AUGUST 2004

27/08/04 : As many of you know, it's X-Race time again this August bank holiday. And the action in Round 5 will be taking place at York Dragway, Melbourne, York this Monday 30th August. As usual, the event will be covered in Twist & Go. See you there...
 
CUSTOM SCOOTS / REV 'N RIDE @ ACE CAFE
 
Other news, on Monday 6th September I'll be off the Ace Cafe in London to catch up on the monthly Rev 'n Ride nights for Twist & Go. During the day though, if the weather's good, I'll be taking some shots of cool custom scoots for the mag. One such scoot is Steve Bannister's 'Into The Groove' Gilera Runner and the photo shoot will be taking place at Alexandra Palace. So, if you live in the London area and you've got a custom scoot that you think is worthy of a feature then drop me an email ASAP!

26/08/04 UPDATE: Finally, Dragster Gallery number 35 is now on-line. I've still got a large backlog of pics so I'm currently going through them all. Still, if you've got any Dragster pics that you want to submit the Gallery, then feel free to send them.

24/08/04 UPDATE: I've updated the Gallery, now you will find a new section called 'Special Features'. To kick off this section you will find a compilation of pics of my own Dragster - the scoot that is the reason for this website! So here we have a collection of pics taken over the last five years. Take a look here.

23/08/04 : Well, The Whitby Run has now been and gone and what a great ride-out it was too! Those of you who missed it or couldn't make it in the end for whatever reason missed out on an excellent day of scootering. I was pleasantly surprised to see 50 or so scooters parked up at Pugneys Country Park in Wakefield (my home town) come Sunday morning. The weather was dry and sunny, so the conditions couldn't have been better. The ride started out quite controlled at the beginning until we reached the A64 when the pace increased somewhat. A few more riders joined us at The Highwayman Cafe on the A64 followed by Whitby SC at Pickering. The bikes were a real mixed bunch, approximately 60 to 70 throughout the day, mainly auto's but with a few 'big bikes' in the group. This time though, the auto's outnumbered the traditional scoots. Everyone got along very amicably though, a real mix of people and riders of all ages and from all over the country. A big thanks to those of you who made the trek from further afield to join us on the run. And thanks to everyone for your support in making this event a good one. Some of you will be pleased to know that I'm now looking at making The Whitby Run an annual event given that many of you asked if I would doing the run again next year. Anyway, I'll keep you posted...
 

20/08/04 : Not long to go now before The Whitby Run which is this weekend, Sunday 22nd August. A quick check on the weather situation at the Met Office website and the forecast is dry with sunny intervals (Max temp 18°C) which is as good as we can expect given all the rain recently, so fingers crossed for some good riding conditions.
 

Just to re-cap on the plan, everyone who is joining us for the ride needs to arrive at Pugneys Country Park in Wakefield BEFORE 10am. We will be setting off at 10am prompt so please make sure that you are there on time. The next stop from Wakefield will be The Highwayman Cafe on the A64 at approximately 11am where will be picking up more riders in the York area. It would be nice if anyone who is meeting us there could take some pictures of us arriving, likewise if anyone else is planning on joining us along the way, if you could have a camera at the ready to take some pics then that would be great. If you could email them or post them to me for inclusion in my Twist & Go report then that would be splendid (full credit will be given).
 
So far the attendance is looking very promising, I've had enquiries from scooterists from all around the country from riders age 16 to 63. Whitby SC will be joining the group at Pickering BP Station which is our only fuel stop-off point on the journey, so please make sure you are fueled-up before we set off from Wakefield. If you have a two-stroke, bring some extra oil just in case you run out. Dog Catchers SC from the Newcastle/Northumberland area are also planning on joining us for the mass swoop on Whitby. They will be meeting us in Goathland which will be our next stop after Pickering. Goathland in the North York Moors is perhaps better known as 'Aidensfield' in the TV series 'Heart Beat' where you will have the chance to take a break, take photo's etc. We will stop there for approximately 20 minutes before the last leg of the journey in to Whitby.
 
Journey time is expected to be around two and a half hours since the route comprises of A-roads (avoiding the motorway). The distance is just over 80 miles from Wakefield to Whitby. We will be playing it by ear as to when we return back to Wakefield covering the same route but in reverse but avoiding Goathland to speed up the journey.
 
All that remains for me to say is I hope you all enjoy the ride to Whitby, hope it all goes smoothly and please ride safe. See you on Sunday!
 
Oh, one other thing, I have a limited supply of Whitby Run stickers available, price £2.50 each, these are good quality vinyl stickers, size 2.5". I'll be selling them on the day of the run, or you can order them via the site. Please refer to the Merchandise page for ordering details.

17/08/04 : Well, the annual Santa Pod Hijack has been and gone and what a weekend it was! I think it would be fair to say that a great time was had by all and I'm sure that an event like this deserves more support if Santa Pod decide to run it again next year. Anyway, I've just about finished my report on the event for T & G which will be in the next issue all being well. Keep your eyes peeled for that as I managed to get some interesting pics from the evening do too...
 
Next up on the scootering calendar is The Whitby Run! Which will be taking place this weekend (Sunday 22nd August)! Yep, it's that time already. Full details about the ride-out can be found here. If you are joining us on the ride, please make sure that you know what the plan is. We will be leaving Pugneys Country Park at 10am prompt so please try to get there in plenty of time. It's estimated the ride will last approximately two and half hours, there will be a stop for fuel in Pickering (which is half way). So please make sure that you have fueled up before we leave. It's also worth bringing some two-stroke oil just in case, please make sure you are prepared. Things are shaping up quite nicely, it looks like the attendance is going to be quite big, it's difficult estimate how many will be going on the ride, but various scooter clubs will be joining us along the way. And if the weather's good, this event could potentially be huge... Fingers crossed for the weather too.

13/08/04 : It's that time of year again folks, i.e. the annual Santa Pod Scooter Hijack! There has been much discussion about this event on the message board so things are looking promising in terms of attendance. A quick check on the weather report at the Met Office website and the forecast appears to be OK i.e. dry (Max temp 23°C). A reminder to folks who intend on racing this weekend, don't forget to bring your driving licence which you'll need when you sign-on (a full car or bike licence is acceptable, no provisional licences unfortunately). A fair number of folk are going to Santa Pod purely for the social aspects of this event as it's a great place to meet up with like-minded scooterists and fellow ItaljetDragster.com members. As many of you will already know, overnight camping is available for a small fee of £5. So bring your BBQ and some beers! See you there!
 
The latest issue of Twist & Go is out now. Inside issue 31 you will find:
 
CPI GTR 50 Exclusive • X-Race - Round 3 (East Kirkby report) • Mamma Mio! SYM Scooter test • Euro vision: Nitro GSX • Silver Sport - Peugeot Speedfight test • Paris scooter racing (part two) • NOS Systems (part two) and much more...