What better way to start a late rally season? 183 miles on three sidecars each way. Two Salford Knights, one Wigan SC and myself, Renegades Scooter Riders. We wanted to show support to Vince at Invasion of the Bodysnatchers, promote sidecar awareness and help the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Firstly, the Renegades Scooter Riders sponsored a trophy, ‘Best Sidecar/Trike’, what could possibly go wrong. We wanted as many sidecars to show as possible, but in the end there were only the three of us riding together. Aussie on his “Italiano mi culo” themed Motovespa was destined to win, he cleared the mantlepiece before he left Salford and spent the next 36 hours asking which sidecar was the best to every stranger we saw.

Three Spanish ladies

We set off early on A-roads to the Cuddington in Cheshire. The lame T5 ended up being replaced by a solo GTS. The three-wheelers were made up of “Willow”, my original standard Serveta Li150 Special and Squire SL1 sidecar, Dave on his Motovespa P200 and Squire PV1 and Aussie with the ‘show winner’, TX200 and PV1 sidecar – painted in the colours of the Spanish flag. Three Spanish ladies married to the English invention of the sidecar. As we got to Cuddington, Aussie realised that my Lambretta was 100% standard with 18mm carb, he was not happy. We cruised between 35 – 50mph (with the wind behind us).

Empty roads

Riding through the windy, picturesque and tranquil roads of the Cotswolds was amazing, not a vehicle in sight – unless you looked behind, our record was three caravans and 17 cars… Every time we got to a dual carriageway all the cars, caravans, lorries, and tractors shot past us at reckless speeds.

Wats up Squire?

Getting past Shrewsbury, Telford and Kidderminster I managed to wangle a site visit at Watsonian. They’re the last mass production maker of sidecars in the UK, based in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire. Just before you arrive, there is the famous Fish Hill, which was the first time I nearly used first gear, except for pulling away. Aussie took the lead, as he had been to Watsonian… in 1991. Long story short, he got lost and I was there 45 minutes before them.

Ben and Stuart welcomed us and gave us a history lesson on Watsonian (since 1912), the history of Northwick Ind. Estate and the new Royal Enfield that they import, along with the current Watsonian sidecars. The industrial estate was commandeered from Winston Churchill’s family estate and built as a hospital for American soldiers from D-Day, it was never used and then turned into a POW for German military and ultimately to house all the displaced Polish refugees from WWII, up to 1972.

The tour included the original metalwork shop, where today everything is made from lengths of steel, to match every bike/scooter. The bodies have been made by the same guy for the last 30 years and transported to the factory. 2021 has been their busiest year to date, probably due to COVID. The visit not only broke the journey up, but it was also an amazing experience to be part of English Automotive history.
With our ‘rotund’ friend, not managing to sleep in a tent two nights running, we stayed the Friday night in a 16th-century coaching inn in Faringdon. Just 15 miles from the rally site in Abingdon. It gave us time to experience the town (a town as it has a market, so we were told, so not a village). A couple of pubs, local chip shop and some more pubs – plenty of cider, lager and Coca-Cola.
It’s refreshing to see that in these days of mamby pamby political correctness good old-fashioned scooterboy humour still prevails… please address any complaints to Scooterthing magazine, PO Box 74 Horncastle, Lincs.

The drinking started and going around the numerous stalls, getting some shiny bits for Aussie, ‘get me home’ Lambretta spares & oil for me, along with patches and stickers for everyone. Because we missed the impromptu/unofficial first night – we had to catch up a bit – seeing the state of some of the rally-goers, we had a long way to go where drinking was concerned!

The custom show started setting up, Lambretta Choppers UK, two huge lines, a couple of bike engines – one in a Lambretta and another in a small frame, restored, unrestored, sidecars x 3, autos and the oddity of a mobility scooter with a Vespa engine fitted and many more.

The burger van and gazebo with freshly made pizzas were doing well and the staff at the rugby club serving fast, cheap and quality alcohol. So, hats off to all the food and beverage services on site.

Around 4.00 ish, the trophies were handed out, with ‘Oddballs’ Vince himself delivering them – so many great winners. The Vespa smallframe with the RG250 engine was a feat of engineering, the winning chopper, restored, Lambretta, Vespa, etc., all brilliant. Then the best sidecar/trike. As Aussie adjusted his trousers to get up, he heard the words “The trike”, this just left us all in stitches…poor Aussie was upset to say the least, we even laughed that he may get Best Rat. Then the surprise – that trophy was given to me for my original Li150 Special that I rode back from Madrid, although my personal preference was the mustard Jet200.
Aussie is the well-deserved butt of most jokes amongst his friends…
We then got Aussie to do what he does best, sent him to get a Chinese delivery – which went down really well. A quick change and out for the night. DJs were buzzing all afternoon and then we had a session by Krank Williams (Darryl Hanton), scouse lad who played a hybrid of blues, punk and psychobilly which was fantastic.

Before the main act started, the Lambretta Choppers UK got up on stage, supported by sponsors and the printer that created the book for free and presented a cheque for Teenage Cancer Trust to Vince for a massive £10,198. Well done everyone involved, the work, the purchases, the extra events – brought a tear to my eye. Please watch out for the second one, that is starting now.

So firstly about the cheque, set the scene, I was hunted down and asked to get up on stage in front of a full house, I made a small announcement about the team behind the book, then they asked me to stand there as they unrolled the cheque, as the figures revealed themselves I went quiet with shock. I never in a million years saw that figure coming, I immediately threw my arms around Paul Muirhead and cried, it’s hard to explain, but when I started oddballs I never thought things like this would happen.

Even now I look at the cheque and feel numb from it. I immediately hunted each member of the team down to hug them and thank them massively on behalf of all Oddballers and Teenage Cancer Trust. This was the sixth event we’ve done, admittedly much smaller than the main rally, but with the cheque and other stuff, I will be handing over approximately £15,000 to Teenage Cancer Trust, that brings the total raised so far is £55,000, plus £1000 to Scotty’s Little Soldiers and £2000 to Clic Sargeant.

The choice of charity is a strange but poignant story, in 2014 I put on a large custom show, asking two good friends to judge for me, of which one is fighting MS. His name is Steve Gray, the other being Ron Morgan. At the time he was fighting cancer and later that year he lost the fight. So I decided I wanted to put on a small rally in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust. The reason for the charity was easy, Steve Gray was busy doing stuff for them and I decided to continue with that.

At Oddballs each year we have a special trophy sponsored by Ron’s wife, called the Ron Morgan Memorial Trophy.

Vince Wooloff

Then The Corsairs came on stage, I’ve heard a lot about them but it was the first time I had seen them. The energy, the vibe and the sounds were brilliant to wrap the night up. I personally only remember at this stage waking up in my tent, so I will have to leave the rest of the night to everyone else and their imagination.

We were up at 6.00 and made the decision to leave early, as Aussie is a key worker and needed to get back to the Chinese. We all decided on route one – the motorway. Dave and I let the others ride off, but in the end, all the sidecars got back around 1.30 to Manchester.

Well done the three sidecars that performed amazingly, cruising at 50-55mph on the motorways on the way home and apart from my Lambretta not starting at a petrol station and needing bumping, not one of the three scooters missed a beat. Put faith in your scooter, whatever you ride, you’ll be surprised.

Thanks

Finally, I’ve got to thank Vince and all the Oddballers for their organisation and I’ll look forward to next year’s Oddballs – on two wheels. The Lambretta Choppers UK for their comeradery as always, Howard and Krank Williams along with The Corsairs for playing and all the scooterists that attended, to help boost the coffers helping Teenage Cancer Trust.

Words and photos: Doug Turner

Check out the Rallery below…

The Bodysnatchers Rallery