Winning at life

Not everything as a scooterist is rosy and life throws up challenges and upset along the way.

As a lifelong scooterist, it’s been an honour to meet so many fantastic people over the past 40 years since first becoming obsessed with these unsuitable transportation devices. Chance meetings at events, rallies, racing and through scooter clubs have changed the course of my own and I’m sure your own lives.

Casual acquaintances soon became firm friends, rally mates became best friends and that girl I met in the Barking Smack became my lifelong partner.

As scooterists, we’ve known and grown up with people from our teenage years, all sharing that common bond but now it’s much more than ‘JUST’ scooters. We’re family, and stick together through thick and thin. I’d not want to be part of anything else.

We can walk into a pub at a rally in any town, in any country and know people. If we break down in the middle of nowhere we can get help or parts from fellow scooterists. These once undesirable misfits of society have been brought together by the humble motor scooter. We have hundreds of friends (and many close friends) to show for the massive investment we’ve put into this scene. That friendship is precious but sadly it comes at a price. It’s no shock that the average age of scooterists is getting higher, 60 seems to be the new 40 and we’re losing good people regularly. Attending funerals will soon outnumber attending scooter rallies. Fact. Even in death, we stick together.

Although it’s awful to hear of another friend’s passing, or watch others deteriorate we need to take some comfort in the fact that we’ve shared some amazing times together. We’ve been part of things ordinary people couldn’t comprehend or even believe. Most of these ordinary folk have a handful of friends and have hardly left their own town or village throughout their lives. We’ve travelled the world, had some amazing experiences and have hundreds of friends to share those experiences or memories with. Statistically, that comes at a heavy price but we’re still privileged to have that everlasting bond.

Many scooterists and their nearest and dearest are going through tough times at the minute and it always seems more poignant at Christmas. Look after each other, be there for each other and remember the good times…