2011 Mods vs. Rockers: Great motorcycle pictures

My Royal Enfield was running fine Saturday morning but it wouldn't be going along for the 2011 Mods vs. Rockers ride through the region around Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The motorcycle and I only had time to sneak away from chores long enough to pay the registration fee, collect the t-shirt and grab some quick photos of the British motorcycles and clever scooters gathering for the event. I hope you enjoy them.

Scooter pilots roll past a Triumph Bonneville in custom paint.

A cliche? I don't care. The British flag looks great on a helmet.

The Union Jack adorns a headlight on this Triumph Speed Triple.

Appropriate plate.

Goggles and helmet await combat.

It is possible to make a scooter look fearsome.

"Killer Bee" packs ammo crates.

Little electric scooter has an appealing patina.

Pink is perfect, if she's riding a scooter.

This scooter pilot is prepared for the worst.

Blood-red spokes and a white wall tire. A great look.

He'll make a custom café racer jacket to your design

Mike Woulfe attended Saturday's Mods vs. Rockers event in Fort Lauderdale dressed to rumble. He wore a leather jacket he decorated to his own design.

And he's willing to make one for you, to your design.

According to his RockerJackets.com website:

"I'll even use your patches. Let's work out a design by phone or email, and send it to me. I do top quality work. I open the jackets at the bottom seam and do all sewing and mounting of studs without damaging the lining. And, studs placed around the collar are folded inside so you can't see the unsightly stud legs if you wear the jacket with the collar up. Once all the decorating work is done, I resew the bottom seam of the jacket with my 90-year-old Singer 96-10.

"I will usually have one or two ready to go jackets on eBay. I also usually have one or two undecorated jackets in stock, ready to design. Most jackets cost me $120 to $150, and are good quality jackets sold through Jammin leather or Leatherup.com

"I don't mark up the jackets. You're paying for my labor, and the patches. A basic decoration with around 100 studs, one large patch, and four small patches will add another $100 dollars to the base cost of the jacket.

"The last jacket on eBay had more than 400 studs and quite a few patches, and cost $400. Now you're getting the idea."

Woulfe is a longtime South Florida radio newsman and motorcycle enthusiast. He has made a study of the clothes worn by the original rockers. The young British riders of the '60s imprinted their sense of style on café racer society.

His reading of history is that the rockers' famous clashes with London's mods weren't that violent.

"Nobody got killed. These were working class kids and they had an attitude. There were fights but there always was someone there to say 'OK, that's enough,' and it would be over."

Saturday's friendly Mods vs. Rockers event paid tribute to the styles, motorcycles and scooters of that era. And there's no better way to show a little attitude than a leather jacket.

When you park, where do you park your helmet?

When I start my Royal Enfield Bullet I like to keep it running until I get where I'm going. It starts reliably, but why tempt fate?

So Saturday's Mods vs. Rockers ride was a true Maximum Test for the Bullet. Like most "poker run" style events, Mods vs. Rockers included more stopping and chatting than running and riding. The Bullet never stuttered, so my biggest challenge became where to put my helmet and jacket while chatting and eating.

The cleverest idea, I thought, was the woman who pressed a parking meter into service to hold her crown.

For most, though, it was a matter of "perch and pray." Pray, that is, that the massive plastic helmet does not crash, smash and dent a fender on the way down.

Some modern helmets are so huge they dwarf the motorcycles they adorn. How big is this man's head?

This Triumph owner seemed to find a more secure spot on the passenger pillion.

Even more original, I thought, was the guy who used his tail lamp assembly to hold his helmet. At least it doesn't have far to fall from there.

Of course, if your headpiece is a vintage one, complete with goggles, it looks perfectly fine and very dramatic no matter where you proudly pose it on the motorcycle.

But check this out: This Honda owner has made a prize display out of the common ploy of hanging the helmet by its strap from the handlebars, like a bucket. The helmet is color coordinated with the motorcycle, and look at the demure white gloves! Very cool.

White gloves would not be practical on a British motorcycle, and I include this shot of a BSA not just because the helmet is securely stored, but because I particularly liked the handy rag wrapped in Velcro, perfect for wiping the hands after encountering a spot of motor oil.

The scooters along for the ride generally did a better job of stashing helmets. Vespa seems to have thought of everything, including an under-seat hook that neatly enfolds a helmet in the bodywork. The owner offered to remove the helmet so I could get a better shot of his machine, but it was the helmet I liked!

Where do you park your helmet when you park your bike?

Mods vs. Rockers ride brings out the fun and frustration of riding vintage bikes

Enfield "row" at the event.

 Royal Enfield motorcycles have a sense of humor. Mine thinks it is very amusing to crack off the plastic stalks that hold the oversize turn signal lamps required by the Department of Transportation. I've written about this before. 

So it was almost no surprise that, as I kicked the Bullet to life Saturday and donned my helmet, the left front signal stalk broke in half, leaving the lamp dangling by its wires. 

We were on our way to join second annual Mods vs. Rockers event in Fort Lauderdale. Hundreds of people would walk past my Enfield there, invariably mistake it for a vintage motorcycle and ask "What year is that?" Their second question would likely be "Why does it have only one front turn signal?" 

I decided to press on, regardless (after removing the dangling signal lamp). 

This rat scooter could fly.

I enjoy the Mods vs. Rockers ride because it proceeds at speeds friendly to clapped out vintage scooters (ridden by the Mods), and thus is no strain for me and my "Rocker" 1999 Bullet. Further, it brings out machines rarely seen at the Harley-intensive bike weeks held in Florida.

Ron Mallet, in yellow, and his bike (below) are center of attention.

This year's event did not disappoint. A crowd gathered around Ron Mallet's very clean Yamaha based cafe racer. He remembers that the frame came from a 1979, but can't date the rest of the machine because it was built "from a pile of parts."

Mallet says he has 13 other motorcycles at home but no sooner does he get one completed than it sells. He already had a "serious offer" for the blue cafe racer, although he doesn't consider it finished yet. The hardest part of building it, he said, was "getting everything hidden under the seat. There isn't much room."

The ride stop at Specialized Motorcycles in Fort Lauderdale was an eye-opening look at the "museum" of this high-end creator of high performance motor vehicles. One bay is devoted entirely to Rickman motorcycles. None, as far as I could tell, was powered by a Royal Enfield Interceptor motor.

At the other end of the scale was a yellow Cushman that wasn't along for the ride, but was on display at our stop at the Scooter Superstore in Hollywood, Florida. The coconut on the handlebars was a cup holder!

Even neater was the kickstand, made more practical by the addition of a white plastic shift knob at the tip!

Along for the ride was a terrific looking Volkswagen-powered BMW, the creation of Bob Lester, of Fort Lauderdale.

It came by its patina honestly: he built it in 1977, mostly by looking at four other VW-BMW conversions in town at the time. His goal was to keep the motorcycle as stock as possible, resulting in a lot of double-takes from viewers. It really did resemble the classic BMW powered BMW on the ride.

It's no problem keeping the VW motor cool, Lester told me, because the motor doesn't build up much heat. It came from a VW bus. It's barely working to move the motorcycle.

My favorite detail: the mighty VW powered motorcycle has a little ding-ding bicycle chime on the handlebars!

All in all, a great day. I even got a T-shirt. Thank you, Louise Dutton, Vintage-Rider and Coattail Productions.

More pictures from Mods vs. Rockers event

My Royal Enfield rounded the final bend for the lunch stop Saturday at the Mods vs. Rockers event in Fort Lauderdale. As I downshifted I felt my foot slip and, out of the corner of my eye, I watched as the shift lever rubber skipped gaily along the road.

"Did you lose something off your bike?" a woman rider asked me later.

Yes, I admitted. "But I walked back and got it!"

It was a great day, if you don't mind a little rain on your parade, and I can't resist sharing some more pictures of the great scooters and motorcycles that took part.

An Allstate scooter. Ever seen one?

A 'Military' Vespa?

Vespa GT really was fast.

I love casquette nacelles. This is a BSA.

Iron cross mirror on a Vespa? Great!

Rockin' Rocker.

Mods vs. Rockers event snorts and roars

Two Royal Enfield motorcycles humbly joined the pack of BSAs, Nortons, Triumphs and at least one Velocette at the Mods vs. Rockers event Saturday in Fort Lauderdale. Not humble at all were the snorting packs of Vespas and even a vintage Allstate (a Vespa model once sold by Sears Roebuck).

In fact, for unmitigated noise level, I think the vintage scooters won easily. The newer scooters along on the ride were whisper silent, of course.

As bikers meetings go, this one certainly attracted a wide range of machines. The event, under weather that ranged from British style drizzle to Fort Lauderdale sunshine, was sponsored by Yacht Productions, Inc. and Vintage-Rider.com

It started from Varsity Cycle at U.S. 1 and Northeast 26th Street. One vintage motorcycle made it all the way to the other side of U.S. 1 before breaking down.
I counted 59 machines at the lunch stop at the Dania Beach Grill. Organizers said there were a 100 entries. The day concluded with a showing of the Mods vs. Rockers movie Quadrophenia at Cinema Paradiso, following a judged bike show held on the street in front of the cinema.

The scooters did not hold the big bikes back on the side streets and byways of Fort Lauderdale. The Rockers did make a better show of period dress, I thought.

Michael Woulfe of Boca Raton sported the most appropriate leather jacket. None of the scooterists I saw copied the Swinging London clothing style you see on "real" Mods in the movie. Styles ran closer to the flip flops and t-shirts scooter riders don in our beachside community.

One fellow bravely wore a "kilt."

"What is the protocol for riding a motorcycle wearing a skirt?" I asked.

"The last guy who called this a skirt got killed," he replied.

John Largey of Boca Raton charged up and down on his 1967 Vespa Grand Tourismo, herding riders and directing traffic like a one-man squad of MPs. He dashed to the aid of any scooterists who coasted off to the side, powerless.

Largey's machine has a four-speed manual transmission and a racing crank, and he has done the Tail of the Dragon on a scooter. The most remarkable thing about him is his right ankle, tattooed with a perfectly rendered Vespa and skeleton rider.

His Vespa did break down, luckily in the parking lot of Competition Cycle in Dania Beach, one of the stops on the ride. The easy proximity of parts did him no good, however, and the Vespa went onto a trailer.

Scooterist Andrew Osburn rode all the way down from Winter Haven to take in the event. He rode down inside his new Toyota Prius. His 1980 P125 "rat" Vespa (it's painted flat black) couldn't come because the Prius wasn't scheduled to have a trailer hitch installed until Monday. He still had fun.

Jody Finver of Coconut Grove probably had the cutest (it was plaid) back pack of any scooter passenger, and at one point adopted a seating position with landing gear up that struck me as remarkable.

The other fellow on a Royal Enfield was Charlie Corso, of Fort Lauderdale, on his 2008 Electra. He said he "loves it" and I was interested to hear that because Corso has had many motorcycles. He knew exactly what he could expect from a Royal Enfield — lots of smiles at less than Interstate speed — and gets it, he said.

The original Mods and Rockers famously rioted at British beachside resorts in the early '60s. There was no hint of that Saturday, although one woman on a Kawasaki teasingly wore a black t-shirt emblazoned with "F-(the actual word) your scooter."

"Where else could I wear it?" she laughed. Her belt buckle revealed that she is also a scooter enthusiast.

Who isn't?

Organizers listed major sponsors of the event as Majic 102.7. Dockwalk Magazine, Rick Case Honda, VESPA Varsity Cycle Shop of Fort Lauderdale, Webcast 1, Jim Raycroft Photography, YachtingToday.TV, Wes Scott Cycles Inc., Westrec Marinas, StormLine Marine Supply, Brickell Chiropractic, Advanced Marine Services, Competition Cycle, Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club(VJMC) and Pond Hoppers, Inc. Profits went to Stray Aid and Rescue, a no- kill, not for profit volunteer animal rescue organization with a mission to stop pet overpopulation.