Feature Scooter: Taboo
Kernow Kracker: Taboo is a term applied to a subject or practice prohibited by religious or cultural social standards. What could inspire a scooter of the same name?
Invariably, something that is regarded as taboo is deeply rooted in the interpretation of ancient religious teachings, by religious leaders with an inflexible perception. Declaring something as being taboo could be viewed as an early example of censorship. Taboo is also the title of the dark, small-screen series, launched in 2017 and starring British actor Tom Hardy. When first screened on the BBC, it conveniently coincided with John Rock embarking on his Vespa chopper project, providing both the inspiration and theme on which he based his custom scooter. Being based down in Cornwall – Kernow as many down there prefer – John enlisted the services and talents of local experts in the creation of his steed. The end result was at least on a par with most full-blown Vespa customs built by many outlets across the UK. Its stunning appearance is superbly captured here with the breathtaking, iconic St Michael’s Mount, near Penzance, as the backdrop for the photo shoot.
Trust requires a little time
John was born in the spiritual south coast home of Mods, Brighton, before relocating to Barnstaple and then moving to the Truro area of Cornwall. It was in his mid-teens, as a young skinhead, when his interest in scooters first began. Many of his skinhead mates had scooters; as an impressionable youngster, he wanted one, his first being a Vespa PK50. John’s experiences of national scooter rallies began in the 80s with a foray to the Isle of Wight, where he was well and truly hooked. “I prefer the old-school style rallies, my favourites tend to be in the South West, nationals and regionals, Exmouth, Woolacombe, Bangers and Mash, Buckfastleigh. I went to Oddballs 2019, it was brilliant, a proper old-school rally. I was looking forward to going again in 2020, I was pissed off when it was cancelled. I hoped Wooly was ggoing g to be on later in 2020, of course, that was ca ancelled too, the lockdown restrictions, both lockdown ns have pissed a lot of people off, I guess that when dealing with a pandemic, it is what it is. All part of the fun of Oddballs rally. I was looking g forward to 2020 and getting out and about to rallies on Taboo, which apart from riding in Cornwall didn’t happen. I was a member of Section 8 SC Cornwall, a few months ago, in between lockdowns, Rebellion Scooter Club was formed. There’s currently 18 members, all of whom ride scooters – its mainly, but not exclusively, made up of couples. Rebellion SC are still waiting for our r first rally proper to go to as a club.”
No One In This City Has Only One Master
John purchased a Vespa PX125 in 2017 in exchange for a very reasonable outlay of £600. That Vespa, over an 18-month period, would be transformed into his custom scooter chop, Taboo. John is a huge fan of (most of) Tom Hardy’s work as an actor, in both big and small-screen productions. In addition to which, John also empathises with Tom Hardy on something of a more personal level. He had an outline idea of sorts to base the theme of his project on some of Tom Hardy’s work, then the first series of Taboo starring Tom Hardy was screened on TV by the BBC. Co-written by Hardy, along with his dad, it’s a dark story set in the early 1800s. It embraces all manner of intrigue, with Hardy’s character James Delaneyy returning to England after 12 years away in Africa, with the then all-powerful East India Company manipulaating ‘everything’, with profit as the driving force. Downtrodden working classes are pitted against the might of big business, with both naational and international politics plus, as the ttitle suggests, other taboo subjects being interwoven into the many sub-plots. From an outline vague idea of Tom Hardy films, after watching Taboo, John decided on the theme for his custom Vespa. “I’m a big fan of Tom Hardy, both as an actor and as a person, although I’ve never met him. As a pperson, Tom Hardy has been in recovery for some years (addiction and alcoholism), I’ve also been in recovery. I think he’s a brilliant actor, I’ve wattched everything he has been in, though not everythhing he’s done has been great. I didn’t like VVenom or Mad Max, I thought both were American crap. Taboo is a brilliant series, it gets off to a bit of a slow start but if you’ve not seen it, stick with it, and it’s a great series. Deciding on which pictures to have on my scooter took a while, it involved sitting down with a mate who works for a computer company narrowing it down and selecting the ones I wanted of various characters to use, from literally hundreds of them. A few key quotes from the series are sign-written on the bodywork. I’ve got the East India Company logo on the floorboard raised section, and have Tom Hardy’s signature replicated on the right-hand side panel. All the paintwork, murals and signwriting was done by a friend, Mr Groome, cracking job.”
The Demand For Flags Is Always High In Times Of War
Being based down in the deep south-west of England, as well as supporting local businesses, it also made logistical sense to have the necessary work carried out locally, well, local-ish then. The majority of the strip down and rebuild processes was entrusted to Darren Ducros at DL Scooters. Although John’s Vespa appears to be a chopper, with the forks extended by three inches, courtesy of local(ish) fabricator Steve Rowe, there could be a debate as to whether it is or isn’t technically a chopper, as the riding position is as s it should be on a standard P-Range. John has a set of SIP drop handlebars fitted, which would lower the riding position by the same dimension as the fork extension, thus standard height is retained despite how it looks. The PX125 engine that came fitted to the Vespa when acquired was replaced with a 200 lump liberated from another scooter, which has had a considerable amount of tuning lavished on it by Chelsea Dave. “The engine cost me quite a lot of money, though I’d say it’s been money very well spent. It consists of Pinasco casing matched and blended to suit a tuned and ported Malossi 210 top end, with a bloody good clutch, 28 mil’ Delly carb and a Scorpion exhaust. It’s not missed a beat, it’s very quick even with me and my 19-stone bulk on board. There was only one slight rethink and change needed during the build. Originally I wanted a T5 sort of disc cover on the front hub, which is off a late PX/Piaggio 125, the clips to retain the disc kept breaking. In the end, I gave up on that idea, apart from that there weren’t really any other problems in Taboo going together.”
He Was Buried To The Depth Of My Love
Taboo was completed and ready to ride in the summer of 2019; the first rally outing was at Oddballs in August that year. John took in a couple of other rallies on Taboo, but was looking forward to the 2020 rally season, with several of his favourites and favoured rallies and locations lined up as must-go-to events. Sadly the ongoing worldwide pandemic ensured that in terms of national and regional scooter rallies the entirety of the year was a total write-off. John, however, did get out and about, clocking up the miles in his native Cornwall between lockdown one and lockdown two. “Oddballs 2019 was the only time I’ve shown Taboo, there was really stiff competition in the custom show there. I was amused and pleased to get a runner-up award, which was a laminated card attached to the handlebars saying ‘look what you could have won’ with a picture of a clock. I’ve done a few rideouts with fellow members of the new Rebellion SC in Cornwall, as well as going for a ride on Taboo on my own. I’ve been up to Charlestown near St Austell which is where some of Taboo was filmed, with an old pirate ship on the sea, some of the locals there were extras when they were filming there. My Vespa always gets interest when I go there. One time when I was in Truro, I was about to set off from being parked up. I was stopped from riding off by this chap who wanted to take a few pictures of my scooter. As well as my scooter, in general, he specifically wanted a few snaps of the mural showing the character in Taboo, Atticus, played by Stephen Graham. It turned out that his (the chap taking pictures) kids went to school with Stephen Graham’s kids, and he knew Stephen Graham and sent him the pics of my Vespa. Although it’s not been great, because it’s been what it is, at least 2020 wasn’t a total disaster.” Which is a positive thing; who knows, perhaps Tom Hardy may get to see John’s scooter, albeit in a roundabout way?
Oddballs 2019 was the only time I’ve shown Taboo, there was really stiff competition in the custom show there. I was amused and pleased to get a runner-up award, which was a laminated card attached to the handlebars saying ‘look what you could have won’ with a picture of a clock.