Mixing scooters with bikers and Tenerife with Gran Canaria doesn’t sound the most harmonious recipe but a shared love of motor bikes made Santa Cruz port a mechanical heaven. As a roaring mass of Vespas, Hondas, Lambrettas and Suzukis revved up and beeped horns more of their friends poured down the gangplank from the Armas ferry that had just sailed in from Gran Canaria.
I was only expecting Vespasion, the annual rally organised by the Tenerife Amigos de la Vespa, but it soon became clear that the quayside near the Armas HQ was hosting two parties with Moteros de Tenerife also awaiting fellow enthusiasts from our neighbouring island. The Vespa group alternate between islands and the 40 or so scooters were due to be joined by the same number of visitors. The bikers had a few more already parked up but were expecting less reinforcements, both of them would be pushing 100 machines once all had assembled.
It was strange seeing so many classic bikes gathered together with two quite contrasting sets of owners but many of them knew each other and there was much mutual admiration of machines going on. Both groups were over for separate mini tours of Tenerife over the weekend, taking the high clear roads up into the northern hills with a hotel break between the two days. It was all well organised and marshalled but there was no mistaking the passion for chrome and mirrors.
Vespas will forever be associated with Mods to British minds and I looking at the scooters I kept humming Poison Ivy in my head. Vespa means wasp in Italian and they originated in Florence made by Piaggio from 1946. The Vespa van was a new one on me but apparently there are many variations on the popular theme out there.
The other iconic scooter is the Lambretta only a year younger but made in Milan until the name was sold to India in 1972. This brand also had a nice surprise for me, the sidecar model that slipped down off the ferry with two very happy riders.
I will admit to a swell of pride at seeing so many Hondas, the Goldwing evoking memories of friends in Oxford who used to run Wing Dings, annual camps followed by mammoth pub crawls. Talking of Hondas maybe some misty eyed reader will chip in with more details on this impressive blue beast.
The ferry was running a bit late but when it rounded into view, helmets were slipped on and bikes made ready. The other passengers must have wondered what they were coming into but couldn’t have helped to be impressed by the vanguard of scooters and bikes that parted to allow their friends to park briefly along the side of the quay as welcomes were exchanged.
Tenerife has several active groups of bike enthusiasts and most weekends they take off and burn up the hills. If you see a swarm of Vespas or a bunch of bikers approaching give them some room and a friendly wave and admire the pride and polish that goes into their great obsession.
