Last year Scooter Centre Cologne celebrated its 30th birthday. Scootering was there to join in the celebrations.
There are few scooterists in the world that haven’t heard of Scooter Centre Koln (SCK) or the BGM brand. From humble beginnings it’s grown into one of the largest suppliers of scooter parts in the world. Other than during the ‘Covid years’ SCK has always hosted an annual open day, sometimes this has morphed into the Cologne Custom Show but never before has Scooter Centre attempted to host such a large celebration as the Scooterist Weekender Cologne.
Held over the first weekend in September, the Weekender was based at the Motorworld complex in Cologne’s Ossendorf district. I’d never heard of this complex before but describing it as ‘petrolhead heaven’ doesn’t even come close to explaining what goes on there. The buildings are from the old, pre-war Cologne airport and are filled with classic cars and motorcycles of all descriptions. There’s a vintage Porsche next to the reception desk and Michael Schumacher’s private collection has its own dedicated area. I could have spent the weekend just looking at the assembled vehicles but there was a very specific party to attend.
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Although a nightclub had been rented for those wanting to party until dawn, for many the main event was the custom show. Although the hall was opened on Friday, by Saturday morning it was obvious that the 160 or so scooters that had registered for the show in advance were only the tip of a very large iceberg. All credit to those exhibitors who moved their displays not once, but twice or more to accommodate the growing number of scooters. Although it was pleasing to see several former Scootering cover scooters in the flesh, the thing I love about German shows is the variety of machines on display. Although our scenes are closely linked, there are some very real differences in the way we approach customisation and tuning. Without creating any ‘spoilers’, we’ve got some very tasty machines in the pipeline for your future enjoyment. There’s also strong interest in preserving British customs and again, we’ve arranged for some long-lost gems to appear in front of our camera lens.
If all that sounds a little like promising jam tomorrow, it is. In fact there was so much to take in that we’ll return to the show next month, highlighting a couple of our favourite scooters and showcasing some of the traders that don’t usually end up on this side of the Channel.
For now, enjoy a few selected images that give a flavour of the celebrations and while you’re taking in the splendour, raise a glass to Scooter Centre. Here’s to the next 30 years!
Terrific Twin
In the lead up to the show Rimini Lambretta Centre had dropped some none-too-subtle hints that it was to unveil something special at the show, it wasn’t wrong. At 3pm the hall reverberated to the sound of a very free-revving liquid cooled 250cc twin. Not to be confused with the well-known Targa Twin, this is a completely fresh development by Casa Performance. With a crankcase milled from solid billet, this has to be one of the most beautiful pieces of scooter engineering ever produced. Although full specifications (and price!) are still to be confirmed the headlines are:
Cylinders: 2x Motori Seven KZ 125cc kart cylinders (bore x stroke: 54.5x 54mm).
Crankshaft: 2x HD race cranks with central joining collar mounted on four bearings. Note, this crank is assembled outside the crankcase.
Carburettors: 2x 28mm Dell’Orto VHST.
Induction: Crankcase inlet.
Transmission: Multiple gear train. Note, no chain.
Clutch: Cushdrive Powermaster 7 plates, 12 springs.
Gearbox: Cyclone 5.
Rear wheel: CNC with integral disc.
Cooling: Casa Performance belt-driven water pump, integrated into the engine casing.
We will of course be keeping a close eye on how this astounding project develops.
Z Design
An outstanding display by Michael Zinnen picked up four awards including Best in Show, our former cover star Kind of 70s collecting two awards of its own. Michael Zocher, the owner of Batman (pictured below), took advantage of the Scootering stall to pick up another copy of the magazine.
Perfect patina
As this lovely Serveta proves, the show wasn’t all about tuning and chrome.
Words and images: Stan
