Legendary Riders
Legendary Riders profiles the men and women whose passion for the open road and the freedom that motorcycles provided elevated the sport and pastime to the level appreciation observed today.
11/17/2009 11:34:59 AM
The ex-Steve McQueen 1940 Indian Chief – pictured on the cover of the book “Steve McQueen: The Last Mile" – set a new world record for the model at Bonham & Butterfield’s “Classic California” auction November 14, selling for $99,450. The latest Bonham’s auction shows once again that when it comes to motorcycles, if Steve McQueen ever owned it, it’s hot.
9/8/2009 2:02:40 PM
As a four-time World Champion, you can bet Doug Polen rides to win. So when Polen swings a leg over a bike, you sort of assume a rider of his caliber will smoke just about all comers, regardless of what he’s riding. But could Polen, who made his name riding100-plus horsepower bikes like the Ducati 888 and Honda RC45, successfully compete against seasoned veterans in the Lillipution world of 14hp Honda CB160s? And starting at the very back of the pack? He could, and he did, and he won.
8/25/2009 12:31:05 PM
Doug Polen, two time World Superbike Champion and two time World Endurance Champion, has announced that he’ll take part in vintage racing at the 4th Annual Bonneville Vintage GP on Saturday, September 5, in the Battle of the CB160s LeMans Start race at Miller Motorsports Park.
8/19/2009 12:53:20 PM
Thirty-one years ago, Mike “The Bike” Hailwood stunned the motorcycling world when he emerged from 11 years of self-imposed retirement to win the Formula One TT at the Isle of Man on a specially prepared 883cc Ducati V-twin. A week later he rode to victory at Mallory Park, firmly cementing his reputation as one of the greatest riders of all time. Thanks to Alan Cathcart, we have the inside story on the Ducati that carried Hailwood to victory and the man who put it all together, Steve Wynne.
8/3/2009 3:59:33 PM
The Bikers’ Classics is held each summer at the famed Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, in Belgium. June 19-21, 2009, marked the seventh year for the classic racing event, and this year the theme was “The return of the 750s.”
8/3/2009 1:50:35 PM
A closer look at the 1982 Ducati Mike Hailwood Replica.
8/3/2009 1:41:34 PM
Steve Carpenter’s custom Honda CB750s.
8/3/2009 1:28:06 PM
Riding Mike Hailwood's history-making Ducati 900F1 racer.
6/4/2009 10:49:50 AM
It’s not every day you see a 1950 Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn sailing along the high desert highway. But it was this unlikely rig that brought Tom Mellor, his wife, Diane, and their 1969 Triumph Trident T150 to the Bonneville Salt Flats last summer, where the Canadian rider set four new World Speed records on the 40th anniversary of the Trident’s first appearance in the summer of 1968.
4/14/2009 2:54:06 PM
He’s baaaack! And we’ve got the inside scoop on the next installment of Dennis Gage’s award-winning motorcycle travel/adventure show, Trippin’ on Two Wheels. This time, they’re staying Stateside. Their destination? The 10th Annual Riding Into History classic motorcycle show. Their rides? A ’68 Moto Guzzi V7, a ’69 BMW R60 and an ’83 R80. And we'll have the full report!
3/25/2009 10:41:15 AM
Last week, we reported that Motorcycle Hall of Fame offroad racing champ Malcolm Smith was planning to protest the federal government's ban on selling motorcycles and ATVs to kids under 12, enacted as part of the 2008 Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. Not that anyone doubted he would, but Smith stuck to his word, setting up a table in the middle of his Riverside, Calif., dealership and selling the banned bikes to three industry friends - Jeff Ward, Troy Lee and Bud Feldkamp - who turned out to support his protest against the CPSIA.
3/17/2009 2:05:30 PM
It’s not often we find motorcyclists – especially famous motorcyclists like Motorcycle Hall of Fame offroad racing champ and “On Any Sunday” star Malcolm Smith – publicly protesting against the feds. But that’s exactly what Smith is doing, and he’s putting his money where his mouth is, literally, declaring he’ll start selling youth motorcycles and ATVs to kids under 12 in defiance of the 2008 Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008.
3/9/2009 5:11:49 PM
Motorcycle shops used to be small, friendly, family-owned affairs. These days, a lot of motorcycle shops are located in warehouse-sized buildings. Like Costco and Walmart, they’re Big Box stores, pushing volume and marking unit sales. And the old mom-and-pop stores, once the mainstay of the industry, are fast becoming as rare as carburetors.
3/3/2009 12:19:01 PM
Almost 30 years since he died and 46 years since his epic jump in The Great Escape, Steve McQueen still holds us under his spell. But if you think about it a moment, just why is a bit of a mystery. For one thing, McQueen didn’t even make the jump; that duty fell to offroad racer and stuntman Bud Ekins, a close friend of McQueen’s. Insurers for the film wouldn’t let McQueen expose himself to that kind of danger, so Ekins made the famous jump that’s been tied to McQueen ever since. Yet motorcyclists never tire of talking about that jump, which was recently recreated with help from Gerry Lisi at Metisse Motorcycles, who just launched a limited run of 300 Steve McQueen Metisse Desert Racers.
2/24/2009 2:25:45 PM
If you’re heading to Daytona Beach for the annual extravaganza that is Daytona Bike Week, February 27 – March 8, make plans to attend the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum’s annual “Friendraising” Breakfast on Friday morning, March 6, where you’ll have the opportunity to rub shoulders with the likes of three-time AMA Grand National Champion Jay Springsteen, nine-time AMA Grand National Champion Scott Parker, and legendary Harley-Davidson tuner Bill Werner, whose tuning skills took Springsteen, Parker and Gary Scott to a combined 13 National Grand Championships.
11/24/2008 2:57:24 PM
In 1975, when J. Randy Riggs was the senior editor of CYCLE WORLD magazine, CYCLE WORLD and rival CYCLE magazine were battling it out for the number one spot in American motorcycle magazine sales. One way to get a leg up on the competition was to get exclusive stories on new models.
10/23/2008 11:56:27 AM
Vincent collector Dale Keesecker’s 1971 Egli-Vincent won top honors at the Motorcycle Classics East Meets West Classic Bike Show, Saturday, Oct. 18 at the 4th Annual Barber Vintage Festival. A long-time Vincent fan, Keesecker has over the past few years focused on Vincent specials like the Swiss Egli and Australian Terry Prince specials.
9/29/2008 1:07:30 PM
On September 26, 2008, after five days of pushing their streamliner motorcycle on the salt flats of Bonneville, the Top 1 Oil Ack Attack team achieved what it came to do – topple the absolute motorcycle land speed record. And top it they did, with a blistering 360.913 mph run
9/25/2008 5:03:34 PM
Not surprisingly, Bonhams’ record-breaking price for the Verrall Vincent is sparking more interest in the classic bike market than ever and in the market for Vincents in particular.
8/18/2008 11:11:53 AM
I’m not a student of movie making, so I can’t tell you much about the cinematography in Scott Di Lalla and Zack Coffman’s latest “documentary,” Brittown. But I am a classic bike fan, British bikes being right up there on my radar, and I can tell you something about their latest film’s subject, Jeff Tulunius, aka, Meatball. He is, as the British might say, a “nutter.”
3/26/2008 11:08:38 AM
Former BSA racer Kenny Eggers recaptures his racing past with his factory-restored Star Twin Racer.
2/6/2008 4:13:21 PM
The last few months of 2007 were rough for motorcycle legends. After losing Bud Ekins, 77, in October, Evel Knievel, a stuntman of a different kind, passed away Nov. 30, 2007.
11/26/2007 1:44:07 PM
Bud Ekins, the iconic stuntman who doubled for Steve McQueen in The Great Escape, dies at 77.
7/30/2007 11:21:09 AM
Sammy Pierce was perhaps the greatest enthusiast of Indian motorcycles. And, along the way, he designed his own motorcycle — the P-61 American Rocket.
7/18/2007 1:13:03 PM
View from the Sidecar – News, Events and Sidebars from Motorcycle Classics Time machine November/December 2005 In late July, Motorcycle Classics took delivery of a 2005 Royal Enfield Bullet for a six-month test. The bike was provided by Minnesota-based Classic Motorworks, the United States distributo
7/18/2007 12:05:52 PM
Anthony Hopkins stars in "The World's Fastest Indian."
7/18/2007 10:24:14 AM
"SuperMann," an all-new exhibit honoring the legendary career of Dick Mann, one of motorcycling’s most versatile and successful competitors, opens this summer at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum in Pickerington, Ohio.
7/11/2007 5:13:25 PM
This year's annual Motorcycle Hall of Fame induction ceremony and Concours d'Elegance was not to be missed.
7/11/2007 3:46:20 PM
Colin Seeley’s eagerly awaited classic-era memoir, Racer … and the Rest, has finally been published by Redline Books.
7/11/2007 3:21:45 PM
Come to Ohio for the opening of "Malcolm!" and Vintage Motorcycle Days.
7/11/2007 9:58:34 AM
Dennis Gage, the handlebar-mustachioed host of Speed TV's My Classic Car, has been lighting the old car world on fire with his passionate discourse on classic cars and the classic car scene for the past ten years. But these days, classic bikes are what really "move" Gage.