Back in July of this year, a friend and I took a road trip out to the AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days event. What follows is a sort of photo documentary of the trip…with lots of pictures of motorcycles of course!
This is Dave outside a breakfast restaurant in eastern Massachusetts with the bikes just prior to departure. He’s got the rain gear on for a reason…as you’ll soon see!
The day’s first rest stop. We decided on 120 miles between stops, which works out well for both fueling and resting. The rain started just 30 miles into the ride and didn’t stop until 500 miles later.
Waiting out a big thunder-boomer about mid-afternoon. About two hours before this we encountered what we both agreed had been the worst weather either of us had ever seen on a motorcycle. The rain came down in sheets, and the wind was whipping so hard in random directions that it was all we could do to get pulled over. We later learned that this same storm system spawned something like 10 tornadoes in neighboring states as it worked its way east. However, we were going west, and by the time we stopped for the night in Erie, PA, the weather was clear and dry.
Day 2 dawned clear and dry, and proved to be a perfect day to knock off the final 250 miles to the event.
Me playing with the camera while we ride…a shot of Dave in the mirror…
…and a little over-the-helmet action out on the open road.
Having arrived at the event about mid-way through the first day, things were already in full swing. This event offers three straight days of constant action, with road racing, motocross racing, trials competitions, enduro rides, off-site dirt track racing, new bike demo rides, a huge swap meet, and endless people watching via either wandering around the 330 acres on foot or riding around on whatever you brought, be it a QA50 or a CBX!
Speaking of CBX’s, I saw at least a half dozen pristine examples of the old Honda inline 6 there. This event was definitely a feast for the eyes!
If vintage road racing is your thing, there was three straight days of on-track action to whet your appetite, plus of course hours of pit touring to be had.
Racers in the Esses section of the track.
A Goldwing like I’ve never seen before!
The other side of it.
An outstanding Honda 400 Four.
And another one.
One of my all-time favorite paint schemes.
An H2 based road racer.
A really nice H2.
One of my favorite mid-80’s middleweights.
A Kawasaki 1200cc Jet-Ski motor based drag bike project.
Another angle.
The Rickman/Vetter Kawasaki 1100 roadracer, parked in front of the AMA’s “Motorhead Café”.
The Motorhead Café logo.
If it’s vintage motocross you fancy, you could get your fill here.
You name it, it was there. There were Ossa’s, Bultaco’s, Maico’s, Penton’s, Kawi’s, Honda’s, Suzuk’s, and Yami’s, and probably anything else that was ever built and had knobbies put on it.
A view over the track and part of the motocross pits. It seemed like everybody in the pits had at least two bikes with them. This view shows about 1/3 of the motocross pits.
Another 1/3 of the motocross participants.
A Triumph Street Tracker parked in the motocross section.
A blast from the past…and a darn good example of it.
The other side.
Casey Stoner’s ’07 Moto GP championship bike was on hand.
Another angle on this beauty.
The Brits staked their claim to some real estate too.
More of the Brit corral.
Triumph’s logo as the marquee of the event.
Let’s tour some of the Triumph tent…
Clean!
An unusual flat tracker.
A drag bike with a story.
A Thruxton with attitude.
The ’09 Bonneville unveiled.
The other side of the Bonnie.
Side cover closeup.
The Triumph corral.
A very pretty café conversion.
And right beside it, another.
In the Honda CB section.
On the way home we popped in to see the Niagra Falls.
The Niagra River.
Tourists taking in the Horseshoe Falls.
What a trip! Hope you enjoyed it too!
