A journey from Mod to mad

This is a tale of one man (Dave Jefferson) and his scooter (‘The Footsee’). You might have seen this dystopian pair in the flesh over the years, but if not, try looking at the Exit 17 group pages on the internet. We’ll let Dave tell you the story…

The tale of Dave Jefferson and his scooter ‘The Footsee'

Ibought ‘The Footsee' – a Vespa Rally 200 – in 1980 from Bishops Motorcycles in Bath; I had a full motorcycle licence and wanted something faster and bigger than the Vespa 150 Super I owned at the time. I nicknamed it ‘Edna' because of its ‘EDN' number plate – but for some reason, everyone referred to it as The Footsee (I'm not really sure why – it's not even my fave Northern Soul track; but in the end, that name stuck.

So there I was with a full frame Rally 200 (complete with the bars and accessories I'd had on my 150 Super) at the IoW 1981 (pic 1) with Pete Allen. Also in 1981, I had the same chrome work but touches of gold had been added (pic 2).

In 1982, I had a funny five minutes and decided to reverse the side panels from blue with white stripes to white and blue (pic 3).

Then I decided to try metalflake paint; I'd never done any flake paint before, so it was a disaster with a black base and Midnight Blue flake over (pic 4) – I didn't really like it. The disaster theme continued when the chrome trim on the front mudguard came loose and jammed into the front wheel, throwing me and Dale Edney down the road – so the next change I made wasn't so surprising.

By 1983 I had a very battered scooter (the styles were changing, so I thought, why not change with it?). It became a cutdown with a PX horncasting and a Lambretta Li front mudguard and was sprayed in Porsche Guards Red with pinstripes and blue metalflake (which looked so much better over the red); I added an iron cross rear light, but still kept the same

seat and flip-flop backrest, but as styles of the time dictated, a red Fresco; at this point, no engine modifications had been done and it had a standard Rally 200 engine (pic 5).

It was nice to see The Footsee featured in the National Scooter Runs Poster (pic 6), seen as it looked in 1983, although again a few changes had been made by then. A little playing with The Footsee saw a different seat, plus a small back rack – but the Fresco had gone, being changed to a

Pitone (and God, was that noisy!). It remains my favourite look for the scooter to this day

(image 7). I did a few rides all over the country, so I had to go to mild tuning – and with it now being a cutdown, the difference was very noticeable.

In 1988 (pic 8) some serious customising took place, as things were changing. It was also time for a new spray job and the seat became tiny. I did go to the IoW on it with no seat padding (just a cushion to sit on) with my then girlfriend, Rachel Brimble, on the back – she wasn't impressed. But The Footsee had a new look (black base paint with silver pinstriping and Silver Microglow and Vermillion Candy over the top of the headset. It also had Cut Ace bars and Vega controls fitted with a quick-action throttle that I did have previously and had caused a little problem when the throttle jammed open going into Bath one day. The tuning was a little more advanced with a 32mm Mikuni ported barrel; I frightened a Z900 rider by going past him (he said I was doing almost a ton, but I don't think it was – The Footsee was quick, but that was pushing it). Other little changes included a front spoiler and front scoop; I didn't like the plastic bolt-on ones, so mine was made from a Rally 200 front mudguard.

I went radical in 1989 (pic 9). As The Footsee got crazier and crazier, I decided to have some murals done by Paul McCarthy of Company C Scooter Club, Bristol, with a martial arts theme – and I finally got the seats done. My little scooter had evolved into a monster that really did go as well as it looked. Many of my friends who'd wanted a go on it before, didn't afterwards. It had the highly tuned (but not very reliable starting) engine; I strengthened the frame by putting hollow square tubing under the frame. I visited Katrina Rigsby in Cornwall and took her for a ride; she just trembled all over as I overtook everything.

The Footsee is an apt name, as it was fleet of foot – and you'll be seeing it on the rallies again soon, as I still own it.

On the IoW (circa 1981). This picture was taken by Pete Allen at his home with my girlfriend Dawn’s Li behind – and yes, I’d wired indicators on and had a stereo in the toolbox (I don’t know, but I did).

Picture taken outside my house, in front of my VW Beetle – yes, I was the one with a car and bike licence. The disastrous period. My favourite look for The Footsee (picture taken by Emily Wright outside her house). As seen on the 1984 National Scooter Runs poster. In 1988 some serious customising took place (picture: Emily Wright). The radical look (picture taken by the late Keith Buttle – RIP mate). The Footsee pictured next to Jamie Dobson’s SX at the IoW.