Marty Ohlmaier, on his 1974 Vespa Rally 200 scooter, will participate in the Tucson-Nogales Scooter Rally, headquartered at Hotel Congress, Nov. 7-9. It's one of the longest-running scooter rallies in the nation.

James Gregg /Arizona Daily Star

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The Tucson-Nogales Fall Classic Scooter Rally turns 21 this year, which makes it one of the longest-running scooter rallies in the country.

Organizers expect more than 100 riders to take part.

Marty Ohlmaier, 43, plans to be one of them.

A local probation officer and scooter enthusiast, Ohlmaier looks forward to the rally all year.

"I've camped out the past five years, but I've gone to the meet and greet since the mid-'90s — that's the Friday night activities at Club Congress. Everyone meets, they register and there are bands that play. They close off the parking lot to everyone but scooterists, and there are sometimes 100 scooters out there."

"It's something that a lot of my friends in Tucson look forward to, and we wouldn't miss it for the world. It's a time where we can all get together and go camping and visit our fellow scooter riders from all over the world. A few years ago, we had somebody from England riding with us. There's great camaraderie in the scootering community. I don't really know why. I think it's because we're all on these Italian scooters."

"I like the old-style scooters as opposed to the new plastic ones that are all automatic. There's no history yet for the modern plastic scooter. Not that there's anything wrong with it. The older scooters, the Vespas and Lambrettas, have the classic lines, and you can always find parts for them and supe 'em up and they'll go pretty fast."

"I have a maroon 1974 Vespa Rally 200. I can't remember when I bought it, but I've owned a Vespa since I went to college at the U of A. So I've been riding scooters since the late 1980s."

"I don't think I would ever sell mine. Mine is fast and in very good condition. It's a keeper."

"Being at the campground is a blast with all the shenanigans that happen there, like people jumping Vespas over the fire. That's always fun to watch.* Mine is basically a classic and I would never do that. But there are a few people with purpose-built scooters for that — mostly scooters that are pretty much on their last legs, because they do take abuse jumping over the fire. There's a welded ramp. It's bright orange and they take it out there every year. And there's one guy named Danger Boy out of Flagstaff, and that's what he's known for, his long jumps over the fire."

* Dangerous, too.