American Motorcyclist January 2025 by American Motorcyclist Association

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Editorial

President

Where

AMA Hall of Famer Malcolm

Women’s

38 2024 AMA MOTORCYCLIST OF THE YEAR

Backcountry Discovery Routes President Tim James

42 THE DRAMATIC DOLOMITES

All about the breathtaking, challenging and downright fun 2024 AMA Alps Challenge Tour

52 YAMAHA MINI ENDURO

How Yamaha’s 1971 JT-1 Mini Enduro aided in the leap from minibike to minicycle

64 AMA GARAGE

Tips, tweaks, ﬁxes and facts: The motorcycle ownership experience, explained

The U.S. Women’s World Trophy Team arrived in Spain with expectations to win the 2024 ISDE competition, and rider Rachel Gutish gives a detailed ﬁrsthand account of the successful title defense. From the roster shakeup right before the event to the six days of action — and all the track walking in between — Gutish has you covered. Cover photo by Mary Rinnell.

MAXIMUM PROTECTION THROUGH

EDITORIAL

Mitch Boehm Editorial Director

Todd Westover Chief Creative Consultant

Keaton Maisano Managing Editor

Kerry Hardin Senior Graphic Designer

John Burns Contributing Editor

Aaron Frank Contributing Editor

Contact the Editorial Team at: submissions@ama-cycle.org

Michael Kula Business Development Manager (949) 466-7833, mkula@ama-cycle.org

Alex Boehm Sales and Events Specialist (614) 729-7949, aboehm@ama-cycle.org

All trademarks used herein (unless otherwise noted) are owned by the AMA and may only be used with the express, written permission of the AMA.

American Motorcyclist is the monthly publication of the American Motorcyclist Association, which represents motorcyclists nationwide. For information on AMA membership benefits, call (800) AMA-JOIN or visit AmericanMotorcyclist.com. Manuscripts, photos, drawings and other editorial contributions must be accompanied by return postage. No responsibility is assumed for loss or damage to unsolicited material.

AMA STAFF

EXECUTIVE

Rob Dingman President/Chief Executive Officer

James Holter Chief Operating Officer

Jeff Wolens Chief Financial Officer

Donna Perry Executive Assistant to President/CEO

Danielle Smith Human Resources Manager/Assistant to COO

RACING AND ORGANIZER SERVICES

Mike Pelletier Director of Racing

Bill Cumbow Director of International Competition

Michael Burkeen Deputy Director of Racing

Ken Saillant Track Racing Manager

Logan Densmore Off Road Racing Manager

Jeff Canfield Racing Manager

Connie Fleming Supercross/FIM Coordinator

Olivia Schlabach Racing Program Manager

Emily Doane Sanctioned Activity Coordinator

Jensen Burkeen Sanctioned Activity Specialist

Michael Galiher Sanctioned Activity Coordinator

Paula Schremser Program Manager

Sarah Moell Collections Coordinator

Ricky Shultz Museum Clerk

Kobe Stone Museum Clerk

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

Government Relations Director/ Western States Rep.

Max Colchin Government Relations, Eastern States Rep.

Zach Farmer Government Relations, Washington Rep. Government Relations, Central States Rep. Grassroots Manager

Jeremy Robinson Legislative Affairs Coordinator

AMA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Contact any member of the AMA Board of Directors at americanmotorcyclist.com/ama-board-of-directors

Russ Ehnes Chair

Great Falls, Mont.

Gary Pontius Vice Chair

Westfield, Ind.

Brad Baumert Assistant Treasurer

Louisville, Ky.

Hub Brennan Executive Committee Member

E. Greenwich, R.I.

Christopher Cox

Greenville, Ohio

Steve Drewlo

Bismarck, N.D.

Clif Koontz

Moab, Utah

Chandler McCallum

Traverse City, Mich.

Maggie McNally Albany, N.Y.

Ryan Pollow Southlake, Texas

Tom Umphress

Jordan, Minn. Faisel Zaman Dallas, Texas

(800) AMA-JOIN (262-5646) (614) 856-1900

AmericanMotorcyclist.com @AmericanMotorcyclist @ama_riding

MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

Joy Burgess Marketing & Communications Director

Jack Emerson Communications Manager

Joe Bromley Program Development Manager

Makenzi Martin Membership Event and Program Manager

Kristina Duong Marketing Manager

Lauren Kropf Marketing and Communications Specialist

MEMBER SERVICES

Tiffany Pound Member Services Manager

Pam Albright Member Fulfillment Coordinator

Carolyn Vaughan Member Fulfillment Representative

Morgan Espino Member Services Team Lead

Charles Moore Member Services Representative

Kelly Anders Member Services Representative

Sarah Lockhart Member Services Representative

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & OPERATIONS

Shaun Holloway Director of Information Technology

Jarrod Gilliland Application Developer

Ed Madden Systems and Database Analyst

Leah Mattas Web Manager

Rob Baughman Support Technician

John Bricker Mailroom Manager

American Motorcyclist magazine (ISSN 0277-9358) is published monthly (12 issues) by the American Motorcyclist Association, 13515 Yarmouth Drive, Pickerington, OH 43147. Copyright by the American Motorcyclist Association/American Motorcyclist 2021. Printed in USA. Subscription rate: Magazine subscription fee of $39.95 covered in membership dues.

Postmaster: Mail form 3579 to 13515 Yarmouth Drive, Pickerington, OH 43147. Periodical postage paid at Pickerington, Ohio, and at additional mailing offices.

With 98 percent of our 100th Anniversary coverage in the rear-view mirror (with AMA President and CEO Rob Dingman’s Next 100 Years column on page 8 capping things off) I’ve had the opportunity to learn a ton about not only the AMA and its founding, but the history of American motorcycling itself. I hope it added perspective to your personal database, as well.

Some of you will recall that, back in the teens and early 1920s, the organizations that formed the foundation of the AMA and its establishment in 1924 — the Federation of American Motorcyclists (FAM) and, later, the Manufacturers and Allied Trade Association (M&ATA) — were primarily manufacturer-oriented, which makes sense given the young age of the industry itself. You can’t have motorcyclists without motorcycles, right?

But as the industry grew and matured — and it happened quickly — there was a significant need to cater to that of rider and enthusiast, which became the AMA’s reason for being…and something this organization has strived to maintain for the last 100 years.

That emphasis forms much of the reason for this magazine, which is titled American Motorcyclist for a reason. Through the years a primary focus has been on AMA members, AMA events, AMA racing, the AMA’s efforts fighting for motorcyclists’ rights and much more, and that continues to this day.

This edition is a great example of that member-oriented focus, with the majority of content having a direct connection to the organization, its affiliations and membership. You’ve got an inside look at our 2024 ISDE teams’ successes, including our Women’s World Trophy Team’s latest victory; an AMA Alps Challenge Tour, which hosted a handful

PERSPECTIVES HELP WANTED

BY MITCH BOEHM

of AMA members in the Austrian, Italian and Swiss Alps; the recipient of our 2024 AMA Motorcyclist of the Year award; another installment of longtime AMA member and AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Malcolm Smith’s Malcolm’s Moments; a piece on the 2024 Nicky Hayden AMA Road Race Horizon Award winner Derek Sanchez King; and of course the member-generated letters-to-the-Editor and Back in the Day sections, the latter of which might just be the most popular part of the magazine these days. We appreciate getting your letters and emails for these two sections, and please keep ’em coming, but at the risk of sounding greedy we’d like to ask for even more for our pages, if you’re so inclined. What we’re looking for here can be broken down into four elements: Garages; Tour Stories; Tech Questions and Tips; and, for those who are a little more adventurous, Member Columns

GARAGES

Moto garages come in all shapes, types and sizes, and while few have quite this degree of vintage flavor, we’d very much like to see what ya got….so feel free to share your photos and stories!

inner sanctum and send ’em in, along with appropriate verbiage.

TOURING STORIES

Next time you take an interesting trip, document it with words and photos. You’ll thank yourself later (as will your kids and extended family), and if it’s interesting enough and has quality photos, we might be interested, too. Long or short, the keys here are good (and high-rez) photography and a compelling narrative.

TECH QUESTIONS AND TIPS

Pretty self-explanatory, really. Send us stuff that’s unclear or tricky, and we’ll have experts track down good answers.

For many, garages form the base camp of a motorcyclist’s two-wheeled journey; your bike or bikes not only live there when not being ridden, they get their care and feeding there, too. Throw in tools, lifts, a compressor, spare parts, good lighting, stereo, an old fridge with stickers on the outside and adult beverages within, motorcycle art on the walls, comfy seating and maybe an old magazine collection, and you’re set. Inviting your buddies over to ogle your bikes and tell lies is a time-honored tradition, and we’d love to see what you’ve got, so shoot some quality, high-rez images of your

MEMBER COLUMNS

Got something deep and important to share about our sport? Feel free to commit an act of literature and send it our way, along with an image or two that supports the theme. Around 800 words will do it. The best stuff is likely to show up in our pages, so let’s see what ya got at submissions@ama-cycle.org. Thanks in advance for the help!

Mitch Boehm is the Editorial Director of the AMA and a long-time member.

The first 100 years of the AMA is now in our rearview mirror, and while I hope the review of the AMA’s birth and work over the last century in these pages has been enlightening and informative, it’s now time to look ahead to what comes next, as the AMA endeavors to continue to promote the motorcycle lifestyle and protect the future of motorcycling.

The motorcycle industry has certainly evolved over the last several years. We’ve seen an evolution away from sportbikes and heavyweight tourers toward adventure and dual-sport bikes, and while ADV bikes are now the fastest-growing segment, we are starting to see growth in the smaller-displacement dual-sport category.

With Honda’s CRF300L, Suzuki’s DR-Z4S, KTM’s 390 Adventure, CFMoto’s 450MT, Kove’s 450 Rally and BMW’s recently introduced F450GS concept bike, just to name a few, it’s pretty clear the OEMs are responding to pent-up demand for these smaller dual-sports.

Riders who gave up their big-displacement touring machines for large and mid-sized adventure bikes to experience the backcountry — while still being able to tour on the tarmac — may be realizing there’s a lot of backcountry to explore, and even more of it is accessible on a lighter, smaller bike.

My first bike was a small-displacement dual-sport, a 1989 Yamaha XT350. I graduated to a mid-sized UJM, then to a sport-tourer, then to an 1,800cc tourer, and finally to a mid-sized adventure bike. Today’s smaller-displacement dual-sports are making me miss that XT just a little bit, and it’ll be interesting to see if these smaller dual-sports continue to

From the President and CEO THE NEXT 100 YEARS

BY ROB DINGMAN

grow as the ADV segment has.

I can’t see the ADV segment slowing down anytime soon, particularly as more opportunities to explore the backcountry become available. A big reason for this is the Backcountry Discovery Routes organization, and specifically BDR’s current President Tim James. That is why the AMA Board of Directors named Tim the 2024 AMA Motorcyclist of the Year.

The AMA board could not have

would bet money we’ll see dual-sporting take off in a similar way.

All of the issues you read about in the pages of this magazine are likely to continue to be issues the AMA will wrestle with on behalf of America’s motorcyclists for the foreseeable future. In addition to access, those issues also include excessive motorcycle sound, which is an element of the access issue, distracted driving, lane splitting, motorcyclist profiling, rider

All of the issues you read about in the pages of this magazine are likely to continue to be issues the AMA will wrestle with on behalf of America’s motorcyclists for the foreseeable future.

made a better choice, not only for Tim and BDR’s efforts to grow adventure riding opportunities, but because of Tim’s passion for motorcycling. I had the opportunity a couple of years ago to spend a week riding with Tim on the Mid-Atlantic BDR; it’s obvious he truly loves what he does, and I believe that’s why he’s been able to have such a big impact.

So, back to the future. Access will continue to be a priority issue for the AMA. Over the years, we have fought hard to grow and maintain access to public lands, and have even occasionally had to fight to maintain access to public roads.

One of the great things about dual-sport and adventure riding is that there are ample opportunities to ride on public roads, both paved and unpaved, if you know where to look. While we have all lost favorite riding areas that have been closed because somebody else’s interest took precedence over ours, public roads are generally harder to close than off-highway trail systems. For this reason, I believe we will see adventure riding continue to grow, and I

education and autonomous vehicles, just to name a few.

I still firmly believe that the issue that holds the most promise regarding improving motorcyclist safety is also the one most fraught with danger to motorcyclists…the issue of autonomous vehicles. There are far too many autonomous vehicles on our nation’s roadways that have not been adequately proven to detect the presence of motorcycles around them, and therefore pose a pretty significant hazard to motorcyclists.

Despite the dangers, however, if the technology continues to improve, it has the potential to exponentially improve motorcycle safety. There is no doubt that this issue will continue to occupy the AMA government relations staff for years to come.

Thank heavens someone had the great idea 100 years ago to create the AMA!

Rob Dingman is the President and CEO of the AMA, and a Charter Life Member

HALL OF FAMER BROC GLOVER ASKS YOU TO SUPPORT THE AMA HALL OF FAME

Being inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in the class of 2000 was an honor and a thrill, but that’s only part of the reason I’m such a big supporter of the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame.

The Hall’s mission — to preserve and promote the heritage of American motorcycling — is alive, well and vitally important.

But what if our greatest racers, riders, ambassadors and

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visionaries were lost to history? What if their very important achievements were forgotten? Would tomorrow’s riders chase their motorcycling dreams if they had no one to inspire them?

That’s not something I’d like to chance, and I’m certain you’d agree, so here’s my question:

Will you please make a ﬁnancial contribution to the AMA Hall of Fame? Thank you! —Broc Glover

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BACKFIRES

THE NAME GAME

Really enjoyed the November issue, especially the Editor’s The Name Game column. It reminded me of our similar career paths. I had the product planning job for U.S. models at Kawasaki in 1973–74. I was previously assigned to R&D, developing the MX bikes and the Z1. The Kawasaki line for the U.S. was expanding at the time, and I suggested to my boss, Mr. Kawasaki (grandson of the founder of the company), that we should simplify model designations and align them with our buyer demographic of 18-to50-year-old males. The past model designations, using animal names and traditional Japanese heroes, was not as effective and impactful for the U.S. market. My suggestion was to replace them with alpha-numerics, KZ

for street, KX for motocross, KE for two-stroke enduro, and KL for fourstroke enduro, with displacements added…i.e., KX250 and KZ900, etc. My suggestions were accepted, and the Kawasaki motorcycle product line up still uses that model identification system.

Bryon Farnsworth Los Angeles

One of the all-time best has to be Ducati’s Monster, eclipsed only by Vincent’s Black Shadow.

Greg Chandler Orlando, Fla.

LETTER OF THE MONTH

VICTORY LIVES ON

I’ve often wondered how (or why) Yamaha came up with the name “Virago” for its cruisers, which is an English word for a loud, overbearing Letters to the editor are the opinions of the AMA members who write them. Inclusion here does not imply they reflect the positions of the AMA, its staff or board. Agree? Disagree? Let us know. Send letters to submissions@ama-cycle.org or mail to American Motorcyclist Association, 13515 Yarmouth Drive, Pickerington, OH 43147. Letters may be edited for clarity and brevity.

Hodaka’s legendary, Ace 100-derived Super Rat…an epic sales name if there ever was one.

I’ve enjoyed reading about AMA history in your monthly timelines. When I got to the ’90s decade in the September issue, I was hoping to see something, even if only a little something, about the Victory brand being “born” on July 4, 1998. Since the brand was dropped in 2017, the chance of seeing anything about them in print these days is slim to none. But the brand still has a strong following, with many of the bikes still being ridden with 100,000-plus miles on them. The VMOG Facebook group currently has 30,000 members, and the Victory Motorcycle Club (thevmc.com) has been going strong since 1998. This photo is from our VMC National Rally in Hot Springs, Ark., in September, where we had 74 members registered and 54 motorcycles in attendance. Each year, one of our local chapters puts in a bid to host the Nationals. We hope to keep the club going for as long as we still have riders willing to keep these Victory motorcycles on the road. Thanks for all you do, and I love the magazine as it is!

Erin Berghold VMOG South Central Rep

Thanks, Erin. FYI, we’ve got something cooking with ex-Victory Motorcycle CEO Mark Blackwell, which will be interesting, especially to Victory owners and fans. – Ed.

woman. Suzuki had a penchant for edgy names, too: Intruder, Marauder, Savage, Hustler, Bandit, Invader, Raider, Desperado.

And then there were the very memorable Hodaka names…Ace, Wombat, Combat Wombat, Super Rat, etc. Bruce Schadel

Names were popular for most European motorcycles. In the late ’60s and early ’70s one motorcycle ruled the roads here in New England — the Norton Commando 750 and, later, the 850. From 1968 to 1972 there was nothing that could touch ’em on these roads, and all my friends had them. The Commando was the T-Rex here in New England, and was a coveted motorcycle right up until Norton went out of business in 1975. Before the Commando, in the early to mid ’60s, it was the Triumph Bonneville 650, and later the Trident 750, BSA Lightning, Spitfire 650s and the Rocket 3 750. The multi-cylinder Japanese bikes became dominant in the mid ’70s, but even then, the British triples and your occasional Moto Guzzi Lemans or BMW R90S would win in the Superbike class. What about the Ducati 750 Sport and Super Sport, and the Laverda 750 SP and SPC, you say? These were rare exotics and way more money than Brit bikes, and you rarely saw them out on the road.

As a post-script, I should add that in the early and mid ’70s the Yamaha R5 and RD350s (and 400s, later on) were formidable backroad and racing weapons — light, fast and cheap. They just needed names. So there you have it: Commando, Bonneville, Trident, Lightning, Spitfire, Rocket 3, Lemans, Super Sport, etc. Queue the Beatles and the Rolling Stones! But you knew all this, Mitch; you just wanted us old guys to write in.

Jim Vann

Massachusetts

AMA and wanted to thank you for your wonderfully positive life-experience stories in the November edition. B. Jan Montana’s Dandelion Therapy column was wonderful, and showed how his compassion and kindness helped him and his dear friend. It takes a truly special individual to be so kind. The other story, The Gift, continued that display of love and compassion. Woody is a positive and loving father that passed that gift onto

his son Jason. How wonderful to see that affection reciprocated! In today’s hostile and negative environment, in our sadly divided nation, it’s so important to write about kindness, compassion and love. Who would have thought a motorcycle magazine could be so insightful? Keep up the great work and thanks again for the wonderful articles.

Paris Velardo Pahoa, Hawaii

DAKOTA DREAMIN’

I thoroughly enjoyed the November issue, especially Aaron Frank’s Dakota Dreamin’ piece, as myself and three friends (three of us over 60) rode the Black Hills BDR-X this summer. I chuckled at the mention of “approaching 50” as being old. I am 69 and rode it on an Africa Twin, and realized how much more fun it would’ve been on a smaller bike. But then again, we took it easy, stayed in an Airbnb, and left most of our junk at home. The riding was most excellent and without mishap other than trying to pass some jackass navigating the Needles Eye Tunnel on a three-wheeler while doing a selfie. Thanks again for breathing new life into the magazine.

Greg “GPS” Barbre Monroe, Ore.

It worked! – Ed.

KUDOS AND APPRECIATION

I am a longtime member of the

www.edelweissbike.com

BACK IN THE DAY

Where the photos are blurry but the memories are clear!

One of the fastest stock bikes of the early 1970s was the Kawasaki H2 750 two-cycle. With a twist of the wrist you were looking at the sky and the rest of the pack behind you. It spit out smoke and sounded like a chainsaw on steroids. I used synthetic oil mixed with gas, so when it burned, it smelled like a Cox airplane’s smoke. Everyone knew when I was riding. My friend Arty had an H2, and bud-

5This picture is of my S90 Honda, circa ’65, which was not my first ride or even my first Honda, but it was the lightest. The current Grom is its counterpart, and I may get there yet, but I don’t miss shifting at my age. If I had a dollar for every upshift/downshift (or even a dime) in my 67 riding years…

Pat Halstead

dies Mike and Mark had H1 500 Kawasakis. When we rode together, we created a lot of smoke and noise. The photo, from 1980, is of me (left) and Arty. RIP, Arty!

Robbie Schmuck

No helmets, and no way one (or both) of the bikes could hook-up unexpectedly! What could go wrong?

– Ed.

4Great memories of my 1972 Husqvarna 250 Cross. This was an Ohio District 11 race at Stony Hollow MX in Dayton. Check out the stars ’n’ stripes helmet, Jofa mouth guard, Honda of Piqua jersey and Full Bore boots. Joel Robert, Bengt Aberg and Malcolm Smith were my heroes. I was very fortunate to live in this era!

Ed Ernst

3My first in-line 4. Circa 1978. That’s not a coon skin cap on my head… and YES, those are holes in the knees of my Levi Super Bell Bottom jeans (before it was stylish or cool).

Steele Kennedy

Submit your Back in the Day photos and stories to submissions@ama-cycle.org. High-rez images are preferred, and please understand we have quite a backlog, which means it may be months before your submission — if acceptable — makes it into the magazine. Thanks!

4In 1979 my brother Bruce and I thought we were destined for the pro class with our brandnew YZ400s. My brother was semi-sponsored at the time, and we had traded our ’78 models for these two. Our parents helped unload the bikes, and their smiles were evident because they always followed us to the races in their motorhome. They knew the extent of our abilities even if we didn’t. Even so, they loved going and watching us compete.

Michael Chapman

5My husband’s grandfather, Sherman Rohr Sr., lied about his age and joined the U.S. Army during World War I at age 17 after his parents died and his younger sisters were sent to an orphanage. (They eventually reunited.) Riding an Indian motorcycle, he was a courier in France and said he never saw a German. After the war he returned home to West Virginia and joined a group of young soldiers touring the state and escorting an unneeded tank that had been built in Morgantown. They had a great time for several months, showing off the tank at impromptu parades and festivities before settling down to real life again. The second photo, taken sometime in the ’90s, is of me with my BMW R100RT and my husband Randy, doing Granddad proud on his Kawasaki Voyager.

Cathy Seckman

Views that go on forever.

Unique, memorable accommodation. Food no franchise can replicate. Elevation changes and curves to delight. Endless scenery to captivate. The best riding in the world! Ride the Alp Stop dreaming-make it hapr,en. With the Beachs do it your way. Your st Your pace. Your dailY schedule. Your unforgettable vacation!

My late wife’s father, Earnest Peterson, and his sister Signe, circa 1920. The bike looks a lot like a 1914 Harley single. The oiler appears to be working. Lee Hamness

BACK IN THE DAY

Attached is a photo of my grandmother, Dorothy Miller (nee Oliveria), in 1926 (almost a century ago!). She was 16 years old at the time. The Harley belonged to one of her brothers. I don’t know if she ever actually rode the bike, but Grandma was a happy-go-lucky person. It wouldn’t surprise me if she’d at least ridden as a passenger.

The second photo is from 1968. My Uncle Edward is performing a (stationary) “trick” on his Yahama. I’m on his shoulders, and my brother Dave is on the back. Pretty impressive, yes?

Steve Boilard

5I bought my first big-boy bike, a 1977 Suzuki GS750, at 17 years old in 1980. Man, I thought I was the coolest kid on the block back in West Babylon, N.Y. Wearing my Frye boots and work gloves, I had all the gear I needed (not!). Unfortunately, I had to hide the bike from my mom. Let’s just say she wouldn’t approve, to put it mildly. She rarely if ever ventured into the garage, so I was safe for a while. Of course, pulling shenanigans like a wheelie in front of my house probably wasn’t the best way to keep it a secret. I have since owned dozens of bikes, but I must ask, don’t we all have a soft spot in our hearts for our first? She sure was pretty. Richard Rongo

By Christmas of 1972 I had just turned 12 and had that Honda 70. She was a beauty! It was a big step up from the very-used Honda 50 scooter one of my sister’s boyfriends had given me. I had to push it about a block to get it running each time I wanted to ride. But I didn’t care; I was on a bike! Pictured is my awesome dad on his 1968 Honda 125 twin, which I graduated to later. Dad started my journey with a go-kart he’d pieced together on the sly in my grandfather’s basement. At about the same time he picked up an all chrome El Tigre four-horse minibike for me and my sisters from Montgomery Ward. Good times! What I would give to have him with me now to share the journey of 30-some bikes.

Bill Huffman Jr.

5My older brother introduced me to motorcycling at an early age (around the age of 4). The picture is me and my older brother Michael on a 1974 Elsinore MR50. He was nice enough to give me the MR when I was old enough to figure out how to use a clutch and start it. I don’t know how many kids learned on that bike prior to Michael getting it, but it’s safe to say that bike was the start of a passion that I still share with multiple friends who learned on that bike, many of whom I still ride with today (including my brother). Looking back at the over 40 bikes I’ve owned (including those with three and four wheels), it’s the MR I regret selling most. The bike that started it all and is responsible for the love of motorcycling I still have to this day. Thank you, Brother.

Garrett Rioux

Introduced in 1969, Kawasaki’s 500cc two-stroke H1 Mach III spun the big-streetbike world on its axis. It was a straight shot of raw, unadulterated performance — a light, loud, smoky and fast two-wheeled hot rod, and the undisputed dragstrip and stoplight-to-stoplight king of its day.

The H1 established its legend status almost instantly, and remains one of the most coveted and collectable Japanese motorcycles in history.

And you can own it by participating in the AMA’s 100th Anniversary Raffle!

Get your tickets — $10 per, or 5 for $40.

up to speed

News, notes, insight and more from the motorcycling universe

OF THE TRACK KING

Derek Sanchez King earns the 2024 Nicky Hayden AMA Road Race Horizon Award

BY JACK EMERSON PHOTOS BY VAE VANG

Young. Mighty. Quick. Those are just a few words to describe upand-coming road racer

Derek Sanchez King, the 2024 recipient of the Nicky Hayden AMA Road Race Horizon Award — which honors the late Nicky Hayden and recognizes the racer with the necessary skill and determination to excel in the professional ranks.

En route to the honor, Sanchez King separated himself thanks to an outstanding showing at the 2024 AMA Road Race Grand Championship at Daytona International Speedway, where he captured a pair of class victories in the 400 GP Expert and AMA 400 classes. Sanchez King also landed on the podium in the 400 Superbike and ASRA 400 classes.

“When I found out I got the Nicky Hayden Horizon Award I didn’t know what I was feeling. Getting this award is amazing,” Sanchez King said. “It’s felt, and still feels, like a dream to have received this award. Several of my friends have received it, and now I will be part of this history.”

The honor is not lost on Sanchez King, who grew up idolizing Hayden.

Although too young to watch Hayden compete, Sanchez King has developed a respect for Hayden through his father’s admiration of the late racing superstar.

“Although I am only 14 years old, I’ve followed Nicky Hayden as he is my dad’s favorite racer and I have been growing up around my dad always watching and talking about Nicky Hayden,” Sanchez King said.

Getting his start at just 5 years old, Sanchez King emerged as a note-

nings in the sport.

“When I was a just a few years old, I was regularly at the racetrack with my dad watching him and his friends race, and I wanted to do the same,” Sanchez King said. “Every time I get on a bike, I’m super excited, as I always think of being that little kid and wanting to race.”

As for what’s next for the budding road-racing star, Sanchez King has his sights set high for next season.

“Right now, I am planning to ride

“When I was a just a few years old, I was regularly at the racetrack with my dad watching him and his friends race, and I wanted to do the same.”

DEREK SANCHEZ KING

worthy up-and-comer in the crucible of road racing. For the last nine years, Sanchez King has built quite a resume, competing in several MotoAmerica Mini Cup rounds and other high-level road racing competitions despite his young age.

With much of his young life spent honing his craft, Sanchez King always remembers his humble begin-

the MotoAmerica Talent Cup on the new Kramer bike. We still have lots of planning going on, but that is the plan,” Sanchez King said. “I would love to finish in a good spot at the end of 2025 so that I can try out for the Red Bull Rookie Cup and hopefully get selected, becoming the very first Dominican rider to ever ride in that series.”

Sanchez King out front at Daytona International Speedway en route to a performance that netted him a pair of class victories and podium appearances.

up to speed Racing ROUNDUP

“DANGEROUS DAKOTA DAN” DELIVERS

Dan Jacobson Sr. authored a storybook ending to his more-than-half-century racing career at 2024 Flat Out Friday

BY KEATON MAISONO

Entering the final racing event of his career going into the 2024 Mama Tried

Show’s Flat Out Friday event, Dan Jacobson Sr. already had a lot to show for a racing career that traced back more than 50 years.

Collecting plenty of battle scars and broken bones (28 to be exact) along the way, Jacobson’s career included a plethora of ﬂat track wins that added up to plenty of hardware, a stint as a stuntman, a chapter racing cars, and plenty more. Ultimately, the action-packed journey brought Jacobson to Milwaukee on Feb. 23, 2024, for one last dash to the checkered ﬂag.

“When Flat Out Friday said they would have a Masters class, I said I got to do this, because literally two years before that, we built a 250 Honda just for that race,” Jacobson said. “It was the perfect scenario for

me to wrap her up and park that part of my life.”

To prepare for the competition, the then-70-year-old racer started a fourmonth training program to get into racing shape.

“That was four months of rigorous training to get in shape to do that be-

cause I’m a bit of a wreck and I knew what I needed to be able to do physically to not be tired at the end of 10 or 12 laps in the main,” Jacobson said.

More than five decades prior to the ramp up for his final race, 16-year-old Jacobson was getting his first motorcycle, a brand-new 175 Honda. While he may have gotten a later start to life on two wheels than some, Jacobson said the motorcycle lifestyle was engrained in his DNA.

“I just think there was something genetically set in my head for my whole being to ride motorcycles, race motorcycles, learn how to do it, and learn the skills,” Jacobson said. “I was pretty much deprived of having a motorcycle until I was 16 and I could afford my own, so whenever somebody would let me ride their bike, I always had a great time.”

Within the first year of riding his

Rocking a Hawaiian shirt, Jacobson momentarily retired from ﬂat track racing and lived in Hawaii. LOGAN

SCOTT THUEN

first bike on the street, Jacobson became intrigued by the ﬂat track racing program at the fairground in West Fargo, N.D. In preparation for his racing debut, Jacobson got busy modifying his Honda to get it into racing shape.

“I took off the headlight and anything that didn’t need to be on that 175 Honda Twin and said, ‘We’re putting a number plate on this thing and we’re going racing,’” Jacobson said. “That led to ‘Wow, I’m not too bad at this.’”

This initial taste of racing led to a lifetime pursuit of competition that took him throughout the U.S. and into Canada. His career also involved pitstops at different levels of competition, with a decade-long pro career that stretched the ’70s and into the early ’80s.

Along the way, Jacobson even picked up some nicknames, including “Dangerous Dakota Dan” from an announcer in districts 23 and 16, as well as “Jumping Jake” during his eight-year chapter as a stuntman.

“Racing has been an incredible part of my life,” Jacobson said. “If anyone wanted the recipe for living the dream, this is it.”

After 50 years of travel, races, family milestones and more, the dream culminated in a few final laps of glory.

“Even at 70 years old, I knew exactly what I needed to do to go out and win the last race,” Jacobson said. “It was an incredible day to go out there and lead every single lap from practice to the main event finish.”

While the Flat Out Friday competition served as his last race and final win, the night was also a monumental first for Jacobson, who welcomed the birth of his first grandchild moments after the race.

“The baby came exactly 10 minutes after I finished the race,” Jacobson said. “My whole celebration speech was gonna be about the grand baby and of course I couldn’t do that. So, I had to wing it.”

Congrats on a great racing career, Grandpa Jacobson!

up to speed RIDER REVELATIONS

Lauren Swanson making a splash at the Bucky 15. Stay tuned to madisonmotorcycleclub.org for details on the 2025 event.

The bucky 15

Finding a new challenge and friends at the Bucky 15

BY LAUREN SWANSON PHOTOS BY TIM CLARKE

Ever feel like you just want to ride dirt bikes all weekend even if it’ll challenge you, or maybe you don’t have anyone to ride with? For me, dirt biking is all about facing those challenges, getting better with each ride, and learning something new. That’s the only way to get better, right? So, I was determined to join the Bucky 15 — a dual-sport ride hosted by the Madison Motorcycle Club, a Wisconsin-based club that’s donned AMA Charter No. 2 since its founding in 1924. The event was sold out, and with just a week to go I didn’t even have a ticket. Luckily, I was plugged into the local posts where people were looking to sell their tickets, and I managed to snag one just in time. I knew a few people who were going, but they’d been riding for years and had serious skills. Not wanting to hold them back on a fun weekend with their friends, I took a chance and posted in a local riding group on Facebook looking for a group of similar-to-me skilled riders. After scoring a ticket, I decided to

make it a moto weekend for me. On Friday, I loaded my bike into the back of my Bronco Sport and set off to Tigerton, Wis., a few hours north to warm up and practice on single track — refreshing my skills after not having ridden off-road for a few months due to a super fun, cross-country, sixweek moto trip on my Pan America. After a few fun hours at Tigerton, I headed down to Cross Plains, arriving early to the wide-open field and got settled in. I found that registration and sound check were a breeze. Knowing a few people at the event made dinner fun, and meeting new people sharing stories at the campfire was great, and is one of my favorite things about moto events.

After a very chilly night sleeping in the back of my car, I woke up to the sounds of frosted-over bikes starting in the cold air. Ready to kick start my day, I headed to the riders’ meeting. My Facebook post from a few days prior got a few bites, and I began looking for my new riding buddies. At first, they tried to share what their

vehicles looked like, but in a field full of matching pick-up trucks and trailers, I said, “It’ll be easier for you to find me.” As the only woman at the event — and on a purple Honda CRF250L — I stick out a bit, and soon enough we connected…and it was clear this was going to be a fun and supportive ride.

The morning was a blast as the wellmarked route took us through ﬂowing wooded sections, a water crossing and gorgeous, frosty farm fields. The scenery served as a Wisconsin fall reminder to pack warmer clothes next time. My heaving breaths and sore hands gave me that feeling of extreme accomplishment to finish the first half of the blue route before dipping into the lunch spot for some of the yummies there, which gave me a boost to keep going.

Afterward, with the sun breaking the

cold, I shed some layers and switched up riding partners, and they were just as helpful, giving me that extra needed encouragement to finish strong. It felt great to have others around to support me — support that included picking me out of the brush as I tried to send it over the roots, side hills, rocks and logs. Each of the afternoon’s challenges were taken at my pace with helpful fragments of instruction through our Cardo headsets. Every rider I encountered seemed genuinely happy to make sure I was having a good time and was willing to help.

By the end of the day I was exhausted but proud of myself for making it through most of the course. The trails were challenging, and I felt like I managed them well, with each mile building my confidence. I’ve only been riding offroad for about a year and a half, so this was a huge personal achievement.

When I rolled back into camp my friends were there, cheering me on, ready to swap stories and hang out before dinner. I walked away not just with stories, some bruises and mudcaked boots, but with a few new friends I’d surely ride with again. Thank you to everyone there who made me feel welcomed and a part of the community!

If you want to participate in the next Bucky Dual Sport Ride, go to madisonmotorcycleclub.org.

’Til next time!

Want a chance to share your rec-riding experience? Submit your story and some high-rez pictures riding a recreational riding event for the first time to submissions@ama-cycle org.

malcolm’s moments

SIX DAYS Swan Song

Eleven years of ISDT competition changed my life, but after Austria in 1976, it was time to move on

BY MALCOLM SMITH

Following our successful Dalton, Mass., ISDT round in 1973, the Six Days circus in ’74 moved to the ancient and beautiful walled city of Camerino, Italy. The race included a lot of narrow, rocky trails with plenty of mountain switchbacks, just my sort of riding, the sort of thing I did a lot of growing up in the foothills and flood basins of

San Bernardino, Calif.

PART FIFTEEN

I rode well in Italy, and earned another gold medal. My friend, the late Dave Mungenast (AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer), riding a Rokon Automatic, did well, too, earning a bronze. The American Trophy Team that year consisted of Hall of Famers Carl Cranke (gold), Jack Penton (gold) and Tom Penton (gold), Joe Barker (silver), Paul Danik (silver), and Dane

Leimbach (bronze). Hall of Famer

Dick Burleson was the American high scorer, sixth overall, on a Husky.

BOOTS GALORE

At the grand finale party I met Sante Mazzarolo, owner of Alpinestars, who would become a close friend and business colleague in the coming years. I needed a wellmade boot for my accessory business at the time, and had arranged to meet

Sante in Italy after the ISDT to see if we could work out a deal. Alpinestars made Hi-Point boots, which were the best thing going, and I wanted something as good or better.

Sante agreed to meet me, and after arriving at the Alpinestars factory in the town of Asolo, Italy, which is home to several high-end boot makers, Sante and a couple of his best workers stitched up a few prototypes for me. I ended up

choosing one with a plastic (and not metal) plate, which we sold for many years. Things were pretty casual back then; I remember ordering containers of boots without any sort of contract, with Sante saying, “Just send me a check.”

THE BEGINNING OF THE END

The ISDT returned to the Isle of Man in 1975, a good thing in my book, as I earned another gold

medal and loved the culture. But by that point — a decade after I’d begun racing the ISDT, and after many gold medals — I was beginning to become a little blasé about it all. It wasn’t that the racing wasn’t fun, or that I didn’t like traveling, or working on my bikes… It was just becoming a little too much of the same thing, and I think the adventurer and competitor in me was looking for some new challenges.

Right: Joking with teammate Carl

at the Isle

in ’75. Both it and the ’76 event in Austria were challenging and fun, and I won gold in both, but Austria would be my ﬁnal ISDT event.

Cranke

of Man ISDT

I won another gold in 1976 when the ISDT visited Zeltweg, Austria, but again, things just didn’t feel as good as they had in years prior. I had a lot going on at home…a dealership to run and a fast-growing accessory business, too. I was also going through a divorce, moving to Lake Arrowhead, doing some car racing, and all of this with two young children and a new girlfriend.

It didn’t help that the organizers for the Austria event made our living arrangements during the week very uncomfortable, putting the entire team in a tiny boarding house with one single bathroom for everyone to share.

It got worse the following year when organizers insisted that we had to ride all eight qualifiers to earn a spot on the ISDT team. That took a lot of time and money, and at that point I just wasn’t into it. Didn’t my

pile of gold medals qualify me, I asked Al Ames one day? “Nope,” he said. They wanted to make the qualifiers a bigger deal in the U.S., and having all the top riders there would do that. The younger kids like the Penton boys loved the idea; their job was to go racing and travel. But with everything I had going on, my heart just wasn’t in it.

And so, after winning my eighth gold medal in Austria, I was done racing the ISDTs.

LOOKING BACK

Still, it was a fantastic run. In those

11 years of ISDT competition, I won eight gold medals, one silver, was part of the Silver Vase team, and had just two no-shows due to broken legs. I rode a total of nine International Six Days Trials events, and completed every day of riding without a mechanical breakdown, rider-induced crashes and broken parts notwithstanding. But competing in the ISDT did more than get me a handful of gold medals. It boosted my reputation as a rider and tuner, which helped my shop; it helped sell Huskys in the U.S., as I was the country’s top Husky dealer for 12 years running; and it helped me develop new parts for Malcolm Smith Racing Products.

All in all, Six Days was a wonderful thing to have been a part of. And I treasure those memories to this day.

ISDE 2024 HOW WON WE

WOMEN’S WORLD TROPHY TEAM

RIDER RACHEL GUTISH DISHES THE DETAILS ON HOW SHE, BRANDY RICHARDS AND AVA SILVESTRI TOPPED THE WORLD…AGAIN.

BY RACHEL GUTISH

PHOTOS BY MARY RINNELL

aybe it sounds a little arrogant, but when it comes to International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) competition and the Women’s World Trophy team, it’s our job to win.

MIn the last five years, we’ve won the Women’s World Trophy four times. We’re tied for second and gaining fast on the top of the all-time win list. I’ve had the pleasure of being around for three of those wins, and hope to be around for many more.

A week before we left for the 2024 FIM ISDE in Spain, I got a call from Antti Kallonen, our team manager. One of our teammates, Korie Steede, had been injured in a car accident. Nothing life-threatening, but there was no way she’d be riding.

Left to right: Ava Silvestri, Brandy Richards and Rachel Gutish.

I called her that night, and her disappointment was palpable. She sounded almost apologetic, too, like she was letting us down. I wasn’t sure how to comfort her, so I simply told her it would be okay. We were going to miss her, and wish she was there, but we’d do everything we could to bring the trophy home. I thought we could still get the job done. She wished me luck, and said she’d be watching and cheering the three of us on.

On the other side of the country, another rider was getting a much different call. Ava Silvestri had performed well on a club team last year and was slated to ride on our first-ever official Women’s Club Team, with high expectations for winning the FIM’s inaugural women’s club award.

But the stakes for her, and for us, had suddenly gotten higher, as she would be Korie’s replacement on the Women’s Trophy Team. A big job. All of us were thankful she’d raced in Argentina in 2023 and had that experience under her belt.

We landed in Spain, and in a

moment of foreshadowing usually left to cheap paperback novels, I set the tone for my week by tripping over my own suitcase in spectacular fashion while turning around to say something to Ava. I went down hard on the unforgiving marble floor, taking two suitcases with me and creating such a racket that it turned every head in the rental car area.

Ava tried hard to hold a straight face. She did a better job than I did, since I came up laughing (and limping). Seeing my good humor about it all, she decided it was safe to say, jokingly, “For a minute there I thought I wasn’t going to be the only

replacement rider on this team.” The team vibe was going to be alright.

WALKIN’ SHOES

Anybody who has followed our adventures at ISDE in past years already knows what comes next. Walking. Lots of walking. There were 10 tests that had to be walked at least twice if we wanted to remember them corner-to-corner, which is always the goal.

This time the walking came with a new challenge: steady rainfall. From the time I left the airport until I returned home, my feet were wet.

I exaggerate only slightly, and our jokes about getting “trench foot” had a slightly nervous undertone.

We tried to keep morale high. Double espressos every morning. Very colorful rain ponchos. Spare shoes and socks. During the few times it wasn’t raining, we carried a life-size photo of Korie’s head attached to a stick and took funny pictures with it to try and cheer her (and ourselves) up. See this edition’s cover for a good example.

My favorite moment of walk week was out on the mountainous Day 5 test. For a brief moment the sun

broke out of the clouds into a transcendentally beautiful sunrise. It was so spiritually moving it almost allowed me to forget the countless miles of walking already completed and the 11 miles still left to go.

Another blessing, especially for the team staff and workers, was that the entire paddock/pit area was indoors. Given the high winds, that was just as well, because many of the team tents would have never been seen again after the tropical storm with 80-mph winds came barreling through Salida. I felt sorry for the poor course workers, as at least 90 percent of the marking ribbon around the special tests came down, which meant long days of walking for them, too.

That week we also found out that Danielle McDonald on Team Australia — our biggest competitors — had torn her ACL two weeks prior to the event. I was very impressed with her willingness to enter an event like ISDE with an injury like that, and even more impressed she made it to the finish line.

“Even up,” I thought to myself when I found out. “We had to pull our backup rider up to the big leagues, but one of their riders is going to be riding injured. It’ll be a fair match.”

Toward the end of walk week we were told Day 3 had been “cancelled” because the course marshal had determined that with the high volume of riders and deep standing water, the tests would become impassable. Initially, I was sad we’d walked at least 12 miles of test we’d never ride, but on further reflection I was glad we wouldn’t have to ride it. There was also some confusion about what they meant by cancelled, but by the end of the day, the promoter explained that Day 3 would now be a duplicate of Day 4.

Opening Ceremonies were great as usual. I never feel quite so patriotic as when I’m standing on the stage, flags waving, chanting “U-S-A” at the top of my lungs. There’s a deep-seated rush of pride that comes from being part of a tribe-bordering-on-mob.

The trophy did start to get a little heavy after two hours, though,

The start of the Women’s World Trophy Division final moto on Day 6.

Left to right: Francesca Nocera (Italy), Rachel Gutish (USA), Miria Badia (Spain), Hedvig Malm (Sweden), Danielle McDonald (Australia), Brandy Richards (USA) and Jessica Gardiner (Australia).

especially since Brandy and I refused to let it touch the ground. Ava would have volunteered, but earlier I had shared my own superstitions about the trophy, which date back to 2021. You don’t hold the trophy until your name is on it.

That made her nervous enough that she left it for Brandy and me to carry. By the end of the night, I was regretting sharing the superstition,

because it would have been nice to have a third set of hands. But at ISDE, things can go sideways in an instant — and superstition is sometimes warranted.

DAY 1

Speaking of sideways, the first test on Day 1 was downright terrifying. It was some kind of wet silt that formed untrustworthy berms, and hid slippery rocks scattered randomly like landmines throughout the course. The number of times I felt my back end hit a rock and try to pass my front end was entirely too high.

At first I thought I’d just forgotten how to ride, but when I stopped at the end

Top: Ava Silvestri changes a tire. Above: Rachel Gutish chats with Swedish Women’s Trophy rider Hedvig Malm exiting the paddock. Right: Ava fully focused…or maybe questioning life choices! Below: Brandy pushes her bike into the impound area after a long, hard day of slick, off-camber winning.

of the test, I heard nothing positive from any other rider; we all thought it was horrible. Later that night I saw a video of Josep Garcia getting kicked sideways in that test, and didn’t feel quite so bad about myself.

The other Day 1 tests were unremarkable, aside from a few unexpectedly deep mudholes in the second cross test. The transfer was mostly asphalt and farm lanes, not especially technical. There were a lot of road crossings and intersections, though, so you really had to stay on your toes.

SUPPORT-SYSTEM MEG

In an act of good sportsmanship, and in the interest of safety, all the different countries’ chase riders would spread out over the more dangerous intersections and play “crossing guard”

At first I thought I’d just forgotten how to ride, but when I stopped at the end of the test, I heard nothing positive from any other rider; we all thought it was horrible.

— waving riders from all the countries (not just their own) through when it was safe to pass, so nobody would get smoked by a car.

Since we’re talking about chase riders, I need to talk about ours… Meg Argubright. She did all the normal chase rider things — keeping an eye on us in the transfers, taking our tool packs at the test, serving as my rolling spare-parts box at all the service areas, since I was the only one on our team not on a KTM Group bike (the KTM riders all have parts boxes provided by Antti). Since I rode a Sherco and Phoenix Racing Honda’s Cody Barnes was on a Honda, the two of us were responsible for providing a second bike to rob parts off of in a pinch.

Top: World Trophy rider Dante Olivera during the Day 3/4 Enduro Test. Above: Johnny Girroir carrying the World Trophy. Below: World Trophy rider Josh Toth on his way to being top-finishing American. Bottom: Dante Olivera, covered in mud.

In addition, Meg looked up scores for us at the checkpoints, and reminded us to eat. Just as important, though, was her unflaggingly positive attitude. Through sheer force of will (and telling us we were banned from saying things like “wow, I rode like -censored- that last test”), she was able to keep our collective mood from reaching new depths. For Ava and I, this was critical, as Brandy was chill as ever, and of course busy doing that superhuman thing of winning almost all the tests. I often wondered if Brandy’s back was sore from carrying the entire team on it.

DAY 3

By the end of the first two days we had a 3 minute and 20 second lead — enough, but certainly not

For a little while, it felt like being out on a trail ride with the fastest women in the world. We only got to ride it once, because like so many other sections of this race, it degraded so much that it had to be cut out.

comfortable, and without room for problems or mistakes. Of course, that’s when Day 3 showed up. That’s another superstition of mine; no idea why, but in my nine ISDE events, the worst moments have always come on Day 3.

We had new transfers and new tests, a good thing, because what we’d been riding was starting to get rough. One section of transfer was up in the mountains, delightfully technical, with the weather alternating between sunshine and mist so frequently I must have seen at least five rainbows in that hour-long section. A big group of us ended up together — maybe seven or eight of the women.

For a little while, it felt like being out on a trail ride with the fastest women in the world. We only got to ride it once, because like so many other sections of this race, it degraded so

much that it had to be cut out. I actually enjoyed the tests — good dirt, real ruts and an enduro test that actually had sections of singletrack.

But then came the Day 3 problems. Ava crashed and popped her shoulder out in one of the tests. Luckily, it popped back in, though it made for a long and unpleasant remainder of the day for her. Then, in the second-to-last test of the day, my clutch started to slip. It was so bad that by the end of the test when I stopped to retrieve my tool pack, the plates stuck.

I got incredibly lucky. After sitting for about 5 minutes (which felt like an hour) to let the bike cool, the plates broke free, and I limped the bike to final service. It was the longest and fastestpaced no-clutch drill of my life. I made it with only a minute or two to spare, which was nerve-racking; you cannot

afford to drop route points (and take 60-second penalties for lateness) when your lead is so narrow.

At evening service I changed the smoked clutch, plus a voltage regulator, and then during the next morning’s service, a fuel pump (precautions, due to extra heat). Of course this left me on bald tires for

the next day, but that was alright — I’d rather have no knobs and a bike that runs!

DAYS 4 & 5

Weirdly enough, Day 4 was my best individual stage finish, a fourth place. Go figure. As a team, we’d even expanded our lead despite the drama. We now had 4 minutes and

Far Left: The spirited opening ceremonies sometimes come with costumes. Left: “Just smile and wave boys, smile and wave!” Above: Most tests had plenty of spectators, but in the middle of a race you rarely notice them.

15 seconds over the Aussies.

That was a good thing, because we lost 35 seconds to them on Day 5. I felt like I rode especially poorly and was letting the team down. I struggled with the long climbs and off-cambers in the mountain tests.

Twice, one of the Aussie riders, Tayla Jones, passed me outright in the cross test. I didn’t even fight it, just waved her by. The shared transfer trail from Day 3, 4 and 5 was brutal. In the muddy spots, the trail got wider and wider to avoid the deep

after a long slog of a Six Days, I had a smile on my face, sliding recklessly through the mud and railing the ruts. It was a sloppy mess. but unlike the terrain most of the week, it was the kind of mess I thrive in.

holes. The solid parts were like riding on a highway rumble strip. There was some new transfer. I can’t really remember it, because the fog was so thick I never really saw it. One test actually had to be cancelled due to the total lack of visibility. Day 5 was one of those I’d just as soon forget… but the important thing was that we still held the lead.

THE SIXTH DAY

On the morning of Day 6 the mist and steady rain of the previous five days turned into an outright downpour. And finally, after a long slog of a Six Days, I had a smile on my face, sliding recklessly through the mud and railing the ruts. It was a sloppy mess, but unlike the terrain most of the week, it was the kind of mess I thrive in.

I got a decent start in the final moto, and steadily climbed my way into a third-place finish — by far my best of the week. Brandy, as usual,

won the moto.

When it was all said and done, Brandy won the overall, I finished sixth, and Ava took home a tenth for the week in a historically deep field of 33 women’s trophy riders. The important result, though, was the six-minute advantage over the Australians.

When Ava crossed the finish line and pulled up alongside us, we revbombed our bikes as the mechanics popped bottles and let the champagne fly. Through the intermingled champagne and rain, I could just make out the smiling faces of my teammates, waving American flags in the backdrop.

For a few moments, everything else was forgotten in the joy of victory shared with my team.

I struggled a little to write this story. It felt more like work than writing… because for me, writing rarely feels like work. When it’s going well, it feels exactly like riding does when that’s going well. I flow through the corners, hit my marks, each word lands exactly where it should, and I feel something between satisfaction and exhilaration. It’s logical, though, that this one would be hard to write because the riding also felt more like work than it usually does.

We showed up, clocked in, clocked out and were grateful it was over by the end. Each day passed much like the last, through a haze of fog and mist, with the occasional threatening rumble of thunder or glimmer of sunlight. Nothing to see here folks, just doing what we do…winning Six Days.

While the week and our team’s achievement felt a lot more like work than play, the podium scene — as they called our names, and we carried our flag to the top step of the podium, and as I stood shoulder-toshoulder with Brandy and Ava with our national anthem ringing out across the paddock, and as we knelt down to accept our world champion medals while Brandy lofted the Women’s World Trophy overhead — reminded me that being part of this Trophy Team is indeed a special privilege.

And while we’re expected to win, it was still pretty darn sweet. AMA

While the U.S. Women’s World Trophy team was the standout this year, the men’s teams also had impressive results, with both the World Trophy and Junior World Trophy teams landing on the podium. The World Trophy Team (top photo, left to right: Team manager Antti Kallonen, Josh Toth, Cody Barnes, Johnny Girroir and Dante Olivera) took second place, roughly five minutes behind France and 10 minutes ahead of Spain. Individually, Toth was sixth overall, Girroir was seventh, D. Olivera was ninth and Barnes was 12th — a solid ride for Barnes, given he was another last-minute substitute rider who only had two weeks’ notice he’d be going to ISDE and racing on the World Trophy Team for the first time. The Junior Team (bottom, left to right: Mateo Olivera, Grant Davis and Jason Tino) finished third behind Sweden and France. Individually, Davis was fifth in the division, M. Olivera was 10th, and Tino, the rookie rider, rode through a knee injury sustained early in the week to place 15th.

Women’s Club Team Makes History

USA Women’s Club riders win inaugural running of the women’s club division

BY RACHEL GUTISH

This year the FIM introduced two new Club (amateur) division categories: Veteran (50+) and the Women’s Club division. It was truly special that the U.S. Women’s Club Team — Team Eric Cleveland Memorial — won the first-ever Women’s Club award. The team, shown above and listed left to right, included Olivia Pugh, Jocelyn Barnes and Rachel Stout.

Not only did they win, but they won by nearly two hours! That’s especially cool since the U.S. also won the Women’s Trophy Division when it was first introduced in 2007.

All three of these racers were first timers at ISDE, and Stout jumped in as a truly last-minute substitute when

Ava Silvestri was bumped up to the Women’s Trophy Team. Stout had less than a week to prepare.

“I’m grateful I had the lastminute opportunity to race with Team USA,” Stout said. “ISDE has been one of my biggest goals for years, and it was surreal getting to compete on the first official Women’s Club team. I’m stoked to have brought home a gold medal.”

Olivia Pugh had her own struggles to overcome, especially when her bike ingested water in a deep mudhole on Day 3. She was able to drain the water, dry the filter, limp the bike to the checkpoint, change the oil three times and miraculously held the bike together

the rest of the week.

“[We] went into the week not knowing what to expect since none of us had raced Six Days before, which made for a big learning curve,” Olivia said. “We all had ups and downs through the week, but we made it!”

Last, Jocelyn Barnes not only was on the winning team, but also won the individual overall in the division by a wide margin.

“I think I speak for the whole team when I say that we were determined to make it to the finish line no matter what,” Barnes told us. “It was a great Six Days, and we are ecstatic that we made history for the USA.”

BACKCOUNTRY DISCOVERY ROUTES’

TIM JAMES

MOTORCYCLI ST

BY KEATON MAISANO

PHOTOS BY ELY WOODY

Throughout 2024, several individuals made a signiﬁcant impact on the world of motorcycling, but it is the job of the AMA’s Board of Directors and staff to present the annual AMA Motorcyclist of the Year award to the individual who made the most profound difference.

For his work beneﬁting the adventure and dual-sport riding communities, remote towns throughout the country and motorcycling as a whole, the 2024 AMA Motorcyclist of the Year is Backcountry Discovery Routes (BDR) Board President and Creative Director Tim James.

“Tim James’ work with Backcountry Discovery Routes has made a substantial impact on the world of adventure and dual-sport motorcycling,” said AMA Board of Directors Chairman Russ Ehnes. “Beyond the always-exciting recreational component, Tim and BDR’s focus to improve remote communities and put motorcycling in a positive light is admirable work that has benefitted all motorcyclists. For what he has done for motorcyclists and non-motorcyclists throughout the country, Tim was the clear choice for 2024 AMA Motorcyclist of the Year.”

BDR is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that creates and maintains off-highway routes for adventure and dual-sport motorcycle riders. James first got involved with BDR as a volunteer following a riding experience along the Utah BDR just over a decade ago. While James was blown away by the recreational element of BDR, it was the positive impact and mission of the organization that inspired him to join the team.

“I felt like I found my people,”

through economically challenged rural towns to help drive tourism dollars. That was one of the givebacks of the non-profit I could really get behind.

“We’re doing good and having a good time doing it. We’re not just creating and preserving riding opportunities for adventure riders; we’re also helping the economies of small towns along the way and really making a difference.”

The impact and growth of BDR is something the organization has measured through a pair of economic impact studies. A 2017 study revealed BDR riders brought in more than $17 million out-of-state funds to remote communities. Just a half-decade later in BDR’s most recent study, this number had grown to $60 million. This same study also revealed BDR riders generated $9.6 million in motorcycle sales and several more million in motorcycle parts, apparel, services and training in 2022.

“When [the communities] see how much money that we’re driving into the general stores, the gas stations or the diners, they’re the ones that will be our advocates when, for instance, a public

When James was a volunteer, BDR — which started in 2010 — had only a handful of routes. In the last decade, BDR has created several new routes to bring its collection to 13 BDR routes and six BDR-X routes, with plenty of other routes in development.

“When we develop the routes, we want to make them as evergreen as possible,” James said. “We want them to last.” That is why we run all the routes on public roads only. If we made access deals with private landowners, we’d be constantly chasing our tails.”

As BDR has grown, James has expanded his role, eventually being asked to fill the president of the board position previously held by one the of the organization’s founders, Paul Guillien.

“I don’t think I’ll ever fill their shoes, but I’m trying my best in my current role to make sure [the founders’] vision for the organization is always in focus,” James said. “It’s important to me, because as much as we need to grow and evolve with the times, it’s our founders who had the incredible vision for this organization.”

The vision remains clear and at the forefront thanks to the BDR mission: Our core mission today is to create, preserve and protect offhighway motorized access to public lands. Through education, safety initiatives, responsible land-use ethics and positive ﬁnancial impact on rural communities, BDR seeks to preserve backcountry motorcycling opportunities for generations to come.

OF THE YEAR

James said, “like-minded people that love adventure and adventure motorcycles and love the mission of the organization, which is just not about riding motorcycles. We have a multi-point mission behind it and one of those points is to run our routes

road on our route is subject to potential closure because it’s too expensive to maintain,’” James said. “They see the value our organization brings. We didn’t see that one coming at the start, but we fully leaned in once we realized the positive effect we had.”

James, who grew up just outside New York City, got to live out the creation element of the BDR mission when he assembled the Northeast BDR Development Team in 2019, beginning the process of creating a 1,300-mile route for the region. Thanks to the hard work of the BDR team and local experts, the North East BDR became the 10th route in the lineup.

“It’s a lot of work, but it’s really rewarding,” James said. “At the end

of the day when you know that you played a part in delivering something like this to the community, it’s a really proud moment. I see how many people enjoy these routes and the happiness it brings them. They have these amazing experiences, and for some it’s like an adventure of a lifetime.”

Helping with the organization’s branding, marketing and promotional activities, James’ agency — the James Howard Creative Group — has also aided in the growth of BDR when it took the organization on as a pro bono account in 2016.

Despite playing his part in the growth of the organization, James repeatedly noted that the success of BDR is thanks to the team, volunteers, riders and overwhelming support they feel from the communities they impact.

“Our team has expanded and it’s such a great team,” James said.

“Everybody’s passionate about what we do, and that’s what drives it forward. We have a brilliant executive director, Inna Thorn, who with a small paid staff runs the organization…but the rest of us are volunteers. Paid or not, everyone involved is fueled by passion for BDR and its mission.”

The passion of the staff and volunteers extend to the BDR riders. Their love for BDR is evident in their participation in the BDR “Keep It 100” Film Festival, which makes a contest out of the footage collected by riders, as well as route-specific Facebook groups, which are managed by volunteers.

In addition to the impact BDR riders have on local economies and the motorcycle industry, riders contribute a heavy majority of the monetary support needed to run BDR.

“We bring in some good money from sponsors, but it’s the community that really comes through for us with donations,” James said. “It’s humbling.”

As for what’s next for BDR, James said there are plans to create more routes — even some in Canada and Mexico — while maintaining the gold standard of creating enjoyable and lasting routes the group is known for. As of publication, the team was finalizing

its new Southeast BDR — which, in conjunction with the Mid-Atlantic BDR and Northeast BDR, will allow riders to ride from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border.

“We’re just 15 years in,” James said. “I wish I could be alive to see where BDR is in 50 years…We want to always maintain that image as the gold standard in adventure motorcycle route development and ensure that people are acutely aware of the mission behind the brand. And hopefully we help make people better adventure riders through education. BDR is more than lines on a map — way more.”

Congrats, Tim, and here’s to BDR’s future! AMA

“Tim James’ work with Backcountry Discovery Routes has made a substantial impact on the world of adventure and dual-sport motorcycling.”

AMA BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIRMAN RUSS EHNES

Left to right, standing: Bryce Stevens (BDR co-founder and director of route development), Nathan Fant (BDR ambassador), Tobias Wachter. Left to right, bottom: Tim James, Iain Glynn, Ricardo Rodriguez, Ashely James Myhre.

The Italian Dolomiti comprise just a fraction of the Alpine crescent, but when it comes to riding, geography, cuisine, culture and wowfactor, you can’t do much better

AND

IBY MITCH BOEHM

t was one of those of course! moments you have on occasion, a head-slapper obvious enough that you wonder if you’re losing your grip.

There I was, peering through the Boeing jet’s window at the just-visible coast of Britain off to my left as the orange morning sun was just beginning to glow on the horizon on my way to Munich, Germany, and the launch of our 2024 Alps Challenge Tour with a large handful of AMA

members…and trying to gin up an angle for this year’s tour coverage in the magazine.

A flight attendant appeared with coffee and asked about breakfast, and instead of thinking of the offered croissant and omelet I flashed on the surprisingly good pasta I’d had hours earlier on the plane…and from there I imagined the spaghetti carbonara and rigatoni-con-marinara that awaited our group once into the Italian Alps — and, more specifically, the

STORY

PHOTOS

Motorcycles, good folks, great culture and cuisine, and some of the most amazing geography anywhere. The Alps are pretty hard to beat.

spectacular Dolomites.

And poof, there it was: Alpine Italia and the Dolomites… Of course!

At that point I’d visited and ridden in the Alps more than a dozen times. And while that 750-mile-wide and 125-miletall crescent of mountains touching eight countries and running from southeastern France to northeastern Austria — and from southern Germany to northern Italy — has

been a motorcyclist’s paradise since the beginning of two-wheeled time, the Dolomite region directly south of Munich and just northeast of Milan is absolutely extra special, and for a whole lot of cultural, historical, geographical, culinary and road-design reasons.

“FATIGUE MAKES COWARDS OF US ALL”

Still, this year’s Alps Challenge tour with the Edelweiss

The Dolomite region south of Munich and northeast of Milan is extra special, and for a lot of cultural, historical, geographical, culinary and road-design reasons.

folks and about 18 AMA members didn’t start off all that well, at least for me. Normally I give myself a full day to acclimate once I’ve arrived on European soil to deal with the jet lag and the (sometimes) lack of sleep that accompanies an 11hour overseas flight. But this year, for work- and deadlinerelated reasons, I didn’t do that.

I left Salt Lake City for our base hotel near Munich on Wednesday afternoon, arriving at about 9 a.m. Thursday, and didn’t sleep much on the plane, just an hour or two. And thanks to jet lag I didn’t sleep all that well at the hotel Thursday night, either…which meant that by the time I was suiting up to begin the tour on Friday morning (nearly two days after I’d left Utah) I’d only had maybe six hours of sleep. Definitely not ideal.

Good coffee and adrenaline kept me going all morning as we rode south toward the Alps, and like every other year, the excitement of seeing the peaks rise up on the horizon is palpable, and never gets old. But after a cappuccino stop at legendary Lake Chiemsee (King Ludwig II built a replica of the Palace of Versailles on an island there in the late 1800s) and a truly awesome pork schnitzel lunch (our guide Michael’s recommendation, and a good one), I started to fade in a major way as we climbed into the Alps proper and headed toward the famous Grossglockner High Alpine Road — the highest paved pass in Austria.

Feeling woozy and nodding off is bad anytime you’re on a motorcycle (or in any motor vehicle, really), but it’s extra ugly

in the mountains, where the briefest of concentration lapses can have you playing parachutist without the necessary gear…and as I struggled to maintain focus, the idea of a few more hours on my Triumph Tiger 900 was stressing me out. And with a big group in tow, pulling off and laying down for a 30-minute in-yer-gear catnap — as I’d have done if I’d been on my own — wasn’t gonna happen.

Luckily, as we started up the pass toward Grossglockner, it began to rain, which changed the game completely, at least for a while. Suddenly there was a challenge ahead, a twisty and mostly slick road to negotiate and conquer, and a desire to get to the top reasonably quickly, but also in one piece

Left: Hitting the first line of the Dolomite chain is pretty awesome; you’ve just got to pull over and snap a photo. And then there’s the pasta…

despite the puddles, painted lines and slick conditions — right along with some of the more skilled riders, brothers Greg and Jimmy, especially, who were in a similar mood. Riding with those two injected adrenaline into my system all the way to the top, and for most of the way to our hotel in Lienz, Austria, a couple hours later.

I say “most of the way” because, for the last 40 or so miles, and as I parked the Tiger 900 in the garage and checked into our hotel in Lienz, I was a blubbering and nearly incoherent mess. Despite thought

processes mired in axle grease, I distinctly remember understanding why sleep deprivation was used as a torture tool to break people.

I’d planned to attend dinner with the group that evening after a short nap, but I ended up sleeping right through the alarm I’d set and waking up wide-eyed and bushy-tailed at midnight. Even worse, I was starving, and with the hotel lobby dark and not a vending machine in sight, I was out of luck.

But once again fortune smiled on me, because when I wandered outside for some fresh air I found a summerfest celebration going on, with food vendors, live music and plenty of beer, which I ended up sharing — along with some tasty sausages and mustard — with the aforementioned Jimmy and his brother Scott, who were also dealing with a bit of jet lag and wide awake. We had some laughs, and eventually got some more sleep in anticipation of the following day’s ride.

INTO ITALIA

Lienz is just a stone’s throw from the Austrian/Italian border and the northern edge of the Dolomites, and I love how things begin to change the instant you ride from Austria into northern Italy. You notice this right away on signage, but it’s much deeper than that, the manicured orderliness of the German-Austrian Alps giving way to a

more casual and rougher-around-the-edges environment, all of which meshes pretty well with Italy’s more casual personality. It’s definitely not a bad thing.

The verdant pastures and tiny communities located high above the picturesque Austrian valleys on the sides of mountains remain (I always wonder how folks get up there in winter…and how sheep and cattle deal with the steep hillsides), but the Swiss- and chalet-style architecture so common in Austria and much of the rest of the Alps changes a little once in Italy; the structures are a little more random, a little less orderly, and the grounds around them a little messier. The roads are a little rougher, too, but in a good way, and you get the feeling that Italians might spend a little more time cooking, drinking wine, conversing and laughing than the Austrians. Just a hunch.

As you push farther south and west along the top edge of the Dolomite region — our destination at the end of day two was Bolzano, or Bozen in Eurospeak, the “gateway to the Dolomites” — it’s impossible to miss the change in

geography. Where the Austrian Alps have that typical Alpine look — quaint, gingerbread-esque villages and amazingly verdant valleys surrounded by towering peaks with green pastureland and foliage on the bottom half, and rockier (and often snow-specked) terrain above the tree line — the Dolomites, which constitute maybe 5 percent of the entire Alps chain, are much more jagged and abrupt, with pale-colored spires jutting dramatically what seems like miles into the air.

This impressive geography makes more sense when you consider how the two mountain types were created. The vast majority of the Alps chain was created the old-fashioned way…by the violent pushing, shoving and

If you thought that maybe the Dolomite region was a bit like a racetrack situated at the foot of the most amazing mountain peaks anywhere, you wouldn’t be wrong.

churning of tectonic plates some 60 or 70 million years ago.

Geologic movement helped build the Dolomite region, too, but much of what constitutes them was formed by an ancient sea and the coral reefs and marine life that accumulated on the seabed over the millennia. These layered effluvia solidified into limestone, which morphed and were pushed/eroded skyward over time into the pale rock formations we see today. The Dolomites, by the way, are named after French naturalist Deodat de Dolomieu, whose 18th century discoveries shed light on the unique composition of the physical Dolomites.

BOZEN, AKA BOLZANO

As the “gateway” to the Dolomites, Bolzano sits at the northwest corner of the region, and is an

approximately 100-mile ride to the west and south from Lienz — though our route there on Day 2 was a crazy zig-zag of high-alpine passes that skirted the top edge of the Dolomites and offered up some of the most spectacular riding and geography on earth.

It’s always fun to hear what the tour guests have to say at coffee stops or during lunch on Day 2 of this tour, as most of them have never seen anything like it. I rode quite a bit on Day 2 with two-up husband and wife Curtis and Gail from northern Nevada, and on

As always, leaving Bolzano and heading to the wonderfully Tyrolean ski valley of Livigno — which is the second stay-two-nights destination — is a highlight of the tour.

a few occasions they’d give me one of those eyebrowsraised, head-slowly-shaking, we don’t really believe what we’re seeing! looks. It was fun to watch.

As we neared Bolzano after a pizza lunch and a handful of really challenging passes, we ran into the downside related to the timing of this particular tour…late August, which can not only be very warm (especially at lower altitudes, which applies to Bolzano) but thick with summervacation traffic — cars and motorcycles for sure, but also bicycles. We encountered this last year and, with 20-20 hindsight, should have scheduled this tour in September when it’s cooler and less congested.

One of the prime elements of our Alps Challenge tours are the (usually) two “rest days,” where you stay in a particular town and hotel for two nights instead of just one. This gives guests an option to take either a short or longer ride the following day (most do), be a tourist and check out the local culture and attractions, or do a little of both.

Bolzano is the first of these rest days, and it’s ideally suited, with lots to do in town (Otzi, the incredibly interesting 5,000-year-old frozen mountain man who lies

in a museum there, is a prime example), great eateries seemingly on every corner, and an amazing selection of routes and passes to experience if you choose to ride. Our excellent guides Daniel, Michael and Ralph had a choice of routes (short or long, take your pick) ready to go, and while I caught up on work in the hotel, our group members had a fantastic day — and a great group dinner that night.

In all, the route to Bolzano and the following day in the Dolomite-dotted area netted a large handful of amazing passes, including Passo Tre Croci (1,809 meters), Passo Di Giau (2,236 meters), Passo Di Falzarego (2,015 meters), Passo Valparola (2,197 meters), the Campolongo Pass (1,875 meters), Passo Pordoi (2,239 meters), Passo Sella (2,218 meters) and Passo Gardena (2,121 meters).

LIVIGNO! LIVIGNO!

As always, leaving Bolzano and heading to the wonderfully Tyrolean ski valley of Livigno — which is the second stay-two-nights destination — is a highlight of the tour. First, you’ve got the Mendel Pass, with its wood-rasp pavement and perfectly smooth

Top: Italy’s Passo di Gavia; super-narrow in places, mostly barrier-fee and filled with blind corners. Not so fun for some.

Edelweiss’ tour guides are notoriously capable and friendly, and ours — from left, Ralph, Daniel and Michael, seen here post-ride — didn’t disappoint.

asphalt, all of which leads to the stunning Panoramahotel Penegal, which overlooks the entire Bolzano valley. It may be the coolest cappuccino stop in all of Europe, and reaching it via the bumpy, pine needle-dusted road — which is one-lane in sections — is always a hoot, especially if you’re riding with folks who always want to go as fast as possible. Once again, Greg and Jimmy didn’t disappoint.

Later in the day came Passo del Tonale and Passo di Gavia, the latter very much a love-hate thing with participants. It starts out mellow enough in warm and lovely Ponte di Legno, but quickly becomes challenging and scary as it threads north and skyward above the tree line, in places narrowing to barely a car width, with cliffside sections lacking any sort of guardrail that might save your bacon if you

screwed up and needed to be punted — however roughly — back onto the tarmac.

Historically, Livigno was remote, agriculturally based and very poor, and to keep things percolating economically, the Powers allowed it to be a duty-/tax-free zone. These days it’s a tourist favorite for both summer and winter activities, and while quite upscale (our hotel there, the Lac Salin, is a four-star, and parts of the 2026 Winter Olympics will be staged in the valley), the duty-free element remains.

The best part, though, might be the pizza joint we first experienced three years ago — and visited again this time — just a couple blocks from the Lac Salin. (Oh, Domenico, we have pineapple for your pizza! Where are you?)

STELVIO, OH STELVIO

While Livigno isn’t technically part of the Dolomites, the two days spent in and near there are always a favorite part of this tour, and the riding heading to and from this Alpine wonderland is pretty epic. On riding Day 6 (of seven) we punched into Switzerland for a bit, with the Bernina, Fluela, Fuorn and Umbrail passes on our menu before turning east and northward into Italy again and our final hotel in Solden, Austria.

But not before one of the tour’s definite highlights — Passo dello Stelvio, the second-highest paved pass in all of Europe and one of the most popular rides/drives in the entire Alps. Built in 1820–1825 by the Austrian Empire, the pass — which saw some violent battles during WWI — features 75 hairpins in total, 48 on the northern side alone, and is a serious motoring challenge, with the popular TV show Top Gear calling it the “greatest driving road in the world.” The Giro d’Italia bicycle race often runs over Stelvio, which is only open from May to November due to heavy snow.

THE LAST RIDE

At the end of Day 6 we summited the last major pass of the trip, the Passo del Rombo, or Timmelsjoch, which sits smack dab on the Italian/Austrian border just south of Solden in Austria. It’s yet another amazingly twisty and challenging pass, and at the border crossing is a motorcycle museum called Top Mountain that has to be seen to be believed. It burned to the ground some years back but has returned bigger and better than ever. There’s a great restaurant with equally good cappuccino on site, so a stop there is a necessity.

Solden, like Livigno, is one of those picture-perfect Tyrolean ski towns that’s busy year around, and it’s always a fine spot to spend our final night, with a nice hotel and a quite good restaurant within. Since we’d be heading back to Munich the following day, the storytelling, beers, laughs and lies were pretty thick that evening, and we all had a great time, the group having bonded nicely over the last week — which always seems to be the case on tours like this.

For dinner I ordered the pasta special, and when it arrived along with a bowl of Parmigiano Reggiano on the side, I sat back and flashed on the little pasta epiphany I had on the flight eight days earlier.

We weren’t in Italy anymore, but with Italy’s to-die-for culinary skills very definitely alive and well in Austria, it didn’t matter.

There it was. Pasta. Alpine Italia. And the Dolomites. Of course! AMA

YAMAHA

Yamaha’s 1971 JT-1

Mini

Enduro helped make the jump from minibike to minicycle

BY MITCH BOEHM

PHOTOS BY KEVIN WING

1971 was a doozy on the entertainment and historical fronts. All in the Family debuted on CBS. Led Zeppelin played Stairway to Heaven for the first time to a live audience.

George Harrison released My Sweet Lord. And Apollo 14 got back on the moon after Apollo 13’s near-debacle.

Motorcyclists had plenty to be excited about in ’71, as well. Bruce Brown’s moto documentary On Any Sunday — starring several AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famers, including actor and racer Steve McQueen, dirt tracker Mert Lawwill, and SoCal shop-owner and racer Malcolm Smith — opened to rave reviews nationally, garnered an Oscar nomination, and set the stage for the most explosive motorcycling decade ever seen in the world.

But it was motorcycling’s kids who let out the biggest whoops of joy that year, because in ’71 no fewer than four amazing new minicycles were introduced: Honda’s SL70 Motosport, Rupp’s Black Widow, Suzuki’s MT50 Trailhopper, and Yamaha’s JT-1, also known as the Mini Enduro.

to that point, aside from some funky Benellis and the ubiquitous Honda Z50 of ’68, were exactly what most baby boomers conjure when they hear the word minibike: a tube- and rigid-framed two-wheeler with small, squaredoff tires, a tire-friction rear brake, truly evil handling, and motive power by either Briggs & Stratton or Tecumseh. No one complained much about these things at the time, but no one knew any better, either.

Those four new minis were different, especially the SL70 and Mini Enduro, which were three-fifths-scale versions of the SL175 and the now-legendary 250cc DT-1 of ’68. These were real motorcycles, shrunk in size for smaller folks, that fired the imaginations of millions of boomer-aged kids like nothing else. A red SL70 was this author’s very first motorcycle, and it led directly to a lifetime of two-wheeled fun and employment. Sales of these minis skyrocketed overnight, and sucked millions of kids into motorcycling’s maw along the way.

The term minicycle raises few eyebrows today, but in ’71 it was a fresh idea. The vast majority of minis prior

Launched at the 1970 Yamaha dealer meeting, the Mini Enduro was an instant sensation. “I introduced the thing to dealers by carrying it out onto the stage,” remembered

AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame inductee and longtime Yamaha product-planning guru Ed Burke when I spoke to him a decade ago. “Dealers knew instantly what it was all about, just by seeing it. I have to say, it was probably the easiest development project I was ever involved in. The engineers in Japan seemed to know exactly what we were going to ask for in those days, and they seemed to have that little thing ready to go right when we asked for a miniature version!

“There was no mystery to what it needed to be,” Burke added. “A small DT-1, really, it having become the dualpurpose machine by that point. We just kept building them smaller and smaller, and when we finally got to the minibike, everyone knew it would be a huge hit. And, boy, was it ever!”

Even today in the face of advanced, ultra-modern minibikes, the JT-1 looks near-perfect — handsome, athletic, purposeful, well proportioned — and was stunningly transformative for baby boomers, which is why they’re restored, collected, ridden, and displayed in garages and living rooms by aging baby-boomers everywhere.

“While vacationing in Northern California years ago,” remembered longtime moto-industry photographer Kevin Wing, “I found a restored JT-1 — my first real motorcycle — on eBay. It was not cheap, but it was perfect and local, too, and within a few minutes I’d bought it. I couldn’t help myself. I had to have it!”

The Mini Enduro was not a technical tour de force. Its 58cc rotary-valve two-stroke single, fed by a tiny, 16mm Mikuni and lubricated by a no-fuss Autolube system, made very little power. But it was durable and reliable, and even after a long winter’s nap in the Midwest or northern tier of the country, they’d fire right up come springtime — with a little help from leaded, non-ethanol fuel, of course.

The suspension was a bit flaccid for larger kids thanks to el-cheapo shocks and a fork assembly with just one spring in one fork leg. But a young, 60-pound Jeff Ward, who Cycle magazine had evaluate the JT-1 for its October 1970 road test, seemed

“I introduced the thing to dealers by carrying it out onto the stage. it was probably the easiest development project I was ever involved in. The engineers in Japan seemed to know exactly what we were going to ask for in those days.”

YAMAHA PRODUCT-PLANNING GURU ED BURKE

The JT1’s 58cc rotary-valve two-stroke only made about four ponies, less than some tubeframe minis. But the bike was durable and fun, and at around $300, was a great bargain.

happy with the suspension. “He liked the way the bike absorbed the jolts before they could get to his backside,” Cycle wrote.

Overall, the JT-1 was balanced and handled quite well, and kids didn’t really care much about ride quality anyway; all they knew was that the thing was more fun and freedom-generating than anything else in their lives. And at less than $300, the JT-1 was affordable,

with parents — many of them DT-1 owners — buying them by the truckload.

“It was just a crazy time,” Burke remembered. “JT-1s would come three to a crate, and dealers would buy 60 at a time. They’d tell us, ‘We can’t assemble ’em fast enough to keep ’em on the floor!’ Back then, there were so many places to ride, and the trail and ridingarea closings hadn’t begun yet. Motorcycles were everywhere, and everyone seemed to be riding.

“One dealer in a little town called Sissonville, W.V., sold some 3,000 dual-sport Yamahas for us one year — DT-1s, AT-1s, and, of course, Mini Enduros. Amazing! It was a great time to be involved, and it highlighted how big motorcycling was in the early 1970s.”

Ward rode and raced a Mini Enduro for a while, as did AMA National and Supercross Champion David Bailey. “The Mini Enduro was the first bike I ever rode,” Bailey remembered. “It was my stepdad Gary’s pitbike, and I just got attached to the thing. When I started racing it, Gary painted it to look like a Pursang, as he was racing Bultacos at the time; we called our JT-1 the YamaTaco!”

XR75 and YZ80 appeared in ’73 and ’74, respectively.

“We helped ourselves a little by supporting a lot of minibike racing at the time,” Burke remembered. “We supported events at Indian Dunes and Escape Country.”

Cycle’s October 1970 test summarized the Mini Enduro pretty well: “Yamaha hit the nail on the head with the new baby Enduro. It’s better than a bicycle because you don’t have to pedal it; it’s better than most minibikes because it has real suspension units and a real transmission and the stability which comes from almost-full-sized wheels and tires; and it’s different from almost all minibikes in that it looks like a real motorcycle. The Mini is scheduled for release in October, just two months this side of Christmas. Yamaha even has the timing down cold.”

A lot of Mini Enduros were ridden into the ground in stock condition over the years, but many were also modified, most of those for racing. Larger carburetors, high-compression heads, special exhaust pipes, big-bore kits, and modified rotary valves gave them considerably more power. They were pretty competitive for a couple of years with the heavier SL70 four-strokes, though all that ended once the

“Yamaha hit the nail on the head with the new baby Enduro. it’s different from almost all minibikes in that it looks like a real motorcycle.”

“I’d grown up on my brother’s hand-me-down JT-1,” remembered Wing, who still owns the bike photographed for this story, “and it’s amazing to have one just like it in the garage, especially with my old Indian Dunes number on the number plates. Every time I walk by it I’m only two kicks away from hearing that memorable sound, seeing the white puff of smoke, and smelling that burned twostroke oil. When I do that, I’m instantly 8 years old again.”

And that’s a wonderful thing to behold. AMA

CYCLE MAGAZINE

LITTLE BIG BIKES

Minicycle mania in the form of Honda’s SL70, Suzuki’s Trailhopper and Rupp’s Black Widow

It all happened pretty quickly in the early 1970s, the Japanese manufacturers and Mansfield, Ohio’s Rupp Industries unleashing a range of mini motorcycles for 1971 that were unlike anything else: Three-fifths-scale motorcycles that looked, acted and were outfitted like bigger bikes, but sized for kids…or funseeking adults.

Alongside Yamaha’s Mini Enduro came Honda’s legendary SL70 Motosport, perhaps the bestknown and -loved of this foursome. Handsome, quiet, reﬁned and utterly reliable, the littlest SL came in blue, yellow and red that ﬁrst year and was the perfect step-up for kids who’d cut their teeth on Honda’s Z50 Mini Trail… or any of the mower-engined minis. Honda built and sold a bazillion of ’em. Two-stroke expert Suzuki came to the party with its MT50 Trailhopper, a futuristic little thing that didn’t last long

in the market — just four years — but has remained a powerful force in older enthusiasts’ minds ever since.

And then there was Mickey Rupp’s namesake ﬁrm out of Mansﬁeld, Ohio, which built all sorts of wheeled

conveyances, but which is remembered primarily for its Tecumseh-engined minis such as the Roadster, Enduro, Hustler and higher-performance Black Widow. It all makes you wanna go back in time, eh? – Mitch Boehm

...AND SAVE MONEY!

Lodging

Save 15% at participating Choice Hotels Properties.

Up to 10% off at Motel 6.

Use code: M64AMA

20% discount off available rates, call (800)RED-ROOF and use the code VP+ 503343. To make reservations online use code: VP+ 503343 in the ﬁeld labeled “VP+/ID#”

ADVMoto 20% discount. Use code AMADV20

Aerostar.Life

Save 50% on Thunderbird Medical ID Necklaces. Visit Aerostar.life.

AMA Motorcycle Hall Of Fame Free admission to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in Pickerington, Ohio.

AMA Supercross Tickets

Save $5 on up to 8 tickets at supercrosslive.com Use code AMA51X

Anthony’s Leatherworks 10% discount on repair order Use code AMADISCOUNT

ASV Inventions

Get 20% off on all ASV products on asvinventions.com. Use code AMA20

Blendzall

AMA members can save 20% at blendzall.com. Use code AMA20 at checkout.

Bohn Body Armor

10% AMA Member Exclusive Discount. Visit bohnarmor.com and use code AMAD22 at checkout.

Take advantage of discounts from our quality partners and save loads of money – and pay for your AMA membership – in just a few keystrokes! From gear, event tickets and rentals to accessories, hotels and performance parts, it really is that simple.

patches, pins, T-shirts, hats and more.

Car Rentals Up to 25% off at any Avis or Budget. Avis Code: D388100 Budget Code: Z942000

Dowco Powersports

20% discount.Use code AMA20

EagleRider For Club EagleRider AMA members receive 2 free rental credits. Use code AMACLUBER

Edelweiss AMA members save on standard bike tour. Use code 21AMA-EBT03 at checkout.

Evans Cooling System 25% discount on Evans Coolants and Prep Fluid. Use code AMAFUN at evanscoolant.com.

EVS Sports 10% discount and free shipping on all orders. Use code AMA100RIDING.

Global Rescue

Save 5% on Global Rescue memberships at globalrescue. com/ama.

Gryphon Moto

AMA members receive a 15% discount on Gryphon Moto orders at gryphonmoto.com. Use code AMA at checkout.

Save an additional 15% on all Haynes & Clymer print and online repair manuals. Use code AMA15

Matrix Concepts

members receive a 25% discount on most products for shop, garage & track necessities at matrixracingproducts.com Use code AMA25

Medjet

Air medical transport and travel security protection – visit Medjet.com/AMACycle or call 1.800.527.7478, referring to American Motorcyclist Association. Annual rates reduced by 20% and start at $235.

MotoAmerica

20% off 2-day and 3-day passes at select MotoAmerica events. Use discount code AMA20

Slacker AMA members can save 10% at motool.co. Use code AMASAVE20 at checkout.

MX Boot Repair 10% discount. Use code AMADISCOUNT

MYLAPS

20% discount off MSRP or current sales price on web-orders or orders coordinated by the AMA. Use code AMA-789HJK

National Cycle

Rider Accident Medical Plan For details visit jonesbirdsong.com/ramp

AMA members enjoy 15% off all BugSlide® cleaning products. Use code AMA2023

Butler Maps

AMA members receive a 10% discount at butlermaps.com. Use code AMAMEMBER Bugslide

California Dual Sport Riders

Members save 50% Use code AMA. Visit cdsr.us to learn more.

Cardo Systems

20% discount online with valid AMA membership card. Use code AMACARDO

Colorado Motorcycle Adventures

10% discount with valid AMA membership card.

The Dirt Bike Academy 10% exclusive discount on instruction. Learn more at thedirtbikeacademy.com Use code TDBAAMA10

Heli Bars Use code AMAM2020 for a 10% AMA Member Exclusive Discount at helibars.com.

Helix Racing Products

AMA members save 20% on all products at helixracingproducts.com. Use code AMA20 at checkout.

HertzRide

AMA members save 10% on rentals in all locations globally at hertzride.com/us/promo/Americanmotorcyclist-association-1065 or use code AMA10

INNOVV

Save 15% on all products (except accessories) at innovv.com

Legacy Track Dayz 15% discount on Legacy Track Dayz events. Use code AMARideLTD

Liberty Sport Eyewear 30% discount on all “motorcycle collection” frames. Discount code AMA30.

MAD Maps Save 15%. Use code AMA15

AMA members save 10% on all products featured on the National Cycle website, to in stock items only. Does not apply to special price promotional items.

Nationwide Pet Insurance AMA members save on pet insurance at beneﬁts.petinsurance.com/americanmotorcyclist

Nelson Rigg

25% AMA Member Exclusive Discount on all products! Use promo code AMA-NR20

Parts Giant Call TJ at 888-575-6570 x 817 or email tj@partsgiant.com and save 10 percent on every purchase at PartsGiant.com with code AMA10.

discount on inView, a wireless brake and signal light. Use code AMA at thirdeyedesigninc.com

a quote and receive a $10 gift card at voominsureance.com/ama

SANCTIONED COMING EVENTS

Be sure to check the event website or call the organizer for the latest information, including postponements or cancellations.

AMA CALIFORNIA

Trail Ride Jan. 1. Pozo. CCMA New Year’s Ride, Central Coast Trail Riders Association, 805-801-8829, dennisdlaw1@gmail.com, www. pozoriders.com

Enduro Jan. 11. Barstow. 100s MC Sprint Enduro, 100’S MC, olson.jacob.d@gmail.com, 100smc.org

Motocross Jan. 11 - 12. Rancho Cordova. Prairie City Grand Prix, Polka Dots Motorcycle Club, prairiecitygrandprix@gmail.com

Grand Prix Jan. 17 - 19. Delano. NGPC Round 1, Southern California Motorcycle Club, https://socalmc.com/

AMA KENTUCKY

Motocross Jan. 11. Lexington. Kentucky State Indoor Championship, Farmer Racing LLC DBA TriState MX, 304-972-5162, tristatemx1@ gmail.com, Facebook

Motocross Jan. 12. Lexington. TriState Indoor Amateur Racing, Farmer Racing LLC DBA TriState MX, 304-972-5162, tristatemx1@ gmail.com, Facebook

AMA NEW YORK

Ice Race Jan. 25. Carlisle. NYS Ice Racing Championship, Metropolitan Sports Committee, 845-554-8717, jslaughter@theranchatcarlisle. com, www.theranchatcarlisle.com

AMA NORTH CAROLINA

Motocross Jan. 24 - 5. Williamston. Red Line Oil Arenacross Series and Pit Bike Moto Championship, TRISTAR MX, www.tristarmx.com

AMA SOUTH CAROLINA

Motocross Jan. 17 - 18. Florence. Red Line Oil Arenacross Series and Pit Bike Moto Championship, TRISTAR MX, www.tristarmx.com

Dual Sport Jan. 18 - 19. Ehrhardt. The Rooster Run at Broxton Bridge, Family Riders MTC, 853-708-0886, bduc515@comcast.net, carolinadualsporters.com

AMA TEXAS

Motocross Jan. 4 - 5. Tyler. A8, Swan MX LLC, 903-882-4215, info@swanmx.com, www. swanmx.com

SUPERCROSS

2025 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship supercrosslive.com

Round 1: Jan 11. Anaheim, Calif. Angel Stadium

Round 2: Jan 18. San Diego, Calif. Snapdragon Stadium

Round 3: Jan 25. Anaheim, Calif. Angel Stadium

Round 4: Feb 1. Glendale, Ariz. State Farm Stadium

Round 5: Feb 8. Tampa, Fla. Raymond James Stadium

Round 6: Feb 15. Detroit, Mich. Ford Field

Round 7: Feb 22. Arlington, Texas. AT&T Stadium

Round 8: March 1. Daytona Beach, Fla. Daytona Int’l Speedway

Round 9: March 8. Indianapolis, Ind. Lucas Oil Stadium

Round 10: March 22. Birmingham, Ala. Protective Stadium

Round 11: March 29. Seattle, Wash. Lumen Field

Round 12: April 5. Foxborough, Mass. Gillette Stadium

Round 13: April 12. Philadelphia, Pa. Lincoln Financial Field

Round 14: April 19. E. Rutherford, N.J. MetLife Stadium

Round 15: April 26. Pittsburgh, Pa. Acrisure Stadium

Round 16: May 3. Denver, Colo. Empower Field at Mile High

Round 17: May 10. Salt Lake City, Utah. RiceEccles Stadium

Supercross Futures Premier Qualifying Schedule supercrosslive.com/supercross-futures

Round 1: Feb. 1. Glendale, Ariz. State Farm Stadium.

Round 2: March 1. Daytona Beach, Fla. Daytona International Speedway.

Round 3: March 22. Birmingham, Ala. Protective Stadium.

Round 4: April 5. Foxborough, Mass. Gillette Stadium.

Supercross Futures AMA National Championship supercrosslive.com/supercross-futures

April 26. Pittsburgh, Pa. Acrisure Stadium.

MOTOCROSS

2025 Pro Motocross Championship Promotocross.com

Round 1: May 24. Pala, Calif. Fox Raceway at Pala

Round 2: May 31. Sacramento, Calif. Prairie City OHV Park

Round 3: Jun 7. Lakewood, Colo. Thunder Valley Motocross Park

Round 4: Jun 14. Mount Morris, Pa. High Point Raceway

Round 5: Jun 28. Southwick, Mass. The Wick 338

Round 6: Jul 5. Buchanan, Mich. RedBud MX

Round 7: Jul 12. Millville, Minn. Spring Creek MX Park

Round 8: Jul 19. Washougal, Wash. Washougal MX Park

Round 9: Aug 9. Crawfordsville, Ind. Ironman Raceway

Round 10: Aug 16. New Berlin, N.Y. Unadilla MX

Round 11: Aug 23. Mechanicsville, Md. Budds Creek Motocross Park

PRO-AM EVENTS

Underground Fall Classic: Dec. 6-8. Kemp, Texas. Underground MX Park. (903) 498-4659. www.ugmxpark.com

Rd 1: Dec. 28-29. Freestone County Raceway LLC. Wortham, Texas. (832) 896-6770. freestonemx.com

A8: Jan. 4-5. Swan MX. Tyler, Texas. (903) 8824215. swanmx.com

A8: Feb. 22-23. Oak Hill Raceway. Haslet, Texas. (940) 577-2225. oakhillmx.com

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

AMA Arenacross Amateur Championship arenacrossusa.com

Round 5: Jan. 3. Loveland, Co. Blue Arena.

Round 6: Jan. 4. Loveland, Co. Blue Arena.

Round 7: Jan. 24-26. Guthrie, Ok. Lazy E Arena.

Round 8: Jan. 31. Reno, Nv. Reno-Sparks Livestock Events Center.

Round 9: Feb. 1. Reno, Nv. Reno-Sparks Livestock Events Center.

Round 10: Feb. 7. Prescott Valley, Ariz. Findlay Toyota Center.

Round 11: Feb. 8. Prescott Valley, Ariz. Findlay Toyota Center.

Round 12: Feb. 28. Daytona Beach, Fla. Ocean Center.

MAJOR EVENTS

Ricky Carmicheal Amateur Supercross

March 2-3. Daytona Beach, Fla. Daytona International Speedway.

TRACK RACING

2025 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship Motoamerica.com

March 6-8: Daytona Beach, Fla., Daytona 200, Daytona International Speedway

Round 1: April 4-6. Birmingham, Ala. Barber Motorsports Park

Round 2: May 2-4. Braselton, Ga., Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta

Round 3: May 30-June 1. Elkhart Lake, Wisc. Road America

Round 4: June 27-29. Shelton, Wash. Ridge Motorsports Park

Round 5: July 11-13. Monterey, Calif. Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca

COMING EVENTS

Be sure to check the event website or call the organizer for the latest information, including postponements or cancellations.

Round 6: Alton, Va. VIRginia International Raceway

Round 7: August 15-17. Lexington, Ohio. MidOhio Sports Car Course

Round 8: Sept. 12-14. Austin, Texas. Circuit of the Americas

Round 9: Sep. 26-28. Millville, N.J. New Jersey Motorsports Park

AMA Ice Race Grand Championship - GP Steelshoefund.org

Jan. 26. Fond du Lac, Wisc.

AMA Ice Race Grand Championship - Oval Steelshoefund.org

Feb. 8. Fond du Lac, Wisc. MAJOR EVENTS

Mission Foods CTR Flat Track Series corytexterpromotions.com/mission-foods-ctrflat-track-series

Jan. 16-18. Callahan, Fla. Callahan Speedway. May 16-17. Salem, Ohio. Western Reserve Motorcycle Club.

June 13-14. Harpster, Ohio. Triangle Motorcycle Club.

July 18-19. Peoria, Illinois. Peoria Speedway. Sept. 19-20. Neeses, S.C. Mid-Carolina Speedway.

OFF-ROAD

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

AMA National Grand Prix Championship Series ngpcseries.com

Round 1: Jan. 17-19. Delano, Calif.

Round 2: Jan. 31-Feb. 2. Blythe, Calif.

Round 3: Feb. 28-Mar. 2. Glen Helen, Calif.

Round 4: April 4-6. 29 Palms, Calif.

Round 5: April 25-27. Pala, Calif.

Round 6: TBD. Marysville, Calif.

Round 7: Oct. 3-5. Ridgecrest, Calif.

Round 8: Oct. 24-25. TBD.

Round 9: Nov. 14-15. Lake Havasu, Ariz.

FEATURED EVENTS

AMA Enduro Championship Series floridatrailriders.org

Feb. 23. Richloam, Fla. Central Florida Trail Riders. (407) 929-2114.

Mar. 13. Ormond Beach. Fla. Daytona Dirt Riders. (386) 615-0722.

Jun. 8. Greensboro, Ga. Cherokee Motorcycle Club. (678)572-7260.

STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

AMA Florida State Hare Scrambles Championship Series floridatrailriders.org

Jan. 4-5. Brooksville, Fla. Suncoast Trail Blazers. (727) 635-6228.

Jan. 18-19. Okeechobee, Fla. Palm Beach Track & Trail. (954) 931-5709.

Feb.1-2. Indiantown, Fla. Treasure Coast Trail Riders. (772) 370-4434.

Feb.15-16. Ormond Beach, Fla. Daytona Dirt Riders. (386) 615-0722.

Mar. 15-16. Dade City, Fla. Nature Coast Trail Blazers. (813) 731-0619.

Apr. 12-13. Punta Gorda, Fla. Old School Dirt Riders. (941) 650-1473.

May 11-12. Lake Butler, Fla. Big Scrub Trail Riders. (386) 679-8201.

Round 11: Nov. 9-10. Laughlin, Nev.

trade-marks and service marks of American Motorcyclist Association, Inc. (AMA). Usage of any AMA trademark or registered trademark without our permission is prohibited. Please contact jholter@ama-cycle.org for more information or assistance, (800) AMA-JOIN®

Dragbike® • AMA Endurocross® • AMA Motorhead® • AMA Pro Grand National Championship® • AMA Pro Racing® • AMA Race Center™ • AMA Racer® • AMA Racing® • AMA Racing Land Speed Grand Championships® • AMA Supermoto® • AMA Supercross® AMA SX Lites®

AMA U.S. ISDE Team™

AMA U.S. Jr. Motocross Team™ • AMA U.S. Motocross Team™ • Amateur National Motocross Championships®

American Motorcyclist Association® Arenacross® • ATV Hare Scrambles National Championship Series®

ATV Motocross National Championship Series® • Flat Track Grand Championships™ • Grand National Enduro Championship® • Gypsy Tour® • Hare & Hound National Championship Series® • Hare Scrambles Championship Series® • Hare Scrambles National Championship Series® • Kids Just Want To Ride® • Motorcycle Hall of Fame® • Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum® • Motorcyclist of the Year® • Motostars® • National Adventure Riding Series® • National Dual-Sport Series®

• National Enduro Championship Series® • Protect Your Right to Ride® • Protecting Your Right to Ride® • Ride Straight® • Rights. Riding. Racing.® • Road Race Grand Championships® • Vintage Grand Championships® • Vintage Motorcycle Days® • Vote Like A Motorcyclist®

Tips,Tweaks, Fixes and Facts: The two-wheeled ownership experience, explained

MOTION PRO BEADPRO

p/n 08-0519 - $76.99

f you’ve ever used your kickstand to break a bead on the side of the road or trail, then the BeadPro is the tire lever set for you. Designed by Motion Pro to simplify the process of breaking a bead without adding significant weight to your tool pack, the 08-0519 BeadPro features lightweight aluminum construction but is strong enough to deal with the toughest tires. Motion Pro even makes a larger, forged steel set (08-0536 — $49.95) for the garage. So spend less time fighting tires and more time riding.

• Breaks the bead on most street and offroad motorcycle tires

• Integrated tire spoons for tire removal and installation

• Lightweight and compact size is perfect for tool packs (just 9 ounces for set of two)

THE TOOL MASTERS

A section of cool and uniquely functional garage gadgets from specialized toolmaker Motion Pro

BY AMA STAFF

otion Pro has made a name for itself in the motorcycling world over the last 40 years designing, building and selling a wide range of high-end tools and cables, so it’s no surprise to learn that MP owner and AMA member Chris Carter has a long and involved history as an enthusiast, top-tier off-road racer and businessman.

Carter began riding and racing in the 1960s, graduated to Team USA ISDT competition in the 1970s, and launched his own tool and cable business in 1984, his product line beneﬁtting from his experiences both at home and abroad in the trenches of competition. That direct connection to the needs of enthusiast, mechanic and racer has never wavered, and today’s Motion Pro catalog is jam-packed with thoroughly useable special tools and cables.

Recently, we asked Carter and crew to pick three key pieces from their catalog they felt are especially helpful to the do-it-yourself garage mechanic…and here’s what they came up with.

• Length of each lever is 249 mm (9.8 inches)

• Ergonomic handles with crossguard to keep hand from riding forward

• Forged 7075-T6 aluminum construction for strength and durability

• Black anodized finish

• Patented design

MOTION PRO PRO FILL AIR CHUCK

MOTION PRO PROFUNNEL

p/n 08-0747 — $44.99

The ProFunnel was imagined by a Motion Pro engineer who was having to use different funnels for each of his bikes. He figured there must be a better way to deal with machines that are difficult to fill with oil or coolant, and from that frustration the first prototype ProFunnel was born. During testing, the MP folks decided to go all out and build “the perfect funnel,” one designed specifically for the powersports enthusiast. The ProFunnel features some really innovative thinking, including:

• Integrated shutoff valve that allows a precise amount of liquid to be dispensed

• Graduation marks for cubic centimeters, fluid ounces and premix ratio

• 800cc/26-ounce capacity

• Easy-to-understand premix-ratio graduations for 32-to-1, 40-to-1, 50-to-1, and 60-to-1, for one to three gallons

• Adjustable ball-pivot spout that allows easy, spill-free filling

• Top cover that keeps dust and dirt out when not in use

• Magnet that allows funnel to be stored conveniently on the side of your toolbox

• Large molded handle for secure grip

• Reduced neck that keeps funnel from dripping residue when funnel is laid on its side

• Made from ultra-durable HDPE plastic

• Tip size can be trimmed to fit your application

f you’ve ever checked tire pressure or tried to add air to a bike with big rotors, you’ve undoubtedly run into the no-room-to-manuever frustration we’ve all felt at times. And even with an angled air chuck, you’ve still got to rotate the wheel to gain access. Motion Pro’s patented Pro Fill Air Chuck answers all that, with its unique swiveling head allowing you to reach those tricky valve stems. Whether you’re attaching it to your air compressor or your favorite pressure gauge (we really like Motion Pro tire gauges, by the way), the Pro Fill Air Chuck is a must-have. Features include:

• New head design that provides easier angle adjustment and keeps head oriented in its adjusted position during use

• New O-ring seal system and thrust washer that provides reliable airtight seal

• Stainless steel banjo pivot bolt that provides durable performance

• Pivoting angled head design that allows access to difficult to reach tire valves

• Unique design that provides added hand clearance between filler and hot brake rotors

• Billet aluminum construction for light weight and precise fit and function

• Quarter-inch female inlet allows use of common air hose couplings and fittings

• Lifetime limited warranty

GARAGE

URBAN EVASION

BY JAMES HOLTER

America’s remote rural playgrounds are booming. Just a short drive from AMA headquarters, our own Hocking Hills region is a prime example. Weekend explorers storm the hills year-round, many for a shot at social media selﬁe fame against backdrops of freshly fallen snow, cascading streams or, more recently, autumn’s spectacular golden tones.

350, gives this mid-sizer some oldschool low-end grunt.

Exploring the Wayne National Forest’s off-road trail system and — thanks to the RS’s factory-legal license plate — the area’s web of township and county roads, I appreciated the off-idle pull and ability to lug. Power faded a bit up top, but you’d expect that given the bike’s tuning trade-offs.

headed southeast on a series of threedigit township roads that were devoid of trafﬁc and out of reach (or interest) of the metropolitan set. In an hour, or maybe it was three, I ended up in Glouster, Ohio. Lunch at Bonnie’s Home Cooking, our meal stop on the AMA Hall of Fame Heritage Adventure Ride a couple years ago, couldn’t have been more rib-sticking. Mashed potatoes. Salisbury steak. Beef noodles. Rolls. A typical plate there isn’t going to gin up too many Instagram likes, but it’s the perfect solution to the problem of a 3 p.m. lunch.

Refueled, the Beta and I headed back toward the National Forest, this time to the Long Ridge trailhead via Goose Run Road. Long Ridge is the smaller of two systems in this region; it’s more rugged, just the thing for burning off late-lunch calories before trekking toward home.

This Beta currently wears a few aftermarket parts — a Seat Concepts tall seat, Enduro Engineering handguards, smaller rearview mirror, and roll chart — but it’s generally showroom fresh. An O-ring chain, an easy-access air ﬁlter and a Voyager GPS navigation unit come stock. There are two fuel maps, one for wet conditions and one for dry, and switchable traction control.

The 48mm Sachs open-cartridge fork is reasonably plush and holds up pretty well when challenged. Handling is suited for anything these trails can offer, and the contemporary ergonomics are generous and comfortable.

Sun Tzu suggested that in the face of a superior enemy, evade. And few means of evasion are more effective than a factory-equipped off-road racer ﬁtted with just enough EPA-spec parts and blinking lights that allow it to be legally ridden from road to trail and back again.

On a perfect fall day this past November, I plotted my escape on the long-stroke model in Beta’s RS lineup — the Italian manufacturer’s 390 RS. The 430 and 500 models might have bigger bores, but the 390’s 63.4mm rod, pushing and pulling the same 88mm piston as the

The hard-packed clay trails were wet from recent rains and consequently slick — and slicker yet with a fresh layer of leaves. But that punchy-off-the-bottom-but-nottoo-strong top end made it easy to reclaim — carefully — lost momentum ascending the switchbacks. There were times I might’ve leaned more toward the 350’s revvier delivery or the top-end pull of the 500, but the 390’s overall power proﬁle is fun and versatile.

I followed Wayne’s Monday Creek system to New Straitsville, Ohio, and after gassing up and feeling quite at home in the off-road friendly town, I

Beta’s mid-size dual sport is capable and functional, making it forgettable in a good way. When a bike just works, you can enjoy the ride, whether drifting across a natural carpet of inﬁnite hues or riding along an open ridge between valleys of ﬁre.

I think it was Wayne Gretzky who said, “You miss 100 percent of the selﬁes you don’t take.” I’m OK with that. The fall colors pop much brighter while manipulating the throttle of a 390 RS rather than tapping at a cell phone’s shutter button. Social media fame will have to wait.

James Holter is the AMA’s Chief Operating Ofﬁcer and an AMA Charter Life Member

THE WORLD’S WARMEST BASELAYER ®

Japanese baselayer brand Zero t has created a range of game-changing products to keep motorcyclists toasty warm and ensure that plummeting temperatures won’t stop you getting out on the road or track this winter. Designed by a passionate team of innovators and baselayer specialists, the Zero t Heatrub Ultimate is the most technically advanced baselayer on the

WHAT MAKES IT SO GOOD?

1. It’s ve times warmer than a standard baselayer

That is quite a claim, but it’s a fact. Independently tested at the iconic Boken Institute in Osaka, the Heatrub Ultimate baselayer recorded a Heat Retention Rating of 0.78; a standard baselayer would have a rating of between 0.1 to 0.14. And for reference, a jumper would typically have a rating of 0.3. The Ultimate performs best in a temperature range of 14° thru 50° Fahrenheit – so even in the coldest of conditions and most biting of winds, you’ll still be nicely heated.

and completely di erent to any other product you’ve ever worn before.

2. Instant warmth the moment you put it on

A standard baselayer traps body heat between your skin and the material, so it takes a little time before you feel the bene ts. With Zero t, ve separate fabrics, along with a patented knitting process, create instant warmth as soon as you pull it on. And, because of the construction of the garment, this heat is retained for the duration of your time on the bike, making it an essential piece of kit this winter.

3. Heating from top to toe this winter

fewer

Innovative ‘Heat Threads’ positioned on the inside of the garment gently rub against your skin and are activated upon even the smallest of movements, creating positive warmth across your body. We also make Heatrub Ultimate Leggings, Heatrub Ultimate Socks (Standard and Long options) and a Heatrub Ultimate Neckwarmer that are made from the same material and work in exactly the same way, so you can have top-to-toe warmth with Zero t.

4. Ride free with fewer layers and greater warmth

The Ultimate is the ideal product for bikers who hate traditional tight baselayers. Over the years, you may well have ‘layered up’ in order to combat the e ects of cold weather. This is where we are changing the game. The Heatrub Ultimate is so good at keeping you warm, you won’t need multiple additional layers. And the unique fabric mix means it doesn’t need to rely on compression to keep you warm, making it super comfortable too.

warmth the moment you put it on

Hill, Zero t Ambassador and critically acclaimed author and adventurer