“Scooters off-road? Are you mental?”

I’m sure that’s what your parents would

ask if they were reading this. Being a

parent I’d ask the same question too if I hadn’t

already had a go. If you think back to the first

experience you have of a two-wheeled bike

with an engine, it was probably like most

other peoples - on scrub land or maybe even

a disused railway on a broken down Honda

Plonk 90, or that yellow Passola you borrowed

off your Mum. Whatever it was it didn’t matter,

the only thing that mattered was the fun. Not

being made for the job just made it better

especially when it turned out to be pretty good

off-road and you managed to blast past that

young lad on his made to measure CR80.

So that’s where it started for me some

time ago and I couldn’t wait to have another

tinkle this time with a helmet and some gloves.

We’d already seen that, although minor in

comparison to track racing, Europe was already

taking the plunge into off-road racing and, even

though the videos are a little rare, the ones you

can find on Google look organised and people

are enjoying it. So why don’t we have anything

like this in the UK? Should we get it started? WO

RD

S: C

HR

IS H

ALLI

DAY

P

HOT

OS:

PAU

L R

OB

INSO

N

C

WAS IT A LAUGH?DEFINITELY ANDWE WANT MORE

Our guinea pig was a Ludix Snake, we’d

already upgraded the transmission with some

Polini parts and we’d also dropped the stock

exhaust and replaced it with a Tecnigas Silent

Pro (£60). We found the basic system from

Tecnigas to be a good option, good low down

power and pretty quiet even when derestricted.

A bar conversion had already taken place on

our scoot so the only other things we needed, at

the very least, were spuddy tyres and a snorkel

to improve the chance of our scooter running

more than five minutes in the rain. Off-road

tyres in a scooter size, where do you get ‘em?

“Nowhere” seems to be the answer. Finally we

dropped on some Duro tyres with just the right

size and pattern. She was good to go, ish.

As you would expect, our maiden voyage had

to be in the rain. Once mounted you instantly

got the feeling that grip was low and I knew

it was going be fun. Add some pot holes,

corners and water and you could be forgiven for

thinking I rode it like I was pi**ed, if motorcross

is too much like hard work then scootercross

could be right up your street. Surprisingly

though, it kind of made sense, the Ludix felt

light, not that scary and pretty slow which was

what we expected. Was it a laugh? Definitely

and we want more, so much so we’ve already

purchased a rough looking NRG LC for our next

off-road adventure.As with any type of scooter riding or auto

sport there are risks, you could enjoy yourself

so much that you get lost, or something... At

the moment it seems that places to go off-

roading are limited, most off-road centres

won’t even allow you to enter the sites possibly

because this might encourage those bad lads

to steal scooters, which is something that we

obviously don’t want to assist in. Early next

year we’re going to look at the options available

to get something started in the

UK. It would help us a great deal

if we could get an idea on how

many people would be interested

in taking part. So if you’re keen

please let us know, register your

interest on our facebook page. n

Find us on facebook and register

your interest in Scooter-X. Simply

search for: Adrenalin Pedstop

Watch the video footage on Vimeo:

www.vimeo.com/adrenalinpedstop

YOU COULD BE FORGIVEN FOR THINKING

I RODE IT LIKE I WAS PI ED

* *

GET KITTED UP

The things you would need are pretty basic to

be honest and this is exactly why we like the idea

of Scooter-X; a rough looking scooter that runs,

some off-road tyres (we’re working on more

options with this one). Tyre size and availability

could actually be the deciding factor on which

scooters can be used. Protection; helmet, gloves,

boots and armour are essential if you want to

participate. As we gather more information we’ll

keep you updated.The best thing about Scooter-X is that anyone

can have a go, if your pockets aren’t too deep

then worry not it’s cheaper to take up than track

racing and it hopefully won’t be too serious

either, the fun factor has got to be at the top

of the list. In summary then, the perfect scoot

would need:

• Off-road tyres.• Low noise output to keep everyone happy.

• Good suspension travel front and back.

• Low down power with reasonable top

speed.• Brakes.

www.adrenalin-pedstop.com