Anybody remember the "mods" and the "rockers" that duked it out it England in the '60s?
The Mods, or modernists, as they were known, were a sub culture that liked Scooters, ska music, parka jackets and were generally regarded as being the smarter dressed of the two groups.
The Rockers preferred motorcycles and had their own uniform which consisted of a black leather jacket, denim jeans, black leather boots with white socks which were rolled over the tops of the boots. A white scarf was regarded as a great fashion accessory.
Rockers and Mods were often engaged in brawls. BBC News stories from May 1964 stated that mods and rockers were jailed after riots in seaside resort towns on the south coast of England.
Skip forward to the "oughts," and the dichotomy still exists, although without the attendant animosity. We went on an outing recently with the LA Scooter Club through the hills behind Malibu. First stop was the infamous "Rock Store" in the middle of the mountains, long a hangout destination for bikers. The scoots arrived, more or less en masse, and we slotted in with the hogs and the boy racers. That's us on the left in the lime green and red (pictures courtesy of "Scootz Kapboots", the rally organizer):
The scoots are a cheerful bunch, without the requisite posturing of the bad ass bikers:
After a couple of hours through the canyons and back roads, we met up with a group from Ventura
for a joint ride down the coast on Pacific Coast Highway (Hwy 1) to another biker hangout north of Malibu called Neptune's Net for a late lunch. There, the bikers had already occupied all of the real estate in front of NN on the land side of PCH, so the scoots were obliged to line up on the ocean side in a cross-highway faceoff. Shades of "TheWild One."
No fisticuffs ensued, and the only damage done was to our digestive systems. EVERYthing is fried. After this it was a straight shot for us down PCH to home. The others had to wander considerably further back across the mountains to home.
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