The Run arriving at Betws

Nigel managed to do it again.

He hijacked a ride out to go and watch all the scooters riding into Betws Y Coed at the weekend, and we allowed him to do it – mind you, we always like a trip to Betws anyway so any excuse really.

Our normal club meeting took place at the Beaufort at 11 am but we ran it to a tight schedule so that we would be finished in sufficient time to make it to Betws before the Scooter Run arrived there.

Having successfully zipped through the meeting in about 45 minutes , we were able to ask Chris, our Runs Organiser, to lead 14 Wings via Ruthin and Cerrigydrudion onto the A5 then down to the Station Car Park at Betws.

Parking well out of the way

From previous experience, we parked right down at the bottom end of the far car park, well out of the way of the mayhem that was about to hit Betws when the scooters arrived.

Those of us with butties had a bite to eat, while those without made their way to the food outlets. Jan and I made our way up towards the first car park looking for the other members who had gone for food.

Quite soon I heard the unmistakable sound of a very large number of scooters approaching and saw Nigel, complete with camera on pole on top of a wall, ready to photograph the whole parade if he could.

The scooters were abandoned anywhere and everywhere

The arrival of the scooters was quite impressive as they just seemed to go everywhere. Very soon there wasn’t any pavement left to walk on; it was full of abandoned scooters, while owners of all age groups stood around chatting to each other. The first car park, normally where the motorcyclists congregate, was soon 2 or three scooters deep.

I wandered around the scooters and managed to find one or two very nice samples amongst them, but I have to admit that they are not really my cup of tea. Nigel was in his element amongst the scooters and he was soon joined by Derek, who also had a murky past with scooters in his youth. Then it was confessional time with Stevie C-P admitting to being a scooterist in his youth, and as all the secrets from the past were being revealed Paul D also admitted to dabbling with them in his younger days.

A really clean example of a scooter

I was glad that all these fine wingers had grown up and left their blue-hazed, burnt two-stroke, smelly habits behind them in their distant past and not following them around now.

One of the elder motorcyclists soon decided it was time to leave and went to his motorcycle – an Ariel Square 4 – which stood like a naughty child in a puddle of dripped oil. Being surrounded by scooter riders and their abandoned machines, he went through the sequence for kick-starting the engine on his bike.

Having been successful in starting the machine, it was seen that the first row offside spark-plug had vibrated loose and was going to rip out of the threads if not sorted soon.

Scooterist lending tools to Ariel owner

The rider was informed and he stopped the engine and went to look in the tool-kit for the plug spanner.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have one and much to his chagrin and the amusement of the ‘scooterists’ and fellow ‘bikers’, he had to accept an offer of help from a scooterist who kindly offered the loan of a plug spanner to him to fix tight the offending spark plug. Once fixed, he restarted his motorcycle and made a very elegant exit from the car park.

Jan and I then decided that we had seen enough of the scooters and, as others were making their back to the Wings, we kitted up and with Dave and Elaine, Ian and Val, and Derek and Barbara headed back across the Denbigh Moors, leaving Nigel and Joanna, and Kevin and Sandra behind.

Getting some food before the mob arrive

Pete and Karen started off with us but I was riding too slow for them as they had a long way to go to get home so they passed us on the Moors.

The others had already departed for home, going various different ways – Chris and Amy to Bangor then home,  Paul and Jane J., with new rider Keith, Dennis and new member Steve riding shotgun with Pete H. on the trike were going to Abergele then along the A55. Paul and Jan D also departed on the same route but made a bit of progress compared to the others.

Later the same evening when I spoke to Nigel , he informed me that Joanna and he didn’t get home until just before 7pm, having been in Betws until about 5.45pm. He perhaps was overcome with nostalgia for the blue hazed fumes that hung around the place for some time during the afternoon.

As usual, photos of the event can be found at Nomads Scooter Club ‘Into the Valley’ Run as recorded by Nigel (with one or two from me)

Dave T

Meeting at Nigel's House

Sunday 26th April 2009 – A day to remember for me – I actually allowed Nigel to persuade me to tag along on my trike on a Scooter Rally.

Nigel, being an ex-mod in the dim and distant past, has fond memories of smelly two stroke exhaust fumes and Lambretta Scooters, in particular, an  SX200.

He has not grown out of this and all sense seems to leave him when he sees a scooter go passed.  He actually got back into two wheels about 10 years ago when he bought

Mustering at the start

a grown up scooter, a Suzuki Burgman. This eventually led to him buying a bigger ‘scooter’, a Honda Gl1500 GoldWing, from which he has progressed onto the biggest one at this time, an 1800. He still refers to it as his big scooter.

It was announced recently that the North Wales Nomads were holding a Run to Betws Y Coed from Abergele, and sure as eggs are eggs, Nigel was interested enough to want to form a group ride of Wings to accompany them.

The organisers at the start

Somehow, despite my better judgement, I ended up along with Paul and Jan, Ted and Margaret and Den, accompanying Nigel and Joanna, to the start point of the Run at Llandulas.

Despite my trike taking up the parking space of 3 or 4 scooters I was welcomed on the run by one of the organisers, who had a very nice Vespa 4 stroke Scooter, complete with matching top box, and a decent sized motor of 250cc.

In the not very nice inclement weather, the ride set off through to Colwyn Bay via the old road, and continued along the old road to Glan

Parked in the Free Car Park ( for motorcycles)

Conwy, and down the Conwy Valley to Betws Y Coed, where they abandoned their scooters in every conceivable spot, including (and especially,)  the pavement, while the Wings all went down to the nice free car park.

Time for a picnic for the rest of us Wingers while Nigel, the man with a pole, was in his element taking photos of the scooters, and I have to admit, their owners seem to have spent a lot of money on some of them, from the condition and attention they appear to have been given.

They are everywhere!

Many were quite vintage in age and it was obvious that they had been very well preserved and looked after. It was also obvious that the range of owners, like Wingers , goes from the young to the ancient, and also they were just as passionate about their scooters as we are about Wings.

One conversation I heard between two riders sounded exactly like the technical discussion two Wingers would have had over different oils and best tyres.

It was also interesting to see that the clothes from the 60s and 70s were still considered to be stylish enough for scooter riding, especially fish-tail parkas.

Even on the pavements!

All too soon for Nigel’s liking, the scooter riders started to depart in groups to their various home destinations. It was time also for the Wings to hit the trail again. Due to quite heavy traffic and the roadworks on the A55, all thoughts turned to alternative routes – so Denbigh Moors it was again. I managed to lead the solos with my trike and I think it is fair to say I didn’t hold them up.

A nice trip back along the A541 to Mold and we split up our different ways.

I enjoyed the ride and looking at something different. It made a very pleasant change to mix with a different genre of two wheel rider, and to have an insight to their club scene.

Perhaps we should do it more often as a club.