Vintage Motorcycle Days 2016: In the books!
- Thread starter NQ1965
- Start date
NQ1965
PR Elite
We had our grandkids up this weekend as well for the first time.
They loved it and were shocked and amazed at all of the motorcycles and the racing. We brought the PW50 and let them ride for a little bit in the open field. They really felt like they were a part of the whole scene.
They loved it and were shocked and amazed at all of the motorcycles and the racing. We brought the PW50 and let them ride for a little bit in the open field. They really felt like they were a part of the whole scene.
Alex186
PR Member
Hey guys... I'm the one who created the "Classic Non-Current" class. There was some confusion with the class the way the entry form described the classes. Please keep in mind I was handling alot of the vintage stuff, I've moved into another position so I'm not over the MX stuff anymore, I handed everything back to Kip and his new assistant. We have alot of new people that this way their first VMD experience. We were training maybe 4-5 new employees all weekend just in the off-road area alone. The tech inspection needs to get better, if we have volunteers for next year. Let me know, I'll get you with one of the racing discipline managers.
beenridin
PR Elite
Awesome weekend...actually long weekend. Friday racing was packed. Eric the new offroad AMA guy rode my 96 RM in the expert class and did well. Billy Morriss was out there in the A class. Miss the flip was haulin the mail with a full face retro helmet setup!!!
Saturday I did a 50 mile ride and catered dinner to the fairgrounds ( Jack worked over there) Rob Dingman was on the ride too! The races were fun and I had never been over there to see it. Lotts were there riding as well as racers from Australia and Canada!
Sunday was perfect weather and great racing. I did have an encounter with Drew Wolfe on the ground in front of me that took me out also on moto 2 50+ ....43 riders on the gate.
Oh and Nick DeVito and I had a collision but both stayed up ....all in all it was great racing.
Jack had his first go at the Expert class racing ....this was his first time on the bike this year other than 2 laps at Unadilla. He had some stiff competition with Gattrell , Hahn and other very fast pros... Jack got as 3-5 for 4th overall and a 6-8 for 7th overall. Very respectable finishes. Oh and he worked all weekend 6:30 every morning and till 2 am
Saturday nite. ( must be nice to be young)
Saturday I did a 50 mile ride and catered dinner to the fairgrounds ( Jack worked over there) Rob Dingman was on the ride too! The races were fun and I had never been over there to see it. Lotts were there riding as well as racers from Australia and Canada!
Sunday was perfect weather and great racing. I did have an encounter with Drew Wolfe on the ground in front of me that took me out also on moto 2 50+ ....43 riders on the gate.
Oh and Nick DeVito and I had a collision but both stayed up ....all in all it was great racing.
Jack had his first go at the Expert class racing ....this was his first time on the bike this year other than 2 laps at Unadilla. He had some stiff competition with Gattrell , Hahn and other very fast pros... Jack got as 3-5 for 4th overall and a 6-8 for 7th overall. Very respectable finishes. Oh and he worked all weekend 6:30 every morning and till 2 am
Saturday nite. ( must be nice to be young)
NQ1965
PR Elite
I felt for the guy handling the staging for the gate. He seemed like a really nice guy and was eager to help and answer questions, but with the numbers that we had in the class's, he had his hands full. That has to be a lot to keep sorted out from moto to moto. And then factor in the heat, humidity and the noise frying your brain. UGH!
Vet261
PR Addict
I feel bad for them too. You know they are either volunteer or just working their normal AMA job and have to deal with all of us complaining. They really do run a good event, especially considering that most of them are doing this once per year and/or have never done it before. Let's put it this way --- I've seen way more issues and problems at some established MX tracks than at this once a year event.
How about the guys/gals at the main intersections just standing out there all day long playing traffic cop? Jeez, I'm glad I'm not having to do that.
I liked the way the gate guy ran the gate, he had his own little style -- he would come out in the center and go down the one side checking with his left hand, then the other side with his right hand, once both hands were thumbs up he'd point to the 30 card guy to take over while he walked back to drop the gate. I thought that was pretty cool.
How about the guys/gals at the main intersections just standing out there all day long playing traffic cop? Jeez, I'm glad I'm not having to do that.
I liked the way the gate guy ran the gate, he had his own little style -- he would come out in the center and go down the one side checking with his left hand, then the other side with his right hand, once both hands were thumbs up he'd point to the 30 card guy to take over while he walked back to drop the gate. I thought that was pretty cool.
Mike
PR Addict
Nothing the gate guys can handle, they did a great job running the show, if I am correct they are the BAJA team, there is lots of time in tech, it was faster than a MacDonald's drive through, "PUSH YOUR BIKE SLOW ENOUGH SO HE CAN SLAP A STICKER ON IT", had no idea what model / class my bike was. I agree it would be easy to give him a class eligible list which would cover 95% of the bikes and then figure out the others before the racing began.
But really the whole weekend was fantastic, and thanks to the AMA staff for working so hard to give us a fun weekend. The only real victims were Wheeler and the Emig replica, neither of which will be racing in the near future.
Hey thanks for link to 800+ pics. Looks like my boy was representin' his home bluegrass state and went 1-1-1-dnf in his 2 non-current classes. He said he wishes he could ride a 2 stroke ride as fast when he 21. Tough getting old but he turns 30 this month and is gonna be SOB in vet class.
Good job Alex. Sorry I was no show but I had to represent at GnR.
SH
Good job Alex. Sorry I was no show but I had to represent at GnR.
SH
Mike
PR Addict
care to share the LINK 800 pictures
misstheflip
PR Member
....and huffing fumes from a few hundred old two strokes.
misstheflip
PR Member
Glad we both stayed on 2 wheels!!
KRH
PR Member
I was waiting for you to start, Mike. Man, what a good time! We had a blast, as usual. Ben rode real well and had a helluva race on Saturday with a kid on a 440GP Maico for Vintage Open B/C, ending up second. He went down on the KX on Sunday and couldn't make his second moto. Came home with nothing broken and nobody hurt too bad. First year for my stepson, Josh, and he's now fully hooked. He wants to get out there and race. I'm thinking a '76-'77 RM125 or '75-'76 KX125 project for him.
It was nice seeing our campground neighbors that we've camped next to for years and friends we only see there. Our campsite provides lots of entertainment but some drunks moved into our neighborhood a couple years ago that are kind of a pain, I may have to move across the street next year.
My son, Dustin, had the bikes both running fantastic, just had to make a few adjustments to the KX down there including adding more dampening to the forks. I just can't recommend Race Tech Emulators highly enough, makes it easy, almost like cheating.
All and all just a fantastic weekend. Now that I think about it, this makes 10 in a row.
Kevin
We're talking about doing a cosmetic restoration on her for next year. We're still running the plastics it had when we found the the bike. We'll see.
trent56mx
PR Addict
Yes I had a great time. I'm from the Mansfield area and this was my first year racing VMD for reasons unknown haha. I'm hooked, it will be a fixture on my calender now. Track was fun and my loaner bike was a blast. I need a steel frame CR smoker again, might just talk my friend into selling me this one.
My buddy Jeff from Ohio Action Photo is the gallery link. He's busy with his new job/house, doesn't get to the tracks as much as he would like to these days.
evomx244
PR Addict
I'm in for helping with tech Inspection next year.
NQ1965
PR Elite
If you'll allow me, here's a good story I think worth telling from the weekend that I'll share with you:
Some of you guys might recall back in 2014, me moaning over my bruised ego. I was racing my 40+ class on my 82 YZ250 and got passed on the third lap buy an older guy on a vintage Harley Davidson MX250.
Well he was there again this year, beside me on the gate, same class again. I struck up a conversation with him, and we talked about that race in 2014. So here we are today, in the 1st moto, gate drops, I get a good start and I never saw him again. He got a bad start, and then lost valuable race time due to the medical caution for the rider that wadded it up in the double-double. (the guy that had to be life flighted).
Now the good part:
2nd moto, we're lined up again. I was focused on getting as good of start as I possibly could. The gate drops, and I pulled off probably my best start of the day. So I'm barreling down the straight, front wheel lifted about 6" and charging like a madman. I get about halfway to the turn and only see one bike ahead of me over to the far left. (Greg Wheeler on his Maico).
Feeling optimistic, as I'm starting to eyeball a line to head into the turn, my prideful moment was short lived and interrupted when this obnoxiously loud orange tanked bike comes blasting by me and up the middle. It was that damned Harley Davidson again !!!!!
The three of us (out of 14, I think) made it through the turn fast and smooth and without incident, but Wheeler and the guy on the Harley Davidson were GONE ! They immediately pulled a commanding lead, which I could not gain on for the rest of the race. Wheeler took 1st on the finish on his Maico, and the Harley rider, Luke Gallow, finished 2nd. (I was losing time rolling through the double-double and think I ended up in 5th).
When I passed by the checkered flag and off of the track, there was a firm knowledge that I had just rode one of my best and fastest races of the weekend, on my 84 YZ250, and gave everything that I had out there on that track. And it just wasn't enough to catch that damned 1974 Harley Davidson again.
Some of you guys might recall back in 2014, me moaning over my bruised ego. I was racing my 40+ class on my 82 YZ250 and got passed on the third lap buy an older guy on a vintage Harley Davidson MX250.
Well he was there again this year, beside me on the gate, same class again. I struck up a conversation with him, and we talked about that race in 2014. So here we are today, in the 1st moto, gate drops, I get a good start and I never saw him again. He got a bad start, and then lost valuable race time due to the medical caution for the rider that wadded it up in the double-double. (the guy that had to be life flighted).
Now the good part:
2nd moto, we're lined up again. I was focused on getting as good of start as I possibly could. The gate drops, and I pulled off probably my best start of the day. So I'm barreling down the straight, front wheel lifted about 6" and charging like a madman. I get about halfway to the turn and only see one bike ahead of me over to the far left. (Greg Wheeler on his Maico).
Feeling optimistic, as I'm starting to eyeball a line to head into the turn, my prideful moment was short lived and interrupted when this obnoxiously loud orange tanked bike comes blasting by me and up the middle. It was that damned Harley Davidson again !!!!!
The three of us (out of 14, I think) made it through the turn fast and smooth and without incident, but Wheeler and the guy on the Harley Davidson were GONE ! They immediately pulled a commanding lead, which I could not gain on for the rest of the race. Wheeler took 1st on the finish on his Maico, and the Harley rider, Luke Gallow, finished 2nd. (I was losing time rolling through the double-double and think I ended up in 5th).
When I passed by the checkered flag and off of the track, there was a firm knowledge that I had just rode one of my best and fastest races of the weekend, on my 84 YZ250, and gave everything that I had out there on that track. And it just wasn't enough to catch that damned 1974 Harley Davidson again.
Are there any results pages up yet, or photo gallery?
Alex186
PR Member
Shoot me an email with your name and contact information and I'll send it over to Kip Bigelow, Motocross Manager. ahunter@ama-cycle.org
Results and Photo gallery should be up soon... Yesterday it was a ghost town in the office. We should be getting that stuff up today.
KRH
PR Member
If it makes you feel any better, Mike, the Harley was newer than a '74. It was a '77 or '78
Ben has yet to beat that kid on the Maico. Those two are as equally matched as can be. I'd love to see them switch bikes and see what happens because the bike is probably the difference between them. It was an absolute pleasure to watch their races.