A return to scootering
Every month we print your postcards from events around the world. This month we have a very special update from Pat Mulhern, chairman of Elm Valley Scooter Club.
With around 40 members, Elm Valley SC emerged in 2016 from a loose collection of riders based in and around the Yorkshire coalfields. Among the club’s well-established members is Clive Allen, an enthusiastic rider of a PX150 that he’s owned since 2005. In May 2019 Clive returned home from an early morning solo ride. Unbeknown to him it would be his last for a while. When he got home everything seemed okay but later that week he began to feel unwell and went to hospital to get checked out. The news wasn’t good; he was in the early stages of a stroke and was admitted to hospital.
As result of the stroke, Clive lost the use of his left arm and now he has to walk with a stick. It looked like Clive’s scootering days were over for good and because of his mobility issues he couldn’t ride pillion; he was still attending rallies but in a car. It was great to see him getting involved but everyone knew that Clive really wanted to be back on his scooter. At the time Clive wasn’t an official club member but he was a long-term pal and the club wasn’t prepared to let a stroke separate him from a scene that he loved.
Following a suggestion by club member Andy Whalley, we resolved to find a sidecar that could be fitted to Clive’s much-loved PX and thanks to the power of social media a suitable item was quickly located.
Finding the sidecar, which was in almost perfect condition, was only part of the process – fitting it was a different matter entirely. We took advice from Roger Hill of Dirty Mills SC who’s experienced with sidecars and from a local engineering company, PD Engineering. The sidecar subframe had to be modified and the electrics had to be reorganised. However, we were lucky with that because one of our members, John ‘Square’ Kitchen, is an electrician and he was able to sort everything out. As well as that, we needed to organise the paintwork so it would match Clive’s scooter. Fortunately a pal of the club, Dec Ferguson, was able to manage that. In terms of the gearing, we contacted Ron Daley’s in Barnsley, which is where Clive originally bought the scooter from. They explained that the standard gearing along with the existing engine set-up Clive already had on his scooter would work fine with the sidecar.
With everything organised Clive’s scooter was finally ready for its new life. When we went to collect it there were still bugs and flies on the legshields from his last rideout almost three years earlier.
With our new-found expertise and lots of support the conversion process was executed without too much drama and on the test ride it rode perfectly.
Sadly, Clive’s first rideout on the scooter was a bittersweet experience, being at a memorial for one of his scooter pals, Ian Atkinson, who’d recently passed away.
At the time Clive wasn’t an official club member but he was a long-term pal and the club wasn’t prepared to let a stroke separate him from a scene that he loved.
Taking that into consideration, and knowing that Ian would have agreed, in October 2022 we organised a rideout to celebrate Clive getting back on the road. Numerous scooters from several clubs turned out for the event and took to the road with Clive riding point. The rideout was an emotional experience, which I was lucky enough to be involved with.
Although many people have made it possible for Clive’s return to scootering, Andy Whalley has been the driving force behind the project. I like to think that this story illustrates not just the close bonds within Elm Valley SC but also those of the scootering community in general. We couldn’t have done it without you.
Pat Mulhern, chairman, Elm Valley Scooter Club Words: Pat Mulhern/Stu Smith
Photos: Stu Smith and Andy Whalley