Café Racers and More at the Bonneville Vintage GP

By Motorcycle Classics Staff
Published on December 10, 2012
1 / 2
Mike Watanabe of Union Motorcycle Classics and his 1967 BSA Lightning cafe.
Mike Watanabe of Union Motorcycle Classics and his 1967 BSA Lightning cafe.
2 / 2
Proud owner Fred Mork and his very original Excelsior Super X. Frank won Best American bike at our show.
Proud owner Fred Mork and his very original Excelsior Super X. Frank won Best American bike at our show.

The 7th Annual Bonneville Vintage GP, held Aug. 31-Sept. 2, 2012, was a great weekend spent at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah, complete with modern and AHRMA vintage racing and, as always, the Motorcycle Classics Vintage Bike Show, hosted by our friends from the Utah British Bike Club.  

This year’s show featured café racers, and we had a quite a turnout, with a variety of cafés from Hondas and Suzukis to British bikes, including a stunning Egli Vincent. But the winner of our Best Café award went to Mike Watanabe of Union Motorcycle Classics in Nampa, Idaho. What started as a basket case 1967 BSA Lightning lives today as the sleek café you see here. Using just the original engine and frame, Union custom-built the bike, and the process was featured in the second season of the Café Racer TV show.  

Our other favorite bike from the show belonged to AHRMA racer Fred Mork of Martinez, Calif. Fred bought this circa-1930 Excelsior Super X in San Francisco, where he believes it had lived its whole life, in original condition. With new Coker tires and a light cleaning and lubrication, the bike runs well and has just 4,400 original miles. Fred plans to keep it in this condition and ride it. Well done, Fred! Thanks to all of you who came out to see us in Utah!  

Comments (0) Join others in the discussion!
    Online Store Logo
    Need Help? Call 1-800-880-7567