Club Focus: Guernsey Scooter Collective

Guernsey’s annual scooter rally was set to take place in July this year but, like most rallies everywhere, it fell victim to the pandemic.

GSC is what it says, a collective, a bunch of friends and acquaintances with a common interest in scooters.

It would have been the ninth consecutive annual rally on the island. Although there wasn’t a rally per se this year, as there were no scooterists from mainland UK in attendance, there was a low-key gathering of sorts, attended by some of the island scooterists. Overseen and run by Guernsey Scooter Collective, with collaborative help from Elite SC, next year’s is set to be the biggest and best yet.

Along with Sark, Alderney and Herm, plus other smaller islets, Guernsey makes up the Bailiwick of Guernsey. Certainly, since 1980 there has been a scooter scene on the island. Mark Le Gallez, native islander, scooterist (owner and rider of many classic scooters), musician, who fronts The Risk, Thee Jenerators and more recently steampunk outfit The Crowband as Le Crowman, as well as being a member of ’80s Mod supergroup Speakeasy, gives an overview of the Guernsey scooter scene over the past 40 years to the present. “Back in 1980, there were Moderators, which was started up by me and David Hayden from Darwen,

Lancashire. Next came Guernsey Scooter Club, which attracted 30-40 of us to the Sunday afternoon meets. Guernsey SC was relatively short-lived, inter-club politics reared its head and was a major factor of it splitting into various factions. For a while, there were a few of us in Soulburners, including me, my long-time mate and roadie Stu Sears, Derek Sheppard and a few others. Out of the various factions that were the result of Guernsey SC splitting up, came Elite Scooter Club in 1985. When they formed, Elite SC were Scooterboy inclined; a good bunch of lads and lasses. Elite SC is still running today, there is a clubhouse for the use of club members, of which I am one. Also, there was an all-girl scooter club, Vesperellas, they all wore red denim jackets and they looked great too. Imperials SC was around for a while too. It was from Imperials where Guernsey Scooter Collective first materialised in the ’90s – instead of a club, it is what it says, a collective bunch of mates, friends and acquaintances with a common interest in scooters. We get together on Sundays for a meet-up and ride-out.”

There’s a wide and eclectic mix of scooters owned and ridden by some of the Collective – classics, customs, restorations, rusterations, tuned machines and autos... Andy Newman and Jules relocated to Guernsey during the ’80s; Andy is well known as Rare Soul DJ who plays often on the mainland. He currently owns and rides a classic Lambretta GP, as well as a Lambro three-wheeler that he restored out of basically a box of bits.

“When we first arrived on Guernsey, there was Elite SC and Imperials SC. When the Collective started it was ideal for those who didn’t want the constriction of club membership, but wanted some interaction with fellow scooterists and enthusiasts. We thoroughly enjoy the Sunday meet-ups and ride-outs."

Guernsey has its own resident scooter

When we first arrived on Guernsey, there was Elite SC and Imperials SC. When the Collective started it was ideal for those who didn’t want the constriction of club membership, but wanted some interaction with fellow scooterists and enthusiasts.

racer and sprinter in Jez Mann, who used to ride with West Midlands-based Bad Company. He is very proficient at engine tuning too. He also is known for building some ‘crazy custom’ scooters. Jez has a well-equipped workshop, where much of his spare time is spent. “I was competing in a twisty sprint last weekend, I’ve stripped and rebuilt the engine for a hill climb next weekend. I tend to make the Collective Sunday meet-ups once in a while, as I’m often competing somewhere. When I do make a meet, it’s good to catch up with people, though the communal ride-outs are a bit too slow for me. I’d rather be thrashing around as fast as I can. I just finished working on a scooter that’s loosely based on a TV2, which looks more like a cafe racer.”

Jason Shambrook, aka Shambles, has a decent collection of Vespas, including a GS150, ET3, Mk1 T5 and a GTS300 among them. He’s been involved with different clubs on the island over the years. “It’s generally been a vibrant scooter scene on Guernsey during all the years I’ve had scooters – some ups, some downs, like in most walks of life.

“I do like to get away three or four times a year to rallies on the mainland. For 2020 I planned to do Big 7, Weymouth, Oddballs and Isle of Wight; of course, none of them took place.

“The Collective meets and rides filled those gaps for me, at least to a degree. And it is good to hook up with scooterists and talk scooters of course.”

Included as part of the Collective are one or two father and son combinations, plus there’s Selski, whose wife and son Elliott are scooterists too. “My current scooter is a Lambretta GP150, with an MB 180 top end, my wife has a Vespa 90 racer, the original 90 racer engine is in a cradle in the garage, it has a 125 engine. My eldest son Elliott has his orange scooter, as well as a Honda Vision auto for a fun buzz about on, he found it dumped in a hedge, made enquiries, took it on, then got it running. There’s also a VB Super Sprint, making five scooters in our household. Guernsey Scooter Collective grew from out of Pete Sylvester’s Imperials SC as a Facebook page initially. It was a fast and efficient way to contact many people at once. If there was a meet-up for a ride-out, or a gig that a few were going to, that’s how the word was put round to interested parties. It’s grown over time to what it is today, though the basic ideas are still there; Elliott is in a band, High Voltage, and when they play, the Scooter Collective Facebook group is still a very good way to pass the word. The Collective is good, as you can put in as much or as little as suits. I’ve yet to see all the people involved in the Collective all in the same place at the same time – there’s no pressure whatsoever to be there or not. A week or so ago there was a Guernsey Retro Festival that took place, centred in and around the Peninsula Hotel. Old cars, motorbikes and scooters with lots of people dressing in vintage styles. There was an outside stage, with a couple of bands on, it was a great weekend. Looking forward to Guernsey Scooter Rally next year, there’s already talk of stepping things up a level. Initial discussions have begun with the Peninsula Hotel, which has a small amount of land that would be ideal for camping, about the scooter rally maybe being based there. There’s other conversations ongoing between several interested parties.

“It’s very early days yet, but it’s fair to say that Guernsey Scooter Rally 2021 will be both bigger and better.” Words: Sarge

Photographs: Guernsey Dennis and Mark Le Gallez (archive)