Bo's Egg Run 2010: OLHSC, Crumlin

I have to say, the best part of the Egg Run has to be errr...the run itself. In my enthusiasm to shoot a video of the scooters leaving Dun Laoghaire Pier, I got left behind but soon enough, caught up with the tail end of the convoy. Thanks to the 2 or 3 cars that made way for me to whizz by them and join in with the main group.

For some awkward reason, somewhere along the way, I stashed away my camera in the glovebox so, my sincerest apologies as I don’t actually have any pics during the run itself. Ah well, I’m sure we’ll all survive some way or another.

Although it’s been almost a week ago at this stage, the memory of having 60-70 or so scooters squeezed in the tiny lanes of the city centre honking their horns and revving their scooters is still fresh in my head. Brilliant!

It was a pleasantly strange feeling seeing the largely positive reaction of people looking at us on our scooters. There were hairdressers leaving their customers to sit half way through their hair cuts, kids gaping at the cool dudes on their cool machines (or old farts trying to act cool!), tourists busily clicking on their cameras and at Capel Street, there were even one or two dodgy-looking individuals who were impressed or curious enough to come out of the dark Adult shops, just to see us!

Eventually, we all made it safely to the hospital although as mentioned by Bo and Mick during the briefing, the final destination wasn’t actually the hospital itself but a separate building which was the hospital's fundraising arm instead. Personally, it didn’t matter as the kids in the hospital were probably better off with us slightly further away from them!

Here's another few pics of scooters during the Custom Show bit to the event.

Check out the pipe on this Vespa! It's obviously a smallframe but other than that, I couldn't make out what it exactly was.

PX200 Serie Speciale. Don't know whether any of these made it to Malaysia?

I'm not too sure about my Lammies but this one was labelled as an SX200 but it looked like an Li Special to me. It was for For Sale anyway...

A nice, clean, wee Vespa 100.

Congrats to all the winners on the day and even more importantly, thanks to everyone that chipped in what they could in these hard times. A whopping €10,000 was collected for the hospital on the day!

Oh yeah, and a big thanks to Bo and the guys who made this year's run as brilliant as it was. Hope to see everyone out and about soon.

Next up on the Irish scootering calendar is the Rebel Rally 2010 which is on tomorrow actually. Promises were made to the wife and kids so, I'll be giving this one a miss. Fortunately, I think we might have something equally (if not more) interesting to  do this Easter weekend.

Hope everyone has an amazing weekend!

Bo's Egg Run 2010: Dun Laoghaire Part 2

Continuing on from my previous post, after about an hour or so of hanging around for the run to begin and looking at other people's gorgeous scoots, I realised that I hadn't put on the Malaysian legshield banner.

So, on it went and it immediately got the attention of curious onlookers as well as fellow scooter enthusiasts.

Anyway, legshield banner aside, there were still a good bunch of scooters worthy of a mention here. Heh!

A sweet specimen from the SX200 range.

The award-winning Vespa GS160 (more on that later).

This Scomadi made an appearance but didn't join in the run. Would've loved to see it on the road with us on the day.

Some scooter porn especially for my GP-craving brethren back home. I think the two here are actually Indian SIL Lammies but, still very nice looking scooters.

So, a few minutes before 2 o'clock, everyone was gathered around with the intention of getting a group photo. The idea proved too difficult to organise as people were just busy looking at scooters. I managed to squeeze a pic of most, if not all the scooters and bikes present at the pier on the day.

After a quick briefing on the route and final destination, we were off!

Apologies for the dodgy video work. I still haven't gotten my head around this video thing so, do bear with me until I eventually get it right.

Next up, the actual run itself. Woohoo!

Bo's Egg Run 2010: Dun Laoghaire Part 1

The day of the Egg Run finally arrived on Saturday. Not one to disappoint the kids at the hospital, I made sure I stopped by a shop to get some Easter Eggs on the way. Thought I'd be a bit different and got some Snickers Eggs instead.

Not being familiar with the coastal route to Dun Laoghaire, I found myself lost somewhere around Ringsend but, by keeping to the basic rule of coast on the left, mountains on the right, I was back on track.

The day wasn't as bright and sunny as I'd expected but nothing wasn't going to put me off my first proper run of the season. It's starting to become a trend of late and once again, I was one of the first to arrive.

 
As usual at these events, there's always bound to be a few eye-catching scoots. Here's a few...

Probably the only Belladonna in Ireland. The Belladonna is New Zealand's variant of the LML as we know it here in Europe (and most of the world).

An 80's version of Skuter Hijau? The paint job is giving me ideas for my own Vespa but that'll have to wait, for now.

A very nicely done Li Special. If not for this recession, I'd be seriously looking into getting myself something similar. Dammit!

The local scene's favourite (and mine as well), the Dark Lords of the Sith themed PX. Another one for the ideas book perhaps? A Bobba Fett PX somewhere in the making? Hmmm...

Just got to love this Vespa...

And this gorgeous Li2.

OK, I'm going to have to cut-off this post here, for the meantime. I've got a couple more pics to share so, hopefully I'll have them up soon enough...

You dirty old thing

I’ve just realised that my Vespa hasn’t had a proper wash since last summer. That's pretty much close to a year now. I couldn’t be bothered really because before the arctic spell, we had the pleasure of some great tropical monsoon weather (minus the heat). Basically, nature took care of my Vespa and it cleaned itself on my daily commute.

Now, since the sun’s out (with no grey clouds in sight), I might just have a go at cleaning it up. What worries me most is all the grit and salt that’s been accumulating from the roads that might just eat away on the rims and the underside of the frame. The rust is definitely having its way on the exhaust as it’s hanging on by a thread. I think there are a gazillion microscopic holes in it at this stage.

Seriously, I look like Darth Vader’s bastard son (not that gay Luke fella, another one) at traffic lights with smoke seeping out of all directions from my exhaust. Scares the s**t out of 6 year-olds at the back of their mom’s Opel Zafiras.

Conveniently, this might explain my Vespa’s lack of power these days. Of course, this has got nothing (absolutely nothing) to do with my surge in weight over the winter months. Yes, my trusty Vespa needs to get re-acquainted with a Sito Plus sooner rather than later or better still, maybe a PM Tuning pipe. Hmmm.

Yes, a wash is definitely in order. I might get around to this later today. Just in time for the Sunday Scooter Service on errr...Sunday! I’ll most probably have to give the Egg Run itself a miss so, this Sunday’s ride out to Howth might be a good alternative.

Bo's Egg Run 2010

It looks like the date for Dublin's traditional opener for the scootering season has been confirmed. I hope I can make this one this time around.

Errr...click on the poster above for a larger image of the poster/flyer thingy.


Thanks to Baggie at the Vespa Club of Ireland for the heads-up. It's in my diary and the wife has been duly notified!


Now, to sort out my ride and bring it up to a decent stage...