Also this issue: Goddess Perlman -Lori Hill Fight for Your Right to Party -Juliet Fletcher Tanabata Festival -David Schulman

July 3- 9, 2003

mixpicks

Hostile City Scooter Club Ralley

by Andrew Parks

Scooter enthusiast Milan Marvelous -- yes, that's his real name -- is eager to please. "Do you want us to break a bottle, light something on fire, chew glass or throw up?" he asks over a pair of pints in the Northern Liberties bar Druid's Keep. Such debauchery is expected from the Hells Angels line of gangs, as popularized by Hunter S. Thompson. But few people shiver when they see a scooter posse. "Scooterists may seem dopey because they have frou-frou bikes, but they get real rock 'n' roll crazy," Marvelous explains, tugging on his beaten denim jacket. Whether he means Minor Threat or Mötley Crüe crazy will become clear this weekend as the Hostile City Scooter Club presents its third annual Independence Day Scooter Rally, the largest East Coast scooter gathering. The rally begins tonight and continues through Sunday, with Druid's Keep as the launch pad for all happenings. Events include city and countryside rides, swap meets, vintage bike competitions and music from garage bands that don't sound post-White Stripes. A $20 fee gets you a free T-shirt and patch and into all events.

Marvelous founded Hostile City in 1998 with scooter veteran Earl Erickson. The club now includes close to 100 members. So why do so many riders choose stylish Vespas over rugged Harleys? "It's a comparatively cheaper habit than motorcycles, classic cars or heroin," Marvelous says. And what does the motorcycle community think of its smaller compatriots? "If it has two wheels, [you] are a rider," says Iceman, the vice president of Philly X-Treme Motorcycle Club. "In jokes we may poke fun at others with smaller bikes, but we can have fun on them all," adds Chris, a.k.a. Taste!, the CEO of Maximalist Sport Bike Riders, Inc. "And die on them all as well."

Hostile City Scooter Club Ralley, Thu.-Sun., July 3-6, $20, Druid’s Keep, 149 Brown St., 215-413-0455, www.hostilecitysc.com.