SIP Scootershop open day 2025 | FEATURE

Back in the early 1990s, two German Scooterboys were struggling to get the parts they needed for their scooters and they decided to do something about it.

Aged just 20 and 21, Alex (riding his red Vespa SS 180 above) and Ralf (riding his GS 160) started selling parts from a cellar, and gradually, their little venture began to grow. Fast-forward to 2025, and we’re in Landsberg to celebrate SIP Scootershop’s annual open day with around 3 or 4,000 other scooterists. Those two are still passionate Scooterboys, but their parts business has grown to epic proportions.

Destination dealer

Forget any ‘just another scooter shop’ preconceptions you may have; SIP is housed in a modern and impressive, huge purpose-built facility boasting a cool shop, an Italian-style ‘Siperia’ cafe and bar, plus an outdoor dining and social space where visitors can relax and chat with others. It’s a scooter destination worth riding out for – no matter where you live.

Jesco on his 58bhp Chimera Twin – it runs a pair of tuned TS1 barrels…

Vespa Rally 244

I wasn’t expecting to be riding scooters over the weekend, but when we arrived at the shop on Friday lunchtime, I was handed an open-face helmet and Ralf’s personal Vespa Rally 200 with Quattrini 244 engine. We set off behind Jesco, the man behind much of SIP’s tuning and development work (as well as being the face behind their videos). We were joined by three other German scooterists, who, over the course of the weekend, would become firm friends.

Passionate scooterists

The ride out to a stunning lake for lunch was a great introduction to SIP’s hospitality and the family vibe Ralf and Alex have cultivated. After lunch, we had a fast ride back with the owners, as well as Jesco, our new friends and assorted SIP guests. One thing is instantly evident – Ralf and Alex are both still passionate scooterists; their love of riding is evident in the huge grins on their faces, they’re just scooterists like you and me.

The afternoon was a fitting introduction to the world’s most successful scooter business.

Note to self: Never wear an open-face lid without at least a pair of sunglasses. Flies and bugs come keen when you’re riding a fast scooter. Ralf’s Vespa Rally was beautiful to ride, flies in the face or not.

Impressive

It’s not often I take my partner on ‘business trips’, but I made an exception for this one, and it turned out to be more pleasure than business. Linsey is not easily impressed. Of course, she had heard of SIP (who hasn’t?), but she’d never really taken much notice…until she realised just how special this place is. After our ride out, Alex gave us the guided tour (regular visitors would also get the tour on Saturday). His passion was evident, and the unassuming manner of both him and Ralf is partly why they’re so successful. They really do deserve that success as well.

There are approximately 100 staff members in total, and it’s evident that they’re well looked after and happy in their work. A fair proportion of those staff are also enthusiastic scooter riders. SIP has a family-like feel to it, and we quickly felt welcomed into it with open arms.

Behind the scenes

With around 30,000 different parts, the warehouse must be run like a military operation. The most popular lines are placed closest to the packing area to minimise some of the many kilometres the staff cover every working day. The huge warehouse facility boasts a state-of-the-art, Amazon-style conveyor belt system to help move the parts bins that comprise the 1,300 parcels they send out per day. Picking the orders is no walk in the park as there’s a vast area to cover.

24-hour party people

By the time we went to bed we’d been up for over 24 hours and didn’t want the night to end. We’d been treated to a typical scooterist Friday night, complete with great food from a local trattoria (owned by Jesco’s girlfriend’s brother), plenty of beer was consumed and a fair few schnapps. When in Rome and all that.

The Main Event

On Saturday morning, we headed back to the shop, ready for the main event.

Germany is a country that favours Vespa over Lambretta. I’d say 97% of the scooters I saw were Vespas and I’d estimate 90% of them were tuned or modified. This is a country where scooter tuning and modifications have barriers to make things more difficult, but it doesn’t seem to worry anybody and SIP has built a solid business supplying riders’ needs. Most of the Vespas are smallframe or pre-PX, and many rare models line the streets around the shop. There was a distinct lack of modern retro scooters like the Royal Alloy and a lack of chrome accessories. Germans like their scooters to look good and be fast.

100 BHP Dyno Challenge

The most popular attraction on the day was the Dyno shootout. The difference with this one is that the main four scooters were probably the most powerful scooters on the planet. This was pointed out to me by the enigmatic Erich, the cheeky Chappy behind Egig Performance. His twin carb 407cc Vespa sported a fashionable (amongst top power scooter tuners) 6-foot-long exhaust.

SIP had put up a €1000 prize for anybody who cracked the 100bhp figure.

Egig came the closest; his scooter made 95 bhp on the day and has achieved 104 bhp in Italy earlier this year! It’s fair to say that Egig-powered Vespas ruled the dyno, SIP’s own; Jesco was a worthy contender on his Egig-powered sprinter; he recorded an impressive 87 bhp at the rear wheel. Nico Pendl made a very healthy 91. These are serious power outputs.

Sexiest scooter of the day

The Casa Performance boys fielded their absolutely drop-dead gorgeous twin-cylinder sprinter, which sounded as good as it looked and produced 80.5 BHP.

Electrifying

There were three different companies offering Vespa electric conversions at the open day. One of them, Estoica has been featured on SLUK in the past. We had a quick test ride on the geared PX whilst at SIP. It is pretty rapid as well. Company founder Luis had brought the scooter up from Seville, a 22-hour journey!

Catch ’em young

Elsewhere around the huge perimeter of the shop, kids could drive real-life diggers provided by local company Dobler. They could also create concrete letters to form words like ‘Vespa’ and ‘Sip’, replicating the impressive shop sign out in the amphitheatre. Other kids climbed the ‘real’ giant SIP letters outside the front of the shop and were kept entertained throughout the day. Just like the company itself, their Open Day is a truly family-friendly affair. Get them hooked from a young age…

Various traders plied their wares, and the smell of wursts and other local delicacies was never far away. Beer and Aperol Spritz were also in plentiful supply. Bavaria is an area that boasts numerous local breweries and the locals take drinking very seriously.

It doesn’t end there

A custom show brought the day to a close, although the show was small in comparison to an English one, the entries were outstanding. Afterwards, the crowds started to head home or into town to continue the day with friends, food, drinks and scooters.

SIP video and blog

You can watch SIP’s video of the event above and read their blog here; as usual, they’ve got lots and lots of very sexy photos, so it’s well worth checking out.

Alex turns up by scooter with the whole family

Two stroke in the blood

As we sat down with around 100 other scooterists for a lovely al fresco meal, Alex turned up at the restaurant with one of his four kids on the back. His eldest daughter is already riding her own Vespa and no doubt the other lovely children will follow suit. SIP and scooters seem to be in the blood, and work, family, and pleasure mix seamlessly.

Landsburg Am Lech

The area around SIP is truly beautiful, with the historic City of Landsburg just a couple of miles down the road. The impressive river Lech dominates the town and the weir is truly breathtaking. I’d happily spend a long weekend here, even without the open day.

Getting there from the UK is possible by scooter if you have a few days to spare, or you can take a flight into Memminghem from Stansted, as we did. It’s around 35 minutes by car from there to the shop. The other option is a flight to Munich.

Next year’s date

Next year’s date for the open day is Saturday, May 16th, have a look at the event’s page here.

A warm glow

The whole weekend was one of the best scooter weekends I’ve had in a very long time. The friendliness and hospitality were exceptional. We spent the whole time laughing and meeting new people. We have become firm friends with a few of them. It left me with a warm glow and Linsey will no doubt bore everybody to death about SIP for many months to come. If you have the chance, pay them a visit and let them know we sent you.

Words Iggy, photos, Iggy and Linsey

Video, SIP

Final gallery

There are a few more of our images from the open day in the gallery above, but if you want to see SIP’s own selection, you can find them here.