Having missed the last BVD in Llangollen due to a rally fixture clash I was looking forward to attending it this year. I’d heard good things from the previous event and Llangollen is a place I have ridden through many times on the way to rallies over the years, but never stopped to explore. It was certainly worth the wait.

Many of those attending had only recently returned from the heatwave at the Euro Vespa in Portugal, arriving home to the UK heatwave, so it was a bit of a shock to the system to experience the Welsh Valley’s microclimate and some wet stuff falling from the sky. That said it was certainly not too bad as it remained mild and mostly dry, good news for those of us that were camping on the rally site.

In usual fashion, work got in the way and I was late leaving on the Friday so finding miles of brake lights along the A14 was just what I needed. I actually quite enjoy filtering so I soon caught up with a lone back patch biker who gave me a nod and then proceeded to ride like a bat out of hell through the traffic. With horn blasting and Harley exhaust barking the cars soon moved and I followed. The car drivers must have thought it odd seeing a scooterist chasing a biker until he shot up a slip road and gave me a big grin and thumbs up.

Plodding along

The next hold up was on the M6, this time I caught up with a traffic policeman filtering slowly on his bike and he wouldn’t let me through, instead sticking on his blue light and horn only for the traffic to completely ignore him. There’s a lesson in there somewhere.

The BVD venue at Llangollen’s Royal International Pavilion was excellent and perfect for rallies as it has large areas for camping alongside the main event venue which housed a bar, a café, a hall for the bands and disco and an even larger hall for the dinner on Saturday night.
The VCB organise this event as ticket only so they know the number to cater for as the BVD includes a gala dinner. This year all 500 tickets sold out and it was great to see so many from all over including Scotland, Northern Ireland and Belgium attending.

Friday night was a usual scooterist party with plenty of dancing, drinking and recounting of Euro adventures amongst the various regional Vespa Clubs.

Saturday greeted us with thickheads and some drizzly, wet stuff falling from grey fluffy things in the sky, so given the choice of joining the ride out up in to the hills or a wander around the town and its pubs, the latter got the vote.
Llangollen is a nice town and the river and railway snaking through it offer a great backdrop to the old streets and buildings. After a wander we spotted the Olympics SC sat in the window of a pub and being easily led they lured us in. Several pints later we got a phone call to remind us that the gala dinner was starting soon so we wobbled back to join the fun.

Cherries popped

We sat for the dinner with a couple who were experiencing a scooter rally for the first time, whilst Pete and Diane had owned scooters for sometime, they had never attended a rally before. I’ve a feeling that this won’t be their last as they seemed to really enjoy themselves, even despite having the pleasure of us lot keeping them company. I understand there were several more rally virgins there, it’s great to hear that the scooter family continues to grow, welcome all.

Entertainment was provided on both nights by Chalky Martin and some DJs. With Chalky also singing during the meal getting many on their feet for the usual singalong classics.
After the meal there were a number of trophies presented for the custom show, etc and then back into the other room for more drinking, dancing and a live band Surfin’ Llamas who went down very well.

Sunday arrived with more drizzly wet stuff and many packing up early for their rides home. As we are usually amongst the last to leave we found a window of opportunity between drizzly bits to pack up the tents and chanced riding without putting on waterproofs, for once the gamble paid off and we rode back in to the sun heading South East.

Another excellent event organised by the VCB and thanks to all of those volunteers that gave up there time so the rest of us can party. Finally I got to scratch my Llangollen itch.

Words: Shaun
Images: Booga and Shaun

New product – Vespa GTS SLUK Chassis Guard

With winter fast approaching we’ve just launched our latest GTS protection product, the SLUK Chassis Guard. Designed to look good but most importantly to protect the delicate floorpan of your GTS.

Watch the video for more information and how to fit, plus a sneak preview of a GTS front spoiler we’re currently working on.

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