People’s Choice winner Bill Demaray of Albuquerque, N.M., and his 1972 Honda CB750 Café at the 2011 Bonneville Vintage GP. 

Featured Events  

July 20
Head to Lexington, Ohio, for AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course July 20-22. Mods and Rockers are taking center stage this year, with bike and scooter shows focused on the two groups, along with a special tent featuring machines, memorabilia, history displays and more. Enjoy the AMA Racing Vintage Grand Championships, which include amateur national championship road racing, motocross, hare scrambles, trials and dirt track, along with bike shows, the world’s largest motorcycle swap meet, demo rides of current production bikes, motorcycling seminars, stunt shows and more. On the web at AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days.

August 10
The Annual British & European Summer Rally, sponsored by the Ohio Valley BSA Owners Club, runs through the 12th and includes a swap meet, observed trials with both vintage and modern classes, a dual sport run, a Lucas Nite Run, a classic bike show and more. The meet is open to all makes. On the web at Ohio Valley BSA Owner’s Club.

August 24
The LeMay - America’s Car Museum has teamed up with the Ace Café London for the Meet at the Ace Summer Shakedown 2012, Aug. 24-26, at the museum in Tacoma, Wash. The show will feature judged classes, a swap meet, a Sunday ride and more. On the web at LeMay Museum and Ace Café London.

August 31
Head to Tooele, Utah, just outside Salt Lake City, the home of the Miller Motorsports Park and the 7th Annual Bonneville Vintage GP. A dozen awards will be given out at the Motorcycle Classics motorcycle show on Saturday, with registration starting at 8 a.m. Café Racers are the featured class. Rounds 13 and 14 of the AHRMA CPL Systems National Historic Cup Roadrace take place Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 1-2. Meet editor-in-chief Richard Backus and see the CB160 Races with LeMans starts both days! On the web at Bonneville Vintage GP.

More Events  

June 30-July 1
17th Annual CJMC Classic Japanese Swap & Show. Auburn, CA.
CJMC 

July 4-7
GWRRA 34th Annual Wing Ding. Ft. Wayne, IN.
Wing Ding 34 

July 7
OVM McKenzie Moto Piccolo. Coburg, OR.
Oregon Vintage Motorcyclists 

July 8
Jeff Williams MC Swap Meet. Tulsa, OK.
Jeff Williams Motorcycle Events 

July 13-15
21st Annual MGNOC Iowa Rally. Elkader, IA.
Moto Guzzi National Owners Club 

July 13-15
OVM Highsmith Memorial Ride and Campout. Phoenix, OR.
Oregon Vintage Motorcyclists 

July 17-20
2012 End of the World Norton Owners Club Rally. Brandon, VT.
International Norton Owners Association 

July 19-22
40th BMW MOA International Rally. Sedalia, MO.
BMW Motorcycle Owners of America 

July 20-22
32nd Annual British Biker Coop Rally. Blue River, WI.
British Biker Cooperative 

July 20-22
10th Annual Broken Arrow Rendezvous Moto Guzzi Campout. Gibbonsville, ID.
Moto Guzzi National Owners Club 

July 21
Eurasia Custom Bike Show. Mount Vernon, WA.
e-mail: richard@fencescenes.com 

July 21
OVM Goldendale Gathering. Goldendale, WA.
Oregon Vintage Motorcyclists 

July 22
Jeff Williams MC Swap Meet. Kansas City, MO.
Jeff Williams Motorcycle Events 

July 25-28
2012 Wild and Wonderful Mountainfest Motorcycle Rally. Morgantown, WV.
MountainFest 

July 27-29
U.S. Motorcycle Grand Prix. Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, CA.
Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix 

Aug. 3-5
AHRMA CPL Systems National Historic Cup Roadrace Series Rounds 11-12. Gingerman Raceway, South Haven, MI.
AHRMA 

Aug. 3-5
28th Annual Wisconsin Moto Guzzi Riders Rally. Lake Joy Campground, Belmont, WI.
Wisconsin Moto Guzzi Riders 

Aug. 4
AMOB MetricFest. Omaha, NE.
MetricFest 

Aug. 4-5
OVM Oaks Park Picnic. Portland, OR.
Oregon Vintage Motorcyclists 

Aug. 6-12
Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Sturgis, SD.
Sturgis Motorcycle Rally 

Aug. 9-11
VJMC 35th Anniversary Celebration and Rally. Spring Mill State Park near Mitchell, IN.
VJMC 

Aug. 12
OVM Batwater Station Ride. Hillsboro, OR.
Oregon Vintage Motorcyclists 

Aug. 12
Jeff Williams MC Swap Meet. Oklahoma City, OK.
Jeff Williams Motorcycle Events 

Aug. 17-19
Indianapolis MotoGP. Indianapolis, IN.
Red Bull Indianapolis GP 

Aug. 17-19
White Rose VJMC Meet & Show. Spring Grove, PA.
VJMC 

Aug. 18
Lucas Oil Indy Mile. Indianapolis, IN.
Lucas Oil 

Aug. 19
British Iron Association of Connecticut 26th Annual Brit Jam. Haddam Neck Fairgrounds, East Hampton, CT.
British Iron Assocation of Connecticut 

Aug. 19
OVM Taste of Lane Ride. Eugene, OR.
Oregon Vintage Motorcyclists 

Aug. 24-26
Ontario Guzzi Riders Rally. Sturgeon Falls, Ontario, Canada.
Ontario Guzzi Riders 

Aug. 25-26
Montesada USA. Tres Pinos, CA.
Montesada USA 

Aug. 25-30
BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials. Wendover, UT.
BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials 

Aug. 26
Jeff Williams MC Swap Meet. Kansas City, MO.
Jeff Williams Motorcycle Events 

 

 
Designer Craig Vetter with his Rickman Kawasaki in the mid-1970s. 

 

 

Honda CB160s work their way through “The Attitudes” at Miller Motorsports Park. 

Two major events coming down the pike are Vintage Motorcycle Days at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, and the 7th Annual Bonneville Vintage GP at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah.

First up is Vintage Motorcycle Days (VMD) July 20-22. 2012. The granddaddy of American vintage motorcycle happenings, this is the event that proved the vintage and classic motorcycle scene really had legs. Past years have seen crowds of 50,000-plus, the event drawing vintage bike fans from across the country and around the world.

Happenings at VMD include the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Bike Show, factory demo rides, club corrals, and of course the largest motorcycle swap meet in North America, covering an astounding 35 acres!

Featured marque this year is actually more of a category, celebrating two of motorcycling’s most famous groups, the Rockers and the Mods. Both groups will be showcased at VMD, with a special tent, machines, memorabilia and history displays celebrating the Rockers and Mods and the machines they made famous, café racers and scooters. There will also be vintage racing with the AMA Vintage Grand Championships, this year presented by Moto Armory. Importantly, all proceeds from VMD go to support the AMA’s Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum. More info at the American Motorcyclist Association website.

Next up is the Bonneville Vintage GP Aug. 31-Sept. 2, 2012, presented by Motorcycle Classics. Returning for its seventh year, the Bonneville Vintage GP will feature rounds 13-14 of the 2012 AHRMA/CPL Systems National Historic Cup Roadrace Series and the Battle of the CB160 LeMans Start, one of the most popular races of the weekend. Last year’s CB160 LeMans Start saw almost 40 Honda CB160 riders battling for the top slot in what’s become one of the most dynamic categories in vintage motorcycle racing; we expect more of the same great action this year.

There will also be great sidecar racing, and Motorcycle Classics will be there hosting the Motorcycle Classics/Dairyland Cycle Bonneville GP Vintage Bike Show on Saturday, Sept. 1. Last year’s show attracted 60-plus classic motorcycles, and we’re looking forward to upping that this year. The featured category is Café Racers, and we’ll award 12 trophies in six categories including Best Café and People’s Choice. Find more info on our show and the event at 2012 Motorcycle Classics Bonneville Vintage GP Motorcycle Show or Bonneville Vintage GP — see you there!

Have you ever wanted to go touring on a vintage Italian motorcycle? What’s that? Don’t have one? No worries, because here’s your chance to ride not just one vintage Italian bike, but five with Motorcycle Classics editor-in-chief Richard Backus, plus win a full set of leather riding gear from River Road if your name’s drawn in the Motorcycle Classics/RetroTours Redneck Giro Sweepstakes.

We learned about RetroTours in 2010, when editor Backus participated in the first Redneck Giro. A spectacular three-day romp through West Virginia’s beautiful mountain country, it was an excellent introduction to the energy and enthusiasm RetroTour founder Joel Samick puts into crafting intimate, finely detailed tours — all of them riding select vintage twins from Samick’s own impressive stable of classic motorcycles.

The classic motorcycle tours offered by RetroTours cover varying themes. Some follow trails laced with gastronomical points of interest while others trace unique geologic formations. Yet others, as in this tour, celebrate particular types of motorcycles. For the Redneck Giro the bikes are, naturally enough, Italian.

No trailer queens, the vintage Italian bikes used for this tour are models you might be more used to seeing in museums, not being slogged on the open road. Rides for this tour include a 1971 Moto Guzzi 750 Ambassador, a 1972 Laverda 750SF, a 1974 Benelli Tornado 650S, a 1975 Ducati 860GT and a 1979 Moto Morini 500 Strada. And the best part is that participants ride each one of them, swapping machines at every gas stop.

And it doesn’t stop there, because the winner in our sweepstakes will also receive a set of new leather riding gear from River Road, including leather jacket, pants, boots and gloves.

You’ll have to get yourself to tour headquarters, but once you’re there RetroTours takes care of the rest, including bikes, gas and lodging. The vintage Italian motorcycle tour happens Sept. 7-9, 2012, so head on over to Motorcycle Classics RetroTours Giveaway and sign up now!

 

Lovely Moto Guzzi at last year’s Barber Festival. 

Summer’s here, which means it’s time to plan for fall and the 8th Annual Barber Vintage Festival at the Barber Vintage Motorsports Park Oct. 12-14, 2012. There really aren’t enough superlatives to describe this event or its locale, home to the world-famous Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum. Launched in 2005, the Barber Vintage Festival is the unofficial season-ending event on the vintage calendar and the premier vintage motorcycle event in the country.

Last year’s festival was blessed with unbelievably perfect weather and a revved up activity calendar, which combined to produce record crowds — easily 50,000 people — over the event’s three days. In previous years, things didn’t really get moving till Saturday, but last year it felt like somebody let the genie out of the bottle, because the festival was in full swing first thing Friday morning. The way this event keeps growing, you can bet there will be even more going on this year than ever before, if that’s really possible.

And evidently it is, because in addition to the regular roster of happenings like vintage AHRMA racing, a killer swap meet, a Saturday vintage bike auction, tech seminars, the American Motordrome Co. Wall of Death motorcycle stunt show, the Race of the Century for motorcycles 100 years old and older, the Aeroshell Aerobatic Team, and of course the Motorcycle Classics/Dairyland Cycle Barber Vintage Motorcycle Show, we’ve heard rumors of a planned Motogiro on Thursday before the festival officially opens. Vintage Triumphs will hold center stage at the Motorcycle Classics tent as the featured marque in our show, and Triumph Motorcycles is the official sponsor of the Barber Vintage Festival, which means the Triumph demo van should be on hand with free rides.

Even with all that, there are still a few vintage bike fans who haven’t taken in this great weekend, so for the third year in a row we’ve teamed up with Barber to give away a pair of tickets to the Vintage Festival. The winners — it’s a prize meant for two — will get a pair of passes to the 8th Annual Barber Vintage Festival, plus weekend passes to the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, two nights lodging and front row tickets to the Barber classic bike auction, not to mention cool swag like festival T-shirts and caps. Getting there is your responsibility, but if you’re our winner, once you’re there you’ll be pretty much taken care of for the entire weekend. Pretty sweet deal if you ask us. Point your browser to the 2012 Barber Vintage Festival Sweepstakes and sign up now.