BSRA #5 Aberystwyth National Scooter Rally 2025 | RALLERY    

Aberystwyth was the first of two National Scooter Rallies to be held in the country of Wales this year.

Those rallies, combined with both Lambretta and Vespa club members’ rallies, plus multiple club rallies, go some way to quenching the insatiable thirst for scooter events that many Welsh scooterists suffer from.

Most scenic?

A journey through mid-Wales in bright sunshine on a scooter is never a chore, and some of us were lucky enough to ride the 60-mile (100km) stretch of road from Welshpool into Aberystwyth. If there is a more challenging and scenic road leading to a National Rally venue anywhere in the UK, I’ve yet to find or ride it.

Student accomodation

The weekend’s entertainment was based at the town’s University campus, which was first used for a rally just two years ago in the 2023 season.

Meet and greet

Early arrivals were greeted by the smiling and kind faces of the rally organisers, the “Scooter Collective South Wales”, who had set up a meet-and-greet stall conveniently outside the student union bar. This was where you could pick up a wristband for the weekend’s entertainment, official rally merchandise, and keys to your apartment within the students’ accommodation campus.

Celebratory drink

If you were one of the 450 people who chose this excellent value option, then the SCSW forcibly guided you to the bar for a celebratory arrival drink. A bar, I hasten to add, that had very favourable drink prices all weekend, unlike some of the extortionate prices we suffer at some other venues throughout the scooter rally fixture list year after year.

Self-contained

A National Rally held in the month of July, without an official campsite, would have seemed unthinkable once upon a time. But the Aberystwyth set-up works really well. A fully self-contained event, with the alternative option of plentiful accommodation more central to town or the seafront if you prefer. All of this catering for an ever-ageing collection of scooter riders attending events.

Warm up drinks

Friday early evening had numerous groups of scooterists making use of the communal kitchen and lounge areas within their respective accommodation blocks to have pre-party warm-up drinks. This was before heading over to the main campus building to hear some of the country’s finest scooter riding DJs warming things up, before the headline act The Jam’d came on and performed to a packed audience. The night flashed by in what felt like a heartbeat, and all too soon, the lights were on, and a fantastic first day of the rally was over.

Trade & custom

Saturday morning’s early risers headed back over to the campus building for breakfast while the traders and custom show entrants started to assemble the open-air dealer village on the main field at the back of the student university building.

I think most people agree, scooters in the custom show always look far better outdoors in natural daylight, although this year’s show was for some reason quite small in entrants, all top-quality scooters nonetheless.

Best of show

A scooter without any paint on it anywhere wouldn’t usually conjure up the image of a custom scooter, but the crazy, apocalyptic-styled Razor Cola PX Vespa is a credit to its owner/builder.

Dominator

An 80s style Lambretta cutdown in typical Welsh flag colours, boasting a Taffspeed 240cc engine, it stood tall, perched on its display stands. And at the polar opposite end of the Lambretta spectrum was an absolutely immaculate 1948 Model A owned by John Walklate and ridden there and back in one day. This gem generated so much love and interest.

However, my personal favourite show entrant was the legendary 1980s Dominator Vespa T5 Street racer.

The other three scooters mentioned above all rightly won trophies in the show, you can see the results sheet in the second gallery above.

After a couple of hours looking around the show and dealers’ stalls, many people drifted off into the town and seafront promenade areas to check out the local drinking establishments.

One big dysfunctional family

Scooterists from all over the UK socialising together, like one big giant family gathering. I had the absolute humbling pleasure of sharing company with fellow riders from all areas of the North East and North West of England, The East and West Midlands, Wiltshire, Devon, Dorset, Northampton, Hampshire and Kent, to name a few. Not forgetting token nut cases from Aberdeenshire and Belgium. All of these fine people I’ve met at numerous National Rally events over many years.

The backbone of scootering

I’m very aware that the National Rally scene isn’t everyone’s priority in scootering, but for me, it always has been and probably always will be the backbone of the UK scooter scene. Without the Nationals, I would probably have ended up just riding round and round my home town or county, feeling dizzy as I rode, without having met any of the superstars mentioned above.

Déjà vu

An afternoon in good company soon becomes nighttime. And, that meant a swift journey back to the university campus to catch the student union bar in full swing with DJs blasting out rally favourites before the live act “Cian Downing” and his band entertained us with his powerful and infectious vocals.

Suddenly, I’m having feelings of Déjà vu, and all the lights are back on. It’s the end of another night, and we are all pushed out into the very mild early hours of the morning to make our way back to our respective accommodation blocks or hotels.

The journey home on Sunday started far later than I would have liked, but common sense kicked in (for once), after a heavy weekend, and so another cracking visit to Wales was had by all I spoke to.

I’m willing to bet we haven’t seen the back of Aberystwyth just yet.

Massive plaudits and thanks go out to the SCSW crew for organising a top rally.

Long live the BSRA.

Ride safe SLUKers: Col

Images: Col and Booga