Steampunk Senorita
The naming of a ride can reflect the theme of customisation or personalisation an owner has carried out. Equally, giving a scooter a moniker can give a personality of sorts…
Guernsey-based scooterist and self-confessed song and dance man, Mark Le Gallez, baptised his MotoVespa TX200 Rusty the Spanish Stripper. This particular Vespa under his ownership was part of a Vespa and sidecar combination, and then sold on to one of Guernsey's resident scooter gurus. Some time passed and said Vespa was left to the elements for most of it, and Mark then bought it back. Its given name, as the Dennis Le Provost photographs confirm, is self-explanatory as well as accurately descriptive. Made in Madrid, bereft of any paintwork, with the natural, inevitable onset of iron oxide on the paintless surfaces, the selected tag is both apt as well as slightly tongue in cheek.
The Rider:
The Ego Has Landed
Mark has owned, ridden, and regularly fallen off many scooters since he was legally allowed to do so. Although based on Guernsey, he's ridden to rallies all over the UK as well as on mainland Europe, on top of which he's also toured some countries by scooter. His involvement with the scooter scene likewise encompasses the music side of things, both live and in the recording studio, as bassist with second-wave Mod revival band, The Risk, songwriter and frontman with the now-defunct garage-punk outfit, Thee Jenerators, and well as singer with Mod revival supergroup Speakeasy. For many years Mark ran specialist imprint, Twist
Records. In more recent times he has embraced steampunk as both a solo artist, Le Crowman, and as part of The Crowband. When it comes to nicknames Mark answers to many, including Hillbill (partly inspired by his 80s custom, Macca painted, Hillbilly Blues), and Le Crowman (his steampunk alter ego).
Currently, Mark owns and rides any one of his fleet of eight scooters; no surprise every one of them has a name. “I don't own a dog, so I gave all of my scooters names. I've a white Spanish T5 called Paloma, with the engine rebuilt by local scooter tuner, racer/sprinter, Jez Mann. The rebuild came about after I lent Paloma to his daughter to take her test on. It needed a new piston, exhaust and headlamp, which cost me £380, money well spent though. Sparky is an electric twist ‘n' go Bumble Bee made in Singapore, which is perfect for buzzing round the island. Then there's Lucille, an Italian GP150 with a 175 engine, and Princess Margaret, my TV175 S2 replica, which smokes a bit at times. Perfect scooter for long summer days on Guernsey is Spike, my 125cc Lambretta chop. I've got a PK100, fitted with a 135 top end named Brucey, as when it first starts up it sounds a lot like Bruce Forsyth, doing his renowned, exasperated stutter. I've got a Spanish top-P2 with a sidecar called Pablo, and last but by no means least, Rusty, the Spanish Stripper, which is self-explanatory. And I've probably got one of the biggest egos on the island.”