I still remember the year 2000 and the start of the GSF very well; At that time I had a small private website (www.scooterists.de) with appointments, run reports, technical tips and a guest book that was widely used.
At some point René wrote to me:
"... let's move the communication: to the new forum ...",
"New forum?"
"Yes, there is something news: GSF - German Scooter Forum"...
Madness, this is now 20 years ago!
German Scooter Forum / Screenshot 2002
Largest scooter driver forum worldwide
According to its own information, the GSF is the oldest and largest forum for Vespa and Lambretta scooters in Germany ... and worldwide.
The online community has grown rapidly and today there are over 66.000 members who discussed, asked, made fun of, annoyed, praised, insulted and informed in almost 360.000 topics in over 5 million posts, sometimes more and sometimes less seriously.
Supported by Scooter Center
The Scooter Center has supported the GSF from the very beginning and of course also actively uses it as a support forum. Several times we became best Scooterselected.
Interview with “Mike” Michael Betz, German Scooter Forum
Who started the GSF?
I am the father of the GSF, Michael Betz. At that time I was still an active member of the “Low Rider Scooter Club”, later an enthusiastic ESC and long-distance racing driver / team boss with several championship titles.
I have increasingly withdrawn from the ESC racing scene since the birth of my children. I'm still fully involved in the long haul, but only as team boss from 2021 due to an accident. We are by far the most successful team at the VTR24h race in Zuera / Spain. No team has won there twice, not three times, but we've already won four times… plus a few podium places and mostly at the same time with the fastest race lap. We are absolutely at the top with 60 opposing teams, but that's another story.
How exactly did the GSF come about?
The nucleus for the GSF came into being in December 2000, when I was doing an internship in Berlin and had a lot of time on the side. At that time I set up the Low Rider SC homepage and didn't want to use a guest book as it was then. It bothered me that the already few scooter riders on the internet were spread over many guest books and the entries always disappeared downwards and no clearly structured and continuous discussion was possible. I wanted to create a central platform and knowledge database. That is why I used a forum that every club could integrate into its own club homepage.
At that time you could not access the forum directly, but first had to go to one of the club websites. The own domain “germanscooterforum.de” came years later.
The first time was pretty tough, people weren't that much online yet and back then there were already big names like “The Scooter Driver Guest Book”, which we first had to assert ourselves against.
We are celebrating 2020 years of GSF in December 20!
Who will help you with the flood of questions and contributions?
While I mainly take care of the technical side of the forum myself, there are some selfless supporters who manage to keep the content side of the forum running. Without these guys, the whole thing would not be possible. You invest many hours, nerves and heart and soul in the cause, which deserves the highest respect. So many thanks to my moderators Thisnotes4u, Gertax, t4., Subway, pfupfu, reusendrescher, sähkö, Florian, Vic and all alumni. Without you, the GSF could wrap up!
How many members does the forum currently have and what statistics are there?
As of the end of 2020, the forum had a good 66.000 members, making it the undisputed oldest and largest platform forum for classic scooters on the internet. The unimaginable number of well over 5 million contributions alone speaks volumes.
Is Facebook & Co. a threat to the GSF?
We have of course noticed that a lot is happening on the social media platforms on the subject of classic scooters. But it is still true that a recurring, in-depth discussion of technical topics and looking up knowledge is only possible in the GSF. Similar to the above-mentioned guest books from the year 2000, the contributions at fb disappear into nirvana after a short time.
Furthermore, I am firmly convinced that the hard core of scooter riders continue to predominantly move in the GSF, while more commercially oriented people or only sporadically interested people tend to stay on the other platforms.
So I look forward to the future calmly, the right people are still in the right place.
How can you support the forum?
At this point I would like to thank all supporters of the forum. Without you, the GSF would no longer exist today.
If you want to know how you can support the GSF:
Supports the continued existence of the GSF
Where can I find the forum?
