The home of automatic scootering

Llandudno (Welsh scooter rally)

Although a bit wet (apparently the sheep like it!) we made good time, meeting up with fellow ‘Darksiders’ at fill-ups, arriving in Llandudno mid-afternoon.

Organisers, VFM, had hired a farmer’s field on the town's approach road to act as a campsite, with a makeshift shower block, Portaloos and the regulation burger van imported in for the campers' comfort. This soon filled – especially the plastic potties! Once the canvas resort was up, a steady stream of people made their way the mile-or-so into the town centre. Here, the pubs and clubs were already swelled with riders from all corners of the UK and as the weather brightened up, more arrived to park up in any available spot.

As far as organised entertainment goes, the town’s impressive Venue Cymru was enlisted to house, not only the late night do’s, but also the following day’s custom show and parts fair. Musically this not only meant a mixture of tunes from DJs, but also two live bands, Soulsters ‘DC Fontana’ and a Punk tribute act ‘The Re-Offenders’.

By Saturday, the campsite was a hive of activity and a look around proved how popular the GTS has become as the favoured rally machine. It was also good to see quite a few other auto marks in among the melee, including some very well engineered Lambretta sheathed autos. I also spotted an unusual bared down Gilera Nexus 500 Streetfighter and my first glimpse of the custom painted ‘Bananaman’ Nexus – hopefully I’ll put together a feature for the mag soon.

Back in the town it had gone Victorian mad; not only were ‘we’ in town, but also the weekend heralded the start of the annual 1900s week. This meant a massive street parade, a full line-up of fairground rides and various steam related engines to keep the boffins amused. With the streets jam packed, we decided to leave our bikes parked up and walk to the parts fair. Outside a line-up of the best machines drew a crowd to check out the paintwork, engineering and bright work on offer – amazing! Inside the stalls were selling the usual scooter related bric-a-brac, as well as parts and clothing. After purchasing the obligatory rally patch, and chatting with the mates I’d drunkenly missed the previous night, we made our way back into the town centre to spend the afternoon in the various beer gardens that welcomed us with dusted off CD collections. Although the heavens once again decided to open just before we arrived in the do, the atmosphere inside soon had us dried out and dancing.

The following day, we decided to set off home as early as hangovers allowed and it was great to play ‘road-tag’ with various other autos and trads on our journey. Although this rally is a bit of a journey, (unless you live in the NW), Llandudno once again proved an excellent host for the BSRA and a great way to spend the BH.

With the Scottish event next on the agenda, it looks like time for a service of both body and machine, but I’m sure both will be ready for the next adventure.

The Flying Skip