History
Bobb Todd edges ahead on his C70 – complete with slow moving vehicle sign.
The Mad Bastard Scooter Rally started as all good things start, late at night over several bottles of fine Scotch. Back in 2004, CMG Grand Fromage, Editor ‘arris and staff photographer Mr Seck had the problem of trying to work out what to do with a long term Honda Ruckus that they had manage to snag from Honda Canada for the summer.
It’s a fifty scooter, what can you do other than ride around town and pick up groceries? The best of a bottle of Laphroaig later and the idea of a long distance ride was hatched. “Another dram Mr Seck?” and with that a long non-stop ride was conceived. “Shame to put the rest of this bottle away, another Mr. Harris?” and we now had a route around Lake Ontario that just so happened to tally up to about 850 km. The first ever Mad Bastard Scooter Rally had been born.
Costa Mouzouris departs at dawn on his Motobecane. Sadly he didn’t get far from the parking lot before mechanical problems forced him out of the Rally.
Costa Mouzouris departs at dawn on his Motobecane. Sadly he didn’t get far from the parking lot before mechanical problems forced him out of the Rally.
Accompanied by Iron Butter (as in arse, not shaken cow’s milk) Bobb Todd, like (twisted) minded Gary Davidson and another guy who heard about the rally on CMG and thought he’d give it a go, we set off at the break of day, heading east to the border crossing at Kingston. I won’t go into the details here and now, ’cause you can read all about it below, but about 22 hours later we got back to where we started and had just completed the inaugural Mad Bastard Rally.
The following year we did it again but this time with an organized hotel and a Yamaha scooter up for grabs as the main prize. Realizing that this was going to only get bigger, we decided to make it an every two year event (the odd ones of course) and in 2007 changed the route to start out of Belleville, Ontario and loop up to Ottawa and back.
Although this is all now history, we’ve covered each an every rally in the pages of CMG and had some outside coverage to boot. Following is a breakdown of all the write ups so that you can relive or just plain laugh at the madness that has gone before us …
MBSR 2004
‘Arris assumes the position …
Rally write up (CMG Online)
The original Mad Bastard Scooter Rally with a ride around Lake Ontario. I think we had about five people, but it was epic none the less.
One was a journo from an Ontario motorcycle magazine but he didn’t finish and the mag went tits up soon after. You’ll have to be happy with just the CMG write up!
MBSR 2005
Clown suit gets extra points in 2005.
A year later we tried it again, this time with a sponsor and a new Yamaha scooter up for grabs. Turn out was up to around 20, but the route remained the same.
Rally Write up (CMG Online)
Editor ‘Arris’ take on the event.
The Making of MBS ’05 (CMG Online)
How we did it and the rules we came up with for the MBS. Oh and don’t forget the bonus points for getting naked on the ferry, taking a group shot with some Boyz in the Hood in Rochester and a pic of you and Tansy-the-Waitress in Ridgeway.
MBS in the First Person (CMG Online)
Competitors accounts of how they managed to complete what must be the toughest scooter rally in the world! In our opinion anyway.
CBC Radio Interview (CBC)
Listen to this 7 minute report of Philip Lee-Shanok’s account of the MBS Rally which aired on national CBC radio on the World This Weekend, the Saturday after the Rally.
“Mad Dogs and Scooters” – link no longer valid (Mark Richardson, Toronto Star)
Mark Richardson, the editor of the Wheels section of the Toronto Star, was also committed to the ’05 rally …
MBSR 2007
After the 2005 rally we realized that we’d have to make this a once very two years event in order to be able to devout the time it needs to do it properly. 2007, was the best turn out to date with over 50 entries – some of which were truly mad!
Early morning send offs in Belleville in 2007.
Rally Write up (CMG Online)
Editor ‘Arris gives the administrators take on the event
660 at 60 (PDF download courtesy of Inside Motorcycles magazine)
Hobie Post takes his classic Vespa 125EX through the rigours of the Mad Bastard.
Going the Distance (PDF download courtesy of Cycle Canada magazine)
The once Editor of Cycle Canada, Costa Mouzouris, is a Mad Bastard fan. In his first attempt he hardly made it out of the parking lot before his aging Motobecane broke down. Thankfully for 2007, he does most of the rally and has a great story to tell as a result.
800 km on 49 cc – are you mad? (Wheels.ca)
2005 rally winner and editor of the Toronto Star Wheels section, Mark Richardson, tries to retain his title as maddest bastard of them all.
MBSR 2009
It just seems to get bigger and better. In 2009 we took the rally to Gatineau, Quebec and devised the most rural route to date. Everyone loved this sell-out event (save for maybe a couple who wiped out on the gravel section …) with 75 riders leaving the start.
Lots of turtles came out to cheer on the scoots!
Mad Bastard Scooter Rally 2009 – behind the curtain (CMG Online)
Editor ‘Arris give his account of all the fun and games that happened at MBSR HQ.
Mad Bastard 2009 – a rider’s perspective (CMG Online)
Rider Jamie Leonard tells of his tale of woe as he tries to get up some big hills on his Tomos moped.
When good scooters go mad (Wheels.ca)
Toronto Star scooter columnist Andrew Meeson recounts his adventure alongside 05 rally winner Mark Richardson.
Dirty Girls ride report (dirtygirlmotorracing.com)
Andrea Goodman of Team Dirty Girls on Hondas does a ride report on their rally. Mhhh, dirty girls ….
MBSR 2011
2011 saw us getting close to our maximum number of riders, with 92 riders starting in our first (and hopefully last) wet MBSR. Still, the riders were troopers and most managed to finish alive, some even doing the optional bonus loop for added torture.
The rain, the rain!
Mad Bastard Scooter Rally – rally report (CMG Online)
Costa Mouzouris gives his account of the wet 2011 rally. The lad did the bonus loop too. Sicko!
In pictures (CMG Online)
The best of all the submitted pics – downloadable from Smugmug.
MBSR – The U.S. Invasion (CMG Online)
The epic account of Dick Davidson’s MBSR on a Malaguti moped.
Going Slowly Mad on a Scooter (T.O Star)
Costa also wrote up his trials and tribulations for the Toronto Star newspaper.
2011 Mad Bastard Scooter Rally (moto123)
Dustin A. Woods didn’t know what endurance was until he did the MBSR.
Mad Bastard Scooter Rally (Motorcycle USA)
Kanishka Sonnadara finds that donning a silly costume and hoping on a 50 cc scooter for 17 hours is the ultimate road warrior experience.
All Night Long (Cycle Canada)
Steve Thornton takes a KYMCO Quannon 150 on the 800 Kms of this year’s Mad Bastard.
Interview with Rob Harris (Pit Pass Radio)
The latest bunch of folks interested in the world’s craziest two-wheeled gathering are Pit Pass Radio. They called Editor ‘Arris and asked him to explain the rally’s ins and outs on their show.