The Ped Heads

'They're just cleaning up their bikes,' their mate Timmy assures me. But you never can tell with these scooter kids. My last gang of Ped Heads took off to Southend at the last minute.

Thankfully, the boys from Nunhead aren't going to let me down. They turn up at dusk ? all flashing lights and lurid colours ? looking like they've just stepped out of cyberspace. 'The Gilera Runner SP has got my name written all over it,' says 16-year-old Timmy, eyeing up Bobby's scooter. If he passes his GCSEs then a 50cc machine is his for sure.

Pay a visit to Scootech in Bow, scooter shop extraordinaire and spiritual home for the Ped Heads, and you'll see scores of under-18 devotees flocking round the wares. Day-Glo yellow with blue-tinged headlights, the Gilera DNA is one of the store's most-coveted scooters. It is 160lbs of pure speed, and 16-year-old Nathan is lucky enough to own one.

The four boys made a pact with each other while still at school ? they would all get scooters. 'I waited longest,' says Bobby, who finally got his last September. They've been tearing up the streets of South East London ever since, practising wheelies in the car park of their local Sainsbury's and zooming off to Croydon in convoy.

So, is the best thing about a moped the speed rush or the freedom? 'Neither. It's the ladies,' the boys say in unison. A leather Avirex jacket and a pair of box-fresh Nikes ensures maximum pulling power. chioma nnadi

What they wear Boss and Evisu from Zee & Co on the Roman Road

Where they hang out Scootech

Idols Each other

What's on their ringtone 'The Leader of the Pack'?