Kevin Brooks getting ready to make a run at Bonneville on his 600cc BMW.
The Meet at the LeMay museum in Tacoma, Wash., is coming up fast. The 2013 LeMay Vintage Festival August 24-25 celebrates 90 years of BMW motorcycles, and Motorcycle Classics will be there with Kevin Brooks of Brooks Motor Works and a special display of record-breaking vintage BMWs that Brooks’ racing team runs on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Kevin will present a special seminar on the challenges of preparing and racing vintage BMWs at Bonneville and another on the challenges of vintage BMW restoration.
A nationally recognized BMW restoration and racing expert, Kevin Brooks and his merry band of racers, the Flying Fox Racing Team, have amassed numerous Land Speed records at Bonneville since their first run there in 2007. They’re on their way to Bonneville as I write for their 2013 challenge of the Salt Flats during Speed Week, Aug. 10-16, 2013. When they finish running the salt, Kevin and crew will turn around and head back to Seattle in time to prepare for the Lemay Vintage Festival.
The Flying Fox Racing Team at Bonneville in 2012. That’s Kevin in the blue shirt leaning on the bike.
Anticipation for this year’s The Meet at the LeMay is at a fever pitch thanks to huge interest from vendors and vintage bike exhibitors. We expect to see at least 300 bikes spread out on the Haub Family Field at the LeMay, ringed by special exhibits and vendors, including yours truly. With Kevin’s BMWs fronting the Motorcycle Classics tent we should be hard to miss as you walk through the main entrance to the show field, just across from the Tacoma Dome on East D. St. in Tacoma, Wash.
The festival’s main event on Saturday will also include a swap meet, trials motorcycle demonstrations, precision riding by the Seattle Cossacks motorcycle acrobatics team, speed-tuning panel discussions and more. A scenic loop motorcycle ride launching from ACM’s plaza and traveling along Pacific Northwest roads is on tap for Sunday, with riders returning to the museum show field for an early afternoon barbeque lunch. It’s going to be an event not to be missed – so don’t! — Richard Backus