Randy Brown's lovely BMW R90/6 Café, one of our top picks at the
2007 Barber Vintage Festival

Okay guys and gals, here’s your chance to polish up that kickin’ café Yamaha or Norton you’ve built and show it off to the rest of the classic bike crowd as Motorcycle Classics and Dairyland Cycle Insurance present the Café Bike Show at the 5th Annual Barber Vintage Festival, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009.

This has been a very cool show to organize so far, if only because the enthusiasm from regular Motorcycle Classics supporters – as in our advertisers, the folks who help keep this magazine going – has been pretty amazing. In addition to Dairyland Cycle Insurance climbing aboard as title sponsor, we’re also getting help from well-known suppliers like Race Tech Suspension, classic bike aftermarket parts specialists Emgo , classic Japanese parts specialist Z1 Enterprises, new Triumph café parts supplier BellaCorse, Moto Guzzi, YSS shocks, Nexx helmets, Davida helmets, bike cleaner and lube specialists Original Bike Spirits, Triumph motorcycles, Pirelli tires and Ducati motorcycles. Pretty cool roster of companies, all of them with a strong foot in the café door and all of them folks you should check out.

Interest in café bikes keeps growing, and it’s not hard to understand why. While there’s no denying the beauty of, say, an impeccably restored 1965 Norton Atlas or a 1972 Suzuki Titan, there’s something equally compelling about a hand built Triton, whose owner has stuffed a built Triumph engine into a Norton featherbed frame. Café bikes are an expression of their builders’ talents and desires, so each bike is unique. And therein lies the beauty: In a world where everything’s the same, a café racer is what you make it, nothing more, nothing less.

Expect an incredible display of delectable café racers, with prizes for Editor’s Choice/Best of Show and People’s Choice. We’ve managed to talk Barber’s own Brian Slark, a former test rider for Matchless Motorcycles and later with Norton in the U.S., and now Barber’s restoration specialist, into judging the show for us, which is a pretty cool deal. Winners will take home a new set of Pirelli tires and a Nexx X60 retro-style helmet, and everyone has a chance to win the Motorcycle Classics/BikeBandit.com Project Café 1973 CB500, which we’ll give away at the show.

Space is limited, so sign up now as Dairyland Cycle Insurance and Motorcycle Classics present the Café Bike Show at the 5th Annual Barber Vintage Festival. – Richard Backus 

 
Vintage racing returns to Mid-Ohio July 24-26, 2009

Time is running out to pre-enter for the AMA Racing Vintage Grand Championships, held in conjunction with AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, and the Ashland County Fairgrounds in Ashland this July 24-26.

The AMA Racing Vintage Grand Championships will crown AMA Racing national champions in vintage motocross, road racing, dirt track, hare scrambles and trials. Two outstanding riders will also earn the titles of AMA Track Racing and AMA Off-Road Racing Vintage Grand Champions based on their cumulative point totals across related disciplines.

In addition to traditional vintage classes, there will be classes for post-vintage motorcycles, as well. In certain classes and disciplines, kids as young as 12 will also battle for national titles on machines smaller than 250cc. Details are available under Racing at AMAVintageMotorcycleDays.com. Pre-entry closes this Friday, July 17. Although riders will still be able to enter at the event, there are significant rewards for pre-entering.

Each rider who pre-enters the AMA Racing Vintage Grand Championships, where off-road registration is $40 for the first class and $25 for the second, qualifies for two free $10 gift cards redeemable at BikeBandit.com, where AMA members receive an additional 10 percent discount. Pre-entered riders also will receive two free entries to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum in Pickerington, Ohio.

The AMA Racing Vintage Grand Championships are coming together with the help of several AMA-chartered clubs and individual AMA members. These include WERA Motorcycle Roadracing, which is supporting vintage road-racing operations; Mandi Mastin, who will lay out and work the hare scrambles race; Don May, Royce Cline and other members of Trials Inc., who will staff the trials competition; members of Dayton MC, one of 11 clubs chartered with the AMA since the Association's inception in 1924; Jim Pooler, who will provide technical assistance in road racing; and Vintage Iron's Rick Doughty, who will serve as technical adviser.

Mastin is a bonafide American off-road racing star. She's a member of the 2009 AMA Team USA that will vie for world championship honors at the International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) in Figueria da Foz, Portugal, this Oct. 12-17. A five-time ISDE medalist and a member of this year's U.S. Women's Team (that also includes Maria Forsberg and Lacy Jones), Mastin will design and help run the vintage hare scrambles course that will see action on Friday, July 24.

"Being an avid off-road racer and enthusiast, I was thrilled for the opportunity to work with the AMA and design and help run the AMA Racing Vintage Grand Championships hare scrambles," Mastin said. "My father has been involved with racing off-road motorcycles for years and has actually rode and raced many of the bikes that now qualify as vintage."

Competitors in the vintage hare scrambles also will race with the knowledge that they are helping the U.S. effort at the ISDE. "Going to the ISDE every year is extremely expensive, and many fans have helped me over and over with fund raising," Mastin said. "The AMA has allowed me to run this race as a fund raiser for the ISDE and moneys earned from this event will go directly to getting my bike and me to Portugal to recapture the Women's World Trophy Cup that we last won in 2007.

"Please come and ride your vintage bike at an excellent facility, have a good time, experience AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days and help support two good causes: the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum and the Team USA ISDE effort."

Doughty, who has been involved in vintage racing on the national level for 22 years and has been vintage racing himself longer than that, says that he was attracted to helping at the AMA Racing Vintage Grand Championships because it provided a unique opportunity to advance U.S. vintage racing to another level.

Doughty is also is the person behind Vintage Iron (VintageIron.com), a full-service vintage motorcycle shop in Yorba Linda, Calif., that offers hard-to-find parts, gear and restoration work. Doughty has a number of national vintage motocross championships and also has competed in vintage road racing, trails, dirt track and off-road events.

"I'm thrilled to be a part of the inaugural AMA Racing Vintage Grand Championships," Doughty said. "Vintage racing is about having fun, recapturing our history and keeping people involved in motorcycling. This is a great opportunity to develop the sport of vintage motorcycle racing in this country and move it forward to better meet those goals."

Doughty says that he's particularly looking forward to the competition for the honors of AMA Vintage Grand Champions.

"I'm really interested in seeing how the AMA Track Racing and Off-Road Racing Vintage Grand Championships are decided," Doughty said. "This concept is a great idea, and particularly for this year, it will provide a major incentive for racers to give it their all. There can only be one person in each discipline who will be the first ever AMA Vintage Grand National Champion."

AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days, proceeds of which go to support the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum, includes national-championship vintage racing, North America's largest motorcycle swap meet, bike shows, demo rides of current production bikes, motorcycling seminars, stunt shows, the new product Manufacturers' Midway and club corrals featuring marque and regional clubs, and the AMA Used Bike Corral.

The Marque of the Year for 2009 is BSA, whose bikes became synonymous with racing in the United States when the brand swept the top five positions at the Daytona 200 in 1954. The Classic Clubs this year are the Sandcast Only Owner's Club (SOOC), and the International CBX Owners Association.

This year is particularly special because it commemorates the 85th anniversary of the AMA, and features a parade of classic motorcycles representing the past 85 years. Volunteers are encouraged to contact the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum, which is organizing the parade, for information about participating in it. More information about the parade is at MotorcycleMuseum.org. - From the AMA website

Fabulous 1953 OHC 125cc Mondial from Guy Webster's collection.

The California Oil Museum has opened a new exhibit, “Italian Motorcycles: Incredible Classics to Modern Marvels” running now through Sept. 27, 2009. The exhibit is a collaboration of two collectors, Guy Webster and Daniel Shoenewald. Picked from their extensive collections are classic beauties such as a 1959 Moto Morini Corsa, a 1956 Mondial, a 1955 Ducati Silverstone Super, a 1954 Bianchi Tonale, and a 1953 MV Augusta. In the modern selection we will be displaying a ’97 Moto Guzzi Daytona RS, a Ducati 999 Fila, a Donna Karen special ’98 Ducati 748L as well as many others.

1954 Bianchi Tonale from Guy Webster's collection.

The motorcycles that come out of Italy are simply unlike any other type of motorcycle made in any part of the world. Regardless of what company or what model, when you see an Italian motorcycle you simply know it for what it is. From the elegant and regal way that the companies handle small details to the overall inventive compact designs, Italian motorcycles stand out from their international counterparts.

Lovely Moto Morini racer in Guy Webster's collection.

In the 1950s, streamlining began to play an increasing part in the development of racing motorcycles and held out the possibility of radical changes to motorcycle design. NSU and Moto-Guzzi were in the vanguard of this development both producing very radical designs well ahead of their time. NSU produced the most advanced design, but because of the deaths of four NSU riders in the 1954–1956 seasons, they abandoned further development and quit Grand Prix motorcycle racing. Moto-Guzzi produced competitive race machines, and by 1957 nearly all the Grand Prix races were being won by streamlined machines. Recent years have also seen resurgence in the popularity of several other brands sold in the U.S. market, including Aprilia, Moto-Guzzi, MV Agusta and Ducati. Additionally, the small-capacity scooter is very popular through most of the world. The Piaggio group of Italy, for example, is one of the world's largest producers of two-wheeled vehicles 

One of the early innovators of rock-and-roll photography, renowned photographer Guy Webster has spanned the worlds of music, films and politics in a stellar 40-year career. While shooting album covers and billboards for groups that included The Rolling Stones, The Mamas and the Papas, The Beach Boys, The Byrds, The Doors, Simon & Garfunkel and Chicago, he also photographed such film legends as Rita Hayworth, Dean Martin and Natalie Wood.

Guy Webster, self portrait, date unknown.

As the primary celebrity photographer for hundreds of worldwide magazines, Webster's artistry has captured a vast range of talent and luminaries from Igor Stravinski, Truman Capote and Zubin Mehta to Barbara Streisand, Jack Nicholson, Candice Bergen, Michelle Pfeiffer and Ted Danson. Presidential subjects have included Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.

Today, Webster is still shooting in his studio in Venice, Calif., while pursuing his passions for family and vintage motorcycles. A documentary about his photographic work is in progress, with past and upcoming gallery exhibits in Spain, Italy and England, as well as Martha’s Vineyard, New York and California.

Daniel Shoenwald has been a serious collector of motorcycles since 1993 and is the founder of Advanced Motion Controls in Camarillo, California. Advanced Motion Controls (AMC) is a world leading servo drive manufacturer providing solutions for motion control.

Daniel not only collects one-of-a-kind motorcycles ranging from Nortons to Honda’s, but he loves to ride them, too. “When I was a kid all I wanted to do was play baseball, then I saw my first motorcycle. I literally put down the glove that day and got on my first motorcycle and never went back.” Daniel is very active in the Camarillo community and his latest act of charity was helping to build the new YMCA in Camarillo.

You can see Guy’s and Daniel’s fabulous motorcycles at the California Oil Museum from July 3rd to September 27th. To arrange a group to view the museum, please call 805-933-0076 ext 291 or e-mail Jeanne Orcutt at jorcutt@ci.santa-paula.ca.us. – From the California Oil Museum website 

At a Glance:
What: Italian Motorcycles: Incredible Classics to Modern Marvels
When: Now through Sept. 27, 2009.
Where: California Oil Museum, 1001 E. Main St., Santa Paula, CA 93060
Admission: $4 for adults, $3 for seniors, $1 for ages 6-17; 5 and under are free.
More information: 805-933-0076; http://www.oilmuseum.net.