If you love scooters—and let’s face it, a lot of us do because we may have experienced our first motorized two-wheel rides on one—Barry John’s new Culture & Customization: The Motor Scooter Story is a book you’ll want to give a look.With over 200 color and black-and-white images, illustrations (drawn by the author), the book offers remarkable insights into brand histories, racing, design, and development of the motor scooter. John sheds light on the scooter’s many forms and little-known aspects of what has become one of the world’s most popular vehicles.
John reveals the very earliest beginnings of motorized scooters in America in 1915 with early stand-on scooters such as the Autoped. From there, he traces the evolution and development of the step-through, single and double-seat models from around the world, and identifies the watershed post-WWII period when scooter sales took off.Economical, reliable transportation has always been in demand, but it was essential in post-war Europe and Asia. In that environment, the motor scooter really came into its own, inspired by machines such as the British Excelsior Welbike and the American-made Cushman Model 32 that the military brought to Italy during WWII.John describes how much of the post-war development of the scooter as a major factor in personal transportation occurred in Italy as Piaggio’s Vespa and Innocenti’s Lambretta battled for domestic and export market dominance. Similarly, in Japan, with the Nakajima Aircraft Company no longer allowed to produce military aircraft after the war, the company was re-invented as the Fuji Sangyo Company. The result was the Fuji Rabbit S1 in 1946. Mitsubishi joined the fray in Japan with the Silver Pidgeon scooter, and Honda came out with its Juno scooter in 1954.1959 Fuji Rabbit Scooter. Photo courtesy of Mecum Auctions.Culture & Customization: The Motor Scooter Story tracks the industrial and cultural evolution of the Scooter through the 1950s and ’60s, providing a great overview of the many manufacturers that joined the scooter market as demand continued to grow worldwide. One thing that might be considered for a future edition of this comprehensive volume is Harley-Davidson’s entry into the scooter market—the Topper. It was in the product line from 1960 to 1965, though only 7,445 were built.John recounts some remarkable achievements with stock and radically modified scooters in land speed racing and drag racing (referred to as sprinting in the U.K.), as well as in globe-trotting adventure riding right up to recent years. He also explains the “mods” social phenomena spawned in 1960s Britain, which combined scooter customization with an appreciation of British R&B bands such as The Who and The Small Faces.Jimmy’s Quadrophenia Scooter. Photo courtesy of Bonhams.The next evolution in scooter power is covered, as well, with John going into some depth on electric scooters and the potential development of scooters powered by hydrogen fuel cells. He explains their workings, as well as possible limitations and drawbacks for fuel cell technology, at least for the foreseeable future.Culture & Customization: The Motor Scooter Story is beautifully produced. John’s writing style is clear and concise, with a great mix of conversational style narrative and fascinating technical detail.
Title:Culture & Customization: The Motor Scooter Story
Author: Barry John
Published: October 2021 by Evro Publishing, Westrow House, Holwell, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 5LF, U.K.
Hardcover, 112 8.25” x 8.0” pages, 200 color and black & white (period) images and illustrations
Hello everyone and welcome once again to Ultimate Motorcycling’s weekly Podcast—Motos and Friends.
My name is Arthur Coldwells.
This week’s Podcast is brought to you by Yamaha motorcycles. Discover how the YZF-R7 provides the perfect balance of rider comfort and true supersport performance by checking it out at YamahaMotorsports.com, or see it for yourself at your local dealer.
This week’s episode features Senior Editor Nic de Sena’s impressions of the beautiful new Harley-Davidson Low Rider ST that is loosely based around the original FXRT Sport Glide from the 1980s. Hailing from The Golden State, these cult-status performance machines became known as West Coast style, with sportier suspension, increased horsepower, and niceties including creature comforts such as a tidy fairing and sporty luggage.
In past episodes you might have heard us mention my best friend, Daniel Schoenewald, and in the second segment I chat with him about some of the really special machines in his 170 or so—and growing—motorcycle collection. He’s always said to me that he doesn’t consider himself the owner, merely the curator of the motorcycles for the next generation.
Yet Daniel is not just a collector, but I can attest a really skilled rider. His bikes are not trailer queens, they’re ridden, and they’re ridden pretty hard. Actually, we have had many, many memorable rides on pretty much all of the machines in the collection at one time or another.
From all of us here at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy this episode!