Stuart Owen – My First Rally

Chances are you’ve read an article by Stuart Owen in Scootering, where he is the tech expert and writes nostalgic pieces too. He hails from the Midlands, but now is enjoying an ex-pat life in southern Portugal working from home in the sun, I’m not jealous at all!

Stuart was involved in the racing scene for many years, and one of his Lambrettas was clocked at an incredible 117mph which was a British record.  He was the National Sprint Association scooter champion for five years running, from 1998 to 2002, won the overall NSA Championship in 2001, the NSA 250cc championship in 2002 and the Classic Bike Magazine 250cc championship in 2003 – and still holds a number of track records!

Stuart worked for Gran Sport in Birmingham briefly as a mechanic and then set up his own scooter restoration and tuning business with his wife, the 100mph Lambretta Club.  After an accident, which curtailed his scooter riding, he turned to writing and he now writes for a number of publications and has authored a few books including a new one to be published in a few weeks.

The new book, Vespa and Lambretta Motor Scooters, is a great account of why they were first built in post-war Italy and how they came to be such an iconic mode of transport.  I was lucky to receive a preview copy to read and it features some great facts and figure; my husband can’t get over the fact that over 100,000 Lambrettas were sold in the UK in 1959!  You can buy it from Amazon using this link.

Here, Stuart casts his mind back to the mid 1980s, and that first ridden rally in 1987!

Stuart Owen – My First Rally

How did you first get into scooters?
Quite simply it was through the mod scene.  There was a big movement in Birmingham which all centred on a club called the Outrigger. On a Sunday night there would be a huge gathering of scooters outside, which is where I first started to take notice of them.

What was your first scooter rally?
The first rally I rode to was Scarborough 1987. Alhough I’d owned a scooter since 1984, an accident had left me on crutches for some considerable time. I was in the Birmingham E Types and went to rallies in the club van for a while but it wasn’t until the August bank holiday of 1987 that I made a rally by scooter.

What did you ride?
I went on a Lambretta Li 150 special (Pacemaker) that I had just restored, my first ever restoration. I bought it for a mere £35 back in 1984. Though the club were going, I wanted to make the journey on my own to get used to riding a scooter again. Plus, the fact the club used to take forever to get there as half the scooters broke down, and they spent forever picking them up in the van. It was 170 miles if I remember correctly.

Do you remember how much money you took for the weekend?
I can’t remember how much I took but I do remember an empty tank on the Lambretta would only take £2.50 to fill it to the top.

Where did you stay when you were there?
One night in a B&B the other in the club van, probably because I had run out of money

Do you have any memories of the rally itself?
I remember the flywheel needed magnetising but I couldn’t find anywhere to get it done. It was still using a points ignition and when the lights were turned on the engine would cut out. The rally itself was good because it brought the Northern lads out and in my opinion they had the best Lambrettas at the time.

Was the journey home eventful?
Not really, it was a case of heads down, blinkers on and just do it in the shortest time possible. I always hated the journey home from any rally and always wanted to get it out of the way as quick as I could.

Do you remember what your favourite rally anthem of that period was? 
I never paid much attention to be honest as the majority of it was northern soul and I just don’t get it. I was into the late sixties psychedelic sound (and I still am) and that wasn’t in vogue on the rally scene.

What was your favourite custom scooter of that era?
Italian Stallion, it still is.

Do you still have a scooter now?
No not at the moment. An accident a few years ago left me with an injury that took a long time to get over. After 30 odd years of riding I decided to stop as family life is more important. I have owned many scooters over the years to be honest but I can’t say all of them were nice.

What do scooters mean to you now?
Ever since I first got involved in the scene 35 years ago I have always maintained an interest in them. Though I don’t ride one anymore it doesn’t mean I don’t get involved. Far from it, because with the job I now have it means I’m more involved than ever. A lot of people think if you don’t ride a scooter then you can’t be part of the scene.

When we had the business there were a lot of customers who restored them and owned big collections even though they didn’t ride them. So what, their involvement was all that mattered and still does. Over the last 35 years I have met people worldwide, all of whom have their own opinion on the subject of scooters and you have to respect them all.

Let’s face it, the generation of scooter owners on the whole is getting older and there seems little point in falling out over opinions, they should be united for its survival in the future.

Thanks so much to Stuart for sharing his stories and brilliant photos!  There are more first rally interviews below, or you can look under ‘Interviews’ in the menu for the full collection which includes Norrie Kerr, Sticky and Iggy Grainger.

Here’s a reminder of the link to Stuart’s book.

2019 Rally List and Tips

More My First Rally stories

Read more My First Rally stories using these links (in alphabetic order)
– Ali Richards
– Bill Mac
– Dave Lloyd
– Dean Percival
– Dizzy Holmes
– Iggy Grainger
– Jo Jackson
– Lee Parker
– Lee Richards
– Mike Oxley
– Niamh Pennington
– Nick Jolly
– Norrie Kerr
– Roger Williams
– Sandra Smith
– Sarah George
– Sean Robinson
– Stacey Gardner
– Steve Bone
– Sticky
– Stuart Owen
– Vince Wooloff

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