Ceremony

scootering magazine feature.
cover & feature scooter
edition 162 august 1999.

Name of owner: Jason Stephenson.
Age: 27.
Scooter club: Telford Scooter Club.
Name of scooter: Ceremony - last song written by Joy Division, first single by NewOrder.
Scooter model: PX200.
Date purchased: 1992 Wyle & Holland Motorcycles.
Inspiration for project: It started as a tart-up, then I decided to go for a custom.
Time to build: 6 years! Built by myself. Mate helped lift the engine in (scoot was put together in 2 days on the kitchen table).
Frame modification: The indicator holes were welded up by Sparky and the gear change welded by Pete Robinson.
Specialised parts: Metal head cowl modified by SF Enterprises to fit 200 engine. Shrunken toolbox door by SF. Floorboard runners by a hacksaw. Twisted forks, stand, light grill and other one off's by Pete Robinson.
Tuned motor: Bog standard engine stripped and re-built by Colin Darlington (ex Wyle's mechanic).
Top & cruising speed: 60mph & 70mph.
Paintwork & murals: The paint was the last thing to be done. I did this so I wouldn't be tempted to put the scoot back together half finished. I was talking to Pete Robinson and he gave me the number of bloke who painted Rhapsody, Martin 'Sparky' Sparks. He also did Living On The Breadline, Their Finest Hour, Dread Beat + Blood etc. I phoned Sparky with my ideas and he agreed to paint it. He does have a full time job with long hours, so it took longer than I thought - 3 years! - but worth the wait. Murals based on the bands Joy Division and New Order. New Order used to be called Joy Division until the lead singer, Ian Curtis, committed suicide in 1980 on the eve of their American tour. They then took a new band member, changed their name to New Order and wrote new material - Blue Monday, True Faith etc. When I decided what theme I was using I put an advert in your 'Wanted' section for some pictures and a guy from Nottingham came up with the goods. I swapped them all for some Paddy Smiths.
Engraving: Pete Robinson. Every metal part was engraved or just plated.
Powder coating: Satin black engine block, SF Enterprises.
Overall cost: £6,000 including cost of scooter.
Hardest part of project: Being patient, waiting months for parts.
Technical tips: Put grease on all the fasteners and they won't snag the paint when you tighten them up.
Anything to add to the scooter: Maybe some more engraving.
Anything you would like to be different: One of the murals, but to be fair the picture I gave Sparky was pretty crap.
Do you own any other scooters: Elestart PX200
Is there anyone you want to thank or mention: Sparky for the top paint job. Stuart Harrison of Nottingham for coming up with the pictures, but mostly my wife Tammy for putting up with all the money and time spent doing the scoot and driving me all over the country picking up parts.

In the early 80's, Indie as a genre, as we know it today, was in effect non-existent. The Indie charts back then consisted of 'genuine' independent label releases, with Punk, Psychobilly and all manner of other musical deviations rubbing shoulders with each other. A far cry from todays sorry state of affairs, where major label funded so called 'independent' label acts have managed to all but eliminate most alternative music styles. Helped in no small way by the term Indie having been hijacked to wrongly be used to describe any guitar toting wannabees. Back then, Manchesters Factory Records had Joy Division, who after the untimely death of Ian Curtis, mutated into New Order. Both acts - although they were more or less the same band - were early pioneers of the mid-late 80's upsurge in 'Indie' music being accepted into the mainstream.
Telford Scooter Club member Jason Stephenson decided to, as he put it, 'tart up' his PX200E - which soon became a larger than originally intended operation. Eventually he decided to go for a full custom job. Sensibly he opted to keep the paintwork until the last stage of the job. "I did that so I wouldn't be tempted to put the scooter together in a half finished condition." A number of modifications, such as having the indicator holes welded up, a shrunken toolbox door and a welded gear change for instance, were first on the agenda.
A number of one offs such as the twisted forks, the stand, light grills and the like come from via Pete Robinson. As for the motor, P200's are quite literally work horses, but they also have an unquestionable standard of reliability. Jason, with that aspect in mind, decided to stick with a bog standard power unit, though just to go for belt and braces - metaphorically of course - the whole thing was completely stripped checked and rebuilt.
Apart from the paintwork and mechanical expertise all of the work was carried out by Jason, at his own pace, which perhaps explains why Ceremony took some six years to complete.
Once everything else had been sorted, via Pete Robinson, Jason got in contact with Martin 'Sparky' Sparks who has painted several neat customs. After a discussion on the telephone regarding what Jason was looking for the job was commissioned.