The 4th Annual Bonneville VintageGP will be held September 4-6, 2009, so get out those route maps and start preparing now for another incredible weekend of racing! In three short years the Bonneville VintageGP has become a highlight of the vintage race season, and for good reason; the Bonneville VintageGP presented by Motorcycle Classics is friggin' fantastic classic motorcycle racing.

If you've already taken in the vintage racing scene at the Bonneville VintageGP, you probably already understand why this event has become a favorite for racers and spectators alike, and a lot of that is because of the venue, Miller Motorsports Park. Situated about 30 miles from Salt Lake City and just outside the small burg of Tooele, Utah, Miller Motorsports Park is a spectacular world-class track, a modern, state-of-the-art facility seemingly dropped in the middle of scrub desert that spoils racers with its amenities and its superbly maintained track.

We’ve been going since the first race, in 2006, and it just keeps getting better every year. Organized by ex-ski bum and vintage racer Tom Kullen (who can usually be spied racing one of his Norton Commandos), the Bonneville VintageGP is what AHRMA (American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association) vintage motorcycle racing is all about, drawing bikes and riders from across the country, including the now-famous crowd of West Coast racers on their Honda CB160s, who every year stage a CB160 LeMans start, a bit of theater that’s become a crowd favorite and an essential bit of the Bonneville VintageGP experience.

There’s also the chance to head out to the famed Bonneville Salt Flats for the 6th Annual BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials, which will be held August 30 – September 4, ending just as the Bonneville VintageGP is heating up. We’ll be hosting our annual Motorcycle Classics classic bike show, and like previous years Kullen and crew have arranged various side events including a swap meet, the Doug Polen Racing School, a CB160 raffle, police motorcycle demonstrations and a Vintage and Legend Bikes Parade on the main course.

Go here to register for the Motorcycle Classics bike show, and stay tuned as we fill you in on what to expect as we get closer to the date. To get a taste of the event, check out the video we shot at the inaugural 2006 Bonneville VintageGP, below. – Richard Backus 

Mark your calendar now for the 18^th annual Heart of America Motorcycle Enthusiasts Vintage Motorcycle Show, June 7, 2009, at the Kansas City Airline History Museum at the old Wheeler Airport. Just blocks from downtown Kansas City, Mo., Wheeler Airport is a trip back in time to the days when you actually stepped off the plane right onto the tarmac, and the museum’s collection of classic aircraft is incredible. The show kicks off at 10a.m. Sunday morning, and runs to 4p.m. that afternoon.

In addition to an impressive collection of aircraft memorabilia such as photos and old promotional materials, the Airline History Museum maintains a collection of vintage planes, including the Star of America, the only flying Lockhead L1049 “Super G” Constellation in North America, a Martin 404 and a rare 8/24 Douglas DC-3 currently undergoing restoration.

The HoAME show will include trophy classes for antique, vintage, classic and modern motorcycles, as well as competition and café bikes. And if past years are anything to go by – and they are – it’ll be another fabulous day of lovely old bikes combined with the beautiful weather of early summer.

The HoAME show has been gaining in popularity ever since a move some years back to the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, followed by two years at the Kansas Speedway, home to IndyCar and NASCAR racing. Never ones to sit still, members of the HoAME club decided they needed to keep things fresh, and when the opportunity to hold the show at Wheeler Airport presented itself the club jumped at the chance.

Staff from Motorcycle Classics will be on hand, checking out the bikes on hand and getting some time with fellow classic bike fans, and we’ll also be handing out the Motorcycle Classics People’s Choice trophy, a favorite category at just about any show we attend. Expect over 100 bikes on hand, and get ready for a big crowd; attendance has run close to 1,500 for the past four years. The HoAME show will be held rain or shine – aircraft hangars make for great show space. General admission is only $5, and another $10 gets your bike bike in the show. See you there. – Richard Backus

Trippin' On Two Wheels host Dennis Gage at home with
some of his great classic bikes. Gage is an avid rider.

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. So far, Gage, son Sam and regular Motorcycle Classics contributor Neale Bayly have pointed their bikes to Scotland, Sicily, Spain, Quebec, and Italy and Switzerland, taking the rest of us along for the ride. 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.

Unofficially billed as the “E’ville to St. A” epic, Gage’s next bit of traveling madness will have the crew running the back roads of the Southeast, leaving Gage’s home outside Evansville, Ind., (E’ville) on Tuesday, May 12, 2009, before pulling into the World Golf Village in St. Augustine, Fla., (St. A) three days later for the 10^th Annual Riding Into History classic bike and charity show, which runs May 16. Gage will be riding the ’69 R60, Sam will be on the ’83 R80 (affectionately dubbed “The Stinger” for its black and yellow paint scheme) and Bayly will ride the ’68 Guzzi V7.

Neale Bayly will ride this 1968 Moto Guzzi V7 ...

Dennis Gage will ride this 1969 BMW R60 ...

and Sam Gage will ride this 1983 BMW R80

As we’ve come to expect from the mustachioed maven, Gage has plotted out an intensive and exhausting itinerary for the crew, with three days of riding and just a little resting, including overnight stops in Smithville, Tenn., Westminster, N.C., and Savannah, Ga., before finally rolling into St. Augustine with a contingent of riders on vintage bikes, who will ride with them the last 30 miles to World Golf Village and Riding Into History, where Gage will share Grand Marshal duties with the legendary Craig Vetter, best known in our circles for designing the iconic 1973 Triumph Hurricane.

And you won’t have to wait for the episode to air on SPEED TV to find out how the ride went, because in addition to web updates from Gage, we’ll have an exclusive article from crew member Bayly, who will photograph and take notes of the trip, providing Motorcycle Classic’s an inside look at life on the road as the trio puts together their Telly Award-winning touring series.

When the dust’s settled and the images files are sorted, everyone else will get to ride along with Dennis, Sam and Neale in Trippin’ on Two Wheels VI when it airs on SPEED TV, and you can bet it’ll be another great hour of beautiful scenery, great roads and typical Gage/Bayly/Gage insanity as the trio share their experiences with motorcyclists everywhere. Stay tuned. We will. – Richard Backus