Its introduction, a distorted electric slide guitar sound which emulates that of a revving motorcycle, became the defining component of the song.
When the song was conceived before this guitar sound, the band and producer Ted Templeman were not happy because they felt it was missing a hook to make it stand out.
Playing his guitar in Open D tuning, Montrose improvized what became the motorcycle sound — although Templeman and engineer Donn Landee kept him going when they failed to get the recording tape rolling.
[2] When performed live by the original Montrose lineup, Sammy Hagar would play the "motorcycle" introduction on a lap steel slide guitar.
[citation needed] On Chickenfoot's Best + Live album, Hagar claimed that "Bad Motor Scooter" was "actually the first song I ever wrote in my life.