Back in the day the librarian with the funny glasses might have ridden a scooter. Or the guy who wore turtle neck sweaters all year round up over his chin. Or maybe Italian guys dreaming Gina Lollabridgidoll around the Trevi Fountain in Rome. I dunna know. Maybe it’s the heat. Maybe it’s the patina of age, mine and scooters, or the $5 a gallon at the pump or the New Cool Factor I encountered just recently at the Route 66 Modern Classics “Summer of Scootin’” event, the Marina Del Rey shop inviting the public and press over for a look-see at their line-up of scooters.
The location was real easy to find. It’s adjacent, make that contiguous, to the world famous Bartel’s Harley-Davidson mega-store that I think you can see from the International Space Station.
The invitational email arriving at Motorcycle.com and sent by William Bartel went like this:
“Hey, I realize none of us are scooter guys, but I'd figure I'd invite you all for the free sangria if nothing else. My brother Glenn is doing a little press party for the vintage restored Vespas he's importing, so he asked me to invite everyone I know. They're '50s and '60s Vespas that are restored to newish and some are even done up custom; some Quadrophenia-style, some Audrey Hepburn style, etc. He's giving rides, food and drink on Thursday evening from 3-7 at his shop in the marina. Feel free to invite anyone you want, it should be fun.”
The prediction proved right on the money. We found the sangria and a bevy of both new and vintage scooters for sale. (Route 66 also rents scooters as well as Harley-Davidsons.) We were greeted by Glenn Alan Bartels, prez and owner of Route 66 Modern Classics/Route66 Riders. As he says he’s “a Harley guy by birth,” his family in the Harley-Davidson industry for over 30 years. Back in ’94 he used his personal bikes to start his own international, tourist based, Harley-Davidson Rental company called Route 66 Riders (www.route66riders.com). Today they offer over 150 late model Harley's for rent to the public mostly catering to European tourists looking to explore SoCal on bikes.
Glenn himself finds no problem enjoying both Harleys and scooters and was drawn to the world of vintage 1950s & '60s Vespas after traveling to Europe and seeing how popular they are as primary transportation across the continent. By way Vespa translates from the Italian meaning “wasp.”
As he says, “After buzzing around Rome on a friends vintage Vespa, I got bit by the scooter bug and fell in love with these little, Italian rolling sculptures… they have a classic, timeless shape, they make cool sounds and vibrations, they get 90 miles per gallon, and girls love 'em. What else can I say!”
Glenn got hold of a ’66 Vespa and started playing around with it, jazzing it up with new paint and found people coming into his store to look at Harley’s were attracted to the scooter and asked if they could get one for themselves. “At the point scooters weren’t even on my radar, but all of a sudden now I have people pouring in the door in need of scooters because of the gas prices so I had to find a newer style, good quality, automatic version as opposed to the vintage twist-gear set-up on the older scooters. That led me to Genuine Buddy Scooter and a Chicago company that imports them from Taiwan. The scooters come in a variety of displacements from a 50cc two-stroke to 125 and 150 cc four-stroke models.”
Asked about having one foot in the Harley world, another in scooterville, GlennSays, “If I’m going to ride my Harley, I’m going to ride far. On the other hand, our commutes are becoming intra-city or neighborhood commutes. A scooter is my choice for those short rides and the only way to get around, the only way to park. I also found out that different kinds of chicks dig scooters, to ride on them and to ride them.”
What’s the story with the gas mileage? “Six bucks will take you 150 miles.”And what’s the licensing requirements? “In California a license is required, the M-1 but they are talking about bringing back the M-2 for the smaller scooters.”And the most popular model? “While the vintage Italian Vespas are the Rolex of the scooter crowd, the Genuine Buddy is the modern version but still with the Vespa look at about half the price.
What’s the learning curve for learning to handle one? “That could be a couple laps around the block.” And your customers? “That’s split 50-50 between guys and girls and anyone from 17-year olds to 75-year olds.”
Coming from the archetypal Harley family, do you get any heat from the Milwaukee people? “No, none at all actually. It’s not an infringement on my Harley agreement. Scooters aren’t even on the Harley radar even though they did make the Harley Topper back in the day. I think it might be the time for H-D toconsider re-issuing a scooter model. They got to make a bad-ass one though, something painted in orange and black and with attitude.”
Okay, you bike builders out there…who’s going to step up and started making some cool custom scooters. Be there or be square…a Scooter that’s Cool is waiting to be born. Wouldn’t be a nicer, friendlier place if we de-congested city car traffic and went into scooterville mode like in Europe where they got the message a long time ago when their fuel prices skyrocketed far greater than our own in the U.S.although we’re obviously sprinting to catch up.
Says Glenn, “Yeah, they ride year-round in Europe, rain or shine, and we have more shine here in SoCal.” He also points out the comparison between the sunny Mediterranean and sunny SoCal as the perfect environment for scooters. There’s some very pertinent eco-friendly/pocket book perks as well: “Many of us won't give up our SUV's, but did you know that simply by switching just 10% of your annual commuting to a scooter, you can help to save 15 million gallons of fuel per day and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 325 million tons!” That would be some good non-car Karma.
Besides speaking the universal language of scooterese, the staff is multi-lingual, speaking a half dozen European languages (including Scooterese, the universal language) as they hail from all over the globe including ace scooter mechanic Orlando Belotti from Italy, Tony van Looy from Belgium and Raffa Dorawa from Germany. Orlando rides his Vespa 150 scooter 90 miles a day back and forth from his home in Fullerton to work in Marina Del Rey and that would be freeway flying miles.
In addition to a menu of tasty restored vintage Vespas, Route 66 Modern Classics offers the Genuine Scooter line. They offer a full service sales, parts, accessories and Maintenance shop for the models they build and the brands they carry. And yes “hop-up” aftermarket kits are available. More info at Route 66 Riders at www.route66riders.com or call 310-578-0112.
