This thing started in the spring of 2003. Brian Kinney and Alex Austin, then part time sales associates employed at a scooter dealership in Southern California, acquired P-series silver Vespas. Together with fellow sales associate Jorge Andrade, they rode locally in the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood, often riding up and down Mulholland Drive. The idea of something resembling a scooter club came as a joke, more Spinal Tap than Sepultura, but Stephen Rimlinger, another sales associate, helped create the iconic logo, and The Vespastics were born. A chance meeting with Ben and Bob of Portland based Modified Clothing in Vegas the following winter, led to joggers and patches, emblazoned with the cog logo. The group then quickly expanded from employees to customers, family, and friends. Get togethers at rallies and informal, often spontaneous, rides around town continued throughout the year.
But this was the calm before the storm. Six months after the Vespastics inception, a new scooter group formed in Hollywood, with an emphasis on retro fashion, classic bikes, and weekly meet ups for rides about town. The Vespastics supported these early rides for over a year, and helped the new club to get started, as Los Angeles is more than big enough for multiple organizations to support the same hobby. But scenes have a tendancy to breed territorial pissings and absurd rivalries. Unpleasantries, rumors, and threats were exchanged and the ensuing division gave birth to the latest dramatic feud, mythically perpetuated by the bored and ignorant for pure online tabloid spectacle. Yin had found Yang, though it played out more Sharks vs. Jets, than Bloods vs. Crips. This contest was unfortunately exacerbated by Vespastics themselves, who would inflict maximum verbal damage before vanishing from the scene, pissing in their own pool before their exit.
Still, the group flourished, establishing a weekly meeting/ride at Cat & Fiddle Pub in Hollywood on Wednesday nights. More would ride, with members riding to as many as 20 rallies a year. They even began their own rally, held the first weekend in October. What started as a “Pumpkin Run” in 2004 became an annual rally, with “Night of the Vespastics” in 2005, followed by “Moto Zombi” the following year and every year since. More schwag was added, with buttons, stickers, cards, clothing, and cog badges bearing the insignia. By early 2005, expansion and change was inevitable, with several members relocating to New Orleans, San Francisco, and beyond, and others moving on. Rallies were no longer confined to California, but East Coast, Pacific Northwest, and across the pond as well. Groups continued to carry on and expand, keeping true to the original concept of just getting out there on scooters, and having fun. All the while, the group maintained friendships with clubs all over the world. All but one…
In early 2006, the group was shaken back to it’s foundations, mainly over a woman, as obvious cliches go. Those who remained, quietly withdrew from the public eye, riding and travelling in small groups with minimal fanfare, and getting on with trivial adult matters, such as marriage, kids, transplants, and careers. As of today, the Vespastics are back on the road, some scattered across the world, some still cruising through the San Fernando Valley. The gatherings are less public, and less frequent, keeping true to the spirit of the original trio. This summer, the Vespastics will return to the Isle of Wight rally, celebrating the club’s fifth anniversary. The road ahead waits…
As of this posting, the Hollywood group, so often touted as the bitter rival, is now defunct, gone without a trace. So it goes…
