The Magnetos History

What follows is a monologue of the Club's history, from formation through June 2006.  This is an enormous body of work, to which full thanks must be given to Richard and Margaret Brands who have exhaustively compiled it.  This will be updated annually and makes for fascinating reading.  If you find any errors or omissions, or wish to contribute to it, please feel free to email webmaster@magnetos.org

Magnetos Scooter Club NZ Inc

Formation

During the ‘Kune Kune Ride’, a run organized to celebrate the birthday of Goetz Neugebauer, at the Helensville pub, an English rider introduced himself to me.  It was after the run that he rang me and introduced himself as Gary from Whenuapai.  He asked if he could cross the causeway to Herald Island and come over for a cup of tea and a chat.  

Gary said that he had noticed that there were plenty of scooters riding in Auckland but there was no club. The exception was a group that had been repairing/refurbishing scooters for a long time, and indeed after a riding group of 1989 /92 had folded, I had endeavoured to be included with this group on their occasional rides with very limited success.  The mainly city-based riders were spontaneous in their planning of rides, and as I lived some 18 miles away from the centre of the Auckland scooting universe, I was not able to be included.  My experiences had meant that I had already been riding scooters over 27 years by then, and the Auckland city riders were, in the main, younger than even that.

Gary and I discussed the lack of a scene and he said that he was considering putting the word out with the Auckland scooter shops to encourage interest in a scooter group.  He intended inviting any interested scooter rider to come for a beer and chat at Galbraiths Ale house, which was both central and, had good beer.  He asked if I would be in for that?  Heck, yes!  The shops must have informed the right crowd because the number of riders that came was impressive.  

Inaugural Meeting at Galbraith’s Ale House, Auckland

Gary spoke to the meeting and explained how he could not see any scene as such in a city with a good number of scoots on the street.  He asked how would folks feel about being in a club such as the ones he had been in the UK?  He received very definite thumbs up response.  The riders were requested to leave their email addresses and to meet again two weeks later.

The next meeting was even larger and the beer garden was absolutely packed at Galbraiths. Several names had been put forward for the club name and the meeting chose the name of MAGNETOS as was voted the most popular.  The oldies, not only me but the traditional riders as well, liked that club name given how the early scoots all had magnetos for their spark generation.  This meeting terminated with a giant swarm of 62 riders that buzzed the whole city in a way never seen before in such numbers.  The New Zealand Herald’ even reported on our ride, without any input from us, even giving us an editorial name of ‘Hells Cherubs’.

Anyone who now knows Gary will know that he is a mover and shaker.  He did a good job in convincing me, as the oldest there, into being the inaugural Chairman and setting it all up!!  I told you Gary isn’t slow didn’t I?  My scooter handle, Old Mod, came from the period in England when I was riding from 1959-1967.  Yes, it’s true that I was at Brighton ’63-65, hence Old Mod.

Club Patch

Founding club member, Damian Kurth, designed the club’s visual identity.  The club has acknowledged his donation in the club’s registration documents with the Incorporated Society/Companies Office.  The first year’s subscription was given to Damian as a gift.  The club’s seal was also fashioned from his design.  Stickers were manufactured and leg shields and the huge wall banner was emblazoned with this very design.  The club has sold leg shields and stickers for fund-raising.

Incorporated Society

Margret and I decided to set the Club up formally and become an Incorporated Society as much as to be a signal that we were serious and intended to last and not ‘fade away’ as so many clubs can, and do, but also to have a visible structure and to be socially responsible with public liability insurance. The very much-publicised court case dealing with the accident of a rider versus vehicle on the Port Hills near Christchurch made us very aware of social responsibility to club members.  In other words we would NOT be lightweight or loose!

For the insurance to protect our members the cost is $500 and gives us cover of $1,000,000.  Either fundraising or the charge of club subscription pays for this protection.  This means, it the club has 100 members, then $5 of each year’s subscription is towards the annual cost.

Club Organisation

Founding Officers
Chairman:  Richard Brands
Secretary: Micah Butt
Treasurer: Fraser White
Sergeant-at-Arms: Tonette Jones
Runs Officer: Matt Cochran
Runs Event: Brodie Croucher
Information Officer: Gary Kettless
Runs committee: Iona Chalmers and Aaron Dempsey

Officials during 2004/5
Christine Mudford as Secretary, Des Browne, Karl Switzer, Sarah Cyprus joined the committee, Mark Hartmann took up the Sergeant-at-Arms role upon Tonette’s retirement.

AGM held in June 2005

Officials
Chairman: Matt Cochran
Secretary: Christine Mudford
Treasurer: Fraser White
Runs Captain:  Aaron Dempsey
Sergeant-at-Arms: Mark Hartmann
Information/Events Officer: Gary Kettless and Iona Chalmers
Committee:  Jonathan Pearce, Ryan Millbank  
Members who came and went from the committee were:  rejoining Richard Brands to work with the Runs Committee and Gary assisting Martin Horspool and Iona with the newsletter.  Christine retired with her resignation in May and Richard undertook the role of Secretary until the 2006/7 AGM elections.

Club Membership Areas –2005

Auckland Region:
Auckland suburbs: central city; Mt Wellington Ellerslie, Mt Eden, Kingsland, Grey Lynn, Pt Chevalier, Arch Hill, Westmere, Ponsonby, St Johns, Avondale, Remuera, Morningside, Grafton, Herne Bay, Mt Albert
North Shore suburbs: Glenfield, Rothesay Bay,
Waitakere City: Herald Island, Whenuapai, Hobsonville, Air Force Bases in Auckland (collective noun known as The Whenuapai Posse); Henderson, Laingholm, Titirangi,
Manukau City: Pakuranga, Howick, Otahuhu, Panmure, Mangere, East Tamaki
Franklin area: Papakura,
Waikato province: Cambridge,
Bay of Plenty province: Kawerau
Taranaki province: New Plymouth, Waitara
USA: California
England: Surrey, Suffolk

Mission

The Magnetos were set up to be egalitarian in our attitude to all types of scooters. As a club we subscribe to the maxim that if you love riding your motor scooter then we want to welcome you to our organisation.

In keeping with our original concept of giving all the scooter riders out there a uniting sense of belonging, the Club has always regarded itself as one that can have a national feel to it.  This means that a sole rider in any provincial town can at least know that they can have an active association with other riders and belong to a highly visible group. You are not alone out there.

Within the first six months, a formal Chapter was formed in Taranaki, based in New Plymouth.  It had been noted that New Plymouth Boys’ High School had some 60-scooter riders during 2004 and having a Chapter established in that city would cement the interests of those scooter riders.  We also have a core group operating in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.  

When the commemorative Foundation Big Run occurred in 2005 the dream Gary had hoped for realized 91 scooters.  The turnout was brilliant, and it was GOOOOD!  

Internet Club

Peter Mangin has set up the fully functioning website and it continues to gather its own history and complements our aspirations to be synonymous with, and promote the New Zealand scootering scene.  We are to be found at www.magnetos.org.   During the first quarter of 2006 Peter has said that we achieved one million strikes during one month, with most of the viewers from overseas.  Our own members have made contributions to forums and image galleries.  In our first operating year we gained paid-up membership from California and England and our members within New Zealand.

Life-time Membership Awarded
The club must have thought I did something right as they awarded my wife Margret (scooter65) and I, at their first annual celebration, the honour of lifetime membership.  We had worked as a team in setting up the club. The citation on the plaque said:  ‘Lifetime membership … Richard and Margret Brands … For all your support and hard work, the Magnetos Scooter Club would like to thank you by giving you the Lifetime membership Award.  Your enthusiasm, great ideas and guidance have helped to make the club a success.  Thank you, we couldn’t have done it without you.’

From us both ‘thank you everyone’.

Types of Rides 

Mini-cruisers
Margret developed the idea of mini-cruise rides around the city and forwarded lists to the Runs Officer for consideration.  For those members who were not hard-core riders, the mini-cruisers would allow them a slower-paced ride and to see the environs of the Auckland area; this meant that the rides could be undertaken in the mid-week or else in the weekend.  

Christine Mudford and Iona Chalmers picked up the idea and established the minicruisers and operated them on Saturdays.  Their first theme ride was the Volcanoes Cruise starting off from the cone of Mt Eden and visiting other volcanoes in the Auckland isthmus.

The Mini-Cruisers were very enjoyable and we went to: Volcanic cones in Auckland, Coast-to-coast from Manukau Harbour to the Waitemata Harbour, North Shore Bays Run, Country Kitchen to Clevedon, Xmas Lights around Eastern Suburbs, the Wild West ride was most popular.  Manukau Harbour Excursion Cruise took us to the top of Mangere Mountain.  Often the club ended up at Scooterworld where our host Kevin Golding put on a bbq or coffee.  

The efforts of both Iona and Christine are most appreciated. I can look back on the archives and reminisce with pleasure about the rides that they organized.  

Maxi-riders
The hard-core riders wanted a long ride that would take several hours and great distances on one Sunday a month.  Such long rides meant we would assemble at the top of Mt Eden and be led off to Kaiaua for the fish and chips run of some 90 km; or to Puhoi or Shelly Beach. Maraetai was a regular long run for the club with passport control needed for the ride to Waiheke Island.

Matt Cochran, the Runs Captain during 2005, lead a number of these rides.  If Matt were unable to come with us, he would often come to the Mt Eden assembly point and bid us farewell.

Informal Rides
During 2006, the club is trialling Informal Rides that can be initiated during the same day, or day before.  This format allows small capacity scooters, ie 50cc or straight 90cc being able to have short social runs for a few hours; or the fast riders to grab a fine day and go for a long ride.  This format, through the web page, allows immediacy as long as a specific time to check the website by has been set.

Special Event Rides
The Anniversary Ride and the Mystery Run, Waitakere City Sounds Runs, our first annual Rally, nicknamed the DargaTarga that was a big ride from Auckland to Dargaville.  We supported the Westpac run in 2005 and 2006 that started at Karaka and ended in Northcote after a 57 km run up the southern Motorway and over the harbour bridge and the Northern Motorway to assemble at the Akoranga Campus.  We joined the WIMA members, along with Ulysses, in the Pink Ribbon Charity run for breast cancer research.  The members who had their first-time rides along the closed down motorway starting from the BMW assembling point in Mt Wellington appreciated the BRONZ rides in 2005 and 2006 to aid the Toy Appeal.  The Magnetos cheer leading team consisting of Margret and her friend Pam, visiting from Utah, welcomed us at the end of the 2006 Westpac Run with cheers and banner waving.

The Annual Rally had members assembling in Mt Eden and two packs were sent off, ie fast ride and slow ride.  Several members had family accompany them, whether on scooters or in cars or vans.  As with the usual Easter exodus from Auckland going north to Dargaville, we were subjected to the wary views of the Police.  The 8th Annual National Scooter Rally was being held at the same time and our newly found organisation were given the opportunity to use it as a vehicle for fundraising and to organize it.  It would be fair to say that it was one of the finest rallies for several years.  

Some of our members had experience of not keeping to the party line:  they were charged with undertaking or overtaking and being a large group we were actually shadowed for a while.  On the way to Warkworth, Nikki’s ET3 gearbox decided to seize and she went into the undergrowth.

Here is my verbatim speech given at the Prize Giving Night at Dargaville:
‘It gives me great satisfaction on behalf of the committee to welcome you officially to the first rally of the Magnetos Inc.
Thank you for supporting your club and it should be noted that riders from Wellington, Kawerau, and any others from outside of Auckland [who have traveled here] have honoured us.
After only five months the membership is constantly growing.  With the potential for provincial chapters is already under negotiation, my lips are sealed of course.  Gazzer’s newsletter really puts us out there.  Thanks.
Thanks to Kevin [Golding] and Andrew [Pearce] for finding the venue and setting things u – refreshments etc.  Micah [Butt] and Des [Browne] for provisioning and catering for us all in the all-important kitchen.  A big job.
Matt [Cochran] and Gary [Kettless] for the music and videos.
Matt and his road crew for shepherding the riders and the patient tail end Charlie.  On the subject of the run here, speedo accuracy tests might be a good idea, and colour eyesight tests for yellow lines.  Finally, but definitely not the least, thank you to all, the partners that came to support their pet scooterists indulging in their addiction – oops – your understanding helps people affected in this manner.  Thanks to the children especially for not breaking any arms and legs, etc.  Well done.
See you at the next rally.’

Prizewinners at our first rally – Best Scooter: SX 200 Steve Wilson; Best Lambretta – Des Browne; Best Vespa – GL George; Best Other – APE – Kevin; Best RAT – Frankenscoot Matt Brookes; Fastest – LP 210 Matt Cochran; Furtherest – Wellington crew; Ms Rally – Micah Butt; Best Effort – Roger Bourne and Neil Armstrong;

The Big Bash Ride, also known as the Anniversary Ride, started with assembling at the Galbraith’s Ale House on the corner of Mt Eden Road, Auckland.  A light luncheon was the option of the 92 scoot owners before the big blat occurred with a ride taking in the inner city, the Domain and through to St Heliers and through Ponsonby Road.  We re-assembled at our destination for bbq sausages and bread at the Kings Arm Tavern where DJ Rob entertained us.   Lewis Roach represented the Taranaki Chapter by coming up for the weekend and gained the prize for distance traveled.

The ride to the vehicular ferry terminus at Beachlands was fraught with bad weather.  The Magnetos who braved the journey enjoyed the experience.  The ride to Stony Battery was an experience to remember when the tunnels were explored under the disappearing Armstrong gun.

Mondo Pop was originally shown in New York when there was a scooter influence in the 1960’s.  We were approached to make an evening ride to support the exhibition in Pitt Street, Auckland.

Many club members who belong to the racing fraternity compete at Mt Wellington and Taumarunui.  The Mystery Tour in May 2006 introduced other club members to the Mt Wellington track where scooter racing takes place.

The wedding of fellow Magnetos, Tanya and Fraser took place in Manurewa in 2005 and a team of Magnetos’ scooters provided a guard-of-honour for the newlyweds.

In October 2005, Neil Mackley was the highly successful racer in the demonstration scooter race at Pukekohe.

In 2006, Magneto members went on the long-ride to Palmerston North to attend the Classic Scooter Club Rally.  On their return ride, some riders tried to get a job at the Mangatinoka Brewery where Yeah Right! Tui’s original brew was made.

Social Events
Auckland Members have an informal meeting place at either at the Pog Mahones bar in Ponsonby or at The Thirsty Dog in Karangahape Road where the club had its inaugural Christmas Party in 2004.  The owner of the Thirsty Dog was given a club patch as a thank you for hosting our first Xmas Party.  The first official evening of the club was held in the Pinnacle club in Newton, Auckland.  Several social functions at which profession al Dj’s and bands have provided musical entertainment.  We have also supported the sounds of members Dj’s Netti Page and DJ Gazzer and Richard Manic.  Netti and Gazzer had their phat beats playing at the Ambassador Club in Pt Chevalier and a regular group of Magnetos attended.  The late summer bbq at Herald Island took place in March under a moonlit sky.

Gary organized many of the big events behind the scenes, the Kumeu Hot Rod Shows in 2005/6 and the Anniversary Bash at the Dogs’ Bollix.  Kevin’s ScooterWorld business provided security for members’ scoots that rode in to attend the Big Bash at the nearby Dogs Bollix.  The Scooterfest that is to be held in October 2006 at MOTAT 2 is a joint venture with MOTAT and other scooter organisation and Gary is the main co-ordinator and will be assisted by Matt Cochran.

Visual Records
During the past two years, Gary (Gazzer) has worked with great determination on providing a video record of many of the events that the Magnetos have participated in.  My own films have played a part of his compilations and my riding around with my son’s skydiving helmet gave me a hand-free approach though I would sometimes forget to switch on the camera.   Our first foray around the back roads of Whenuapai airbase and I wore my son Kingston’s helmet with the ignominious large sticker saying Porn Star.  Nevertheless, we were surprised and pleased to capture the sounds of my PX and his Bella as we learnt what filming meant.  Many hours were spent at my home enjoying the raw films.

It has been Gary who is a very enthusiastic colleague responsible in sustaining a video record of our goings on.  He has put in an indeterminate number of hours in editing the films whether video or stills of his own or those of us fellow Magneto members.  He has selected music and created FX that have entertained our families when he has brought the DVD’s for pre-view and reviews as he strives to finesse them before the films have been shown at Magneto’s events. Old Mod and Gazzer were interviewed for the Listener as members of the Magnetos Scooter Club.

The scooter shop businesses of Scooter ĕ Motion, Retro Scooter and Scooterworld have featured on television news during the last two years.  Our club has been invited to attend the launch of new product lines at these businesses and be guests at their Christmas Parties.  We have been part of a TV3 advertisement for quiz program where a scooter was part of the prize package.  The magazine Hot Rodder published a photo of us entering the Kumeu Show grounds in 2005.

Gary produced the t-shirts that featured the club logo.  He later produced one especially for the Kumeu Hot Rod Show and the first Anniversary Bash and was majorily assisted by Richard Manic in the professional production.

On Show
The Kumeu Hot Rod Show is a mecca for car enthusiasts with hot rods and American classic cars being the draw card for the two-day carnival.  As Kevin Golding was interested in Hot Rods he floated the idea of the Magnetos having a presence at the show.  I contacted Shane, the organiser, and then Gary and Matt took up the reins and set up our displays.  The show organisers were magnanimous in 2005 and allowed us to set up camp and put on a display with almost 100% free of charges for the stand and the entry fee.  After that successful event in 2005 the members who stayed overnight at the display stand in 2006 were again well treated by the Hot Rod Show organizers regarding both stand fees and entry charges with Gary and Lara and Mark Hartmann working together.  Tent town at the back of the gazebo loaned for the second year by Steve Cock was the home to Magnetos who enjoyed the country smells and sounds.

The Mt Eden summit was the assembling point for the riders to both 2005 and 2006 shows.  Mark and Lara were traveling at 100 kph along the North-Western Motorway and were subject to a tyre blowout: they were very fortunate riders to have been free of injury.  Similarly, Googie was thrown when he suffered a seized engine when travelling from the 2005 show and on the Northwestern motorway too.

First Aid
Gary trained seven of us in the rudiments of First Aid held at the Pinnacle Club in February 2005, using manikins to demonstrate our skills.  This caused some hilarity and comments; one was quickly reminded that it is not the done thing to pee on a burn nowadays.

Workshops:
Fraser White and Goetz both ran a workshop.  Goetz worked on automatics.  Puncture repair and control cables featured in Fraser’s workshop on manuals.

Here is an extracts from the respective newsletters dated 10 July and 10 September 2005 – both reports by Iona Chalmers and accompanied by illustrative photos:

‘Ok, ok, it’s time to tell ya all about the first Magnetos SC Scooter Maintenance Workshop that he had last Saturday, 9 July ’05.  Fraser was just da bomb – he had our attention from start to finish.  Also featuring prominently was the impressive bench hoist loaned by Karl Switzer.  Thanks, Karl.  First up, Fraser checked with us all about what we wanted to learn and then the questions just kept on comin’.  Fraser kept on answering and we got stuck into learning about oil, split rims, changing wheels, tool kits, flooding the engine and how to start it, taking the headset apart, finding where clutch cables, gear cables are, removing light bulb, showing us carburetor, what happens when you use choke and had us lookin’ at all the moving parts.  We were enlightened, empowered even.  We were shown the neatest manoeuvre on how to remove a wheel on our own which involved the rotation of the hub and we all went, “Ooooooooh, that’s so cool.”
 
Iona’s enthusiasm continued in the following extract:

Yes, we had all gathered to get the knowledge from Goetz, the guru of Piaggio autos and guru he certainly proved to be.  Goetz gave us an intro and we gathered round the autoGT200.  Revealing the engine beneath the cowling was the starting point.  He demonstrated what the transmission’s mechanism is all about.  He told us about how the auto gearing works based on the shape of the belt drive and the expandable pulley system. It was great, and then he took time to answer out questions.  For me, personally, it was great as this is just how I wanted to learn about basic scooter mechanics and maintenance – with a group of like-minded people being taught by experienced people.  Magnetos SC has achieved a lot in its first year and these workshops have been one of the highlights for me.’

Characters
Many of our club members enjoy using the website and have made their identities come to life via their online nicknames.  We are served by:

old mod has a history of being a Mod in London since his riding began in 1959
gazzer is the well-known nickname for Gary, scootering in Suffolk from 1980
fluroman has high visibility jackets and are worn by Ritchie
googie boy, known for his wheel stands, Aaron enjoys notoriety of his youth
pooman, is Jonathan’s moniker and he is the partner of the founding Sergeant-at-Arms
matblacks, a founding member, Kevin paints his scoots black.  
Yellow Jacket, is a reference to the hornet or wasp, an association for Goetz
shirk666 is to Damian the sign and he donated his logo design to the club’s ownership
Mandl, is M for Mark and L for Lara; we call him Mandl
Morcs, a recent addition to the Whenuapai Posse, is Peter’s id
brrrodie, rolls off the tongue for Brodie
vespababe, even though she has a motorbike too, is the name for Christine
Speedy celebrates the sheer speed of the fastest Lambretta in NZ owned by Steve
Punjabi relates to the LML’s and the Indian sub-continent, scooter source for Mike.

Characters
Alan is a Cambridge citizen is an original mod of 1966/7 and his scoot is totally chromed hence his nickname of Chromie.  His scoot is also festooned with lights.

Caza, by nickname, is one of our long-distance riders who comes to Auckland from Cambridge also, attends our runs on a regular basis.  Michael has a pizza delivery business in Cambridge from which he delivers his product by scooter.

Hone, namely John Cooper, father of Kupa, supports Magnetos with his riding in the Auckland runs after the long journey from Kawerau.  Hone also makes very droll contributions to the website.

Taking the family along for the ride is often how the children of Mike and Mrs Davies travel in the sidecar.  

A feature on display in the shop window of a Queen Street business encouraged many viewers enjoyed the bright green and copper scooter of Alan.  The customised coats of some 40 applications have made his machine very identifiable and Alan respects the workmanship by considerate speeds to minimize paint chips.  

Other Scooting Activities 

Grass track Racing at MOTAT 2
As a result of Gary liaïsing with the management of Auckland’s Museum of Transport and Technology, the Sir Keith Park Memorial Airfield was available for racing on the last Sunday of May 2006.  Riders consisted of Magnetos and non-members and the competition was fierce as they tore around the upturned buckets or strategically placed tyres.  Many a rider had little room for error and nobody kicked the bucket or foreshortened the course.  The website www.youtube.com, has been a source of viewing one of the two races won by Gary.  The strategically placed spectators had a view of the riders racing behind the bunds and floating across the crests before the muddy troughs sucked the mud into their scoots’ frames.

Gareth Boult, who’s GT200, without knobblies, was stripped down and duct-taped to protect the paintwork, rode the course in his own race and thoroughly enjoyed himself.  The website quote from Gareth concludes: ‘Thanks to the organizers of the grass track event - particularly those who provided the essential dogs and beer. Cleaning my GT for 2 effing hours to get the mud out was not cool, but oh man do I want to do grass tracking again.’  

The two exhibition rides were followed by a demonstration put on by Goetz (Yellow Jacket) on the racing configurations of the Maltese Cross.  Gary (Gazzer), Mark (Mandl) raced and Damian (shirk666) and Matt rode the course against each other.  It was a good experience both for watchers and the riders for any future gymkhana events.

Sausages fortified the inner man, whether German sausage or vegetarian cooked by Magneto members Tracy, Lara and Margret.

Bucket Racing
One comment was noted that the usual adherents of track racing voiced a concern that the Magnetos should not be taking an organising interest in the scooter racing at the Mt Wellington go-kart track.  It was, nevertheless, a spectacle that provided interesting viewing for the Magneto members who visited the venue during the May Mystery Tour in 2006.  Several Magneto members already enjoy racing and participated in the 50 lap race after the membership were given the privilege of riding the course for an experience.  Perhaps more Magnetos will add to the energy of this racing fraternity.  

Magneto member, Jonathan Pearce (pooman) has a very fast automatic that shows everybody that his Hexagon is a product of thinking outside the square.  The website shows a lot of race scenes that shows the intense competition as depicted in photos of races at Taumarunui and Mt Wellington.

The first major club asset was fired up and pigs in a blanket with train smash (bbq sausages, bread and tomato sauce) were cooked by Mandl and Lara at the Mt Wellington pit stop.

Scooter Hi-Jack
In the main, those who ride to the Scooter Hi-Jack at Whangamata have been undertaking this run for several years.  In 2006 several Magnetos, who were new to the Hi-Jack braved the very inclement weather and made the trip.  Mike Davies (Punjabi) related as to his riding home in the dark and rain conditions through the Karangahake Gorge and was a few inches from being hit by a car travelling in the opposite direction.  

Russell Rally 2006
Easter brought a choice for those who would not be able to attend the Magnetos Rally in the Waikato.  The arrangement meant that Whangaruru, situated in the winterless North, nearby to Russell was the home to the family oriented groups.  John Cooper (Hone) rode non-stop from his Kawerau home to the site.  He had the support of his fellow scooterists who knew his partner Pauline who had recently died.  Pauline was dressed in a Magnetos t-shirt for her funeral clothes; a celebration to her being part of the Dargaville Rally in 2005.

Tours and Competition Distance Rides
The development of the club has introduced many of us to the lives of other members.  The well used website has photos of Goetz riding down to the Lost Highway and viewing the harbour scene in New Plymouth.  Netti Page, has been a regularly participant in the 1000 km endurance race and both photos and stories have let us know of this event.  John Jones, arrived at the summit of Mt Eden to watch his friends Mike and Jane Thorman and other members of the Magnetos assemble for their pre-ride talk.  This introduction to scooting lead John to make contact with the Christchurch based seller of a Burgman.  A relative newcomer to scooters, John went to the South Island and rode the machine back on its long trek to gain the ferry at Picton and ride to Auckland from Wellington.  This year John has had his wife Rosemary join him as pillion passenger as they have made the journey south and toured the South Island.

Congestion Submission Research for the Auckland Region
During 2006, a contributor to the website, Greg France, nicknamed Greggio, gave wholehearted support to the Magnetos in the very well researched and presented submission.  Auckland city has to face congestion problems.  As a club member of the Magnetos his offering to fellow scooter riders was very well received.  Magneto members dispatched their covering letters with Greggio's submission attached and our webmaster, Peter Mangin, emailed the prepared submission to some 500 email associates and Hone mass mailed to his Harley Owners Group friends also.

Acknowledgements

At the conclusion of our first anniversary big run celebrated at the King’s Arm tavern we expressed our thanks for the sponsorship and assistance by a bottle of wine and a memorial plaque to the following businesses: Scooter é Motion – Netti and Goetz, Scooterworld – Kevin and Andrew and The Retro Scooter Company – Mike.

Thanks to those who assisted the club’s management in any of the following ways:

Logo design, flags, pennants, fridge magnets, first aid instruction, commemorative pin badges, shield banners, newsletters, t-shirts for sale, DargaTarga packs, business cards, advertisements, website, Auckland cbd scooter shop businesses sponsorship, catering, raffle prize donations, musical entertainment, chief cooks and bottle washers at rallies, gazebo loan, pa system, venue at Piha, Pinnacle Club meetings, Drake Tavern meetings, committee members home for meetings, archive photographers, jet plane organisers, our first webmaster, Keegan Lodge and the unknown helpers.

Throughout all of newsletters we have had an on-going report of the club’s events and it is so interesting to look back over the electronic collection and re-live what has been contributed.  I would surely see the subscription to access this record as being the epitome of membership.

So Gary, I think your dream has been a good one.  I look at the DVD of our first year and have to say, “Thanks for the memories” and this is just the beginning!!!!!  

‘A day without scooting is a day wasted’ – Richard Brands, NZ Listener, 13 March 2006

‘Scooters have a happy-go-lucky feeling about them and I find people wave sometimes when they see me just because they are seeing an individual having a bit of fun”.  Richard the Mod, Sunday Life  View, March 13, 2005 (NZ Herald)

Richard aka Old Mod