BSRA #4 Big 7 Scooter Rally 2025 | RALLERY

So, here we are at the end of June, and we are now technically already halfway through the scooter rally season. Blimey.

From Easter, the first three Nationals were spread over a five-week period, whereas bizarrely, the timeframe between the 3^rd and 4^th has been the same! Thus, after having had a few weekends off from rallying, it was nice to get back on the road with a lovely little A-road jaunt through Kent and Sussex to get to Ardingly in the early evening on the Friday.

Col often pops up with a cold beer for his friends…

With the tent pitched and a cold beer in hand from me ole mukka Col, looking round, it seemed like the campsite was quite full already.

Scott might have missed them, but Booga didn’t – Here’s Oli from Sharp Class

Skipping class

I spent a fair amount of time chilling with those camped around me, especially as some of the Thanet lot had their own sound system and were blasting out an eclectic mix of tunes, and then catching up with some ex-club mates of mine at the Atoms stall, thus missing the first band (Sharp Class).

Sex Dolls

I was determined to actually watch the next lot up in the live music arena, The Sex Pissed Dolls, who provided a very energetic set and were a bit more pleasing to the eye than their male namesakes. After that, it was a visit to the main room and Dave Lloyd playing the tunes that kept us entertained until the plug was pulled and the lights went on. Time for bed then.

After dropping off the BSRA Championship signing on sheets to the Big 7 merch stall (thanks to Andy Butler from VCB for his help) it was then time to catch up with Martin (Colchester DVLC) to sort out the custom show. We started allowing entrants into the hall (main room) from around 10:30 am onwards, with doors officially opening at 12 noon.

Don Garrett’s self-painted, full-custom, built-at-home scooter took a well-deserved Best of Show.

The final 58

The final entrant count was 58, which was quite a reasonable turnout with a rather splendid spread across all genres. As always, it’s a difficult decision to judge what should win, especially since the judges don’t create the categories; we just have to find the best fit for what’s on offer.

On the patch

After Martin had stealthily put red rosettes on the winning scooters, we then had to try and round up the owners and explain that they weren’t a wind-up by their mates but indicated they’d actually won something. Possibly a few things to iron out for future here, but one nice thing is being able to choose what goes on next year’s patch and advertising, suffice to say that the owner of the 2026 vehicle of choice was very appreciative, even if it did take a few tours round the campsite to find him!

Afternoon entertainment

There had been a rideout which had left about 12-30 ’ish and in the live music arena, Kevin Iverson was filling in the afternoon shift from around 1-30 onwards. Prize giving for the winning custom show entrants, plus Furthest Travelled (Male and Female), Best Turned-Out Club and Dyno winner (a monstrous 59.2 BHP Vespa that had locked up solid) was then done in the live music arena just before 4 pm.

Time to Ska-per

The Jam’d, who went down exceedingly well with the crowd, followed by Heavy Sol Band and last lot of the night were Ska-per. By this point, the Thanet sound system had again been in full blast mode, so chilling out there was the easy option. By midnight the second wind had kicked in and luckily Dave Lloyd was doing his thing again up until 1 am.

Clean living

After being kicked out and gasbagging for a bit it turned into another late night/early morning, so much for being sensible.

Living so close meant that there was no real rush for me to leave on the Sunday, so we were relatively the last ones to depart, although it seems Col probably was the last man standing as he waved us off. One thing that struck us, looking around the empty fields, was how clean the site was left; those memories of rubbish-strewn 80s rally campsites definitely being a thing of the past.

How’s the rally site?

To sum it up, as things go it’s a cracking site, including a fairly large camping area with a glamping option, a reasonably sized area for dealers/traders plus a few decent sized covered areas for entertainment and custom show etc. (which proved quite a respite when weather was atrocious in 2023). However, this year’s weather was probably the best we’ve seen for a while, with lots of people sporting the obligatory patches of sunburn on exposed flesh.

Rumour mill

Bizarrely, a few reports had come through that an event on the Saturday at Margate Dreamland, last year’s Big 7 venue, had been shut down due to problems with heat (however, it transpires that this may not have been the full truth).

Free recovery

Another thing worthy of mention was the recovery service offered to pick up stranded scooterists en route and take them to the site, with just a donation to the charity tin as payment, as well as having an on-site mechanic to help out. Obviously, I won’t mention that Luke Appleby needed it twice, as that would be cruel.

Clash of dates

Some mention was made of the clash of dates between the Big 7 and the Euro Lambretta at Ayr at the BSRA Committee meeting in Llandudno last year; however, it seems that with the ever-increasing need to book things in advance, such clashes are unfortunately going to happen despite the best efforts to avoid them. Whether there was an impact on either is hard to call. The overall attendance at Big 7 was a tad over 1600, but more reassuring was that it sounds like the club didn’t lose money this year as opposed to the last two events. This can only be a good sign going forward, as this venue is already booked up for Big 7 for the next few years.

Thanks

My thanks go out to all those who were integral to Big 7 SC for putting on the event; some people don’t really see what goes into running a rally, but judging by the associated Facebook page for the management of it, credit is due.

Scott

Medway SC and BSRA Championship Controller (Apprentice).