WKRP Scooter Rally 🛵 Cincinnati
Once upon a time in Cincinnati, Ohio, circa 2009, vintage scooter heads assembled for a day of scooters and ska. 🛵🎺🕺
This is one of the last fun adventures I had in the USA before moving abroad in 2010. The vintage scooter scene is still alive and well in small pockets around the country.
WKRP 📻 & SCOOTERS🛵
Most not-so-young Americans probably remember the WKRP sitcom from the late 70s and early 80s. This particular scooter rally was held in honor of this classic American sitcom.
It was so long ago that I don't remember much, so I'll have to let the pictures do the talking. My bike is the white beauty on the right in the above photo by the way.
👀 ADMIRE AND 🗣️ SOCIALIZE
Things kicked off with a meet and greet in the parking lot of the Metro Scooter shop before we all would head out to the first stop.
I arrived a wee bit early and decided to browse around the lot and check out all the other bikes. There were mostly Vespas and Lambrettas, the usual suspects, but also some surprises.
My dream "car" is a Piaggio Ape, and I was lucky enough to see one at this rally. At this point, I didn't yet know I would be the future owner of Bajaj RE in Cambodia. 🛺
I also stumbled upon this cool old Cushman with a sidecar. You might want to check your leg length before attempting a ride in this sidecar though.
STRAGGLERS ARRIVE FOR SNACKTIME 🍿
As the last of the snacks and coffee began to disappear from the spread, the last few ralliers showed up and everyone began getting ready for the road.
FUEL STOP ⛽
A few of us forgot to fill up before the rally, myself included, so we rode over to a nearby fuel station and then decided to depart for the first stopover directly from the gas station.
DOWNTOWN 🏙️
There were several businesses offering free drinks and snacks for the ralliers downtown, so a large group concentrated there. The above bike on the right is a Zundapp Bella, the German answer to the Vespa and Lambretta.
There's my Vespa again on the right in the above photo. Such a wide variety of bikes were out for this rally, and I quite enjoyed just wandering around and snapping photos of all the various bikes.
SKA TIME 🎺
The rally ended at The Comet Bar, where several bikes parked along the edge of the narrow street.
A local ska band began playing after dark, and several awards and prizes were given out to rally participants.
Not too much more time passed and the end of the night was approaching. I still had a 20 mile ride back to my friend's house ahead of me, but I arrived safely and was glad I attended this scooter rally and made some new ffriends.