About three years ago, the Swamp Donkeys was voted down and the Idle Threats voted in. Picking a name could almost be called the first and last official act of Maine’s only vintage scooter club, a collection of laid-back two-wheeler enthusiasts.

When do they ride? When they can.

What do they ride? Whatever runs.

Are they accepting new members? Sort of.

To join the Idle Threats, an existing member has to vouch for you, and there remains two tests:

“Can we stand him and can we make him or her buy food for our next meeting?” said President Andrew “Bing Bang” Baca.

Baca, an Edward Little science teacher, lives in Cumberland and keeps a barn full of vintage rides in various states of repair. A self-taught mechanic, Baca’s services and scooters were in demand last summer when gas prices hit $4 a gallon.

“At one point, he made the cardinal sin: You never sell your last running bike,” said Idler Brett Buzzatto of Saco. “He’s got one running now; he’s fine.”

Ten mostly middle-aged men consider themselves club members, most having met through Baca or Jon Yonan of Kittery, who keeps a standing classified ad looking for old scooters.

“The fun is in scouring some of the backwoods and some of the farms and seeing what you can drag home,” Yonan said. He found an old Vespa once in a chicken coop and completely restored it. “It’s very satisfying, taking this thing that’s just shy of being a boat anchor and bringing it back to life.”

The cutoff to be considered a vintage scooter: A machine about 30 years old or older, when makers switched from metal to plastic frames.

Baca’s repairing a 1964 Lambretta (crack in the engine case) and a 1974 Vespa Rally 200 (changing out the electronics) for summer.

Buzzatto’s first bike, a light blue 1959 All-State – “beautiful but ultimately a troubled machine” – is hanging on the wall at Davinci’s. He’s got a newer bike made with the look and steel body of a ’70s Vespa now.

The scooter appeal? They say it’s about friends and the ride.

“It’s absolutely zen. If you have problems in your life, you have to be in the moment, for safety’s sake and to enjoy it, too,” said Yonan, who works in educational publishing.

Going 40 to 45 mph is the speed “sweet spot,” he said.

Bryan Swenson, in sales at TRi-SPORTS in Topsham, said the small scooters, 50cc’s or less, can get more than 100 miles per gallon and reach 30 mph. Scooters as large as 650cc’s get 50 to 70 miles to the gallon and easily keep up with motorcycles. (Anything over 50cc’s, you need a motorcycle permit to drive.)

Scooters aren’t specifically banned from the highways, according to the Secretary of State’s Office, but Swenson suggests riders use their heads: Don’t go on I-95 with a 50cc machine.

It can take up to $5,000 to buy and restore a vintage scooter, and Buzzatto, a Web developer, suggests doing a lot of homework before taking the plunge.

“They’ve become very cool the last few years,” he said. But with that, buyers can be swayed by the shiny, pretty outsides, then “they ride these sort of deathtrap things that fall apart.”

Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of the fairly short scooter riding season in Maine. Throughout the summer, Baca said members will drop each other a note and pick a day for a ride. The host will map out the route, ideally something curvy with nice countryside.

Idle Threats doesn’t maintain a Web site – yet – nor has it partnered up for rides with Scoot Free or Die in New Hampshire. Baca said he’d like to. “I think this is the year.”

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