Hello to Everyone!
Hello there,
Steve from the "1688" Ska’d For Life Scooter Club here. if you don't know us, were a Wakefield, West Yorkshire based Scooter Club. Formed by a couple of Army mates who didn't have a club in their area at the time who they could join. Formed in the Spring of 2000. After looking at of the other Clubs web sites, I thought I might as well knock one up for us! So here it is! For anyone who knows me, my computer skills are a bit like my knowledge of a Lambretta… basic at best! So please bare with me as I stumble through cyber space (our nipper told me that word). As you go through the site (if anyone logged on that is? If they haven’t, I’m just a Yorkshire knob talking to himself! What the f%*@ks all that about!), you will see we’ve got a few more members now, nice one! But it wasn’t always like that as Dave explains below…
Before I go, thanks to everyone who’s helped us so far, Westgate Runners, Dirty Mills, Lads and Lasses from Ska'boro, Sheer Beer, Hope ‘n’ Glory, Overlanders, A1's, Skegby SC, Doncaster Hunters, Bradford Discharge, Bits ‘n’ Kits, LCGB, Yorkshire Scooter Alliance, Lambretta Club of Yorkshire, Lambretta Art and anyone I’ve missed off who we’ve got pissed with. Hope you enjoy the site let us know…Keep the Faith! and ride free.
Ska’d For Life!
What's New?
Ay up...Hope you all had a great Christmas and a Top of the Pops New Year! Anyway, Ska'd For Life are ready for the new season and will be kicking it off by supporting Doncaster A1's at there do on 17th Feb. A couple of our members are overseas at the moment..."keep that big fat napper down Harley Steve and come home safe mate!" But you'll still see us at the up coming rallies, full details will be on "Events" page. Looking for scooters for "Featured Scoot" page, if you want yours on, send it in. Doesn't matter to me if it's an original, full blown custom or a rusty runner...I love 'um all! So if you want to show it off...let's do it. Apart from me turning the Big "40" this year (whilst at Morecombe...16th so don't be worried about buying me a pint or two...) Nowt else has happened. All the best for the New Year, ride safe...Cheers
Steve
The Forlorn Hope
(1688 SC Ska'd For Life's first Rally)
Let’s be under no illusion, Scootering is not for the easily beaten! A prime example is of this is the two (and at the time the only two) members of the 1688 Scooter Club. After 20 years of waiting, Dodgy Dave from Darlo and Steve Perkins from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, finally got their scooters (courtesy of ESP)…
Nice one, let’s go to a rally. Easy you may think – wrong - well not for us anyway. The first factor was we hadn’t got a clue about the mechanics’ of a Lambretta, just learning as we went along. The second and main one was that we both live in Ireland and didn’t know anyone over here into the scene at the time. We eventually decided to give the Isle of Wight a miss for this year and head off to the Blackpool & Fylde S.C. Weekender. Our chosen route was to head to Belfast for the ferry, a distance of about 70 miles, then cross over to Haysham and then onto the bright lights of Blackpool. An approximate total distance of 100 miles – no problem.
Planning started as early as June, sorting out little problems like blown gasket seals, no lights and blown exhausts. After a trip to Bangor to see the soon to be famous “Davey Mo” (the man is a God), both scoots were ready and raring to go. So there we were, looking forward to the 3oth August like two 5 year olds on Christmas Eve, when we got the news that the ferries from Belfast to Haysham had all been cancelled until mid September.
Bollocks… but we still weren’t put off. After some careful route selection, we transferred our ferry to land at Cairn Ryan in Scotland and planned a route to Blackpool from there. No mean task as we had to stay off the motorways. The distance one way was just short of a cool 400 miles! At least we might get the “Furthest Travelled” trophy. Happy with where we were going, we finished work early and packed our scooters with the necessary essential kit.
So about midday on the 29th there we were, Steve on his 1963 Series 3 Li 125, and me on my 1966 Series 3 Li 150 Silver Special Pacemaker, all ready to set off, and set off we did…6 miles down the road we came across the Coleraine Hills…nice! Up we went getting nearer the top, but the inevitable happened… Steve’s scoot started farting and losing power. We eventually both got to the top after my scoot decided it needed a rest half way up – these hills are not exactly Mount Everest mind!!! We then decided after 4 hours riding and only travelling about 9 miles, that we would not be able to catch the last ferry at 10 o’clock and that we should head back home to the pub to drown our sorrows. So totally deflated and utterly pissed off, we headed down hill back home. Then the luck of the Irish kicked in…Steve’s seals went again!
After a quick phone call to the RAC, we resigned to sitting at the side of the road to wait and contemplate our actions. In reality we were being abit ambitious (or just plain mad). Picture this – two guys who’ve just bought 30 odd year old Lambrettas, who’d never ridden one before, deciding to do a 800 mile round trip straight away, with no back-up except a RAC card…stupid or just fanatical?
So there we were, still at the side of the road at Midnight, waiting for the RAC to turn up. We eventually got home at half twelve, both totally pissed off with ourselves. It had taken us 12 hours to travel about 10 miles – now that’s good going! But we were not to be disheartened; we will persevere and get to a rally. So “IF” you see the only two members of the 1688 Scooter Club ridding into your rally, give us a thought, as we probably went through all the odds to get there. WE WILL GET THERE!
Dodgy Dave from Darlo
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