Ryde saw a massive turn out of scooterists for the 2023 August Bank Holiday Scooter ride-out today (Sunday).
Thousands of Island residents and tourists lined the streets along the route as the noisy procession made its way from Ryde and through the villages of East Wight.
The ride-out began at Ryde Esplanade at 13:00, before passing through Nettlestone, St Helens, Bembridge, Yaverland, Sandown, Lake, Shanklin, Apse Heath and ending up at Sandown Airport at around 14:00, where most of the scooterists are based.
The number of scooter riders taking part in the procession was so large that it took about half-an-hour to pass.
The scooterists were entertained by a selection of bands at venues along the Esplanade and at the airport, creating a lively and entertaining weekend for Islanders, scooterists and visitors.
Great pictures.
I remember in ’79/’80, the vast influx of Mods, Rockers, Punks, Teddy Boys, and New Romantics. Happy days back then.
Old boys bikes.get on a proper machine. Stop stinking the island every year.people have lung problems as it is.to much oil in the fuel.
If you don’t like it stay indoors always one with negative comments, tell that to the thousands that came to watch along the ride out route they enjoyed it and never complained
Looks like you have made a spelling mistake.
Whilst it was great to see so many enjoying the whole Scooter event the ‘Stink’ was pretty horrific. I saw many walking along Ryde seafront covering their faces reacting to the stink.We hear so much about Emissions free zones & the harm these emissions do I wonder how this event is justified. Do they pay a charge for the poison they’re allowed to discharge? Can anything be done to run these Scooters on socially acceptable fuel?
So all can enjoy. Let’s have a serious debate not “stay at home if you don’t want to breath it in”
idiot – the people that live along ryde esplanade have three days worth of exhaust fumes pumped into their front rooms, which isn’t normally there, as most other vehicles do not create such a disgusting blue haze
those scooters need banning as they are pointless polluting relics of the 20th century
Well said i totally agree with you.
Its only once a year and it brings a lot of money to the island and a lot of people enjoy seeing the scooters.
The highlight for me was seeing a Nissan Micra with two elderly occupants travelling with the scooters along the Esplanade at Ryde after making a wrong turning. Comedy gold.
Almost every scooterist appears to be an overweight, bloated, miserable, 50 something year old man. The noise we hear is that poor engine straining to shift that beer addled carcass around.
Yep the photos don’t lie. It will not last.silly old gits.
Nice sexist comment, lucky it was not against a woman, you would be banged up.
Brutal.Quite a good sprinkling of young shavers though.
Personally for me I hate scooters and the rally. The noise and smell they make is beyond a joke. We go on about climate change but this event always gets missed by the green finger crowd. And do I dare mention the level of drinking and riding going on during this event with riders trying to rekindle something from a time long gone. People must be blind not to see it.
The scooter rally has been an annual event on the island for decades and shows no signs of stopping. Whatever your personal opinion, this event, along with many others, does bring in much needed revenue and publicity to island businesses and the island as a whole, which can only be a good thing? Any negative impact is minimal and short-lived. Live and let live why don’t you, it’s a long quiet winter!
I’d rather they do it in the winter when I don’t mind being indoors. Bank holiday weekends in the summer are quite precious, and 4 or 5 days of significant noise and pollution for some people, is not minimal.
Infinitely preferable than the persistent 24/7-365 pox of boy racers and non-legal chicken-chaser mopeds regularly plaguing the Esplanade and Union Street with their moronic,peace disturbing acceleratings l would say ?
I’m not sure holding this event during winter is a sensible suggestion for obvious reasons. Dozens of motoring events take place up and down the country during the summer months for very good reason.The scooter rally has taken place on the island for decades, it’s not new and shouldn’t surprise you being that it’s an annual planned event.
Yes there are concerns about pollution but it really is minimal when the vast majority of these scooters cover less than 1000 miles per year on what are very small capacity engines. To put this in to perspective, petrol go-carts, lawn mowers, strimmers and chain saws all pollute as do some aircraft at airshows. Where does this end? Perhaps next year take yourself away for the weekend when the event is on!
Excellent fun. We need more organic events like this. Bring more trade and money to the island.
It took almost 45 minutes for the scooters to pass through Sandown, mainly because they had to stop-start far too often. This causes much more smoke than constant running. It would have been far better if the police had assisted by closing off sections of road for 20 minutes or so to get them through much more smoothly and quickly. Much more of a condensed spectacle for the watching tourists too.