Ch-Ch Mods and Rockers

2009 Mods & Rockers

“We are the Mods, we are the Mods, we are we are we are the Mods”

Southern Scoot recently went on tour to Christchurch for the “Mods and Rockers Winter Rumble”

Pictures of the event  here

Organised by the local Triumph boys at Street and Sport Motorcycles in Manchester St, this was the first outing for this event, with the proceeds going to the NZ Spinal Trust. It was very well organised and a good crowd turned up with good weather being a real bonus (especially when you’re from Invers).On Saturday, I was lucky enough to meet up with Brendon (who had a very nice red SS180) and we spent most of the day taking in the event and meeting new people. Initially it looked like the Mods would be out numbered but the arrival of some of the local Canscoot guys really boosted the car park count. All the organised events were completed in good humour with the mods doing well in all but the tug of war.

The rockers had a secret weapon for some of the events and he turned out to be the goods although riding a Honda wasn’t really in the spirit of the event……those rockers will try anything to win.

After the Mods had won the event we went for a ride out to Brighton via the Lyttleton Tunnel. The tunnel was a real trip and the ride up the hill and over to Sumner was excellent. Most of the riders were well behaved and reasonably courteous  with only a few breakdowns. After assembling at the beach carpark in Brighton for photos it was back into the City to the local bars, Goodbye Blue Monday, The Twisted Hop and The Vespa Room. One of the guys I had met earlier in the day, an englishman called Ian (there were quite a few englishmen there), needed a ride back to the city so on the back of the PX he got and off we went. I hadn’t had someone else on the scooter except me and wasn’t really sure how it would cope but we got there OK.

The 3 local bars (as it turned out there were 5 of them) were packed, a DJ was in the courtyard and a father and son team were selling bacon butties. Mods mixed with rockers and drinks were flowing. It was over too soon with a quick ride back to my mates in Heathcote via the local Subway for tea. All in all a great day.

On Sunday a ride was planned to Governers Bay and Diamond Harbour, again reasonably fine and a good turn out of scooters. Unfortuneatly the PX decided to eat its speedo cable just before the port hills climb (a common PX fault apparently) but the trusty electrical tape in the glovebox soon sorted that out and off we went. One really good thing with the event was the people who would just stop and give you a hand if you broke down and make sure you were all right, something thats just done. Another englishman called John, riding a very nice 1964 GS160 had a breakdown on the way and no amount of pushing would get it going so Mark (Prunes from the Canscoot Club) gave him a tow using a scarf – they eventually got to a carpark off the road without any mishap although it did look a bit dodgy…. As it turns out the battery in the GS had decided to quit and was soon replaced with a spare one!!  Hands up all those that carry spare batteries for thier Scooter ??? Good Stuff.  The road and the scenery around there was excellent, just the ticket for a sunday ride. After a quick beer and a chat Mark, James, Julian (who had this cool Heinkel Scooter) and I went for a ride over to Lyttleton for some cod and chips for lunch which we had on the roof of an old WW2 lookout at Godley Head.

Overall the event was excellent with lots of fun for riders, wives and the kids and I’m glad I went to it. I met some really good people and had a great time. Looking forward to 2010 and retaining the Trophy.