anniversary of Vespa in 1996. The scooters were to drive from San Francisco to New York, fly to London, and ride from London to Pontedera. In typically generous style, Waid followed them to New York, hauling parts and all their gear in a van he outfitted as the ideal support vehicle.

   "The plan was simply for me to stay with the last rider and not let anyone get left behind without supplies and help....I slept in the van every night in the motel parking lot to safeguard supplies and keep expenses down. I got up every morning around 7:00 to give the first rider oil and plugs and take on the bags he had in the motel, and stayed around until noon or so when the last rider had recovered from the previous night's drinking.

    On the second day, Waid noticed a few of the riders trying to stretch but unable to release the throttle. He remembered a crude cruise control he'd seen someone use once: a simple coat hanger wire wrapped around the throttle hand grip, tightened with a rubber band to squeeze the grip, and pushed by the rider's thumb over the front brake lever when they reached cruising speed. The brake lever worked against the coat hanger to keep it from retuning but could be easily disengaged to slow down in case of emergency. That night, in Salt Lake City, he got coat hangers and rubber bands from a dry cleaner, and fashioned cruise controls for all the bikes.

   Once they got to New York, Waid flew ahead to London. The riders dealt with shipping their bikes and, in London, Waid scouted out transportation for the rest of the journey. Not wanting to ride to Rome on a used scooter with only two days to check it out, he settled on an Austin Mini.

   The trip through Europe was far less organized than in the US. When they arrived in Pontedera, the riders were overwhelmed by the

press, while Waid's role went relatively unrecognized. But it was a great show and he loved it. He realized his fame had spread when two strangers (one from the East Coast and one from Germany) approached him in Pontedera and said, "You must be Scooter Daddy."

WHAT'S NEXT?

    Waid's retirement salary allows him a comfortable living, but not as much travel as he'd like. In the immediate future, he's going to be sticking close to home, restoring a 1982 Bajaj three-wheeler pickup, and continuing to watch over the San Diego scooterists. He'll also be working part time at Vespa Supershop so Alex can get a day off once in awhile. If you see him at any of the shows, make a point to meet him and listen to his stories-- he's got a million of them! There's not a nicer, more generous soul in the entire scene. Scoot! Quarterly is proud he agreed to be on the cover of our premier issue and wish him many more happy and safe years of scooting!

2000 UPDATE--
THREE YEARS LATER

   Waid's had a rough few years, with some serious family issues taking him away from the scooter scene. He's getting back into things, though he's not quite up to the level of involvement he once was. He's bought and sold some bikes, and has plans to get one of the Dragster 180s from Vespa Supershop. At 61, he's still doing well overall and continues to ride.

While Matt was restoring his Allstate, Waid decided to restore the GS 160. Conrad Macy built the engine while Tim Stafford custom-crafted the body work and paint. The final product includes a Malossi-kitted P200 engine, Taffspeed Gold Line pipe, PX80 electric start flywheel, and a stock carb with a K&N filter on the front. The carb box is engraved, and Waid mounted a neon light under the engine-side cowl and added a small frame Corsa seat to better match the lines of the bike.

"I had seen a pink and white cutdown Vespa a young man named Tim had painted himself. I talked him into painting the GS for me in exchange for nearly everything I had (including a handlebar bike engine Tim was looking for). It took almost a year, because of miscommunication on both our parts, but Tim painted the GS 1984 Camaro electric blue. The engine-side cowl grill on the GS was badly torn. The bike apparently fell over when it was running and the nuts on the flywheel tore the grill. I wanted Tim to cut out the grill on the line indented on the cowl and to fold under ¼ inch so that the edge would look smooth. For over a year, Tim kept saying he couldn't do the cut, but when I finally said I would take it to someone else, he said, "I'll try," and did a beautiful job. It was the first paint job Tim eve took on fro somebody else. Tim is now the owner of TJ Scoots (a scooter and motorcycle paint shop) with many, many show-winning bikes to his credit. " The blue bike is almost as legendary as Scooter Daddy himself.

2000 Update--Three Years Later

The blue bike fell off Waid's trailer at a New Mexico rally and got pretty trashed. He pounded out the cowl and sprayed primer on it, but he says it's in definite need of a new paint job. He still rides it around San Diego.