I started this club in October of 1999 on Yahoo groups. I started riding a few years earlier. First on a Honda Motorcycle, then a 50cc Italjet Scooter. The nearest club was in NYC. I just didnt want to ride 2 hours just to meet other Scooterists. At that time Scooter Clubs were mostly based on Classic Scooters. Since no one else was in the Club, I elected myself President. LOL It took 2 years of advertising online and in Scoot Magazine (from California) before anyone showed up.

Long Island is tough demographic. Money, Ego & Greed are the gods of the road around here and it is an island full of Harleys. Most think of a Scooter as either a Kids Toy or a girls bike. It is also a Big island. Picking a spot to meet up at is very hard. Sometimes the ride to get to meet us is more than enuf for some casual riders. That is what have out here. Casual Riders. Sometimes, a little too casual.

A lot of owners out here are just that. Owners. Not Riders. Their Scooter sits like a Trophy in their Garage. Looking cool by itself. A ride beyond their little Hamlet scares the hell out of them it seems. Not all, we do have some fine dedicated riders out here but a lot of them have switched over to a more popular Motorcycle.

The idea of the club is really not Scooters. It is too make friends. Many freindships have been forged as a result of this club. Many more have been broken. I can only say that it has not always fun. Many people have come and gone. Many of the people were my good friends. Many more were Assholes. At one time our “Swarms” attracted as much as a dozen regulars. Now that has dwindled down to a handful at best. So has the friends I have as a result of this club.

I have invested a lot of money in this club too. From Websites to Stickers & Advertising and never asked for anything in return. For a while we charging people to join The Long Island Vespa Club, but that is free now too. Never mind the time that I put into maintain all that and the Facebook pages.

A lot of our Members have moved away too. They are all over, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Carolina, even Jersey. I revel in the fact that they keep in touch, but alas they are too far to ride with us. Speaking of far away, I moved out the Suffolk County and that made it harder for me to organize things in Nassau. Anyways, next year will see some changes and we will, Scoot On… Marbles Mahoney President & Founder.