New Beginnings

Scootering brings people from all walks of life together, people we might not get to know   

otherwise, but because of our shared love of motor-scooters they enter our lives and if 

we are lucky enough they become part of our scooter family. Tomorrow, Portland bids a 

sad bon voyage to Orlando Subia, James and Deb Boehne who are setting off for new 

adventures beyond the Pacific Northwest. 

I will miss seeing Orlando’s smiling face at scooter events and hope to see him at future 

rallies.  I can’t help but think what my life would be like if I hadn’t met the Boehnes in the 

hallway of Freightliner Corporation eight years ago. James not so gently nudged me for 

a year about buying a scooter and invited me to my very first scooter rally. And I don’t 

know if there would have been a Bumpstart if our paths hadn’t crossed at the 18 

Wheelers Club. Thank you James and Deb for your encouragement and Canadian 

kindness you’ve shown me over the years. 

Good luck on your new adventures and remember to call your scooter family in Portland 

every now and again. 

Bumpstart # 4

5..4..3..2..1, we have lift off. Here's our fantastic voyage-themed cover for Bumpstart #4. Thanks to Bryan Bedell of 2strokebuzz for creating the cover and Emily Schaller for being our cover girl. I hope to get this issue back from the printers next week.

Have a cosmic weekend,
Karen

A Hot Rod Christmas

Bumpstart friend and contributor, Al Drake has added a new book to the Flat Out Press Catalog.

Christmas at Ed's Richfield (and Other Stories for Guys) is a collection of stories that recall memories of childhood Christmases during World War II, to the teen years in the 50's, and holidays with children and grandchildren.

Here's an excerpt from Christmas at Ed's Richfield:
I got to Ed’s Richfield shortly after dinner, and I was surprised none of the guys were around. It was already dark, and I was thinking about the impossibility of snow at Christmas, just two days away. It never snowed in Portland at Christmas, but my mother, who was from North Dakota, yearned for snow. It was just not Christmas without snow, she always said. She had a small glass globe with a farm scene, and when she shook it white flakes appeared in the solution to remind her of what she had left behind. Now, as I got out of my car, I noticed that the air had a metallic sharpness, but it was too warm for snow, almost as if the weather hovered between seasons.

I had expected some of the guys to be at the station as well as a bunch of customers, people out Christmas shopping, but the place was empty. From the office Ed saw me pull up and he waddled out the door to his car, calling over his shoulder, “Guide me on the rack.” Less than a month earlier he had traded his pristine ’53 Mercury in on a new ’55 Mercury Monterey hardtop, charcoal and salmon. As Ed backed the car up and maneuvered it into the building, the salmon paint glowed pink under the station’s fluorescent lights. I gestured him forward, guiding him onto the lube rack, although I wasn’t sure he needed help. It was typical of Ed, giving me something to do. I worked in a garage all day, but had to take a second job nights and weekends and Ed was good enough to let me work about 20 hours a week. I hoped that, with the extra money, I could buy some Christmas presents for my mother and sister.

Pick up a copy for your dad or favorite grease monkey here.

When Old was New

In every subculture there are divisions or groups that we, as individuals naturally gravitate to. The scooter community is no different. We have the vintage scooter enthusiasts and there are the modern-styled scooter fans. There was a time, however, when vintage scooters were the new kids on the block.

In the latest issue of Bumpstart, I feature a scooterist from that time, Vern Lee. Vern is a walking, talking piece of scooter history and a helluva of a nice guy.

Above photo: Vern with his Vespa GS, San Francisco (1960's)

He's also an excellent professional photographer, who documented that time. Vern generously supplied me with photos of the original Vespa Portland dealership, where he bought his first scooter. I don't know anyone else who has any photo documentation of this. Luckily, Vern kept all his photos and Vespa artifacts in such pristine condition. Today we have the privilige of viewing them. Thanks Vern.

Photos: Vespa Portland (circa 1960's) was located on Sandy Blvd. across from Colonial Mortuary.



It was owned by the Meyer Brothers, Gordon and Bob. I was told that Gordon also owned a Vespa 400.

Pick up a copy of Bumpstart # 3 to read the rest of the story....

Portland 'Zine Symposium '09, July 24 - 26

'Zinesters from all over the world will be heading to Portland State University this weekend for the 2009 Portland 'Zine Symposium. It runs Friday - Sunday and admission is FREE! Besides a ballroom full of great 'zines to check out, there will also be free workshops through out the event's run.

I'll be there! Be sure to stop by the Bumpstart table and say Hi!

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

Team Bumpstart braved "Snow Apocalypse" and gathered for our annual Xmas do. We also briefly discussed the upcoming second issue of Bumpstart. It's looking really good! Captain 8 Ball and I traded our favorite holiday drink recipes and we snapped our staff Xmas photo. Always the fashion bug, Captain 8 Ball outshines Steve and I with his new silver parka and Modified scarf.


Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy Scootin' New Year!
Team Bumpstart
xoxo

Happy Anniversary Cutters!

The PuddleCutters Moped Gang celebrated their second year of swarmin' and destroyin' with a ride this past Saturday.

Seattle's Mosquito Fleet buzzed on down to join in on the fun.

If you want to see more rad mopeds, visit my Flickr account.

Shutterbug

Recently, I was lucky enough to have professional photographer, Peter Dickson shoot some photos for me. He's a fellow Portland scooterist and very accomplished photographer, who has done ad work for Nike and many other big name companies.
I was blown away at the level of care and amount of time Peter devoted for the photos. He definitely went beyond the call of duty and I'll always appreciate it.

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