The Isle of Wight International Scooter Rally is over for another year and it’s still the biggest scooter rally in the world.
Like many scooterists, I’ve had a long history with the Isle of Wight. That all started for me at 17 years old when I rode my new red Vespa T5 to the Easter rally in 1988.
After years of attending every rally since then and being part of the organisation for a while, I kind of fell out with the event about 12 years ago and didn’t return until this year. I was excited leading up to the Bank Holiday weekend. I’d not visited the new Sandown Airport campsite (now into its third year) and was looking forward to the ride.
Good times
We made the 190-mile ride down there on Thursday. Myself on my Quattrini 210, the missus on her RT225 and Matty on his SX RT225. A quick blast down to Southampton in lovely sunshine, with the last 20 miles turning to rain but not dampening spirits. Loads of other moist scooter riders were already waiting to get on the ferry when we arrived. Riding off at East Cowes we headed to the VFM campsite 15 miles across the island and arrived to a very warm welcome. We were directed to our pre-erected tent (not one of the posh glamping ones), some friends had taken our camping gear down for us, put the tent up, blown up our airbed and left us a crate of lager. Very lucky, especially as it was raining again.
Just a couple of the many youngsters seen enjoying the rally
No duty free
The new Sandown Airport site had everything we needed for the weekend. Sadly no Wetherspoons or duty-free lounge to keep the prices down but this isn’t Heathrow.
It did have bars, food vans, very clean portaloos and lovely showers. Plus of course a large marquee for the bands and a separate hanger for Northern Soul (after midnight it became a silent disco). Thursday night was spent chilling out at the onsite bar with a few beers and a smattering of friends.
Who left the landing light on?
Despite the frequent small aircraft taking off and landing just outside our tent we even managed a nice lie-in on Friday, very civilised. Then took a stroll to a local American-style diner for an entertaining/chaotic breakfast before wandering back to the site.
A close shave
It was great to see that the sun was shining (for a change) and a constant stream of scooters were arriving throughout the morning.
The on-site showers cost £2 a go and were hot and very clean, although I’m suffering a repetitive strain injury after pushing the button 500 times to keep the water running. After a freshen-up and a dangerous shave, (holding the broken head of my damaged in-transit razor between my freshly sliced fingers) I waited for the bleeding to subside and took a quick wander around the stalls.
Dealers market
There were plenty of traders to see if you had the time or inclination but the next party bus was due to leave so I made my excuses and left. We headed to Shanklin on the coach and spent the remainder of the day and night enjoying the services of the quintessentially English thatched pubs with a crew of very good friends before heading back to site in time for the silent disco.
Saturday played out in a similar fashion, although early morning rain spoilt things for a while. The weather was quite changeable throughout the weekend.
Custom show
The custom show was in full swing by lunchtime with a good variety of tasty scooters on display in the marquee and plenty of punters cramming in to see them. You can see the entrants and the full results in the gallery above.
Zoned out
The campsite itself is huge and never looked overly full. Split into different areas with zones for glamping, motorhomes and ordinary tents it means campers with scooters could choose to be in the pauper’s area. The motor home and campervan dwellers could compare the scooter-carrying capacities of their vehicles on the other side of the site and the glampers could marvel at having a ‘real bed’ in a big tent for the price of a seaside hotel.
Damp and deflated
Our own poor person’s camping experience went tits up over the weekend. We ended up lying on a very flat air bed, which was floating on a puddle of muddy water by Sunday morning. To make matters worse, my sleeping bag covered me (and everything else in the tent) in feathers. Needless to say, our ageing Khyam Biker tent is now in the bin (leaking from the groundsheet upwards), the air bed taken back (again!) and new sleeping bags will be purchased over winter. Still, it could have been worse. Probably.
A bit of everything
As an Island, the Isle of Wight has got it all really and the rally is way bigger than just the VFM campsite. The goose that laid the golden egg may have moved across the island from the old days at Smallbrook but Ryde is still the focal point for many and it’s where various events still take place (Angelo Starr headlining down there for instance). ‘The Green’ is still the place to be seen posing on a sunny day.
There are also lots of scooterists in Sandown, Shanklin and Ventnor. Hotels are packed, ‘ordinary’ campsites busy and hundreds of daytrippers arrive to boost numbers throughout the weekend.
VFM road crew
The scooter rally is a massive boost for the local economy. Of course, at ScooterLab we’re mainly interested in the scooter riders who take all the risk, put all the effort in and provide us all with a place to stay with entertainment thrown in. The whole VFM crew spend an unenviable amount of time and money putting the rally together. Then they work for almost a week during the event to make it run like clockwork. I can’t criticise anything on the site (other than maybe the price of food and drink), it was always clean and tidy, well-managed and safe. Traffic was kept flowing and there was plenty of parking for everybody.
There’s nothing funnier than watching a mate accidentally throwing a tray of drinks over another friend!
Firing the first shots
As with many rallygoers, our own friendship group tends to do our own thing during weekends away and dip in and out of the onsite entertainment when we feel like it. This weekend was no different and some very wet weather meant we stayed in town longer than planned. Although starting on sambuca shots at 1:30 in the afternoon meant it was only going to go one way.
Signing out
We only arrived back on site for the last couple of numbers by The Signatures. Their departure cleared the busy marquee, although the silent disco was kept bouncing until late. It was cold and damp on Saturday night, so with a belly full of tasty hot noodles I turned in earlier than usual for my last night on the deflated waterbed.
Ride out or ride home?
It was home time for us on Sunday morning but there were still plenty of scooterists arriving on the ferry ready for, what for many, is the main event – the ride out. Probably the biggest scooter ride out in the world. A spectacle and tourist attraction for locals and tourists alike, the chance to feel like a celebrity for the riders and pillions. By the time the ride out started we were already well on the way home, with only a couple of minor issues to worry about.
Booga stayed on to cover the ride out for us. His photos are in the gallery above, feel free to share the photos and tag your friends.
What’s your tipple?
The Isle of Wight will never be everybody’s cup of tea but it’s still a huge event with enough variety to please most people. If you’re an old-school scooterist you can camp in amongst the action and not need to bother yourself with other people’s accommodation or mode of transport. If you aren’t able, or don’t want to ride long distances then that choice is yours as well.
Dig the new breed
As a breed, scooterists are getting older and health problems are helping to shift trends but I must note that younger scooterists are getting way more frequent at the minute, there were loads on the island and long may that continue.
All in all a great weekend with only the English weather to partially spoil things as it has done for most of this summer. Well done to everybody who made it what it was.
Words: Iggy
Photos: Iggy, Booga and Shaun
See 4500 more images like the ones above!
Were you ‘papped’ on your way into the campsite? If so your photo will be on the pages of Photography-UK.
An army of snappers were manning the gate from Thursday till Sunday, as well as at strategic points around the island to capture you for prosperity. You can view all the photos on their website and buy your favourites.
SLUK Shop
The SLUK Shop is the place to find all our SLUK Plastics range, as well as ScooterLab merchandise, a selected range of riding kit, parts and accessories. Have a look around.
