Cold War Skooter Love

Early '60's East German motorskooter, Simson Schwalbe and German couple feelin' the love, even during the cold war.
Look for my feature article on the Simson skooter brand in a future Bumpstart issue.

Baby Bump

Bumpstart arrived today. She's available at Powell's Books, Reading Frenzy, and many other fine establishments. Welcome to the world.

Scootin' Animals

Here's some of my favorite sketches from this past Stumptown.

A monkey on scooter that featured retractable swinging arms. Kool!!!! I want one.


Stunt Monkey showing off.



A sketch for Captain 8 Ball.


I have lots of sketches and will post more when I get time. Back to editing.

So...How Do You Really Feel?

In the current issue of Kickstart, I talked with Jeff Lillie about his 1995 scooter zine, PDX Scooter Rider. Due to space issues I wasn't able to include this marvelous letter he received from "Ed", who had very strong opinions on scooters and Jeff's zine. Whether or not you are a fan of scooters, enjoy one of the best letters to the editor I've seen in a long time.

It's a Mod, Mod, Mod World

Jason Rainey drew this loverly mod scooterboy for me during Stumptown. Check out Jason's online portfolio at: jae.imperialotter.com

Bacchus Raucous V

Last weekend I was in Richland, Washington for Bacchus Raucous V. It's one of my favorite scooter rallies and the Tri-city scooterists always show us a good time.


With beautiful scenery and lots of wineries, it almost feels like you are in Tuscany. Well, maybe if you squint and have a glass of red.


Frank Easterly, owner of Barnard Griffin Winery and ex-scooterist


Maryann was happy to know that Christ the King Sausage Fest was also going on that weekend.


Thanks Tri-cities, see ya next year!

Super Mod

Coming soon to Kickstart #7: An interview with famed comic book illustrator and ex-MOD, Dave Gibbons. It was a pleasure chatting with "Dashing" Dave.

Amerivespa Snapshots

I had a great time in Seattle during Amerivespa. Miles(LBSC) and I rode up from Portland and had a blast scooting along the backroads. I even got to ride his Sprint on part of the route.

Here's just a few photos from the trip. Check out scoot.net for tons more photos. Thanks to all involved in organizing Amerivespa!


Pit stop in Centralia (Thanks for the loaner Miles & Holly)


Don's BLT Ride stop featuring The Ballard Troll
(A production of As You Like It was going on when we pulled up. When leaving,we did a bump start as not to disturb them.)


Me and the minty fresh Stella

The always dapper, Don & Nancy!
(thanks for the fine Seattle hospitality)


Slugrockets with gummi slugs!


On the Fauntleroy Ferry to Vashon Island

MOD ala Mode

'Ello duckies,

I've been busy at work on our sixth issue of Kickstart so I havent been able to blog til now.

For this issue I am trying to work in a MOD theme. I just shot the centerfold today and think you will dig it. Our Mrs. Summer was a natural MOD girl right down to her go go boots.

I have lots of potential stories still in the hopper, so I must scoot and get back to work.

Cheers,
Kazza

Kickin' it in Portland

Do you like scooters? Do you like the Pacific Northwest? Do you want to make friends and influence others? If you answered yes to any of these questions, this is the place for you!

Welcome to my Kickstart blog. My name is Karen G, I'm the creator and editor of Kickstart. What's Kickstart, you may be asking yourself. Well, it's a scooter zine, hand-made with love from Portland, Oregon. Yeah, the place were it always rains. It's also home to lots of scooters, their proud owners, and many a scooter shop.

I'm currently working on our sixth issue, but will try and keep the blog updated as much as I can.

Drop me a line, let me know someone else is reading this. And if you have any scooter stories, I'd love to hear from you.

Gotta scoot,
Karen G