St. Charles Motorcycle Museum Ride
2025-05-04 09:30 - 16:00 (America/Chicago) | St. Charles Motorcycle Museum, 1317 E Main Street, St. Charles, IL, 60174, United States
The “Suburban Menace” is hosting a scooter ride to the St. Charles Motorcycle Museum:
Meet at 9:30am at Tony’s on Joliet & Willow Springs in Hodgkins, wheels up at 10am, then we plan to go up to Wolf Rd. to 31st Street, then head west until we can take IL-38 and then IL-25 to St. Charles. Museum opens at 11am, eat lunch, head back. I’ll share our progress on Waze in the SM chat should anyone want to meet us en route.
All scooters and scooterists welcome!
Live outside the city? Check out “Suburban Menace” channel on the Vespa Club of Chicago’s What’sApp Community!

SH 31 Promo Photo Ride: Chicago Movies
2025-05-25 11:00 - 14:00 | Dunkin River Grove, 2672 River Road, River Grove, IL, 60171, United States
MOVED TO SUNDAY, MAY 25
Meet up at Dunkin River Grove, 2672 River Road, at 11 AM (delayed for rain)
To help promote Slaughterhouse 31, which has a Chicago movie theme this year, we want to get a bunch of pics with our scooters in front of publicly accessible locations where various films and TV have been filmed, including Blues Brothers and some John Hughes movies. If anyone has a drone and will agree to shoot photos or videos for no charge, it would be greatly appreciated. Some locations we’re considering include:

SH31 host hotel in Rosemont
BB Park Ridge street scenes
former Maine North HS -main stairwell Breakfast Club
Home Alone house
Sixteen Candles house
Wrigley Field
Biograph theatre
Marina Towers
Daley Plaza (Picasso)
Lasalle St Canyon
Former Cook County Hospital
Firehouse 51 from Chicago Fire
Police station from Chicago PD and Hill Street Blues
BB Orphanage alley
BB -IL nazi parade bridge
BB Grand Hotel ballroom on Lake Wazapamani (South Shore Cultural Center)
BB Triple Rock Baptist church 0.3 mi 6:22 PM
BB 95th St Bridge jump

Other suggestions welcome! We’ll plan a route to incorporate as many as practical in a few hours.

Oak Trees and Coffees Ride
2025-06-01 10:30 - 13:00 | October Cafe, 6046 N Avondale Ave, Chicago, IL, 60631, United States
Mario and Julie are testing out an “Oak Trees & Coffees” ride (a potential Slaughterhouse 31 route) from Norwood Park Chicago, stopping at one gas station, then continuing on to Emily Oaks Nature Center in Skokie, and riding out to Colectivo Coffee in Evanston.
All scooters and scooterists welcome. 50cc friendly. Approximately 1-2 hours total.
The ride starts at October Cafe
Heads north/east to a stop at Emily Oaks Nature Center in Skokie
Then further north/east to end at Colectivo Coffee in Evanston.
Full ride route

Ride to the Alley Block Party
2025-06-08 12:00 - 18:00 | The Alley, 2620 W Fletcher Street, IL, 60618, United States
The Shifties (featuring our longtime scooter pal Jeff Tudor) are playing at the Alley’s Block Party on Sunday June 8.
Join the Vespa Club of Chicago at Small Displacement Sunday. Afterwards (KSU at noon!), we’ll ride down to the Alley and be there in plenty of time for the Shifties’ set at 2pm. Or feel free to meet us there!
Admission is free. All scooters and scooterists are welcome. Heck, it’s a public event, everyone’s welcome! Come see a great band and help celebrate (almost) fifty years of a Chicago institution!

Scooterworks End of Spring Group Ride
2025-06-12 18:30 - 20:00 | Scooterworks Chicago, 5410 N Damen Ave, Chicago, IL, 60625, United States
From Scooterworks Chicago:

Hello all you lovely scooter and moped folks! At long last, Scooterworks Chicago is hosting its first group ride of 2025! It’s our first run of the year, so we’re going to take it easy with a run up Sheridan to the gates of Ravinia, then head down Forestway Drive through the lovely Skokie Lagoons. From there, folks can decide whether they want to meander home, or continue on for the second leg, which will be over to Nathan’s favorite scooter ride destination, the Superdawg on Milwaukee by Devon.
This will be a 50cc-friendly ride, and all are welcome regardless of brand, engine size, astrological sign, or even fashion sense. All we ask is that you ride sensibly, duct tape anything that seems likely to fall off, and follow the standard DBAA rules. We’ll do a gas stop at about the halfway point for those that need it.
This is also weather dependent, as we don’t have enough umbrellas or ponchos to hand out if it’s pouring buckets (we’ll reschedule if it’s looking soggy).
Meet up at Scooterworks Chicago at 5410 N Damen Ave starting at 6:30, and be ready to roll out at 7!

Vespa Parade Day 2025 UPDATED
2025-07-06 09:30 - 16:00 | Chicago, IL, Chicago, IL, 60707, United States
This event was rescheduled due to extreme heat on the original date.
Big apologies to anyone who missed the alert and came out, we sure hope you’ll come back on the 6th!
Vespa Club of Chicago is participating in Vespa Club of America’s annual Parade Day on Sunday, July 6.
All scooters and scooterists, members or not, are welcome!
Facebook event page
Meet at the Montrose Harbor Moonrise Observation Point at 9:30am, departing at 10am.
Morning ride (route) is to Reggies on the Beach.

Afternoon ride (route) is from Reggies on the Beach to Damen Tavern, wheels up at tentatively 2:30pm.
IMPORTANT NOTE: route maps are somewhat out of date, they will be adjusted a bit to avoid NASCAR street closings/traffic in the loop, and end at Damen Tavern rather than Cobra Lounge.

We’ll have Vespa Parade Day decals for the first 20 riders to arrive at Montrose Harbor.
If you ordered Vespa Parade Day legshield banners, we’ll have them on hand for purchase, we’ll have a few extra for sale.

We’re also HOPING to have assigned Slaughterhose31/Midwest Vespa Days Illinois license plates ready to distribute at this event, more info soon.

Slaughterhouse/MVD Training Ride
2025-08-17 11:00 - 15:00 | Vespa Club of Chicago Clubhouse, 5610 W Bloomingdale, Chicago, 60639, United States
Whether you’ve volunteered to help with the SH31/MVD group rides, you’re new to riding in a group, or you just want to ride, please join Vespa Club of Chicago on Sunday, August 17.
We’ll start at 11am at our clubhouse, 5610 W. Bloomingdale to over group riding basics (handouts!) and talk through our procedures for the rally.
Then we’ll put our plan into action, for a group ride through the city to Twisted Spoke (501 N Ogden Ave,) for lunch (1pm-ish).
“The Spoke” hosted its share of Slaughterhouse rallies, and is closing for good soon, come get your last “Fat Boy” burger, while you can.
After lunch (2pm-ish), we’ll ride again, to Life on Marz Community Club (1950 N Western Ave.) for All Mod Chicago’s Amplified dance party, which starts at 3pm.
When Labor Day weekend comes, you’ll be a valuable part of our so-well-oiled-it’s-leaking group-riding machine.
All scooters, all scooterists, all skill levels are welcome!

Ride Out with Your Buddys (Chicago)
2025-09-27 18:30 - 21:00 | Scooterworks Chicago, 5410 N Damen Ave, Chicago, IL, 60625, United States
Scooterworks Chicago for Genuine Scooter Company’s national “Ride Out with Your Buddys” event!
The Chicago event will start at Scooterworks Chicago (wheels up at 6:30) for an evening ride up Sheridan, ending at Superdawg.
All scooters welcome!

The Great Highwood Pumpkin Festival Ride (North Suburbs)
2025-10-05 13:00 - 18:00 | Metropolis Coffee Co., 1039 W Granville Ave, Chicago, IL, 60660, United States
One more chance for a group ride up Sheridan Road to Lake Bluff, then back towards Highwood (north of Highland Park). The Highwood Pumpkin Fest is a free event , you can create your own jack-o-lantern to be displayed on the scaffolding.

Kickstands up around 1:30 pm, ride is 50cc friendly.

Skootoberfest 2025 (Lake Geneva, WI)
2025-10-11 | Lake Geneva, WI, Lake Geneva, WI, United States
From facebook event page:
The annual Scootoberfest fall ride will be either A: fall colors ride to Holy Hill (warmer weather) or the Ten Lakes ride if it’s chilly. The ride will start at the Kwik Trip on 896 Wells street, and end at the downtown Lake Geneva Scooter Tours Scoot Jockeys shop, 529 W Main Street, walking distance from the lake Geneva Octoberfest celebration.

CANCELLED: Open House Chicago 2025
2025-10-19 09:00 - 19:00 | The Common Cup, 1501 W Morse Ave, Chicago, IL, 60626-3306, United States
Sorry, this ride has been cancelled because of rain expected most of the day.

Join Vespa Club of Chicago as we explore Open House Chicago!

What is Open House Chicago?For one weekend every year, locations of historical and cultural importance around Chicago open their doors for a completely free event where you can tour places you might otherwise never see and learn all about the history, humanity, and industry of the City of Big Shoulders.

We’ll meet at Common Cup (9am, kickstands up 9:30-9:45am) in Rogers Park for a pick-me-up before moving on to the following Open House Chicago stops, in order:– Emil House– Colvin House– Chicago Magic Lounge– Starshaped Press– Diversey House (lunch stop)– The Weaving Mill– Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven/Chess Records– Wheeler Mansion– Glessner House– Ignite Glass StudiosWe then will end for drinks and food at District Brew Yards

What to know:– 50cc friendly, All scooters and scooterists are welcome.– All locations are street parking only– We will be walking a LOT so wear comfortable shoes!– Proper riding gear is highly recommended.– Diversey House offers food so if you’d like to grab a bite for lunch, this is the place to do it – or pack a lunch!– Not expecting a large group but standard VCOAC group riding will be practiced. See https://vcoachicago.com/group-riding-guidelines/ for more information (under Keep the Group Together, we’ll be utilizing the first option).– I’ll do my best to post updates in the VCOAC WhatsApp chat whenever we arrive or leave a location in case you’d like to jump in the middle. However, I make no guarantees that I’ll remember
Want to see more locations?We’re limited in the amount of time we have available so unfortunately we had to trim off a lot of really cool stuff. However, Open House Chicago is a full weekend event so if you’re available on 10/18, please feel free to check out https://www.architecture.org/open-house-chicago/ and plan your own itinerary to check out more fantastic Chicago gems! If you’re interested in anything Downtown (and also Near North and Near West) I recommend arriving early and anticipating long lines.

Tail of the Fox III (Geneva IL)
2025-10-26 10:00 - 14:00 | Bad Guys Bagels, 11 Woodlawn St, Geneva, IL, 60134, United States
Tail of the Fox (a ride along the Fox River in the western suburbs is back for its third year! here’s info from the Facebook event page
This year we will be scaling back the length of the ride. It’ll probably start at Bad Guys Bagels in Geneva and end Wild Onion in Port Barringtion. Probably go to the top of Johnson’s Mound somewhere in between. Also looking to get some new roads along the river tossed in.
As always, this ride is intended for 150+ as we will be hitting stretches of roads with 55mph limits. If you have a 50cc, you’re more than welcome to join us, but when we’re going, we’re going! You can try to catch up or meet us at the end. We’ll work on the full details (meetup in the city for the ride out, etc)

Small Displacement Sunday (Niles)
2025-11-09 09:00 - 11:45, 2026-01-11 09:00 - 11:45 | Grind N’ Gears, 8030 W Oakton St., Niles, 60714, United States
Small Displacement Sunday is a meetup for scooters, mopeds, and small-displacement motorcycles (all bikes are welcome!) every second Sunday of the month from 10-11:45 at Grind n Gears Cafe in Niles.

If you’d like to ride up to Niles with Vespa Club of Chicago:
Meet at 9am in the parking lot at the NW corner of Independence Park:

Ride departs at 9:30am
It’s an easy 30-minute ride
50cc friendly
Route: Irving Park to Milwaukee to OaktonAll scooters and scooterists that can do a minimum of 35mph are welcome to join – motorcycles, trikes, etc, too.

We can ride back as a group, too, if there’s interest.

Note: We have a couple regulars who will do their best to be at Independence Park every month to lead the ride, but there is no guaranteed ride. if you’d like to be added as a back-up ride leader, please reach out to Renee.

This ride will be open year-round, as long as it isn’t frigid and/or snowy. If it rains, the ride may go on, depending on how heavy it is. You can always meet at SDS via car if you prefer!

CANCELLED … a daring ride to Schaumburg!
2025-11-09 12:00 - 20:00 | WI
Small Displacement Sunday is happening, but this follow-up event is cancelled (too cold!), sorry.
From Second City Scooter Society:
After Small Displacement Sunday at Grind’n’Gears in Niles, we’ll ride to Frato’s Pizza in Schaumburg for a late lunch. Frato’s trains future chefs and reportedly serves Chicago’s best (maybe biggest?) fried mozzarella cheesesticks. With our stomachs full, next stop will be Cycle Gear in Schaumburg, in case anyone wants to shop for a new jacket or helmet. Next stop will be at dusk in Rolling Meadows to relax w a beer by a firepit.

This ride is weather-permitting and 50cc friendly.

Small Displacement Sunday (Chicago - Niles)
2025-12-14 09:00 - 11:45 | Grind N’ Gears, 8030 W Oakton St., Niles, 60714, United States

Amerivespa 2026 and Slaughterhouse 32
2026-09-02 - 2026-09-06 | Chicago, IL, Chicago, IL, 60707, United States
Chicago will host AMERIVESPA 2026 concurrently with Slaughterhouse 32, Labor Day Weekend 2026
