Word was that all the Lawrence guys meet at Frank and Chelsea's place at 4 o'clock. Paul would show up from out of town with a huge trailer to haul all the Vespas to the Midwest's greatest scooter run. Everyone got a little upset as midnight passed and Paul hadn't shown yet. So we tried to feel comfortable at Frank's place and to not worry about all these damn mosquitos sucking all our blood. Eventually Paul made it and we could take off for the trip.

We arrived at the well known site at 10 in the morning. Everybody was already up and going, and there was an even larger amount of people than last year. As the number of scooter lovers seems to be declining in Europe, everything seems fresh and starting up here in the U.S. It looked like our favorite scooter club, Hard Luck, had done an awesome job at organizing this rally once again.

Once again, they had their infamous Beast up and running. It had new and improved features this year though.

The stock fuel tank was replaced by a huge tank to satisfy all the driving needs. The engine was a 177 Polini (I believe) with a Malossi Reed Valve inlet and some larger carb. Flashlights were attached to warn everyone once the engine started up. The exhaust was the same up-and-over exhaust of last year, and you really had to watch out not to burn your legs when you were riding. Motorcycle bars rounded up the image of this awesome rat-bike.