Because of the closure of the El Mirage Dry Lakes by the Bureau of Land Management, the inaugural US Motor Scooter Land Speed Trials had to be relocated to Route 66 in Devore, California, at the 11th hour. The weather was not cooperative there either; that, and the late change in venue probably kept at least half of the potential spectators from attending the event. Not to be defeated, however, the Motor-Scooter International Land-Speed Federation held their land speed trials anyway, and new speed records were established in 16 different classes, with the top speed of 90 MPH turned in by Patrick Owen on a Yamaha TMAX 500cc scooter.
Most of the records were established by newer scoots, with the fastest vintage bike speed turned in by Kirk Snell and a 1967 Vespa 125 at 72 MPH. Lewis Laurito won both sidecar classes with his entries: The 250cc sidecar category was won with a 41 MPH run on his 1963 Vespa 150 with side hack, and his interesting 1949 Salsbury took the 250+cc sidecar category at 42 mph.
Plans for the second annual event (again trying for El Mirage) have already gotten under way, with a tentative November 23, 2011, date established. More information on how you can enter one of next year’s classifications is listed on the Federation website as are the rest of this year’s results and many more photos. Some of the bikes (especially the older scoots) would certainly have gone faster if the course were longer and flatter, but we will have to wait to find out at next year’s event. I can’t foresee too many of this year’s top speeds remaining unbroken in 2011.
