See and be seen?

[SeaCat]

At a local grocery store this afternoon I saw this and just had to take a picture of it. I would love to see it at night, it must be impressive.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj79/Seacat_01/Scooter1.jpg

Cat

 

[R. Richard]

Let there be LIGHT!

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I see a plot bunny! Guy drives around on a Vespa with a screw driver taking the lights off various models of car and attaching them to his scooter. There's some sort of mechanical vampirism going on. Now how do we add sex to the plot?

 

[TheeGoatPig]

At a local grocery store this afternoon I saw this and just had to take a picture of it. I would love to see it at night, it must be impressive.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj79/Seacat_01/Scooter1.jpg

Cat

That reminds me of a pickup truck I saw one night as I was driving home. He had five bright yellow spot lights across his grill, blasting everything within a quarter mile ahead of his truck. I wanted to smash each and every one of them. There is no need for that much light under normal driving circumstances.

 

[R. Richard]

That reminds me of a pickup truck I saw one night as I was driving home. He had five bright yellow spot lights across his grill, blasting everything within a quarter mile ahead of his truck. I wanted to smash each and every one of them. There is no need for that much light under normal driving circumstances.

The situation that you describe was adapted from night desert racing. The vehicles needed to see a long way ahead, in the roadless desert. It was functional. Then, some people picked it up as a 'cool look.'

 

[glynndah]

Which ones twinkle?

 

[oggbashan]

That was standard Vespa and Lambretta customising in 1960s UK.

The dynamo didn't produce enough to power the lot, so turning them all on flattened the battery.

Og

 

[Handley_Page]

That was standard Vespa and Lambretta customising in 1960s UK.

The dynamo didn't produce enough to power the lot, so turning them all on flattened the battery.

Og

And if it wasn't lamps, it was mirrors.
Very 'Mod' in those far-off days.

 

[soflabbwlvr]

Kind of looks like someone is overcompensating for another type of deficiency

 

[voluptuary_manque]

And if it wasn't lamps, it was mirrors.
Very 'Mod' in those far-off days.

In reaction to the Rockers who rode actual motorcycles?

 

[TheeGoatPig]

The situation that you describe was adapted from night desert racing. The vehicles needed to see a long way ahead, in the roadless desert. It was functional. Then, some people picked it up as a 'cool look.'

I would understand why he would have those lights if we were in the desert and they were installed on a truck that looked like it could handle anything other than a paved road surface, but this was a piece of shit rusted out 70s pickup with a live-in cap on the back, hauling a trailer down a well lit highway. Those lamps were obnoxious, and I was so glad a few minutes after we parted ways and I could see colors other than yellow again.

 

[oggbashan]

In reaction to the Rockers who rode actual motorcycles?

The Scooter, typically Lambretta or Vespa, was designed to be ridden wearing street clothing as a contrast to the motorcycle that was best ridden in leathers.

"Mods" wore 1960s fashion with an ex-US Army Parka as weather protection.

"Rockers" wore black grease-stained leathers.

1960s scooters had a usable maximum speed of about 60mph. Some were even slower.

The ultimate Rocker motorcycle was a BSA Gold Star or a Triumph Bonneville, or, if money was no object, a Vincent Black Shadow.

In the 1960s I was inadvertently involved in a Mods V Rockers event in Brighton. I had travelled there on the pillion seat of a supercharged Vincent Black Lightning with a bobby-dodging lighting set. (The Black Lightning was the racing model and didn't have lights for street use) When "chased" by Mods we left Brighton followed by a swarm of buzzing scooters. All of them were left behind when we reached the end of the 30mph speed limit and changed out of first gear.

Now? We have a series of motorcycle events that pass my front door several times a year to raise money for local charities. Both motorcycles and scooters take part, with no animosity. Several of the scooters are equipped like the one seen by SeaCat, but the 1960s accessory of a real foxtail on a whip aerial is usually replaced by a fake-fur replica.

Og

 

[ShyChiWriter]

At a local grocery store this afternoon I saw this and just had to take a picture of it. I would love to see it at night, it must be impressive.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj79/Seacat_01/Scooter1.jpg

Cat

It's bedazzled, just headlights instead of sequins

 

[Stella_Omega]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcyuJTgKjZc&feature=related

 

[ShyChiWriter]

The Scooter, typically Lambretta or Vespa, was designed to be ridden wearing street clothing as a contrast to the motorcycle that was best ridden in leathers.

"Mods" wore 1960s fashion with an ex-US Army Parka as weather protection.

"Rockers" wore black grease-stained leathers.

I love Ringo's classic line from Hard Day's Night

Reporter: Are you a Mod or a Rocker?

Ringo: I'm a Mocker

Stella - thanks for the link to the vid. Brought back a flood of memories.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I was in London in '78, '79, when there was an attempt to bring the Mods back into fashion... good times

 

[voluptuary_manque]

And that's supposed to make me feel good? I remember them the first time they came around . . .

 

[Handley_Page]

What it boiled down to was Motorbike or Scooter ?
It was a different mind set (different music, too)
Oh the fun we had at Bournemouth in 1965. . .