Trigger Happy
Pleasing all the people all the time is an impossible, and unenviable task, which on the scooter scene falls to sub groups like VFM and other BSRA members.
Their hard work and effort year in, year out, means there is always a plethora of events to attend. But, I understand that there’s always going to be too much of one thing for some and not enough of another for others, with the impossible aim being to find the equilibrium between the two. For example, recently I've noticed some rally goers deserting the likes of the IOW and trying to spice up their own rally season... I wouldn’t see this as a complete negative for organisers, but a cry for a shake up of the calendar and an end to some of the bloated and repetitive events.
I would say this cry is echoed more strongly within the YGSC, particularly as one of the greatest parts of the scene is the exploration of new places. We look back with envy at some of places you old bastards have visited, even if they were shit holes then and even worse now!
I was talking to club mate Ben recently: “I’m always being told by old bastards about these places they used to visit on nationals like Oban, Fort William and Great Yarmouth. I really want to go to these places, this is despite how desolate they’re made out to be! I love the Nationals where I don’t have to worry about B&Bs, where it’s all in one place. I can just rock up on my LML, with a tent on the back and it’s job done. I’m slowly starting to hate how Brid gets booked up as soon as people leave the B&B, or how people can predict Easter before the dates are announced – f*ck that, they have to solve it somehow, it right puts me off.”
Anyone with half a brain would know it’s far more straightforward to organise a rally when you’ve got a good venue, good relationships and, obviously, when you’ve got time on your side to make sure all the loose ends are nicely tied up. So it makes perfect sense to have some continuity in the calendar, if only for sleek organisation. I honestly believe though, that some more spontaneity in the calendar would keep us on our toes and inject some much-needed vibrancy back into the national scooter
At the end of the day, these outside promoters are just worming their way onto the scene and running conflicting events, all to make a quick buck...
scene. Personally, love it or hate it, I view the IOW as a prime example of why the scene needs this injection. It has now occupied the prestigious August Bank Holiday slot for 20 years... Most of our members aren’t even 20 years old!
On the other hand, I was talking to Matty from the Mansfield Monsters SC (one of the main organisers of Cleethorpes), who was saying how he’d love to promote a town other than Cleggy. His main concern if they did do so, was that another promoter would move in on the town, on the same date, further fracturing the national scooter scene. This is a prime example of how the VFM and the BSRA are between a rock and a hard place. They could take the plunge and have a shake up, but it could potentially blow up in their face, ruining years of hard work. At the end of the day, these outside promoters are just worming their way onto the scene and running conflicting events, all to make a quick buck...
I’d rather support genuine scooterists such as the VFM and the like, but for the future I’m also showing my (and the YGSC’s) support for something a bit different. It’s always great to see events like the LCGB’s Lincoln National or EMSA’s Newark National, so keep them coming! But why not try somewhere different for the August Bank Holiday? Or let’s end the season in style somewhere new? And, if the YGSC can be involved in making this happen, that would be fantastic. I don’t want to be branded a keyboard warrior (the world’s got enough of them!); I want to be there to lend a hand to friends and fellow moped lovers!
In essence, what I’m trying to say is shake things up (but don’t cause an earthquake). Keep us on our toes, break the B&B monopoly, make us party at each rally like it could be our last... Or more simply party like there may never be another rally there again!
I still think national rallies are the lifeblood of the scene; they bring us the best custom scooters, drive innovation and where else do so many like-minded folk gather? There’s nothing quite like dragging yourself out of a tent, desperately hungover, in a field full of thousands of ye olde scooters. There’s no feeling of belonging like that which you feel on a National. Long may they continue!