Best Scooter Shop Slogan Ever

So I had the pleasure of hanging out in downtown Minneapolis over the past few days. As with any trip to a new (to me) city--and in this case--state, checking to see if there was a scooter shop in the area was definitely on the list.

I hadn't made it there yet, when, on a stroll through downtown, I stopped to read the "tag" on a Buddy parked on the sidewalk. With a slogan like, "Get Chased by Better Looking Dogs," I knew that I had to make it to Scooterville. Luckily for car-less me, they were just a block from a stop along the light rail.

If you're in town, it is well worth the trip. They are well-stocked with new scooters by Vespa, Genuine, Kymco and Piaggio along with some used of other varieties and a vintage here and there. They also seemed to have a good selection of riding gear and some fun extras (I brought home a really cool book outlining the history and restoration specs of Lambrettas). To top things off, the people were super-nice.

If you find yourself in Minneapolis, be sure stop in at Scooterville! 'Cause who doesn't want to get chased by better looking dogs???

Show some love

Scooter News has a poll on its Web site that lets you vote for a scooter shop of the month. I'm sure the competing shops in Alabama and Arizona are nice, but show some love for a great east coast shop and cast a vote for Scoot Richmond!

They've gotten my Stella on the road, added some pep (in the form of more cc's) to Ryan's P200 and made me the proud owner of a Lambretta. Not to mention an assortment of parts...go vote!

Postcard from the road: Toronto Scooter Shops

It's always a treat to visit a scooter shop when traveling someplace new. Sure, they usually have a lot of the things I'd find at home, but there's always something that I haven't seen before (and generally must have) and new scooterists to meet.

If you're in town, I highly recommend a visit to Motoretta (Vespa Toronto). The shop has two locations: we visited the one on College Street in the heart of Little Italy, not far from the University of Toronto. If you've visited the shops in the D.C. area, you'll understand Ryan's description of this great store: "it's a combination of Vespa Washington and The District Line." A number of great looking new Vespas were featured along with some hot classic bikes and loads of books, clothing and assorted merchandise for the scooter enthusiast.

For me, the decor was just perfect for a scooter shop. Scooter art lined the walls (some for sale and some not), memorabilia of all types was tucked onto the shelves and there was even a lighted display running along the front of the store detailing the history of Vespa. And merchandise wasn't limited to Vespa branded apparel. There were books on Lambrettas, general scooter tomes, and clothing lines from Fred Perry, Ben Sherman and Adidas.

Needless to say, we left with a bag of goodies (a Lambretta model, an awesome Adidas bag and a Motoretta t-shirt). Well worth the stop in!

After our visit to Motoretta, we spent an enjoyable afternoon exploring Kensington Market were we spotted these fun jackets (pictured below). I was already feeling a little guilty about overindulging on scooter stuff, so I resisted taking one home--put I did snap a picture!

One shop we didn't make it to, and didn't even know we were near, was Vespa Markham. During our visit to Toronto we stayed in a suburb about 20 miles north of downtown to be close to the wedding that was our real reason for the journey north. On our last night in town, we decided to visit Main Street in neighboring Markham, which looked to be lined with good places to eat. Low and behold it was also home to a scooter shop. Alas, we got there after closing, but still took a peak inside the windows--there's always next time!


note: travel log not posted in real time

Shout Out to the Mad Toto Scooter Club

I first learned about Kansas City's Mad Toto Scooter Club this spring when they asked Polly Scoots to be a sponsor for Tornado R'Alley III. While a trip to their rally in May wasn't in the cards, I figured I'd drop them a line when I realized I'd be in town this summer--very glad that I did!

Their warm welcome included a trip to Kansas City's Westport neighbor for dinner and drinks with about 10 club members and an after-hours drive out to Overland Park, Kansas, for a visit to Scooter World. If you're not exploring a new town via scoot, the next best thing has to be meeting fellow scooterists and visiting local scooter shops to view rows of shiny new scoots, great riding accessories and, that all important, scooter swag.

If we're lucky, we'll make it to a Mad Toto rally one day. In the meantime, if you're in Kansas City, be sure to check out Scooter World and the cool kids with Mad Toto. Thanks for making us feel welcome!