Fifty-two years of devotion:
The making of a scooterist
The chances are if you have ever been to a rally or scootering event over the last 40 years then you may well have been in close proximity to, or even bumped into, Alan Bent. You may not have realised it at the time, him being part of a bigger crowd, but rest assured he was most likely there, you just didn’t notice him. Like so many, scooter riding is in his blood and for him, it started out in 1969 by way of a worn-out Li150 and, as he explains: “Costing £5, it was money well spent and changed my life forever.”
The scooter for him was primarily a mode of transport but, as so often happens, it soon became a way of socialising. Being involved in the 1980s rally boom, Alan was keen to involve his wife, both travelling up and down the country on his Jet 200. All that came to an abrupt halt in 1985 when making the trip to Great Yarmouth as it snowed most of the journey. Alan’s wife vowed never to go on a scooter again
– a promise she has kept ever since. Despite her self-induced exclusion, he has continued being part of his local scooter scene and is a member of the Anstey Massive Scooter Club as well as being involved with the alliance of clubs based around Leicestershire.
These days Alan day-trips most events, citing getting older as part of the reason. I guess after so many years attending, the need to stay away for a whole weekend isn’t as appealing as it once was. Don’t think for one minute, though, that his interest in scooters is fading – far from it and to prove it he told us about this magazine. “I have bought every copy of Scootering magazine from day one and still buy it each month, reading every page in the process.” Qualified to have his say, he still regards the content just as interesting as when the magazine was first introduced all those years ago; thank you, Alan.
He did point out that having attended the majority of the rallies reported on – literally hundreds of them – not once has he appeared in one of the pictures, not even a leg or an arm. Well, at last the time has come; having been a loyal reader for 35 years he can finally lay that demon to rest. I’m pretty sure there are many more out there like Alan, loyal to the scooter fraternity with a similar story to tell; just like him, grassroots scooterists so vital in keeping the scene alive and kicking. Though the social side of scootering has taken a knock this year, rest assured it will be back and no prizes for guessing who will be one of the first out there –
Alan Bent.