nothing else. It didn't take long for certain individuals to prove that the claims were unjustified by pushing the scooter beyond its original intentions. Soon owners were riding them over long distances and across different continents,…

A picture on social media recently reminded me of a really special day of scooter sprinting at Elvington. It was the occasion when I'd bought back my race scooter some 18 years after selling it. I'd rebuilt it and was running it at Elvington just for old time's sake. My dad, Bill, had done loads of work on it including making a hydraulic disc slave cylinder from a piece of solid brass and a 28-section superbly welded exhaust system. My dad came to virtually all my races for nearly 10 years and being an engineer he was always kept busy with jobs ranging from machining to welding and it seemed like whatever was needed for the race bike the answer was to leave it with him and he would 'acquire'…

Mark's been into scooters since the late Seventies and he's a seasoned rallygoer . In that time he's owned various models and a few years back he switched to an auto, a Vespa GTS300; although he liked it very much, something was still missing. "I missed the smell, the noise, the unreliability and the need to nurture a two-stroke. My last Lambretta was an Li Series 3, but I'd done that model and so considered a Series 2. I liked the back but not the front; the mudguard is just too big and fixed for my liking. But when I saw the Spanish Eibar Series 2, which had a front turning smaller mudguard, I liked it." With a model of choice in mind, Mark didn't want a scooter that was already…