American Motorcyclist July 2023

8 PERSPECTIVES

Editorial Director Mitch Boehm on some of his memorable Elsinore experiences

10 FROM THE PRESIDENT AND CEO

Rob Dingman talks changes in the AMA’s Government Relations strategy

12 BACKFIRES

Membership feedback on recent issues

14 BACK IN THE DAY

Where the photos are blurry but the memories are clear!

16 VMD PREVIEW 2023

The best summer event is right around the corner!

26 COVER STORY:

HONDA’S ELSINORE 250 TURNS 50!

Very likely the most important motocross bike ever

40 INTERCEPTOR!

The sportbike that broke the mold celebrates 40-year anniversary

42 MR. DO-EVERYTHING: STEVE WISE

Our VMD Grand Marshal did it all, from MX to roadracing to flat track and more

50 SCHOOLIN’ WITH STANTON

Touring and learning ADV-style in the Michigan woods with Jeff Stanton Adventures

72 AMA GARAGE

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

74 LAST PAGE

Fun snaps from our Take A Kid Dirt Biking promotion

ON THE COVER:

Motocross bikes can be categorized two ways: Before the Elsinore, and after. Light, fast, reliable and cheap, the bike Mr. Honda said would never be built changed the sport of motocross overnight back in 1973. The Elsinore’s 50th birthday party begins on page 40. Photo by Kevin Wing.

JU LY 2023 V O LUM E 77, N U MBER 7 N

EDITORIAL

Mitch Boehm Editorial Director

Todd Westover Chief Creative Consultant

Keaton Maisano Managing Editor

Kerry Hardin Senior Graphic Designer

John Burns 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 Associate Sales Representative (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.

Copyright© American Motorcyclist Association, 2021.

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

Michael Jolly Racing Manager

Jeff Canfield Racing Manager

Alexandria Reasoner Program Manager

Connie Fleming Supercross/FIM Coordinator

Olivia Davis Sanctioned Activity Specialist

Jensen Burkeen Sanctioned Activity Coordinator

Damian George Sanctioned Activity Coordinator

MUSEUM

Paula Schremser Program Specialist

Ricky Shultz Museum Clerk

Kobe Stone Museum Clerk

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

Nick Haris Government Relations Director/ Western States Rep.

Erin Reda Grassroots 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.

Jerry Abboud Executive Committee Member

Thornton, Colo.

Mark Hosbach Executive Committee Member

Franklin, Tenn.

Hub Brennan

E. Greenwich, R.I.

Christopher Cox

Florence, S.C.

Steve Drewlo

Bismarck, N.D.

Clif Koontz

Moab, Utah

Shae Petersen

Myrtle Beach, S.C.

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

Joe Bromley Program Development Manager

Lauren Kropf Marketing and Communications Specialist

Bob Davis Program Volunteer Specialist

MEMBER SERVICES

Amanda Donchess Director of Membership

Lynette Cox Membership Manager

Tiffany Pound Member Services Manager

Pam Albright Member Fulfillment Coordinator

Stephanie McCormick Member Services Representative

Vickie Park Member Services Representative

Charles Moore Member Services Representative

Kelly Anders Member Services Representative

Sarah Lockhart Member Services Representative

Taylor Fluck Member Services Representative

Sieara Thomas Member Services Representative

John Bricker Mailroom Manager

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT

Shaun Holloway Director of Information Technology

Eliza Mertz Digital Content Manager

Jarrod Gilliland Application Developer

Ed Madden Systems and Database Analyst

Rob Baughman Support Technician

PERSPECTIVES THE ELSINORE EFFECT

BY MITCH BOEHM

Iwas 10-going-on-11 and riding a red Honda SL70 when the Elsinore 250 hit the garages and racetracks of America in early 1973, so it wasn’t an in-the-flesh part of my early two-wheeled life.

But when my dad and I visited a local motocross in late 1973 to see what the fuss I’d been reading about in Dirt Bike and Popular Cycling magazines was all about, I came face to face with sights and sounds I will literally never forget.

We were standing a ways behind the starting area watching the bikes ripping around the track…the sounds of all those 2-strokes, the dirt flying, the colorful jerseys and leathers, the whole scene all so On Any Sunday-like. I could barely speak.

Then it happened. A shiny 250 Elsinore rolled up 30 or 40 feet away and got into position to do a practice start. He got settled on the freshly watered Ohio dirt, got the revs up, shoved his elbows out to each side, and launched toward the first turn — “Brrrraaaaaaaa!” — where he joined the other riders during the practice session.

The sounds that thing made and the massive chunks of dirt that were catapulted 20 feet into the air were way more than mesmerizing, and I remember thinking it was the baddest-ass thing I’d ever seen. Looking back, it’s absolutely the experience that turned me from rider into racer the following year. (Thanks for that, Soichiro!)

Elsinores didn’t figure into my moto experiences again until 2007, when moto-cinematographer Todd Huffman and AHRMA’s Alex Moroz hosted a handful of motocross legends at our AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days

event at Mid-Ohio. I was roadracing a GPz550 with the Team MOMBA folks that weekend, but Huffman and Moroz had arranged for me to be part of that Legends race, and since my good buddy Billy Orazio had offered to let me ride his 250 Elsinore, I grabbed my moto gear and golf-carted over to the motocross track 15 minutes before the first moto to have a look-see.

I hadn’t been over there all weekend and didn’t have the slightest idea where the track went, but I jumped on that Elsinore and lined up next to all the guys I’d been reading about since those days sneaking copies of Motocross Action and Modern Cycle into class: Brad Lackey, Marty Smith, Jimmy Weinert, Gary Jones, Gary Semics, Ricky Johnson, Tommy Croft and more. Talk about surreal!

I ended up between HOFers David Aldana and Donnie Hansen, got a crappy start (probably because I was so freaked out by the whole thing), and had to figure out where the track went by following others. But it was a blast, even if I did end up toward the back of the pack dicing with then-73year-old Jeff Smith, who was moving along at a very brisk clip, thank you.

The old General Patton/Vince Lombardi quote “Fatigue makes cowards of us all” was never more apropos than at VMD 2007, where Bill Orazio’s Elsie (that’s Bill holding the bike) reminded me how tough motocross is — especially with just five inches of suspension travel.

He wasn’t a two-time 500cc World Champ and ISDT gold medalist for nothing.

In fact, chasing legendary Mr. Smith wore me out. Totally. I handed the bike to Orazio at the end of the moto and could barely walk. I don’t think I have ever been more exhausted after riding a motorcycle in my life, but I wouldn’t have traded the experience for anything.

AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this year (July 21-23) is going to rock, as it always does. And we’ve got a lot planned, not least of which are anniversary celebrations of Honda’s Elsinore (50 years) and Interceptor (40 years) in the AMA’s infield HOF area.

I don’t think I’ll be racing a CR250 at VMD this year, but my son Alex just might. And since he’s 26 he might not get pummeled to near-death by the thing, as I did back in 2007. The torch is passed, and it’ll be interesting to watch.

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

EASY ON THE EYES

AND EASY TO OWN

Introducing the QJ SRV300

Never before has there been a V-Twin with the looks and the sound of the SRV300. Throw a leg over one and you’ll be cruising a mere 27.5” off the ground in a very relaxed riding position. One ride and you’ll want one. And with its low MSRP, the SRV300 is easy to own.

QJ motorcycles are sold exclusively through SSR Motorsports dealers, find a dealer near you: ssrmotorsports.com

The mission of the AMA is to promote the motorcycle lifestyle and protect the future of motorcycling. Everything we do as an organization is a means to those ends.

The AMA has had full-time government relations staff since at least the 1970s, and opened a Washington, D.C., office with one staff member in the early 1990s to better represent the interests of motorcyclists in our nation’s capital. In fact, I started at the AMA in the mid 1990s as the association’s second Washington representative.

One of the five strategic goals identified in the AMA’s strategic plan is to continue to strengthen the efficacy of our government relations and advocacy functions. To that end, several years ago we moved the majority of our government relations staff positions to Washington, D.C. This was done methodically and over time. When government relations positions were vacated in the Ohio office, they were filled in the DC office. It took several years doing it this way, but ultimately the entire department — except for the western states representative position — was relocated to the AMA’s Washington, D.C., office.

The rationale for this move was to have access to a deeper talent pool of government relations professionals. The results were mixed, as we did find experienced professionals, but still ended up hiring a number of our government relations staff from other parts of the country and relocating them to Washington, D.C.

In our continuing effort to strengthen the efficacy of our government relations and advocacy functions, we’re making improvements to our Government Relations Department. Long-time Government Relations Department staff member Nick Haris has been appointed Government Relations Director.

From the President and CEO Regional Representation... Reimagined

BY ROB DINGMAN

Nick is an avid motorcyclist and has served as the AMA’s western states representative since 2001, so he brings a wealth of AMA-specific advocacy experience to his new role. He also serves on a commission of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme that deals with international public affairs issues. He is a member of the California Motorcycle Safety Program advisory

will also be re-tasked with developing a network of State Chapters. Previous efforts to create such a network stalled, and many of the volunteers who were identified as state leaders were left at loose ends without adequate communication and support. The state chapter network is critical to our state-level efforts, and is intended to bring the AMA closer to its members by organizing at the state level

committee and sits on the California Outdoor Recreation Foundation board of directors.

In addition, we will once again be hiring an experienced Washington representative to head up our federal presence in Washington, D.C., as well as regional representatives that will work with AMA members to advocate for the interests of motorcyclists at the state and local levels of government. These regional representatives will be located in their respective regions so they are closer to the AMA members they represent and the state and local governments with which they will work.

Regionalization of the department will allow our team to be more efficient and effective, and help them better establish and cultivate relationships with government officials and AMA members in their regions. This will also make them more agile and responsive when taking action on behalf of our membership.

Additionally, the department will include a grassroots specialist to coordinate and support the advocacy activities of local members, clubs and affiliates across the country.

The government relations department

to facilitate volunteer advocacy work, as well as provide casual recreational riding opportunities.

Having regional government relations staff as well as volunteer state leaders who are physically closer to our membership will assist the AMA in furthering other strategic goals outlined in the organization’s strategic plan: to grow a sustainable membership base by better connecting with member needs; and to place the emphasis of the AMA’s infrastructure on supporting transportation and recreational riding.

Motorcyclist advocacy has long been the cornerstone of AMA member benefits. These improvements to the Government Relations Department represent an overdue evolution of our primary advocacy resources.

You, our members, are critical to the success of the AMA’s advocacy efforts. Visit AmericanMotorcyclist.com/actioncenter to sign up for AMA Action Alerts and discover how you can get involved.

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

Regionalization of the department will allow our team to be more efficient and effective, and help them better establish and cultivate relationships with government officials and AMA members in their regions.

A BLESSING...for those who RIDE HARD and LIVE FREE

May the sun rise in front of me, May the rain fall behind me, And the wind follow beside me, May the angels guard my travels, For they know the road ahead of me.

Keep me safe through Swirling turns and rolling hills, Let the eagle guide me To the mountaintops.

Let the moonlight guide me Through the night. Let the air of spring Breathe life into my soul, To journey to another adventure Out on the open road.

Anyone with a passion for motorcycles will tell you that no matter what the road throws at you, they’re always ready for the next adventure. Now, we’ve created a new jewelry exclusive for those with the ride hard, live free spirit—the “Biker’s Blessing” Dog Tag Pendant. Let it be your co-pilot through the curves and bumps ahead.

A MAGNIFICENT ACHIEVEMENT M IN CRAFTSMANSHIP AND DESIGN

Crafted of tough-as-a-biker stainless steel, our custom designed dog tag-style pendant features a sculpted bike and cross against a hand-enameled jet black background on the front. Etched on the back is the biker’s motto “RIDE HARD LIVE FREE” with a cross, while etched around the sides are words from the powerful “Biker’s Blessing” poem. Raised corner “rivets” and a bail in the shape of a motorcycle tire which holds a 24” stainless steel “bike chain” complete the look. Each pendant comes in a velvet jewelry pouch and gift box, along with a specially prepared “Biker’s Blessing” card.

AN EXCEPTIONAL VALUE... A YOUR SATISFACTION GUARANTEED Y

A remarkable value at $99.99*, you can pay for your pendant in 3 easy installments of $33.33 each. To reserve yours, complete with a Certi cate of Authenticity and our 120-day guarantee, send no money now; just mail the Priority Reservation today!

©2023 The Bradford Exchange 01-16036-001-BI2

from the “Biker’s Blessing” are etched around the sides

MORE MOTHER ROAD

Everyone talks about Route 66 being the Mother Road, while others say it’s the Main Street of America. But there really was a Main Street of America before that…the Lincoln Highway. The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Formally dedicated Oct. 31, 1913, the Lincoln Highway runs coast-to-coast from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco. It predated Route 66 by more than a decade and was the first to be called the Main Street of

America. The main difference is that 66 was built by the U.S. Government. The Lincoln Highway was built by the people, towns, and businesses along the way, as Congress was not yet ready to commit funding to such projects. Some of the contributors were Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas A. Edison and Woodrow Wilson, all looking for a better way to travel in those new automobiles. I have only ridden part of New Jersey and Ohio, and all of Pennsylvania, and take it whenever I have time on a Westbound trip. Many of the attractions are gone, but some remain, including Independence Mall at Independence National Historical

Park, Dutch Wonderland, Mister Ed’s Elephant Museum and Candy Emporium, the Gettysburg Battlefield, Haine’s Shoe House, Bedford Giant Coffee Pot, Dunkle’s Gulf Service Station (art deco styling), Flight 93 Memorial National Park, and others.

Dennis Lepine AMA Life Member Trooper, Pa.

You folks keep churning out the good stuff! The Route 66/CB750 article took me back a couple years where I’d pulled off 66 between Ash Fork and Seligman on my current (and much upgraded) �71 CB750 for a cigar break.

great story, and one that brought back a world of memories for me, as I’m a child of old Route 66. Born in Santa Monica, raised in Victorville (K thru HS), and then hired on with the telephone company at 18 for a five-year stint in Barstow.

Started out on a Lambretta scooter (just like Malcolm) in Victorville, then graduated to a �59 Triumph TR6 in Barstow. We pretty much had to ride at night during the summers as it was so hot the oil pressure indicator would hardly register.

In about 1948 (I was about 6) we

had a neighbor who was the only state (CHP) law-enforcement officer from the Cajon Pass to Baker on old 66. He had a big old black and white Harley to patrol with, summer and winter. His name was “Buzz” Banks; his daughter Janet and I went all through school together and are friends to this day. When Buzz had to work nights and sleep during the day, that Harley sat out in the driveway, unprotected and unattended. There wasn’t a kid in the neighborhood that would put a fingerprint on that beautiful machine because it was well known that “Buzz had a gun and he’d kill ya!” (Respect at an early age.) Buzz wrote a book (short stories) about his adventures called Policing The Old Mojave Desert. Great read! I’ll be thinking about you guys in Europe this August, wishing I was with you and looking forward to the story! Ride safely!

Dennis Bible

We’ll miss you, too, Dennis, and thanks for sharing! – Ed.

Next to me were a series of Burma Shave signs, while the empty Mother Road stretched before me over the rolling countryside. It wasn’t difficult to visualize the ghosts of all those Okies headed west towards the promised land. Keep up the good work.

Eric Snoeberger

Living in Manhattan in 1970, I wanted to buy a motorcycle. My then-girlfriend-now-wife offered to cash in her life insurance policy so I could buy a new Candy Gold CB750, which was our only transportation for five years. We had heard about the Ann Arbor Blues Festival and decided we’d attend. On our small map it didn’t look that far. Turned out it was 650 miles one way! An adventurous ride out (rode on the roadbed of what was to be I-80, passed a State Trooper in Ohio at about 90 mph...) and back was our reward. We got back to NYC short five cents to cross the George Washington Bridge (we got waved

through). I wish Honda had said more about that crankcase drive-chain oiler, though; when we got home, the oil tank was almost empty!

Norman Gaines Vice President, AMA District 34 Hartsdale, N.Y.

I just read “The Mother Road Revisited” article. I liked it, sounds like fun. I just wanted to point out that when you’re in the 29 Palms area, you are waving at Marines, not soldiers. Soldiers are in the Army.

Scott Houston

MILLION-MILE MAN

I just finished reading about Donald Deuel in your March, 2023 issue reaching a million miles on his motorcycles, and it got me thinking… I’m 73 and have been riding since 1979, so I checked all the records I’ve saved. I’ve had four motorcycles: a 1979 Honda CX500 (287,872 miles); a 1990 Honda PC800 Pacific

Coast (198,981 miles); a 1999 Honda GL1500SE (296,653 miles); and now a 2010 GL1800 (136,000 miles so far), all of them bought new. My total milage is 919,506 miles and counting. Until I sat down and wrote this out I had no idea how far I’ve traveled on two wheels. And now that I’m retired I seem to have less stamina to ride like I used to, but I’m hoping to reach a million miles before I have to give up riding due to age or health. I’m sure there are many other motorcyclists who have very high mileage and just don’t know about, or care. After all, it’s the ride that counts.

Steve DeBaun Life Member

ABSOLUTELY NOT!

I finally know why we need driverless cars. My former boss suffered a detached retina. He got a self-driving car so he can still drive. So, there you have it — self driving cars are for blind people. Don’t you feel better about that?

Nancy Hamilton

BACK IN THE DAY

Where the photos are blurry but the memories are clear!

6My first bike was a late-1960s Honda 90 my dad bought from a neighbor. That bike was too tall, and the seat was a burlap sack held in place over the foam with twine, but I learned to ride it. That’s my dad on a 1971 Honda CB450 next to me.

The neighbor kids were all riding Honda Mini Trails, so we sold the Honda 90 and, in the second photo, that’s me sitting cool for the photo with my hands off the handlebars. We could ride from our dead-end street to wonderful trails and hills in Western Tennessee during the early to late 1970s prior to expanding neighborhood developments. Thanks for sharing the memories!

Chuck “Old School” Matthews

My little brother and I posing in our front yard with our newly acquired rides around 1973. At 13, the Hodaka I’m sitting on became my transition bike when I graduated from recreational riding with the family in the desert to racing at the local SoCal MX tracks of the day — Saddleback, Escape Country, Indian Wells, etc.

I raced one season on my badged Super Rat (I’m pretty sure it was an “Ace” that my Dad remodeled before gifting to me), and then I bought (along with funds from my Uncle’s Orange County Machine Shop as a sponsor) a CR125M Elsinore in February of 1974, which made for a great year of racing on Honda’s legendary and awesome new 125.

Looking back, I feel lucky and privileged to have been a part of Honda’s entry into two-stroke MX racing in that legendary era. I’ve been racing VMX for the last 10 years in SoCal on a 1973 CR250 Elsinore (with the additional 75 pounds I carry over my teenage racing physique), and at each race I feel like that mid-’70s teenager that first got hooked on motocross!

Jim Barker

My first love was a 1981 Honda XL185 I bought with money earned cooking at Perkins Pancake House. Many great memories riding the trails at Great Bear with friends and commuting to school and work through two South Dakota winters. Seven bikes later and I’m still riding a 2009 BMW R1200GS today.

Clark Burns

Aren’t those neighborhood trail moments from the �60s and �70s epic, Chuck? Thanks for the mental nudge! – Ed.

In Michigan, spring can’t come soon enough sometimes. This was my first experience combining two wheels with a motor and being on a farm…it opened up a whole new world of adventure! Around 1975 I became the happy new owner of a 65cc Benelli Dynamo Trail. In a strange twist we purchased the bike from a dealership that was owned by the person that would become my future brother-in-law. I spent endless hours exploring, and when my father could find time he would join me on his 305 Scrambler. I remember thinking at the time that that thing was such a powerful beast!

As the years went by and the bikes I owned became more powerful, I’m sure at some point they surpassed the Scrambler…but sitting on the tank riding wheelies across the backyard with my dad at the controls, that bike holds a spot dear to my heart.

Kurt Cooper

Apparently, Dad knew to keep his right foot on the rear brake pedal, just in case! – Ed.

While I’ve always enjoyed your magazine, I’ve really become a big fan of the Back In The Day section. My first bike was a Honda 50 Sport I purchased from my cousin in 1968 when I was 17. He was going off to college and couldn’t take the bike. When I rode it home to show my parents, my mother said, “NO WAY are you buying that motorcycle,” and “just wait till your father gets home!” When he came home from work he asked me just two questions: First, did I have the money? And second, did that mean I wouldn’t be bugging him to borrow his car? I answered both with a “yes” and the rest is history. Eleven bikes later, riding is still my best form of therapy.

The attached picture is me getting ready to head off on my solo 2,000-plusmile ride from Louisville, Ky., to Thunder Bay, Canada. Riding along the entire length of Lake Superior in Canada was amazing. My 1975 CB550 (one of the best bikes I’ve ever had) was flawless, and it was one hell of a ride. I also rode that bike to the Outer Banks and then down the coast to Daytona. I’m still actively riding at 71 and rode my 100th Anniversary Softail to Sturgis this past summer.

Thanks, and keep up the good work.

My oldest brother taught me how ride at age 15 in 1970 on his Honda 350. He had customized it with Z-bars, fork extensions and his own paint job. My high school had a fund raiser/car and motorcycle show, and my brother let me take his bike. We placed second after a stock Sportster.

John Flores

Greetings from Oregon! This photo is of our two boys on my Yamaha 650 Special. As I write this, my oldest son is celebrating his 41st birthday, so that gives you a feel for how long ago the photo was taken. Both boys and myself are still actively riding. Mom would be, but she just sold her Vespa!

Dale S. Smith

C’mon, Mrs. Smith, you gotta replace that Vespa with something! – Ed.

Garry Armstrong

up to speed

News, notes, insight and more from the motorcycling universe

VMD Preview

The low hum of thousands of motorcycles is growing louder, as 2023 Permco AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days presented by Royal Enfield approaches in July

Running for more than three decades, AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days is ground zero for motorcycle enthusiasts come late July. The preeminent and longest-running vintage motorcycle event in the country, AMA VMD (July 21-23) packs a serious punch and offers something for everyone. All kinds of

vintage racing, an expansive swap meet, AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame attractions and displays, bike shows, demo rides, the Wall of Death, lots of camping, and so much more await you and 40,000 others looking to have an epic, two-wheeled time. What could be better than all that? Well, the proceeds raised at AMA VMD support the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame and Museum!

DATES & LOCATION

AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days is held at the beautiful Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, about an hour north of AMA headquarters and the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum. This year’s event runs July 21-23. Bring your rain gear to scare off any bad weather! Visit VintageMotorcycleDays. com for info and tickets.

GRAND MARSHAL

Grand Marshal for 2023 AMA VMD is none other than AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer and multi-talented road, motocross, AMA Supercross and Superbikers racer Steve Wise. Still the only Nationalclass motocross winner to ever win an AMA Superbike National (Mid-Ohio in 1983), Wise returns to the place he made history at 40

years ago.

“I’m honored to be Grand Marshal at this year’s AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days event,” Wise said, “especially at the track on which I won my first AMA Superbike event. I remember that weekend in 1983 like it was yesterday, and being able to go back there and enjoy such a wide range of racing, historical and

just-plain-fun motorcycle stuff that happens at VMD will be memorable, I’m sure. I’m excited about the opportunity!”

As Grand Marshal, Wise will sign autographs, speak to enthusiasts from the AMA Soundstage, participate in a Lap For History and more!

A few 50th- and 40thanniversary Honda motorcycles will make the trip to AMA VMD to

be featured at the event. Two of the bikes figured prominently in Wise’s stellar career — Honda’s CR250 Elsinore (introduced in 1973) and the VF750F Interceptor (introduced in 1983).

AMA Superbike collector Brian O’Shea is scheduled to bring a few of his raceand championship-winning Honda Interceptors to Mid-Ohio, including AMA

up to speed

Motorcycle Hall of Famer Freddie Spencer’s Daytona-winner from 1985 and one of Hall of Famer Fred Merkel’s factory AMA Superbikes. And to cap off the display, you might even see Grand Marshal Wise’s actual Superbikers-winning factory RC400 Honda on display.

For more on Wise flip to page 42.

GATES OPEN

The gates will open Thursday, July 20, at 7 a.m. for Swap Meet vendor load-in.

Friday through Sunday, gates will open for general admission at 7 a.m., so make sure to set an early alarm so you don’t miss out on any of the fun!

AMA HALL OF FAME INFIELD ACTIVITIES

The infield zone contains plenty to do throughout your visit at AMA VMD, so make sure to carve out some time to visit the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame tent — where silent auctions are held, vintage bikes are displayed, bike shows are held, and other fun things happen.

The infield will also be the place to buy/renew your AMA membership

and to snag some AMA Gear. You’ll also find the AMA Soundstage, the site where a variety of speakers — including Grand Marshal Steve Wise — will talk to eventgoers.

Add in food trucks, the Wall of Death, the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Bike Show and much more, and you are sure to have a whale of a time walking (or riding) around the infield.

DEMO RIDES

Need a breather from all the vintage fun and want to see and ride machines that utilize all of today’s technology? Well, the upper paddock lot hosts various manufacturers offering demo rides all weekend long.

SWAP MEET

The common phrase “you have to see it to believe it” is certainly true of the swap meet at AMA VMD. Spanning nearly 80 acres and hosting over 800 vendor spaces, the swap meet is the largest in the country. Make sure to see it for yourself; you won’t regret it!

RACING

Amidst all the organized chaos, eventgoers can hear the sounds of vintage racing permeating throughout Mid-Ohio for the duration of AMA VMD. The AMA Vintage Grand Championship and the AMA Vet/Senior Vintage Grand

Championship awards will once again be up for grabs, so make sure to stick around Sunday to see who wins. The winners are determined by the cumulative points earned across three vintage off-road events: hare scrambles, trials and motocross.

Along with the motocross, hare scrambles, road racing and trials racing happening at Mid-Ohio, the Ashland County Fairground will host a round of the AMA Vintage Flat Track National Championship Series Saturday, July 22. Make sure to catch as much of the action as you can. You won’t regret it! —Keaton

Maisano

RIGHTS Roundup

BY NICK HARIS AND JOY BURGESS

5-Acre OHV Area Completed in Tonopah, Nev.

Financed via the Nevada Off-Highway Vehicles Grant program, a new 5-acre OHV area has been completed in the town of Tonopah, Nev. The facility, located on U.S. 6, includes shade structures, information kiosk, all-weather vault toilet, and has been surrounded by newly compacted gravel that offers plenty of parking for off-roaders who plan to explore the area’s back country.

“This is [a] perfect example of how OHV registration dollars can be leveraged to improve the off-road experience,” said Nevada Offroad Association Executive Director Mathew Giltner. “The motorized off-road community adds more than $120 million a year to our state, and we are so very excited

that this facility will add value to OHV riders visiting or from within Nevada.”

The American Motorcyclist Association supports responsible recreational access to public lands for the use of off-highway vehicles, including off-highway motorcycles, dual-sport motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles. This access should be administered by professional land managers to meet the needs of participants, protect the land, and promote responsible use.

While the AMA recognizes that no single recreation type is appropriate for every setting, there are certainly many places where OHV use can exist in harmony with other uses, while preserving important natural and cultural resources.

BMotorcycles Banned from High Pyrenees Natural Park ased on a recently adopted measure to “limit noise pollution,” motorcycles are now banned from parts of one of the most picturesque spots in the European Alps — the Pyrenees, located on the border of France, Spain and Andorra.

A recently adopted measure would limit the use of motorcycles in parts of the High Pyrenees Natural Park (El Parque Natural de los Altos Pirineos). Electric vehicles and cars are not covered by the ban. The ban excludes motorcycles from local roads and trails but does not place similar restrictions on cars. The regulations described in the plan created a zone of special protection of acoustic quality and singles out motorcycles, mountain bikes, quads and buggies as ‘particularly noisy’ vehicles, without taking into account or measuring their actual sound levels. Visit femamotorcycling.eu/motorcycles-banned-from-pyrenees/ for more information.

Track Bills That Affect You!

Wonder what bills may impact your right to ride? Make sure you check out AmericanMotorcyclist.com/ bill-tracking regularly to review the good, bad, and the ugly by state and category. You can also get the latest AMA Action Alerts delivered to you via email by signing up at AmericanMotorcyclist.com/ action-center.

What’s trending in government relations and legislative affairs

New

OHV riding areas, bill tracking, and motorcycles being banned from the Pyrenees

Southeast, South-Central Regions to Hold AMA Board Elections

Individual Members Can Apply to Run

AMA members in the Southeast and South-Central regions of the U.S. may apply to run in an election for the AMA Board of Directors. The Southeast seat is currently held by AMA Board member Brad Baumert. The South-Central seat is currently held by AMA Board member Faisel Zaman.

AMA members who live in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Florida are eligible to apply to run for the seat representing the Southeast region. Members who live in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi are eligible to apply to run for the South-Central region.

Deadline for applications is Sept. 1, 2023. The election will be held Dec. 15 through Jan. 15. For application information, email elections@ama-cycle.org or call (614) 856-1900, ext. 1283.

The AMA Board of Directors includes 12 members — six elected by individual members, four elected by business members, and two at-large members appointed and ratified at the annual national AMA member meeting.

A Day to Remember

Organized ride for International Female Ride Day brings more than 150 out to AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame

BY KEATON MAISANO

The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum was a bit busier than usual on Saturday, May 6.

The reason for the influx of riders stemmed from the celebration of International Female Ride Day, which inspired the Capital City Ride that had more than 150 riders register to come to the museum. Michelle Roach, organizer of the ride, said the event was a long time coming.

“We’ve been trying to do it for a while,” Roach said, “and I know there is a big base of lady riders here in Ohio, but I finally get to see it, and it feels good to say, ‘Hey we’re here. Ohio riders are here.’”

Roach, who grew up with motorcycling and the AMA, went on several female rides throughout the years. Riding with the likes of Porsche Taylor — 2021 AMA Hazel Kolb Brighter Image Award

winner — and Vicki Gray — founder of International Female Ride Day in 2007 — Roach used her past experiences to help organize the ride.

“[My co-host] Carol [Garner] and I took something from each ride

we attended since 2016 and we added that feature in ours,” Roach said. “I wanted to make sure they got everything they needed and enjoyed themselves, but most of all, I wanted them to have a reason to ride

together.”

With participants from as far as Texas and Florida, Roach said the turnout was overwhelming and unexpected.

“It was tear-jerking, but I couldn’t let them see me cry,” Roach said while laughing.

Thanks to the ride’s sponsors, participants were met with a hot meal, which offered options of fried chicken, brisket and more.

While putting an emphasis on having a good time, Roach also noted the ride stressed the importance of inclusivity. Roach said being welcomed in by the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum to see the many female hall of famers meant a lot, so it was important that the ride brought together people of all races and skill levels.

“We welcomed everyone into

this ride,” Roach said. “The goal for this ride was to unite women into a safe space where we can connect, [experience] fellowship and just network. A lot of ladies met new friends and connected with old friends. That’s the whole goal: just to get out there and ride.”

Roach said the plan is do another ride in 2025.

“This was the 17th annual [International Female Ride Day] and it’s going to keep going.” Roach said. “If I can do my part in bringing these ladies together here in Ohio — and from all over to come to Ohio — that’s exactly what I’ll do.”

Michelle Roach posing next to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum sign.

Johnny Girroir wasted no time leaving his mark in his first year with the FMF KTM Factory Racing Team.

A former Pro 2 champion, Girroir rode an incredible season into the Promised Land MX U.S. Sprint Enduro event in Maryland, where another strong outing netted Girroir second overall in the race. His performance at the late April event and the rounds prior clinched the 2023 AMA U.S. Enduro Series Pro 1 championship a whole two rounds early.

“Overall, it was a good weekend and I’m really happy to win the title with two rounds to spare,” Girroir said in a KTM release. “We will enjoy this one and I’d like to thank the whole FMF KTM Factory Racing Team, our supporters, and everybody who got us to this point of winning the championship.”

Rainfall prior to the event set the stage for slick and muddy conditions, and Girroir navigated the course to lead the way in the Pro 1 class after Day 1. The following day, Girroir earned his sixth Pro 1 round win in a row.

At the time of publication, Girroir (355 points) had incredibly doubled the points of second place (171) through six rounds. —Keaton Maisano

Racing Roundup

What’s what in the world of AMA amateur competition

Girroir Grabs Title

Johnny Girroir earns AMA U.S. Sprint Enduro Series Championship

HISTORIC AMA

Penton Owners Group

Brings Bikes, Fun and More!

The Penton Owners Group stopped by the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum at the end of April to celebrate the kickoff of the “Six Days in September: The First American ISDT” exhibit, which will be on full display starting July 15 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1973 ISDT —the first-ever International Six Day Trial held in the U.S. (near Dalton, Mass.) and an event in which the American

team of Malcolm Smith, Dick Burleson, Ed Schmidt and Ron Bohn won the coveted Silver Vase. While they handled official POG business in the form of a board meeting, the group also welcomed anyone who could attend, providing them with food and the chance to interact with several ISDT vets. Stop by to see the exhibit, which will feature several bikes and memorabilia. We’ll be happy to see you! —Keaton

Maisano

NATIONAL AMA

GYPSY TOURS

...got their start more than 100 years ago at places like Weirs Beach near Laconia, N.H., and Harley-Davidson Motor Co. in Milwaukee, Wis.

AMA Gypsy Tours have always been about riding and sharing the camaraderie of two wheels with like-minded enthusiasts at great destinations.

And that continues with the 2023 Gypsy Tour schedule, where riders can meet, share experiences and even grab their collectible AMA National Gypsy Tour pin dated with the year.

REMAINING EVENTS

Laconia Motorcycle Week

JUNE 10-18

Thunder in the Valley

June 22-25

AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days

July 21-23

Four Corners Motorcycle Rally

Aug. 31 - Sept. 4

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

www.americanmotorcyclist.com/gypsytour

50 years ago

Honda launched its first real 2-stroke – the 1973

BY MITCH BOEHM PHOTOS BY KEVIN WING, TERRY GOOD AND JON ROSENSTIEL

Looking back now with five decades of hindsight, the success of Honda’s very first Elsinore motocrosser in 1973 seems like it was destined to be…just another flattened fence in the wake of the Honda steamroller that in many ways was motorcycling in America during the mid- to late 1960s and early 1970s.

During those crazy 1960s, while we were meeting all those nicest people, Honda Motor Co. was helping lay the groundwork that would result in a veritable explosion of motorcycle culture in the early 1970s, with ’73 being the all-time peak in new-bike sales, when Americans bought over 1.5 million motorcycles. It hasn’t happened since.

In the wake of AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Bruce Brown’s On Any Sunday moto documentary in 1971, it seemed everyone had a motorcycle or two, and you could ride just about anywhere you wanted. Motocross and hare scrambles events were everywhere, and things just seemed right, proper and

balanced in the two-wheeled world. They don’t call the early 1970s motorcycling’s glory days for nothing, Vietnam and the Arab Oil Embargo notwithstanding.

A good-sized chunk of all that sales success in ’73 was due to Honda’s very first production-spec motocrosser, which this year celebrates its 50th Anniversary. Many feel the Elsinore is arguably the most important and influential dirt bike ever built, and it’s a difficult position to disprove.

But despite how perfect it quickly came to be seen for the times, the Elsinore’s appearance in late ’72 was a bit of a shocker, mainly because Soichiro Honda himself is reported to have said that the Honda name would never go on another 2-stroke motorcycle. It’s hard to know exactly why Mr. Honda recalled his first efforts in the motorcycle business — the “Chimney” engine, and the Aand D-type two-strokes of the late 1940s, which actually launched the company — so acidly, but Honda was, after all, a four-stroke company through and through by the 1960s, in motorcycles and in Formula 1, and had the wins and sales records to prove it.

In other words, 2-strokes were loud, dirty and unsophisticated…and very un-Honda.

Good thing, then, that some in Soichiro’s burgeoning

R&D department felt differently, and enough so that they began tinkering with some rough, two-stroke prototypes after work and on weekends after sanctioned efforts to create a competitive, XL250-powered off-road race bike with enough chassis and engine performance to compete with the European 2-strokes proved next-to-impossible. These guys had been to the local tracks and seen what Husky, CZ and Bultaco — but also Suzuki’s MX-oriented TMs, Yamaha’s do-it-all DT-1, and others — were doing with 2-strokes.

Kawasaki, Yamaha and Suzuki showcased radical factory-built racebikes ridden by the likes of AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famers Torsten Hallman and Joel Robert in the very early 1970s. But Japan Inc., even after establishing itself as the world’s premier two-wheeled power broker, still hadn’t come up with a world-class production motocrosser aside from Suzuki’s rare and very limited-edition RH69/TM250 of 1968-’69.

Enter the 1973 Honda CR250M Elsinore, the result of the work those Honda R&D techs put in between ’70 and ’72, much of it in secret. Eventually, though, word

“The first bikes we rode and tested were pretty fragile. We broke stuff all the time – frames, shocks, engines, whatever. I didn’t care. I was racing Yamahas, and the Honda gig was just a side job.”

GARY JONES

A C-model Elsinore 250 prototype caught napping somewhere in the California desert, circa 1972. Left: Honda Japan experimented with XL-based racers prior to the CR250M’s development, but performance was understandably lacking — and the move to 2-strokes ensued, Mr. Honda’s perspective notwithstanding.

got out, but what happened next, reportedly, is just one reason Soichiro Honda is often called a genius. Instead of ripping his guys, he said something that had to be plenty inspiring. “If you’re gonna do this,” he supposedly said, “it better be the best 2-stroke race bike ever.”

And there it was in the winter of 1972, the sun reflecting off its beautiful alloy tank and the promise of trophies and podium finishes galore seemingly radiating from its leanyet-muscular body.

Introduced to Honda dealers in early ’73, the silver and green rocket brought near-works-level motocross performance to everyman, and at a reasonably affordable $1145. Nothing this side of a factory machine could touch it. Producing nearly 30 horsepower and weighing just 212 pounds sans fuel, the 250 Elsinore became an instant winner, offering amateurs and pros alike a powerful, lightweight and durable machine that could compete for moto wins week-in and week-out.

Liberal use of aluminum and magnesium — along with the bike’s minimalist design — kept it light and maneuverable. Honda engineering — and two years of testing under such names as AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer and 250cc national champion Gary Jones, then riding for Yamaha but testing for Honda on the side — made it durable and fast. Dealers sold every unit they could get their hands on, magazines spread the word via glowing track tests, and race-result columns in Cycle News provided proof that Honda’s new 250-class motocrosser was a force to be reckoned with.

Only Yamaha’s ’74 YZ250, which debuted a few months after the CR but was nearly $700 more expensive and built in limited quantities, could match the Elsinore from a performance standpoint. With motocross in the U.S. on the verge of a serious explosion, the Elsinore not only provided a dry, powder-flecked fuse, but a strong and steady flame.

“After [riding] the CR250M Elsinore,” Cycle Guide wrote in its April 1973 issue, “Honda was fully justified in slapping on the [works] CR label. In its own way, the Elsinore is every bit as much a thoroughbred racing machine as its Grand Prix predecessors.”

Elsinore testing and development happened in private and, later, in public at local Japanese meets, which of course let the cat out of the bag during 1972. The Japanese media ran with the stories, but in America there was little attention paid to the presumably new and radical Honda. That would change in a big way come 1973.

The 250 Elsinore’s roots can be traced to the mid-1960s when rival manufacturer Suzuki began seriously developing a focused motocross machine. With help from Swedish racer Olle Pettersson, Suzuki aggressively developed increasingly competitive machines, culminating in the RH69 — which Pettersson rode to third in the ’69 250cc World Championship — and RH70, which newly hired champ Joel Robert rode to the ’70 250 championship, a feat he’d repeat three years running on Suzukis.

Honda engineers, of course, weren’t about to let Suzuki monopolize the motocross world. And despite Mr. Honda’s vow of never putting the Honda name on a 2-stroke motorcycle, prototype 2-strokes were soon running around

Japan in secret test sessions.

“The first prototype of what would eventually become the 250 Elsinore was dubbed the 335A,” says Terry Good, a leading collector and historian of works machinery and the guy behind the effort to bring the International Motocross Museum to reality. “There were plenty of secret tests at Suzuka Circuit in ’70 and ’71, some of which were photographed and written about by Japanese magazines. Honda actually had two bikes in development at the time — a 250 and 125, the latter of which was called internally the RC125.”

As the 335A morphed into the 335B, Honda contacted Gary Jones, then on his way to winning the ’72 250cc

“There were plenty of secret tests at Suzuka Circuit in ’70 and ’71, some of which were photographed and written about by Japanese magazines.”

TERRY GOOD

National Championship aboard a DT-1-derived Yamaha that he, his father Don and the Yamaha factory had developed into a serious racebike. “Honda asked if we’d do some development work for them,” Jones told this author, “and things being pretty loose back then regarding contracts and money, we agreed to help them on the QT.”

Testing was plenty illuminating, for Jones and the Honda R&D techs. “The first bikes we rode and tested,” Jones remembers, “were pretty fragile. We broke stuff all the time — frames, shocks, engines, whatever. I didn’t care. I was racing Yamahas, and the Honda gig was just a side job. Honda’s first 2-stroke engines weren’t impressive…no topend hit, no mid, no bottom, too-heavy flywheels, etc. The

even after we’d break something they’d come back with totally new parts — which were usually a lot better. Those guys worked quickly! Still, the bike was long and wouldn’t turn too well. I kept telling them it was a motocrosser, not a desert bike!”

Little by little, with testing happening in both SoCal and Japan, the prototype got better, and by the end of ’72 a C-model 335 was being tested in California.

“By ’72,” Good remembers, “the cat was pretty much out of the bag. The Japanese magazines had photographed and written about the bikes, Honda R&D techs had ridden the bike in local Japanese races, and even a U.S. magazine — Cycle Guide, I believe — had published bits and pieces.

Yamahas were clearly better. I’d suggest things like quicker geometry, lighter flywheels and punchier power, but they’d argue. The Honda guys were stubborn!”

“At one test,” Jones says, “we took a prototype and hacksawed the frame at the headstock, shaved off some of the steel, and welded it back together. We went from 31 degrees to 29, I think. Anyway, the Honda guys sh%$# their pants. But the bike worked better!”

Jon Rosenstiel, who joined Honda in the early ’70s and who’d go on to be a highly successful Team Honda mechanic in later years, echoed Jones’s sentiment. “Those early prototypes were really light,” he says, “but very fragile. They’d break all the time. Honda had bought a couple of competitive machines — Christer Hammergren’s works Husky, I think, and some others. The Elsie prototype seemed designed along the lines of that Husky — a long wheelbase and lots of rake, so it didn’t turn too well.”

Despite the durability setbacks, Jones remembers the Honda R&D guys rebounding quickly with improved product. “We’d test once or twice a month,” he says, “and

There was a definite buzz about a new Honda 2-stroke.”

Jones and his father Don kept with the Honda testing; the money was good, and with all their development work with Yamaha, they were having a positive effect. “At one test late in the game,” Jones remembers, “the shiny silver tank was reflecting sunlight and blinding me over jumps and at certain angles. I asked them to tape or paint the top of the tank to reduce the glare; all they had was some army green spray paint, some sort of primer they used on engine parts. Just crap. But it worked. Of course, I was surprised to see the green stripe on the production bikes!”

As the 335C improved and Honda contemplated the upcoming ’73 season, which would see a (hopefully) successful launch of the production Elsinore and a race team to promote the bike’s performance with race wins, a serious offer of race support was made to the Joneses.

“We didn’t want to do it,” Jones says. “We were happy with Yamaha, we liked working with their engineers, and their bikes still were better than the Honda. We weren’t interested in moving.”

But Honda, flush with cash from its dominant sales

“It was a motocross racer’s dream package at a very affordable price, and it threw down the gauntlet to every manufacturer – Euro or Japanese. The game had changed overnight.”

KEN SMITH

position in the U.S. and intent on putting together the best possible team, pressured the Joneses with literally loads of money. “It got to be a question of economics, really,” Jones says. “We kept saying no, and the numbers kept going up until we honestly couldn’t say no anymore. No one made any real money racing back then, and for Honda to offer us so much money to race their bikes — with real mechanics and box vans and flights to and from the races — we simply couldn’t say no.”

The ’73 AMA National season didn’t start out as smoothly as Honda and the Joneses thought it would. “The first racebikes we got were total prototypes,” Jones says, “hand-made works bikes that were really light.

Problem was, they were really fragile, just like the protos we’d tested earlier. We ended up not finishing a bunch of races early-on due to durability issues.”

“So we asked for some production Elsinores,” Jones remembers, “which Honda eventually provided and which we modified. We cut the frames to shorten the geometry. We modified the cylinder to accept a reed-valve assembly from a Yamaha, we built custom triple clamps, had the forks modified, tried different shocks, all of it. Honda wasn’t happy, of course. Maybe it had something to do with the engineers having to deal with Mr. Honda back home. But the production-based bikes worked, and we won a whole bunch of races at the end of the season, and took the ’73 250cc

“Overnight, this carpet-bagging Honda had infested Saddleback Park like the plague. My really cool TM was now yesterday’s news. Honda came to the party in force and instantly raised the stakes to a new level.”

BRANT RUSSELL

AMA National Championship.”

The 250 title and the advertising campaign that followed certainly spurred Elsinore sales, but the bike didn’t really need much help. Elsies were being snapped up from Honda dealers everywhere, and were busy winning accolades of their own on local tracks and trails all over the country, not to mention in magazine tests. The bike’s fundamental attributes — power, lightness and durability — combined to allow riders of all talent levels to be successful. And it was the bike’s all-around ability — a goal of the design team from the very beginning — that helped maintain its impact and presence through ’73 and ’74 despite the new ’74 YZ250’s high level of

Far left: DeWayne Jones aboard an early Elsinore racebike at Carlsbad in 1973. Left: Brother Gary enjoying the spoils of a 250-class championship. Below left: Team Honda at Unadilla in ’73, and one of the many print ads Honda ran to celebrate its 1973 title with Gary Jones.

performance. The CR125, which debuted in early ’74, carried the Elsinore tradition to the smaller class, and became an even bigger seller, Honda moving a reported 15,000 units — an amazing figure — in the bike’s first year. Ironically, the Elsinore’s massive success made life at Honda much more difficult by spurring other manufacturers to greater heights — more power, more suspension travel, less weight, etc. Yamaha’s YZ250 was a good example, though it was only the first OE to see the target clearly and aim significantly above it.

Honda didn’t help itself here, because it waited far too long

to significantly upgrade its 250-class motocrosser. In 1975, with Suzuki introducing the radically suspended RM125 and Yamaha going the monoshock route, the CR250 was basically unchanged, save moved-up shocks and a high pipe.

Maybe the CR125’s success provided enough positive news, but for whatever reason, Honda was on the cusp of one of its well-documented sleeper periods. It would be three more years before Honda would jump back into a 250-class leadership position with its red-framed, red-engined ’78 CR250R, a bike modeled after the RC works bikes Honda was actively campaigning on the national circuit with Marty

“After [riding] the CR250M Elsinore, Honda was fully justified in slapping on the [works] CR label. In its own way, the Elsinore is every bit as much a thoroughbred racing machine as its Grand Prix predecessors.”

CYCLE GUIDE

Within two years of the CR250M’s launch (and just a year after the CR125M’s), Honda became the factory racing steamroller everyone remembers, with red-framed and -engined RC125, RC250 and RC400/500 works machines that were arguably the best on the planet. The late AMA Hall of Famer Marty Smith, seen here in 1975 aboard a Dave Arnold-prepped RC400, demonstrates.

Smith, Tommy Croft, Pierre Karsmakers and others. This time, however, the performance gap was narrow, with Yamaha’s ’78 YZ250E and Suzuki’s RM250 offering basically the same level of performance for about the same money.

Still, there’s no doubting the massive impact the original Elsinores had on motocross and motorcycling in general. “The Elsinore 250 redefined what riders could expect from their machines,” said Honda in its Elsinore promo material. “Compared to European offerings, the Elsinore was miles ahead in user-friendliness, ergonomics, carburetion and durability. The molded plastic, satin finish aluminum and the use of magnesium in the engine cases became the new standard.”

“I hated that stinking bike,” says the late Yoshimura marketing honcho Brant Russell. “It should have been banned! In other words, I was riding a Suzuki TM250 at the time. Overnight, this carpet-bagging Honda had infested Saddleback Park like the plague. My really cool TM was now yesterday’s news. Honda came to the party in force and instantly raised the stakes to a new level.”

“Even today when I see an original 250 Elsinore,” says ex-racer and collector Greg Primm, “I stop and marvel at its beauty.”

“In 1973 I was 15 and looking to ditch my outdated Yamaha AT1-MX,” says VMX Editor Ken Smith. “I’d read about the new Elsinore and Gary Jones. But walking into the Honda dealer and seeing one in the flesh was something else entirely. Other bikes had alloy tanks, or powerful engines, or brakes that worked, or half-decent suspension — but not all at one time! The CR250M had it all and then some. It was a motocross racer’s dream package at a very affordable price, and it threw down the gauntlet to every manufacturer — Euro or Japanese. The game had changed overnight.”

Game changer. The saying gets tossed around a lot, and in many cases it’s overblown, and not really apropos.

But in the Elsinore 250s’ case, and with the 1974-spec CR125, as well, it was well-earned. Destined to be, almost… AMA

“the shiny silver tank was reflecting sunlight and blinding me over jumps and at certain angles. I asked them to tape or paint the top of the tank to reduce the glare; all they had was some army green spray paint... Of course, I was surprised to see the green stripe on the production bikes!”

GARY JONES

Left and below: The production-spec Elsinore was a beautiful thing to behold, and with performance and price at winning levels, sales and popularity were out of this world. Elsinore restorer Dan Troesken shows off his 125 and 250 Elsies.

40 YEARS AGO

HONDA BLEW THE SPORTBIKE WORLD WIDE OPEN WITH ITS V4-POWERED,

BY MITCH BOEHM

PHOTO: GARY YASAKI

V4-POWERED, PERIMETER-FRAMED, HALF-FAIRINGED AND LIQUID-COOLED VF750F

When you hear the words “The shot heard ’round the world,” most flash on the opening salvos of the battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775, which launched the American Revolutionary War. But in motorcycling, and in the sport-motorcycle genre more specifically, the shot heard most loudly was arguably a blue and white — or red and white — motorcycle from Honda Motor Company in early 1983 called the V45 Interceptor — or VF750F.

Honda was a re-awakened beast in ’82 and ’83, having been poked and prodded by an energized Yamaha that was doing gangbuster business in the Japanese cruiser category (and others), and getting within spitting distance of the market-share leadership position Honda had held for…well, forever.

But Honda, its corporate ego looking and feeling vulnerable, was suddenly having none of it, unleashing nearly 30 all-new motorcycles between ’82 and ’84…one of which was the now-

legendary Interceptor.

Up until then, “serious” sportbikes were tube-framed, air-cooled, inline-four- (or European twin-) powered standards with 18-inch wheels and maybe a cockpit fairing.

The ’Ceptor changed all that overnight, introducing perimeter frames, liquid cooling, narrow V4 engines, 16-inch front wheels and truly racer styling to the party. A year later came the Kawasaki Ninja 900 and Yamaha FJ1100, and a year after that would see the 20-valve FZ750 and Suzuki GSX-R750 hit the market — with performance and design escalating from there.

It was a crazy ride for two-and-a-half decades, and it all started right here. Look for more on the Interceptor’s 40th Anniversary in a future edition.

STEVE WISE JACK OF ALL TRADES

AMA HALL OF FAMER, VMD 2023 Grand Marshal, and the only rider to win an AMA Supercross, Motocross and Road Race National

BY JOHN BURNS

PHOTOS BY GARY YASAKI, MITCH FRIEDMAN, DAVID DEWHURST, WISE ARCHIVE

It is altogether fitting and proper that we celebrate the career of AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Steve Wise by naming him Grand Marshal of this year’s AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days (July 21-23), as it was 40 years ago that Wise did a thing no other AMA professional motocross and Supercross winner had done before or since: He won the 1983 AMA National Superbike road race on this hallowed Mid-Ohio track, where the faithful gather to celebrate AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days every July.

He was also in victory circle at the Houston Astrodome National TT a year earlier, finishing third in his very first Grand National dirt track appearance. While that’s a whole other story, it helps cement Wise’s reputation as

famous motorcycle racers out there. Honda was impressed enough to come calling with an offer to try out one of its CB1025-based Superbikes.

WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN…

It’s a shame Wise didn’t have a few more years to drive his brand home: His career was cut short by injuries he suffered while making that difficult transition from dirt to pavement — specifically by the even more difficult transition from Honda’s RS1000 fourstroke Formula One bike to its NS500 two-stroke, but that’s also a whole different story. Born in 1957 in McAllen, Texas, Wise’s pro racing career was done just a couple of years after that Superbikers breakthrough, at the not-quite-ripe age of 26.

maybe the most versatile motorcycle racer in the history of the sport.

But for those of us of a certain age, nothing speaks more to Wise’s mastery of motorized twowheeled racing than his two wins on the made-for-TV “Superbikers.” Pavement and dirt racing rolled into one, from Carlsbad, California’s famed MX park/dragstrip, these races aired on ABC’s Wide World of Sports. Wise did not win the first round, in 1979; he took seventh on an ill-prepared Honda with drum brakes. He made up for that in 1980 and 1981 against the best riders in the world, including AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famers Kenny Roberts, Freddie Spencer, Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, Jay Springsteen, Ricky Graham and Kent Howerton. Andrea Malherebe, Graham Noyce and others only added to the competitiveness of the era. In the three-channels TV era, when televised motorcycle racing was about as common as bipartisan agreement, those wins made him one of the most

“Dang,” I said to Wise on the phone a few weeks ago, “you were just a kid, just getting started.” He didn’t take offense, but he wasted no time in correcting me:

“Not really. My kid times were early on, riding with my father, Gary Wise, on our Pentons, when I was 13 to 15 years old. With my dad on hand, at 19 years old I won – on America’s Bicentennial, July 4th, 1976 – the 125cc National in Kaiser Ridge, Maryland, on my Jimmy Strait-tuned privateer CR125 from my father’s Honda dealership, whipping the likes of [AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famers] Marty Smith and Bob Hannah. Professional racing makes you grow up in a hurry. By the time I was 26, I felt like a seasoned veteran, like I’d been racing my whole life.”

At 17, Wise was 1974 Texas State MX Champion, beating established national pros like Gary Jones, Jimmy Weinert and Kent Howerton to get there. By 17, he’d notched a few top-10 finishes in AMA National

events. Kawasaki had signed Wise to ride its KX125 MX bikes in AMA competition in 1976, but the KX was so slow compared to the radical new Honda CR125, Steve quit the team, bought the aforementioned CR from his dad’s shop — and promptly became the first privateer to win an AMA 125 National, beating the factory Japanese bikes; he ended the 1976 season in fourth.

Racing pro motocross in that rough and tumble era of 45-minute motos wasn’t easy. “Winning a motocross event,” says Wise, “even more than a roadrace main, which is really my claim to fame, your physical condition has to be absolutely premium, and everything has to go right.”

It didn’t make Wise’s life any easier when Bob Hannah appeared on the scene in 1976: “Bob Hannah was the greatest MXer of my time, I could beat him sometimes, but Bob beat us all way more than we beat him. Conditioning for 45-minute motos plus two laps, people have no idea how hard that last 10 minutes was. I’m husky, thicker built... I had the sprint ability,

250cc class, and won the New Orleans Supercross on his birthday, the crowd singing Happy Birthday to him: “That was an incredible feeling, and a great year.” He podiumed in a handful of other races, finishing third in the SX series.

In 1980 a broken wrist, broken ribs and a knee injury at Daytona kept Wise from consistent training and full potential during the Supercross series, but he pulled it together later in the 250 Nationals, winning another July 4th National, at Red Bud, and finishing the season in third.

Battered and bruised after years of top-level offroad competition, a shot at roadracing would seem to be just what the doctor ordered. After winning the Superbikers again for the second time, in ’81, that’s exactly what happened: Udo Gietl, the Team Honda road-racing manager offered him a Willow Springs tryout on Freddie Spencer’s Superbike – a seat recently vacated with Freddie’s departure to Europe. Nice timing, too, since Steve’s factory MX contract with Honda was up.

but not the endurance. I lost a lot of races in the last 10 minutes. I knew if we were coming down to it, and I was in the lead, if I could hear Bob close to me or if [AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer] Broc Glover was close to me, I knew I was in for a race… but I still won my share of those long races.”

In 1978, Team Honda came calling, and in his rookie year as a factory MX rider, Wise finished fourth overall in the 125cc National Championship and seventh in AMA Supercross points. In 1979, he moved up to the

Wise’s first race happened on a Honda SL100, paperplate number plate and all. Middle: Wise being interviewed by longtime motorsports broadcaster and driver Sam Posey at a Superbikers event. Right: Wise at speed at the 1982 Superbikers event at Carlsbad.

“Here I was a motocrosser all my life, now riding this 150-horsepower Superbike beast, my first time ever on a pro roadrace course, at the very difficult Willow Springs racetrack — with winds gusting 50 mph. It’s only by the grace of God that I survived that day.” STEVE WISE

PAVEMENT RACING

According to his AMA Hall of Fame bio (Steve was inducted in 2001), that winter ride in the California high desert was the most intimidating thing he’d ever done in motorcycling:

“Here I was a motocrosser all my life, now riding this 150-horsepower Superbike beast, my first time ever on a pro roadrace course, at the very difficult Willow Springs racetrack — with winds gusting 50 mph. It’s only by the grace of God that I survived that day. I ran off the track into the rocks multiple times at very high speeds. I was shocked by the power of the bike. It was a real eye opener, but I loved it.”

Apparently, he stayed on track well enough for Honda to offer him a three-race contract for the 1982 AMA roadracing season. It all started well enough at Daytona.

IT WASN’T ALWAYS ABOUT SUPERBIKES

Many are no longer old enough to remember when Superbikes were not the premier AMA road-racing class

legitimized the series), and then to climb onto its GP machine in Formula One on Sunday. At first it was the seasoned inline-Four RS1000, but then there was a move to the new FWS1000, Honda’s million-dollar V4-powered racer designed to restore the factory’s four-stroke racing glory in the wake of the oval-piston NR500 disaster.

In his first AMA Pro road race, the ’82 Daytona 200, Wise raced to a perfectly respectable seventh on Honda’s suddenly old RS1000, while AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famers Freddie Spencer and Mike Baldwin finished second and fourth on the new FWS1000. They would’ve done better if not for the FWS’ talent for shredding tires.

Wise continued to improve for the rest of his first road-racing season, losing out on the 1982 Formula One championship by just three points to teammate Mike Baldwin in the last race of the season. He might’ve barged past AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Wes Cooley to take second instead of third in that last race and

(including yours truly), but from 1976, when it debuted as the AMA Formula 750 Road Race Series, American road-racing was more about Formula One, which consisted of grand prix-style racers. Yamaha TZ750s dominated the early years until GP-spec 500cc twostroke Hondas and others infiltrated later.

When Wise came on scene, Honda expected him to race its four-stroke streetbike-based machine in Superbike on Saturday (Honda’s entry into the growing AMA Superbike class in 1980 was the thing that really

won the championship, but that’s never how he rolled. In Superbike he finished the season in fifth, behind Eddie Lawson, Mike Baldwin, Wayne Rainey and Wes Cooley — a crowd several notches beyond tough.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

In March of 1983, Wise was off to a great Daytona start, too. Wise remembers being swamped by photographers and journalists from around the world, during a time when the 200 was an international event. For this 200, Wise

and Baldwin got the mighty FWS1000, while Spencer and Ron Haslam rode a pair of brand-new NS500 twostroke triples — Honda finally having acceded to the two-stroke hegemony in open-class racing.

Wise finished third on his FWS, behind a pair of overbored Yamaha OW69 500s ridden by Kenny Roberts and Eddie Lawson. Spencer and Haslam’s new Hondas both Did Not Finish.

After a third place Superbike finish in round two at Talladega, Wise crashed hard in the next Superbike race in Riverside, Calif. — then bounced back a month later to take that famous Superbike win at Mid-Ohio, along with a second behind Baldwin in F1 on Sunday. Things were looking up, but after Daytona, Honda had retired the rider-friendly FWS1000 four-stroke. Now, Wise and Baldwin were expected to ride

the 500. Steve had ridden the NS500 very little, and was struggling to learn its mysterious ways in the heat of battle.

INTERCEPTOR

1983 also brought a change in AMA Superbike rules and a new displacement limit of 750cc. Enter the Honda Interceptor, another new motorcycle to adapt to. Luckily, it was pretty adaptable. Spencer won the Daytona Superbike race on it, while Wise suffered a chain

derailment DNF. Baldwin, AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Fred Merkel, and Wise won seven more events that season. On the other F1 hand, the NS500 remained a harder mistress to master for everybody not named Freddie: A crash on the triple at Pocono broke Baldwin’s left wrist and right hand, doing him no favors in that year’s Superbike championship: Baldwin finished the season second to Wayne Rainey’s Kawasaki. Crashing, as it doesn’t take most of us long to figure out, is not the way to go: “Top pros don’t crash much,” says Wise.

“It’s the amateurs, the people who want to be good who ride beyond their ability, who do most of the crashing…but us Pros end up there sometimes, too. At the top, we were pretty much all the same, thinking how to negotiate the race. Winning motocross, winning or top three, came down to conditioning, maybe you were hurt and weren’t able to train. Maybe your suspension wasn’t as good, but top factory riders all had good equipment.”

“Road racing is more analyzing the track, learning lines, having a bike that works good. In road racing, it was even more about the motorcycle; forget winning without a good bike. All the top riders are able to brake deep, know how to accelerate, have the right judgment when to pass and when not to…”

Steve Wise on the legendary but short-lived Honda FWS V-4 racer, sandwiched between Yamaha TZ750-mounted Canadian Miles Baldwin (22) and Wes Cooley’s Suzuki XR69 (34) at Pocono’s infamous hairpin.

“Road racing is more analyzing the track, learning lines, having a bike that works good. In road racing, it was even more about the motorcycle; forget winning without a good bike.”

STEVE WISE

Left to right: Wise, following Wes Cooley and being chased by Eddie Lawson. Receiving an AMA award. On his trick, privateer Elsinore in 1974. On the Honda Superbike in the early 1980s. With his wife Tina at a recent AMA Supercross event in their home state of Texas.

LEARNING CURVES

Learning all that while hopping from the user-friendly VF750F Superbike on Saturday practice to the twitchy and peaky NS500 wasn’t going to be as easy for Wise as it was for the more experienced pavement racers he was up against – not that it was much easier for them. While both Hondas claimed almost equal horsepower in the official specs (125 for the VF, 123 for the NS), the two-stroke’s 50% less displacement dictated its power would be peakier than the four-stroke’s. Add to that that the NS was said to weigh around 270 pounds to the Interceptor’s 470. That’s why Kenny Roberts called Superbikes “diesels.”

At the next round, at Road America, Steve crashed the NS hard in the rain. “Elkhart Lake – oh, my,” Wise told journalist Eric Johnson from MotoSportRetro.com a few years ago. “That’s where the two-stroke got me. I remember that day clearly. I was having a rough time switching from the Superbike to the 270-pound two-stroke F1 bike, which had the powerband of a light switch. I was really struggling jumping back and forth from one bike to

and I said, ‘Udo, I’m done, I’m retiring.’ They gave me a very nice severance check, and I called it the end of my career.”

“I’m not sure if it could’ve happened, but a terrible mistake was made with me not continuing with the fourstroke FWS1000 for the rest of the F1 season. I loved that motorcycle and placed third on it at Daytona that year. In only my second year of world-class road racing, it was just too hard for me to jump back and forth between the two-stroke and the Interceptor. I hadn’t ridden in the three weeks before Laguna, I was cold, I wasn’t comfortable… It was my fault mostly, but I wish I could’ve raced that FWS1000 all year. Hindsight is 20/20!”

Steve’s teammate Mike Baldwin, who won more Formula One races than anybody, loved the FWS too, and is on record as calling it his all-time favorite bike.

REGRETS?

Not really. “We all have hindsight, but I really don’t look back too much. I’m a forward-thinking person. My career

the other. Freddie Spencer and Mike Baldwin seemed to adapt better, but they were much more experienced than I was.”

Even though his crash caused him to miss a few races, Steve was still in the running for the Formula One Championship, and decided to mount his comeback at Laguna Seca, not quite three weeks after the big Road America crash.

“At Laguna I went out for the first F1 practice, again just after getting off the Interceptor,” Steve told MotoSportRetro. “Kenny Roberts came by me and I said to myself, ‘I’m going to stay with him.’ I came out of Turn 9, and at around 80 miles per hour got sideways and slammed into a wall. When I came to, I was in terrible pain. I went to the hospital and was informed that I had internal bleeding, broken ribs and a broken collarbone. Udo [Gietl, Honda team manager] came into my room

was great. I was no KR in road racing, no Bob Hannah in MX…but I could run with them on any given day and had my share of wins in AMA Pro racing. My career really speaks of versatility and overall ability. As a student of motorcycle racing history, I like to feel like Dick Mann is closest to comparison in the AMA world. He never won a professional MX, which may be the hardest, but flat track is tough, too.”

“I was a blessed young man from a small town in Texas, having stardom from being a world-class motorcycle racer of all sorts, making lots of money and having 35,000 people singing Happy Birthday to me in the New Orleans Superdome just before my victory that night. What more could you want?”

How about being Grand Marshall at AMA Vintage Days at Mid-Ohio, 40 years after your historic win there? Congratulations, Steve Wise, and thanks for sharing. AMA

Two days of adventureriding instruction around Michigan with AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Jeff “Six Time”

Stanton on Triumph Tigers and Scramblers, oh my…

SCHOOLIN’ WITH

BY JOHN BURNS

PHOTOS BY RYAN BURNS AND SIMON CUDBY

What’s that? A Jeff Stanton Adventure Tour, in Michigan?

I’m in! Finally, the chance for a nice adventure-bike ride not in some Godforsaken desert. Sand belongs on the beach! In the immortal lyrics of Rod Stewart, “look how wrong you can be”: Michigan, poking up between all those Great Lakes, pretty much is a big sandbox as it turns out. But at least there are plenty of trees and other flora to keep the sands from shifting quite so much and provide a little shade. Thanks to some nice rain right before we flew in

WITH STAN TON

for our May 4-5 tour, the sandy dirt backroads were still damp, semi-hard packed, and therefore eminently roostable on our Triumph Tiger 900s and Scrambler 1200 XE.

There were still a few short deeper sections, though. I was just about to panic-topple over in the first grassy dual-track one early on Day 1, as is my habit, when I saw Sara Stanton, Mrs. S., right ahead of me and doing fine on her Tiger 900 GT Low with just the occasional dab. If 5-foot-2inch Mrs. S can do it, I can do it! This is faulty logic, as she’s been riding since early childhood just like Jeff, and is also a great rider. But it pulled me through. Confidence is all…

We were almost to the end

front tire augured in, but when the guy behind me stopped, Mrs. S.’ Tiger tapped his bike just hard enough to require a duct-tape windshield repair. The irony, the hilarity…will Jeff dock her for the broken windshield mount? I feel like crashes at less than 5 mph shouldn’t count, like the five-second rule for food.

A FAMILY AFFAIR

The whole point, says Jeff “Six Times (AMA Champion)” Stanton,

is to expose people to the beauty of his native Michigan, where he lives on a seventh-generation farm near Sherwood, complete with barn full of motorcycles, a motocross track, kids, actual crops, and all kinds of animals including the whitetail deer he breeds but does not get emotionally attached to. At the tender age of 4, Jeff’s mom put him on his first motorcycle, the whole family would go racing most weekends, and the rest, as the cliche goes, really is history: Six AMA championships, a bunch of Motocross of Nations triumphs and a place in the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame.

MAKE HAY WHILE THE SUN SHINES

At the height of his pro career — which ended at 26 years old in 1993 — Stanton was packing it off

when we had to pause in adjoining sandy ruts while a guy ahead of us extricated himself. Mrs. S. confided she likes to stay well back from the pack just for that reason. When we got going again on more solid dirt, I was in front of her and feeling my oats, revving the Triple up, steering with the rear, yahoo!, until I tried to “rail a berm” on the outside of a tight right, which turned out to be more of a loose bank of sand: It was a slow, poofy high-side as my

Mary Stanton taught Jeff to ride on and around the farm from about the age of 4. She was a District 14 champion before womens’ classes existed. Left: Stanton in his heyday, flying high. Above and right: Quality instruction, both group and personal; that’s J.S. with the author (in grey and yellow Aerostich).

to Europe to get the start money at huge stadium races like Bercy: “I’d do all the AMA Supercross races, AMA Nationals, GPs, then I’d do as many invitational races as I could. I would go to Bercy and Madrid and places, and race three to four nights a week at $30,000 or $40,000 a night start money. I raced two years’ worth in a few of those years, but I made more money over there than I did over here by winning championships.”

All that racing, training and traveling may have shortened his career, Jeff thinks, but with no regrets — and racing in Europe in those days did result in some great stories that get shared around the dinner table.

Crucially, that Stanton work ethic was a valuable commodity; the general wisdom (shared by Jeff) is that he wasn’t the most gifted rider but made up for it with hard work and determination. After his career ended, Honda kept him on board for 10 years as a consultant, where he helped riders like AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Ricky Carmichael achieve their full potential. (Now, all these years later, Ricky and Jeff are helping Triumph perfect their new MX bikes.) Helping people like me achieve my full potential on an adventure bike should be a walk in the park. Or a ride in the woods. The bar is low…

JEFF STANTON ADVENTURE TRAINING

Hence, Stanton’s school is one of three that Triumph officially sanctions, the other two being in

Wales and Malaga, Spain. Stanton’s school, operating out of Two Hats Ranch about an hour north of Grand Rapids, Mich., offers three levels of adventure-bike training just like the other two schools. All three follow the same Triumph curriculum, so it’s

possible to take Level 1 in England, Level 2 in Spain, then journey to Michigan for Level 3. Mix and match as desired. Level 1 is for those with no off-road experience, Level 2 is for intermediates, and Level 3 is for masochists and experienced

I was worried about a couple of the others, especially my own kid, who hasn’t done much “adventure” riding, if any, but mostly worried about myself as we started out on those sandy backroads toward Lake Michigan.

adventure riders. Ripped from the BMW playbook, these types of schools are genius for getting people on ADV bikes and keeping them there.

JEFF STANTON ADVENTURE TOURS

Ignorance being bliss, we weren’t signed up for any of the three levels of Jeff Stanton Adventure Training, but for the 2.5-day JS Adventure Tour. Life’s too short at my age for learning the basics all over again, most of which I’ve already been exposed to even if they haven’t been fully absorbed: Stand up, lean back, go loose on the bars in the sand, and the throttle is your friend. My son Ryan (who I smuggled in as official photographer), who rode motocross up to the RM85 stage, was a bit taken aback at first that there was almost no instruction before he was set free on a shiny

new Triumph Scrambler 1200XE

(the very machine he’s been thinking about buying with actual money).

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Our new friend Bryan Rice (who’s directed Shakespeare plays in New York and now operates an architectural design app business) didn’t have an easy time getting up the winding dirt driveway to Two Hats Ranch lodge on his Road Glide, since he says he’s never ridden off pavement in his life. Stanton took note and gave Bryan a little private instruction on arrival afternoon.

Meanwhile, high school buddies

On Day two, we got a small sample of what you’d be in for if you signed up for a little JS Adventure Training, from Triumph Level 3 instructor Fred Britton, and JS’s right-hand man Troy Devlin, who’s also a Level 2 instructor.

from Detroit, Matt Kendall (now a patent attorney living in Grand Rapids) and Chris Hargunani (pediatric otolaryngologist now living in Portland, Ore.), signed up after Chris ran across the school on Triumph’s website. Chris has been riding a 2018 Tiger 800 about five years; Matt’s got a BMW K75, Honda CB200, Moto Guzzi Lemans 1000 and interesting airplane flying stories. Neither had ridden off-road at all.

Stanton’s boys like to keep the size of each class down to keep things more personal. Our final rider was Adam Hughes, a petroleum engineer from Austin, Texas, and a skilled off-roader who’s been riding moto for years and now has a KTM 890 Adventure. Adam bumped into Stanton, a childhood hero of his, at last year’s Motocross of Nations at Redbud, Minn. Next thing you know, he’s signed up for our first ride of the

season, and literally rubbing elbows for three days.

AND AWAY WE GO…

It’s about 100 miles west to Lake Michigan from Two Hats Ranch, and by 9 a.m. we’re rolling out the gate of the 1300-acre compound. Stanton’s own farm is in fact 170 miles south, but his whitetail deer breeding business got him in touch with the Two Hats owners, who mainly run a luxe

hunting lodge: People, many in private jets, pay sums of money to plug Jeff’s trophy deer that make even expensive motorcycle habits feel positively ascetic. Also turkeys, hedgehogs, assorted marsupials, fish…

I was worried about a couple of the others, especially my own kid, who hasn’t done much “adventure” riding, if any, but mostly worried about myself as we started out on those sandy backroads toward Lake Michigan; it always takes a bit to get used to that sketchy feeling of your tires wandering round beneath you. Jeff likes to lead by showing. Here we are rolling along at 25 or 30 mph, standing on the pegs, white-knuckling the grips and feeling as if we could topple over any second. Now here we are at 50 mph, and now things are much more stable and relaxed. Jeff looks casually back at us with one hand on the bars, twists the throttle wide open and fishtails across the width of the road a few times and

During our tour we did get Fred Britton, one of JS’ Triumph Level 3 instructors, to give us a quick taste of what to expect from the multi-day schools you can also sign up for. It’s amazing how much confidence learning a few basic techniques can instill. Fred also runs Moto 188 Riding Academy.

off into the distance. See? Faster is better. Steer with the rear.

It takes us ducklings a while to catch on, but soon everybody’s picking up the pace and not falling over. There are thousands of miles of dirt roads up in there, and even more dual-track seasonal roads, logging roads, and single-track leading off in all directions — all VFC: very few cars.

Leave it to Jeff, who spent years in SoCal during his racing and training days, to find Carniceria La Conasupo Taqueria El Paisano in Shelby, Mich., for lunch. This restaurant/grocery store caters to the migrant farm workers in the area, and the tacos are muy delicioso. Not what I expected. From there we took more backroads, both paved and dirt, to Little Sable Point Lighthouse, one of 200-some on the Great Lakes, dipped our toes in Lake Michigan, then turned and blasted back to Two Hats. Two hundred miles on sandy dirt roads is a long day, but even our least experienced rider made it without much difficulty.

From a MotocrossAction mag.com article two years ago: “My mom had bikes,

my eyes locked onto exactly the tree I was surely going to hit as my front wheel bogged down when my hand opened the throttle by itself without my brain telling it to, which straightened the bike out, and on we rode. Well, I’ll be… is this learning ?

my dad had bikes, and we always rode around the farm. That later led to buying property in Northern Michigan where there were tons of trails. I remember the many trips up there on minibikes, falling over in the sand an endless number of times and mom and dad picking us up...”

You need a basic understanding, I suppose, before you can learn anything.

TRAINING DAY…OKAY, TRAINING HOUR…

On Day 2 we got a small sample of what you’d be in for if you signed

up for a little JS Adventure Training, from Triumph Level 3 instructor Fred Britton, and JS’s right-hand man Troy Devlin, who’s also a Level 2 instructor. From his moto days, my boy Ryan had been blasting out of corners sitting on the seat, foot-out style. Now he learned the importance of standing up on the pegs and steering with the feet — weighting the outside peg while pushing the bike onto the sides of its tires to make it turn… much better. Everything about the Tiger is engineered to operate that way. We also learned how to turn around if you get stuck halfway

The 200 lighthouses around the Great Lakes (middle right and previous page) are there for a very good reason. Our tour took place the week after Gordon Lightfoot died, and The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald was on an endless loop for a good part of our ride.

up a hill, knowledge I could’ve used a few sweaty times in the past. In two or three days, you could no doubt learn a lot

After lunch we blasted off with our newfound knowledge. Now Ryan and I and Adam the fast guy were slaloming along behind Six-Time Stanton down sandy two-tracks through the trees, rolling out of the gas for the bends and throwing roosts of sandy soil at the exits. The kid was loving the Scrambler 1200’s torque, and it’s just as fun to twist the Tiger triple at a bit higher rpm with the same result.

Adventure biking didn’t really get to be a thing until I was on the wrong side of middle-age, and felt like it was a sketchy activity best avoided. Now I’m having to reconsider.

Now and then, Jeff shows you how fast it’s actually possible to go; he’s out of sight in about three bends through the forest. But his fresh tire tracks show you exactly the correct trajectory, dark crescents slashed on a sand-colored background. Another three bends later, my kid’s out of sight too thanks to his new feet-up, pushthe-bike-down technique.

“Hey!” I yell at Jeff at the next stop, “the kid’s ready for flat track huh?”

“What? Frankly I was so far ahead I didn’t see him.”

It’s all relative. JS isn’t the type to heap unwarranted praise. Instructors/chase riders Troy and Fred take up the slack, with words of encouragement and praise. It’s a good crew.

Dunno why, but wherever there

are tighter corners, the sand gets deeper. Coming in hot and out of control in one S-bend after a longish straight, my eyes locked onto exactly the tree I was surely going to hit as my front wheel bogged down…when my hand opened the throttle by itself without my brain telling it to, which straightened the bike out, and on we rode. Well, I’ll be… is this learning?

THE FEW, THE PROUD, THE OVERCONFIDENT…

Toward the end of our last day we stopped in yet another wood

where two roads diverged. Stanton would occasionally take Adam the expert down single-track trails, while directing the rest of us onto the easy route. This time he pointed at Adam, Ryan and me to follow him down a dark dual-track (me hesitantly) while the others would take the easy way. I’m a made man!

Now we’re flying through the trees on an even snakier two-track, growing more confident and smoother with every turn. Say, this Tiger 900 Rally is magnificent! These Karoo 4 tires are unflappable! The others were out of sight again after a bit, but sometimes close enough to see a

few grains of sand still tumbling as I connected their fresh tire marks.

BrrrrRRRRRrrRRRRR! growled my Tiger as it consumed the trail. Maybe I’ve learned to ride at last… this is blissful, the low 60-degree weather is perfect… My companions are now family. Then it happened, as we came out of the trees into a sunny clearing with a great big Mojave-style deep sand wash.

Twenty yards ahead, my kid who hadn’t put a wheel wrong all day, or even fallen over in two days, was

ever does pull the trigger and buy a Scrambler 1200 like he’s been threatening (mostly to commute around SoCal), I’ll feel much better knowing he knows how to ride the wheels off the thing. Okay, well, you’re not an expert after two days of touring, but after following Stanton all that time, he knows exactly what one looks like, at least. Shudder to think how proficient one might become after the Level 3 school.

Bryan Rice felt like his life had been transformed as he packed up his Road Glide to ride home (it was his dealer trying to sell him a PanAmerica that got him to look up Stanton), and you could see the gears in the other fellas’ brains — all serious overachievers — plotting their next adventures.

Adventure biking didn’t really get to be a thing until I was on the wrong side of middle-age, and felt like it was a sketchy activity best avoided. Now I’m having to reconsider. On a nonbehemoth motorcycle like this Tiger 900 Rally (with low seat option), and a little expert instruction in how to do

having a hard time getting through, nearly falling over and using his feet to paddle; Jeff’s advice had been to paddle through if you were afraid to use his favored method of blasting through. Panicky and unable to decide which technique to use, I crawled in at about half throttle and toppled over almost immediately. Dammit!

Luckily Fred is a great bike pickerupper (it’s good form to pretend to help but it’s him providing 87% of the lifting), and at least, unlike California sand, this Michigan stuff is a bit easier to waddle through in first gear. It could be that this Tiger is just way lighter than the BMW 1250GS that last tried to Rommel me in the Mojave a few years ago.

I COULD GO ON

But by now you’re getting the idea. My son and I had a blast, and if he

it right, it’s all way less threatening and much more thrilling. I can’t think of a better way to find out if it’s for you than a few days with Jeff Stanton, riding around on borrowed motorcycles, on the very proving grounds that made him famous, and hanging out with him and other great people at the lodge at night. Ask Mrs. Stanton about the pulled squirrel. AMA

BOX GEAR

Thanks to Motonation for Ryan B.’s Pursang jacket/ pants and SIDI boots; Shoei for the Hornet X2 helmet; and Kriega USA for the R22 backpack. Also to Arai and Aerostich for J.B.’s XD-4 lid and Roadcrafter R-3 suit.

Jeff and Sara Stanton grew up together, started riding motorcycles together, and seem to be living, through thick and thin, the American Dream on the family farm. They’re happy to share, pulled squirrel and all. Thanks for the adventure!

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California Dual Sport

Helix Racing Products

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

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

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

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

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Save 20% on select products. Rockwelltime. com. Use code AMA20

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Exclusive service credit on SPOT Gen3, SPOT Trace or SPOT X device

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ALABAMA

COMING EVENTS

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

Road Race: July 29 - 30. Leeds. 2023 WERA Motorcycle Roadracing, WERA Motorcycle Roadracing, Inc., 770-720-5010, wera@wera.com, wera.com

ARKANSAS

Road Ride/Run: July 4 - 6. Harrison. Women on Wheels (R) Ride-In™, Women On Wheels, Inc., 402-326-9736, treasurer@womenonwheels.org, womenonwheels.org

CALIFORNIA

Speedway: July 7. Auburn. Regular Speedway, Fast Fridays Speedway, 530-878-7223, fastfriday@aol. com, www.fastfridays.com

Road Race: July 7 - 9. Salinas. Super Hooligan National Championship, Roland Sands Design, 562-493-5297, summer@rolandsands.com, www. superhooligan.com

Road Race: July 7 - 9. Salinas. Super Hooligan National Championship, Roland Sands Design, 562-493-5297, summer@rolandsands.com, www. superhooligan.com

Speedway: July 14. Auburn. Regular Speedway, Fast Fridays Speedway, 530-878-7223, fastfriday@ aol.com, www.fastfridays.com

Flat Track - Short Track: July 15. Lodi. 2023 AMA/ D36 Dirt Track Championship Series, Lodi Motorcycle Club, 209-368-7182, lodimcemail@gmail.com, lodicyclebowl.com

Desert Scrambles: July 15. Ridgecrest. Desert Scrambles, Lost Angels M.C., 818-489-0807, waddles1956@yahoo.com, lostangels.com

Speedway: July 21. Auburn. Regular Speedway, Fast Fridays Speedway, 530-878-7223, fastfriday@ aol.com, www.fastfridays.com

Road Ride/Run: July 28. San Jose. July Club Ride, BMW Motorcycle Club of Northern California, 408464 8094, safetydirector@bmwnorcal.org, bmwnorcal.org/events

Speedway: July 28. Auburn. Regular Speedway, Fast Fridays Speedway, 530-878-7223, fastfriday@ aol.com, www.fastfridays.com

Road Ride/Run: July 29. Oakland. OMC’s Bayside Ride, Oakland Motorcycle Club, 510-534-6222, hello@oaklandmc.org, oaklandmc.org

COLORADO

Motocross: July 23. Lakewood. RMRA Race, Colorado Motorsports Promotions LLC, 303-909-7003, denjump@gmail.com, www.tvmx.net

GEORGIA

Road Race: July 15 - 16. Bloomingdale. 2023 WERA Motorcycle Roadracing, WERA Motorcycle Roadracing, Inc., 770-720-5010, wera@wera.com, wera.com

ILLINOIS

Motocross: July 8 - 9. Casey. Thor Showdown Series, Lincoln Trail Motosports, 217-932-2041, drew@ lincolntrail.com, www.ridelincolntrail.com

Motocross: July 8. Mendota. Megacross Shootout Series, Moto Pro Inc., 815-539-9021, wardy@mtco. com, megacross.com

Flat Track - Short Track: July 15. Macomb. 2023 District 17, Lamoine Ramblers, 309-837-9436, lamoineramblers@gmail.com

Grand Prix: July 15. Wedron. Fox Valley Off Road Series, Moto Pro Inc., 815-884-9361, megatraxs.com

Hare Scrambles/Cross Country: July 16. Wedron. Fox Valley Off Road Series, Moto Pro Inc., 815-8849361, megatraxs.com

Off-Road/Trail Riding School: July 17 - 20. Casey. Fuel IL Camp, Fuel Ministry, 217-932-2041, lincolntrailmotosports@gmail.com, lincolntrailmotosports. com

Motocross: July 22. Walnut. Racer-X Senior Series, 4P Promotions, Inc., 815-379-9534, jan@sunsetridgemx.com, www.sunsetridgemx.com

Flat Track - Short Track: July 22. Macomb. 2023 District 17, Lamoine Ramblers, 309-837-9436, lamoineramblers@gmail.com, lamoineramblers.net

Motocross: July 23. Walnut. District 17 Motocross Series, 4P Promotions, Inc., 815-379-9534, jan@ sunsetridgemx.com, www.sunsetridgemx.com

Flat Track - Half-Mile: July 26. Urbana. 1/2 Mile State Championship, Central Illinois M/C, 217-2467154

Motocross: July 29. Wedron. Megacross Shootout Series, Moto Pro Inc., 815-539-9021, wardy@mtco. com, foxvalleyoffroad.com

Motocross: July 30. Wedron. Megacross Shootout Series, Moto Pro Inc., 815-539-9021, wardy@mtco. com, foxvalleyoffroad.com

INDIANA

Off-Road/Trail Riding School: July 3 - 6. New Albany. Fuel IN Quad Camp, Fuel Ministry, 502-5516190

Observed Trials: July 15. New Paris. MOTA Championship, Michigan Ontario Trials Association, 574-536-4729, mv5425@gmail.com, motatrials.com

Observed Trials: July 16. New Paris. MOTA Championship, Michigan Ontario Trials Association, 574-536-4729, mv5425@gmail.com, motatrials.com

Hare Scrambles/Cross Country: July 30. Columbus. Stoney Lonesome Harescramble Series, Stoney Lonesome Motorcycle Club, 812-343-4411, info@ stoneylonesomemc.com, www.stoneylonesomemc. com

IOWA

Motocross: July 23. Shell Rock. New Hartford Racing MX Iowa Moto Points Race, New Hartford Racing Association, Inc., 319-885-6469, newhartfordracing@ gmail.com, www.newhartfordracing.com

Trail Ride: July 29. Fremont. Fremont Fun Day, Turkey Scratch Enduro Riders, 641-660-1326, loskaloosafirechief@gmail.com, https://iera22.com/ enduros/fremont/

Enduro: July 30. Fremont. Skunk River Enduro, Turkey Scratch Enduro Riders, 641-660-1326, loskaloosafirechief@gmail.com

KANSAS

Drag Race - Asphalt: July 22. Easton. Abate of KS District 11 Field Events, ABATE of Kansas, 913-7049233, harleytower@aol.com, abateks.org

MARYLAND

Flat Track - Short Track: July 15. Whitehall. Norrisville Short Track, Heart and Soul Racing

Motocross: July 29 - 30. Oldtown. MAMA MX Series, Middle Atlantic Motocross Association, Inc., 919-259-4890, secretary@mamamx.com, www. mamamx.com

MASSACHUSETTS

Road Ride/Run: July 11 - 13 Springfield. MotorMaids 2023 Convention, Motor Maids, Inc., 260-444-9119, mmsafteyofficer@gmail.com

Motocross: July 30. Southwick. MSC AMA D34 - The Wick 338, Metropolitan Sports Committee, 781582-5491, rick@thewick338.com, thewick338.com

MICHIGAN

Motocross: July 1. Buchanan. RedBud MX, RedBud Recreation, Inc., 269-695-6405, info@ redbudmx.com, www.redbudmx.com

Motocross: July 2. Buchanan. RedBud Amateur Day, RedBud Recreation, Inc., 269-695-6405, info@ redbudmx.com, www.redbudmx.com

Motocross: July 9. Midland. D14 Motocross, Polka Dots M/C, 989-832-8284, correycolthorp@yahoo. com, polkadotsmc.net

Hillclimb: July 15. Jerome. Iron Man Hill Climb, Bundy Hill Offroad, 517-917-0493, bundyhilloffroad@ yahoo.com, www.bundyhilloffroad.com

Road Race: July 15 - 16. Belding. 2023 WERA Motorcycle Roadracing, WERA Motorcycle Roadracing, Inc., 770-720-5010, wera@wera.com, wera.com

Hillclimb: July 16. Jerome. Iron Man Hill Climb, Bundy Hill Offroad, 517-917-0493, bundyhilloffroad@ yahoo.com, www.bundyhilloffroad.com

Enduro: July 16. Eagle. Eagle Sprint Enduro, Tin Roof Flyers, 517-490-8714

Flat Track - TT: July 21. Deford. Flat Track, Lucky Thumb Motorcycle Club, Inc., 810-404-2895, raymie2895@gmail.com, www.luckythumbmotorcycleclub.com

Motocross:July 22. Cadillac. District 14 Motocross Series, Cadillac Motorcycle Club, Inc., 231-878-3486, www.cadillacmc.com

Flat Track - Short Track: July 22. Deford. Flat Track, Lucky Thumb Motorcycle Club, Inc., 810-404-2895, raymie2895@gmail.com, www.luckythumbmotorcycleclub.com

Motocross: July 23. Cadillac. District 14 Motocross Series, Cadillac Motorcycle Club, Inc., 231-878-3486, www.cadillacmc.com

Drag Race - Dirt: July 28. Grant. Bridgeton 3 Day, Muskegon Motorcycle Club, muskegonmotorcycleclub1920@yahoo.com, muskegonmotorcycleclub. com

Flat Track - TT: July 29. Grant. Bridgeton 3 Day, Muskegon Motorcycle Club, muskegonmotorcycleclub1920@yahoo.com, muskegonmotorcycleclub. com

Hillclimb: July 29. Grant. Bridgeton 3 Day, Muskegon Motorcycle Club, muskegonmotorcycleclub1920@yahoo.com, muskegonmotorcycleclub. com

Flat Track - TT: July 30. Grant. Bridgeton 3 Day Muskegon Motorcycle Club, muskegonmotorcycleclub1920@yahoo.com, muskegonmotorcycleclub. com

MINNESOTA

Motocross: July 2. Brook Park. District 23 Motocross Series, Berm Benders Incorporated, 320-2792238, bermbendersraceway@outlook.com, www. bermbendersraceway.com

Trail Ride: July 8 - 9. Mankato. Trail Ride, Kato Cycle Club, 507-380-0428, katocycleclub@gmail. com, www.katocycleclub.com

Motocross: July 9. Brook Park. District 23 Motocross Series, Berm Benders Incorporated, 320-2792238, bermbendersraceway@outlook.com, www. bermbendersraceway.com

Motocross: July 9. Browerville. District 23/Northstar MX Series, MotoCity Raceway & Recreation, Inc., 218-894-2826, motocity-RNR@hotmail.com, motocityraceway.com

Motocross: July 14. Millville. Super Series Round 6 sponsored by Dunlop, Hi-Winders, 507-753-2779, springcreekmxoffice@gmail.com, www.springcreekmx.com

Motocross: July 16. Millville. Super Series Round 7 Pro Track sponsored by 100%, Hi-Winders, 507753-2779, springcreekmxoffice@gmail.com, www. springcreekmx.com

Trail Ride: July 16. Hayland Township. Vintage Motorcycle Trail Ride, Twin Cities Trail Riders, 612965-8619, info@tctrailriders.org, www.tctrailriders.org

Observed Trials: July 16. Theilman. UMTA 2023 Events, Upper Midwest Trials Association, 651-2615977, bobbywarner@gmail.com, umta.org

Trail Ride: July 22 - 23. Millville. 4th Annual Ladies Ride, Twin Cities Trail Riders, 612-965-8619, info@ tctrailriders.org, www.tctrailriders.org

Motocross: July 23. Brookston. MX North Star Series, Echo Valley Motopark, LLC, 218-391-8422, echovalleymotopark@gmail.com, echovalleymotocross.com

Motocross: July 30. Cambridge. District 23 Motocross Series, BCMX Adventure Park, 612-280-8939, bcmxllc@hotmail.com, www.bcmxadventurepark.com

Motocross: July 30. Little Falls. District 23/Northstar MX Series, MotoCity Raceway & Recreation, Inc., 218-894-2826, motocity-RNR@hotmail.com,

COMING EVENTS

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

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Road Race: July 8 - 9. Canaan. USCRA Vintage GP, United States Classic Racing Association, raceuscra@yahoo.com, www.race-uscra.com

NEW JERSEY

Motocross: July 8. Englishtown. Raceway Park Motocross Saturday Night Lights Series, Raceway Park, 732-446-7800, racewaypark1965@gmail.com, www.racewaypark.com

Motocross: July 9. Englishtown. Raceway Park Motocross, Raceway Park, 732-446-7800, racewaypark1965@gmail.com, www.racewaypark.com

Motocross: July 16. Millville. Field of Dreams MX, Field of Dreams MX, LLC, info@njmpfod.com, https://njmpfod.com/

Flat Track - Half-Mile: July 22. Swedesboro. Build. Train. Race., Royal Enfield North America, buildtrainrace.com

NEW YORK

Motocross: July 2. Carlisle. MSC Championship MX Series, Metropolitan Sports Committee, 845-5548717, info@diamondback-motocross.com, www. diamondback-motocross.com

Observed Trials: July 9. Cuba. D4 Observed Trials, District 4 Trials Committee, 585-472-2577, grbrinkw@gmail.com, d4mototrials.weebly.com

Road Ride/Run: July 16. Deerfield/Old Forge. Central New York Ride for Kids, Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, 773-706-7030, bmcnamara@ curethekids.org, rideforkids.org/centralnewyork

Motocross: July 16. Vernon. CNYMRA D3 Motocross, URMX LLC, 315-725-4407

Motocross: July 23. Carlisle. MSC Championship MX Series, Metropolitan Sports Committee, 845554-8717, jslaughter@diamondback-mx.com, www. diamondback-motocross.com

Trail Ride: July 23. Dalton. Fun Trials Ride, Niagara Trials Riders, 716-930-0766, ntrclub@yahoo.com, ntrmototrials.weekly.com

Hare Scrambles/Cross Country: July 23. Cortland. The Ditch Banger, The Ditch Banger, 607-280-8765, theditchbanger@gmail.com, nyoa.net

Road Ride/Run: July 30. East Meadow. Life Ride, Alliance MC, 516-509-8143, corette27@gmail.com, http://www.alliancemc.com/

Enduro: July 30. Newark. Wayne County Motorcycle Club Sprint Enduro, Wayne County Motorcycle Club, 585-359-8615, waynecountymotorcycleclub@gmail. com, www.waynecountymc.com

NORTH CAROLINA

Road Ride/Run: July 23. Swannanoa. 2nd Annual Pediatric Cancer Ride, Pediatric Cancer Treatment Foundation, 828-837-3420, rtigueros.pctf@att.net, www.pctf-foundation.org

OHIO

Motocross: July 2. Sherrodsville. Beans Bike Park

- Ohio Motocross Championship Series, BEANS BIKE PARK, 330-440-2366, beansroadraceway@ aol.com, https://www.facebook.com/people/BeansMX/100057251658126/

Motocross: July 9. Waynesburg. Viva MX Series

Rnd 1 - Malvern MX, Patriot Promotions, info@ racemalvern.com, www.racemalvern.com

Dual Sport: July 15 - 16. Logan. Copperhead Dual Sport, Hocking Valley Motorcycle Club, 614-4251943, rmyers807@gmail.com, hockingvalleymc.com

Road Rally: July 21 - 23. Lexington. AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days, American Motorcyclist Association, 614-856-1900,clubs@ama-cycle.org, www.vintagemotorcycledays.com

Hare Scrambles/Cross Country: July 21. Lexington. AMA Vintage Hare Scrambles Grand Championship, American Motorcyclist Association, 614-856-1900, mjolly@ama-cycle.org, vintagemotorcycledays.com

Flat Track - Half-Mile: July 22. Ashland. AMA Vintage Flat Track National Championship Series, American Motorcyclist Association, 614-856-1900, ksaillant@ama-cycle.org, vintagemotorcycledays.com

Road Race: July 22 - 23. Lexington. AMA Vintage Roadrace Grand Championship, American Motorcyclist Association, 614-856-1900, ksaillant@amacycle.org, vintagemotorcycledays.com

Motocross: July 22 - 23. Lexington. AMA Vintage Motocross Grand Championship, American Motorcyclist Association, 614-856-1900, mburkeen@ ama-cycle.org, www.vintagemotorcycledays.com

Flat Track - Half-Mile: July 22. Van Wert. Western Ohio Motor Sports, Best of Ohio Summer Series, 937-417-2137, len@plasteringbynealeigh.com

Motocross: July 22 - 23. Nashport. ATV National, Briarcliff Motocross, LLC, 740-763-2047, josborn@ briarcliffmx.com, www.briarcliffmx.com

Observed Trials: July 23. Lexington. AMA Vintage Trials Grand Championship, American Motorcyclist Association, 614-856-1900, mjolly@ama-cycle.org, vintagemotorcycledays.com

Off-Road/Trail Riding School: July 24 - 27. Uhrichsville. Fuel OH Camp, Fuel Ministry, 330-365-9022, info@crowcanyonmx.com, crowcanyonmx.com

PENNSYLVANIA

Motocross: July 1 - 2. Seward. AMA ATV Motocross National Championship Series, Pleasure Valley Raceway, 814-317-6686, jeffcernic@gmail.com, www.pvrmx.com

Enduro: July 8 - 9. Gillett. STER Barbed Wire Enduro, Southern Tier Enduro Riders, southerntierenduroriders2022@gmail.com

Observed Trials: July 8. Marysville. District 6 MotoTrials, Tricky Tryalers MC, 717-979-4691, holman220@aol.com

Motocross: July 9. Shippensburg. Doublin GapMDRA Series, Doublin Gap Motocross, Inc., 717-2496036, doublingap@gmail.com, www.doublingap.com

Observed Trials: July 9. Marysville. District 6 MotoTrials, Tricky Tryalers MC, 717-979-4691, hol-

man220@aol.com

Adventure Ride: July 14 - 16. Marienville. Allegheny Jamboree Rally, Appalachian ADV-Adventure & Dual Sport Motorbiking LLC, 330-272-4186, kane@appalachianadv.com, https://www.appalachianadv.com/ events.html#/

Motocross: July 15 - 16. Pine Grove. MAMA MX Series, Middle Atlantic Motocross Association, Inc., 919-259-4890, secretary@mamamx.com, www. mamamx.com

Hare Scrambles/Cross Country: July 15 - 16. Frackville. OxBo/Skip Stoner Memorial H/S, South Penn Enduro Riders, 717-385-6014, dashughart@aol.com

Enduro: July 23. Cross Fork. Rattlesnake National Enduro, Brandywine Enduro Riders, 570-927-2797, www.quietoaks.org

Motocross: July 23. Pine Grove. District 6 Henrietta Classic Series, Dutchmen MX, 570-915-4141, info@ dutchmenmxpark.com, www.dutchmenmxpark.com

Flat Track - Short Track: July 23. Gettysburg. Short Track, Shippensburg MC, 717-503-8030, candybaer@ comcast.net, baermotorsports.com

Enduro: July 30. Blain. ECEA Foggy Mountain Enduro, Delaware Valley Trail Riders, 732-801-9248, dvtrevents@gmail.com, dvtrailriders.org

RHODE ISLAND

Observed Trials: July 29. Exeter. NATC/AMA MotoTrials Series, Rhode Island Trials Club, trialsriders@ hotmail.com, www.ritrialsclub.com

Observed Trials: July 30. Exeter. NATC/AMA MotoTrials Series, Rhode Island Trials Club, trialsriders@ hotmail.com, www.ritrialsclub.com

SOUTH DAKOTA

Motocross: July 2. Sturgis. AMA District 30 Championship, JACKPINE GYPSIES MOTORCYCLE CLUB, 605-347-6022, jpgmc36@gmail.com, jackpinegypsies. com

Dual Sport: July 17 - 20. Keystone. Dakota 600, SD Trails Development Corporation, 605-645-1756, wchearne@gmail.com, dakota600.com

TENNESSEE

Motocross: July 8 - 9. Altamont. Dog Days of Summer, Fast Farms MX Park 931-409-4453, fastfarmsmx@yahoo.com, facebook.com/fastfarmsmxpark

Motocross: July 15. Blountville. Thor Mega Series, Victory Sports Inc, 423-323-5497, jane@victorysports.com, www.victory-sports.com

Motocross: July 16. Blountville. AMA Tennessee State Championship/Mega Series, Victory Sports Inc, 423-323-5497, jane@victory-sports.com, www. victory-sports.com

Road Ride/Run: July 29 - 30. Kingsport. TN In-State Ride, Hoagy’s Heroes, Inc, 304-639-1863, hoagy@ hoagysheroes.org, hoagysheroes.org

TEXAS

Motocross: July 22. Del Valle. 2023 Main Event

Championship Series, EMX, LLC, 832-646-2455, EmxMoto@gmail.com, www.EMXonline.com

Motocross: July 22. Wortham. FMF Texas Night Series Rd 7, Freestone County Raceway LLC, 832-491-7555, freestonemx@gmail.com, www. freestonemx.com

WEST VIRGINIA

Flat Track - Half-Mile: July 1. Mineral Wells. Build. Train. Race., Royal Enfield North America, buildtrainrace.com

Motocross: July 23. Hedgesville. Capitol Cup/D2 MX Series, Tomahawk MX, LLC, 304-582-8185, www.tomahawkmx.com

WISCONSIN

Motocross: July 9. Lake Mills. Aztalan Cycle Club Pro-Am, Aztalan Cycle Club, Inc., www.aztalanmx. com

Hare Scrambles/Cross Country: July 9. Oconto Falls. Oconto Falls, Four Wheeler Dirtbike Cross Country (FDXC), 920-360-4405, info@rendlux.com, fdcxr.com

Flat Track - Short Track: July 15. Lake Mills. Aztalan Flat Track, Aztalan Cycle Club, Inc., 414-2651582, aztalancycle@gmail.com, aztalanmx.com

Observed Trials: July 15. Baraboo. Mountain Road MotoTrials, Wisconsin Observed Trials Association, 319-330-8016, nursehuber@aol.com, wisconsintrials.org

Observed Trials: July 16. Baraboo. Mountain Road MotoTrials, Wisconsin Observed Trials Association, 319-330-8016, nursehuber@aol.com, wisconsintrials.org

Flat Track - Short Track: July 22. Barnett. District 16 ST, Beaver Cycle Club, Inc., 920-319-6889, facebook/beavercycleclub

Hare Scrambles/Cross Country: July 22. Wauzeka. Larsen ATV Park, Four Wheeler Dirtbike Cross Country (FDXC), 920-360-4405, info@rendlux.com, fdcxr.com

WYOMING

Adventure Ride: July 18 - 22. Baggs. Wyoming Back Country Adventure Ride, West 38 Moto, 970-581-7402, dusty.wessels@west38moto.com, west38moto.com

MOTOCROSS

2023 Pro Motocross Championship promotocross.com

Round 5: July 1. Buchanan, Mich. RedBud MX

Round 6: July 8. Southwick, Mass. The Wick 338

Round 7: July 15. Millville, Minn. Spring Creek MX Park

Round 8: July 22. Washougal, Wash. Washougal MX Park

Round 9: Aug 12. New Berlin, N.Y. Unadilla MX

Round 10: Aug 19. Mechanicsville, Md. Budds Creek Raceway

COMING EVENTS

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

Round 11: Aug 26. Crawfordsville, Ind. Ironman Raceway

SUPERMOTOCROSS

2023 SuperMotocross Championship supermotocross.com

Sept. 9. Charlotte, N.C. zMAX Dragway

Sept. 16. Joliet, Ill. Chicagoland Speedway

Sept. 23. Los Angeles, Calif. Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship, mxsports.com

July 31-Aug. 5. Hurricane Mills, Tenn. Loretta Lynn Ranch

AMA ATV Motocross National Championship Series, atvmotocross.com

Round 8: July 1-2. Seward, Pa. Pleasure Valley Raceway.

Round 9: July 22-23. Nashport, Ohio. Briarcliff MX.

Round 10: Aug. 12-13. Hurricane Mills, Tenn. Loretta Lynn Ranch.

AMA Vintage Motocross Grand Championship amavintagemotorcycledays.com

July 22-23. Lexington, Ohio. Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

FEATURED EVENTS OR SERIES

Maine Event

Aug. 26-27. Lyman, Maine. MX 207. (781) 831-2207. mx207.com

Baja Brawl

Sept. 1-4. Millington, Mich. Baja Acres. (989) 8713356. bajaacres.com

Yamaha All-Star Pro-Am/Cobra Cup/MDRA Series

Sept. 9-10. Shippensburg, Pa. Doublin Gap MX Park. (717) 249-6036. doublingap.com

ChilliTown Classic

Sept. 12-17. Chillicothe, Ohio. ChilliTown MX. (513) 266-2866. chillitownmx.com

47th Annual Race of Champions sponsored by Kawasaki

Sept. 29-Oct. 1. Englishtown, N.J. Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. (732) 446-7800. racewaypark. com

The Motoplayground Race at Ponca City

Oct. 5-8. Ponca City, Okla. Ponca City MX. (816) 5824113. poncamx.com

Top Gun Showdown/Mega Series

Oct. 15. Blountville, Tenn. Muddy Creek Raceway. (423) 323-5497. victory-sports.com

Halloween Bash

Oct. 29. Axton, Va. Lake Sugar Tree Motorsports Park. (276) 650-1158. lakesugartree.com

Cash for Class Scholarship Race

Nov. 11-12. Cairo, Ga. GPF. (810) 348-8700. gpfmx. com

PRO-AM EVENTS

Pro-Am Schedule

RedBud Amateur Day: July 2. Buchanan, Mich. RedBud MX. (269) 695-6405. redbudmx.com

Aztalan Cycle Club Pro-Am: July 9. Lake Mills, Wis. Aztalan Cycle Club. aztalanmx.com

AMA Tennessee State Championship/Mega Series: July 16. Blountville, Tenn. Muddy Creek Raceway. (423) 323-5497. victory-sports.com

MSC Championship MX Series: July 23. Carlisle, N.Y. Diamondback MX @ The Ranch at Carlisle (845) 554-8717. diamondback-motocross.com

MDRA Series: Aug. 13. Pine Grove, Pa. Dutchmen MX. (570) 915-4141. dutchmenmxpark.com

District 17 Motocross Series: Aug. 13. Walnut, Ill. Sunset Ridge MX. (815) 379-9534. sunsetridgemx.com

Maine Event: Aug. 26-27. Lyman, Maine. MX 207. (781) 831-2207. mx207.com

Baja Brawl: Sept. 1-4. Millington, Mich. Baja Acres. (989) 871-3356. bajaacres.com

Yamaha All-Star Pro-Am/Cobra Cup/MDRA Series: Sept. 9-10. Shippensburg, Pa. Doublin Gap MX Park. (717) 249-6036. doublingap.com

Field of Dreams Pro-Am: Sept. 17. Millville, N.J. Field of Dreams MX. njmpfod.com

ChilliTown Classic: Sept. 17. Chillicothe, Ohio. ChilliTown MX. (513) 266-2866. chillitownmx.com

Travis Pastrana Pro-Am Challenge: Sept. 23-24. Seward, Pa. Pleasure Valley Raceway. (814) 3176686. pvrmx.com

AMA Georgia State Championship/Mega/BIG/ SAS Series *DOUBLE POINTS: Sept. 24. Dalton, Ga. Lazy River MX. (706) 278-2868. lazyrivermx.com

47th Annual Race of Champions sponsored by Kawasaki: Sept. 29-Oct. 1. Englishtown, N.J. Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. (732) 446-7800. racewaypark.com

Megacross Shootout Series: Sept. 30. Mendota, Ill. Megacross. (815) 539-9021. megacross.com

The Motoplayground Race at Ponca City: Oct. 5-8. Ponca City, Okla. Ponca City MX. (816) 5824113. poncamx.com

Top Gun Showdown/Mega Series: Oct. 15. Blountville, Tenn. Muddy Creek Raceway. (423) 323-5497. victory-sports.com

Tony Miller Memorial Race: Oct. 21-22. Wortham, Texas. Freestone County Raceway LLC. (713) 9623386. freestonemx.com

AMA Texas State Championship: Oct. 28-29. Conroe, Texas. 3 Palms Action Sports Park. (936) 321-8725. threepalmsesp.com

Halloween Bash: Oct. 29. Axton, Va. Lake Sugar Tree Motorsports Park. (276) 650-1158. lakesugartree.com

AMA South Carolina State Championship/Mega Series: Nov. 12. Hamer, S.C. South of the Border MX. (423) 323-5497. victory-sports.com

STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

AMA Tennessee State Championship: July 16. Blountville, Tenn. Muddy Creek Raceway. (423) 3235497. victory-sports.com

AMA Virginia State Championship: Aug. 13. Axton, Va. Lake Sugar Tree Motorsports Park. (276) 6501158. lakesugartree.com

AMA New York State Championship: Aug. 19-20. Greig, N.Y. High Voltage Hills MX. (315) 725-0368. highvoltagehillsmx.com

AMA New Jersey State Championship: Aug. 20. Englishtown, N.J. Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. (732) 446-7800. racewaypark.com

AMA New York ATV State Championship: Aug. 26-27. Greig, N.Y. High Voltage Hills MX. (315) 7250368. highvoltagehillsmx.com

AMA Georgia State Championship: Sept. 24. Dalton, Ga. Lazy River MX. (706) 278-2868. lazyrivermx.com

AMA Kentucky State Championship: Sept. 24. Leitchfield, Ky. South Fork Motoplex. (270) 230-2005. southforkmotoplex.com

AMA Maryland State Championship: Oct. 8. Mechanicsville, Md. Budds Creek MX. (443) 223-9171. buddscreek.com

AMA West Virginia State Championship: Oct. 22. Hedgesville, W. Va. Tomahawk MX. (304) 582-8185. tomahawkmx.com

AMA Texas State Championship: Oct. 28-29. Conroe, Texas. 3 Palms Action Sports Park. (936) 321-8725. threepalmsesp.com

AMA South Carolina State Championship: Nov. 12. Hamer, S.C. South of the Border MX. (423) 3235497. victory-sports.com

TRACK RACING

2023 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship motoamerica.com

Round 5: July 7-9. Monterey, Calif. WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca

Round 6: July 28-30. Brainerd, Minn. Brainerd International Raceway

Round 7: Aug. 18-20. Wampum, Pa. Pittsburgh International Race Complex

Round 8: Sept. 8-10. Austin, Texas. Circuit of the Americas

Round 9: Sept. 22-24. Millville, N.J. New Jersey Motorsports Park

2023 Progressive American Flat Track americanflattrack.com

Round 11: July 1, West Virginia Motor Speedway, Mineral Wells, Va. Half-Mile

Round 12: July 8. Middletown, N.Y. Orange County Fair Speedway. Half-Mile

Round 13: July 22. Bridgeport, N.J. Bridgeport

Speedway. Half-Mile

Round 14: July 30. Peoria, Ill. Peoria Motorcycle Club. TT

Round 15: Aug. 6. Sturgis, S.D. Buffalo Chip. TT

Round 16: Aug. 12. Castle Rock, Wash. Castle Rock Race Park. TT

Round 17: Sept. 2. Springfield, Ill. Illinois State Fairgrounds. Mile I

Round 18: Sept. 3. Springfield, Ill. Illinois State Fairgrounds. Mile II

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

AMA Vintage Road Race Grand Championship amavintagemotorcycledays.com

July 22-23. Lexington, Ohio. Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

AMA Hillclimb Grand Championship facebook.com/MonsonMonster/

Aug. 4-6. Monson, Ma. Monson Monster

AMA Supermoto National Championship Series amasupermotonational.com

Round 4: Aug. 8. Sturgis, S.D. Jackpine Gypsies

Round 5: Sept. 24. Plymouth, Wis. Briggs & Stratton Motorplex at Road America.

Rounds 6 & 7: Nov. 4-5. Tucson, Ariz. Musselman Honda Circuit

AMA Super Hooligan National Championship Series superhooligan.com

Rounds 5-6: July 7-9. Salinas, Calif. WeatherTech Raceway. Laguna Seca

Rounds 7-8: Sept. 8-10. Austin, Texas. Circuit of the Americas

AMA Vintage Flat Track National Championship Series, americanmotorcyclist.com/flat-track-racing/

Round 11: July 22. Ashland, Ohio. Ashland County Fairgrounds (Half-Mile). (614) 856-1900. americanmotorcyclist.com/flat-track-racing/

Round 12: Aug. 12. Salem, Ohio. Western Reserve Motorcycle Club (Short Track). (330) 760-5960. westernreservemc.com

Round 13: Aug. 31. Springfield, Ill. Illinois State Fair-

grounds (Short Track). 270-442-7532. stevenaceracing.com

Round 14: Sept. 23. Cuddebackville, N.Y. Oakland Valley Race Park (Short Track). (845) 219-1193. tristateclub.net

Round 15: Sept. 24. Cuddebackville, N.Y. Oakland Valley Race Park (Short Track). (845) 219-1193. tristateclub.net

Round 16: Fall ’23 TBD. Greenville, Ohio. Darke County Fairgrounds (Half-Mile). (850) 637-5838. darkecountyfair.com

Round 17: Fall ’23 TBD. Greenville, Ohio. Darke County Fairgrounds (Half-Mile). (850) 637-5838. darkecountyfair.com

FEATURED EVENTS OR SERIES

AMA AHDRA Featured Series, raceahdra.com

Round 4: July 28-30. Milan, Mich. Milan Dragway

Round 5: Aug. 6-8. Sturgis, S.D. Sturgis Dragway

Round 6: Sept. 8-10. Rising Sun, Md. Cecil County Dragway

Round 7: Oct. 27-29. Rockingham, N.C. Rockingham Dragway

OFF-ROAD

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Grand National Cross Country Championship, gnccracing.com

Round 10: The Mountaineer – Sept. 15-17. Beckley, W. Va. Summit Bechtel Reserve.

Round 11: Buckwheat 100 – Oct. 6-8. Newburg, W. Va. CJ Raceway.

Round 12: Ironman – Oct. 20-22. Crawfordsville, Ind. Ironman Raceway.

AMA National Grand Prix Championship Series, ngpcseries.com

Round 8: Aug. 18-20. Preston, Idaho.

Round 9: Sept. 30-Oct. 1. Ridgecrest, Calif.

Round 10: Nov. 10-12. Lake Havasu, Ariz.

AMA National Hare and Hound Championship Series, nationalhareandhound.com

Round 5: Sept. 9. Panaca, Nev.

Photo of Dave Roper by Bill Burke ©2022

COMING EVENTS

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

Round 6: Oct. 21-22. Lucerne Valley, Calif.

AMA National Enduro Championship Series, nationalenduro.com

Round 6: Rattlesnake National – July 23. Cross Fork, Pa. (610) 883-7607, ber.us

Round 7: Little Raccoon National – Sept. 10. Wellston, Ohio. (740) 357-0350. adrohio.org

Round 8: Muddobbers National – Oct. 1. Matthews, Ind. (765) 998-2236. muddobbersmc.org

Round 9: Gobbler Better National – Oct. 29. Stanton, Ala. (334) 267-2463. perrymountainmotorcycleclub. com

AMA/NATC National MotoTrials Championship, www.mototrials.com

Rounds 7-8: July 29-30, Exeter, R.I.

AMA Vintage Hare Scrambles Grand Championship amavintagemotorcycledays.com

July 21. Lexington, Ohio. Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

AMA Vintage Trials Grand Championship amavintagemotorcycledays.com

July 23. Lexington, Ohio. Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

AMA/NextGen East Youth/Women’s MotoTrials Championship, trialstrainingcenter.com

June 30–July 2. Sequatchie, Tenn. Trials Training Center.

AMA/NATC East MotoTrials Championship Series. mototrials.com

Round 3-4: July 29-30. Exeter, R.I.

AMA West Hare Scrambles Championship, westharescramble.com

Round 6: TBD

Round 7: Oct. 7-8 Washougal, Wash.

Round 8: Nov. 18-19. Wilseyville, Calif.

FEATURED EVENTS OR SERIES

AMA Mid East Racing Championship Series mideastracing.com

Round 11. Aug. 26-27. Boonville, N.C. Welborn Farms.

Round 12. Sept. 9-10. Woodruff, S.C. Harris Bridge.

Round 13. Sept. 23-24. Morgantown, N.C. Chapman Farms.

Round 14. Oct. 14-15. Shelby, N.C. Water Wheel Classic.

Round 15. Oct. 28-29. Hickory, N.C. Wilson Memorial Airport

New York Off-Road Championship Series nyoa.net

Round 4. July 9. Homer, N.Y. Knobby Acres

Round 5. July 23. Cortland, N.Y. Ditch Banger

Round 6. Aug. 6. Colesville, N.Y. Black Sky

Round 7. Aug. 20. Lowman, N.Y. Baldwin Trail Riders

Round 8. Sept. 3. Moravia, N.Y. Twisted Fence Round 9. Sept. 17. Harpursville, N.Y. The Punisher Round 10. Oct. 1. Berkshire, N.Y. Hemlock Hills @ Brink Farms

NATIONAL RECREATIONAL

2023 AMA National Adventure Riding Series americanmotorcyclist.com/nationaladventure-riding

Sept. 9-10. Blue Ridge. Pineola, N.C. Appalachian Trail Riders. (704) 309-3271 carolinadualsporters. com/2023-pineola-blue-ridge-adventure-ride

Sept. 16-17. Buffaloe 500. Columbus, Ind. Stoney Lonesome Motorcycle Club. (812) 342-4411 stoneylonesomemc.com

Sept. 23-24. Big Woods 200. Wabeno, Wis. Wisconsin Dual Sport Riders. (920) 350-2030 widualsportriders.org

Sept. 29-30. Shasta ADV Rally. Redding, Calif. Redding Dirt Riders. (530) 227-1581 reddingdirtriders. com

Oct. 14-15. Fire Works and Fire Hoses. Langsville, Ohio. Enduro Riders of Ohio. (740) 506-1288. enduroriders.com

Oct. 28-29. Cross-Florida Adventure. Daytona Beach, Fla. Dixie Dual Sport. (727) 919-8299 dixiedualsport. com

Nov. 24-25. LA – Barstow to Vegas. Palmdale, Calif. AMA District 37 Dual Sport. (626) 684-2336 labarstowvegas.com

2023 Beta AMA National Dual Sport Series americanmotorcyclist.com/nationaladventure-riding

July 15-16. Copperhead. Logan, Ohio. Hocking Valley Motorcycle Club. (614) 425-1943 hockingvalleymc.com

Sept. 9-10. LBL 200. Golden Pond, Ky. Thomas Brothers Promotions (KT Riders). (270) 350-6324. lbl200.com

Sept. 16-17. Buffaloe 500. Columbus, Ind. Stoney Lonesome Motorcycle Club. (812) 342-4411 stoneylonesomemc.com

Sept. 23-24. Mountain Madness. Flagstaff, Ariz. Coconino Trail Riders. (928) 225-5365 coconinotrailriders.org

Sept. 23-24. Big Woods 200. Wabeno, Wis. Wisconsin Dual Sport Riders. (920) 350-2030 widualsportriders.org

Sept. 29-30. Shasta ADV Rally. Redding, Calif. Redding Dirt Riders. (530) 227-1581 reddingdirtriders.com

Oct. 7-8. Shenandoah 500. Mount Solon, Va. Washington Area Trail Riders. 619-243-9630 www.watr.us

Nov. 4-5. Howlin’ at the Moon. Prescott Valley, Ariz. Arizona Trail Riders. (602) 692-9382 arizonatrailriders.org

Nov. 4-5. Hammer Run. Port Elizabeth, N.J. TriCounty Sportsmen M.C. Inc. teamhammer.org

Nov. 24-25. LA – Barstow to Vegas. Palmdale, Calif. AMA District 37 Dual Sport. (626) 684-2336 labarstowvegas.com

AMA Trademarks

The following represents active, registered trademarks,trademarks 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® • AMA 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®

Garage

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

Beta 300RR REVIEW QUICKIE

BY THAD WOLFF

Springtime in the high desert of central Nevada. Plenty of rain and snow over the winter months has left the rivers and streams flowing, the hills green with flowers blooming, and the moist dirt prime for two-wheelers with knobby tires! I’d been hearing about the Nevada 200 trail ride for quite some time, and this crisp morning I am finally one of

Two-stroke Beta testing on the Nevada 200 Trail Ride

the lucky 200 riders to be adjusting my goggles and shifting into first gear, heading out for the first of three days and 200 miles of off-road heaven.

But you’ll have to read about all that next month, because right now we’re focusing on the excellent Beta 300RR the event organizers were nice enough to lend me for the weekend.

I’ll bet there are a lot of AM readers with great memories of growing up

I’ve experienced in an engine its size, and just keeps pulling smoothly from off-idle all the way up top.

The bike’s compliant suspension allowed me to just pick my lines around downed riders over and through the rock-filled terrain, wishing them the best. As I crested the hill, I had two thoughts: is there going to be 200 miles of this?! The second was, I sure am glad to be riding this motorcycle right now. The Beta quickly

ered nicely. This bike is making me feel like I’m always under control — which is a nice feeling to have over 200 challenging off-road miles.

Though a Keihin PWK 36mm carburetor may sound a bit archaic (not how it works!), such modern amenities as electronic oil injection (conveniently located under the seat) and electric starting imbue the RR with modern conveniences — also an easy-access no-tools air filter. Seems like an excellent blending of old tech with new. Also, not only is the $9,899 300RR less expensive than Beta’s comparable 4-stroke models, its 2-stroke simplicity and Keihin carburetor should make it easier to keep as well.

Another advantage would be the Build Your Own Beta program,

riding 2-strokes of all kinds, that feeling of the power coming on, your arms getting stretched and your eyes getting big. I’ve always liked 2-stroke enduro bikes, having spent a lot of time on a Suzuki RMX.

It was love at first sight with this 300RR, almost like seeing a new Ferrari. Italian, bright red, beautifully sculpted, and purposely built. With no time on the bike and within the first mile of trail, there was a gnarly, rocky hillclimb with riders scrambling all over the place, some unsuccessfully clawing their way to the top. The carbureted Beta motor has the most awesome 2-stroke low-end torque

made me feel very confident with my slightly lapsed dirt-biking skills.

Combined with its tried-and-true steel frame and the linkage-mounted fully adjustable Sachs shock out back, it amazed me how competently the RR worked in all conditions. The 48mm open-cartridge Sachs fork never wanted to deflect off sharp rocks, and was so predictable through deep sand washes, the whole package just seemed perfectly balanced — no doubt helped by the weight advantage a two-stroke always brings to the table. Forgiving, yes. When things got rough and out of shape on the trail, I always recov-

which lets buyers order their RR with just the equipment they want, everything from instrumentation to plastics, seats, wheels and tires, Rekluse clutch, etc. The only tool you’ll need is a credit card — details at Betausa.com.

Three days later, I’m a believer in this modern-day ring-ding, which transported me not just across Nevada but also back in time — in a completely smooth, modern way. I believe this could be one of those rare bikes that’s able to bridge the gap between being a newer rider’s friendly partner, as well as an experienced racer’s two-wheeled weapon.

Left: Ex-AMA Superbike and -Formula 1 phenom Thad Wolff with his new favorite off-road bike, Beta’s ultra-popular 300RR two-stroke, this one prepped by none other than AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Rodney Smith (shown here).

As I crested the hill, I had two thoughts: is there going to be 200 miles of this ?! The second was, I sure am glad to be riding this motorcycle right now. The Beta quickly made me feel very confident with my slightly lapsed dirt-biking skills.

LAST PAGE

BY JOY BURGESS

ay was the AMA’s first Take a Kid Dirt Biking Month, and it’s been exciting. Through our organizers’ events and kids and parents getting involved on their own, around 900 kids got out on two wheels as a part of the campaign, and these photos represent just a few of them. More kids riding — that’s a win! Stay tuned for more about all the action in an upcoming issue.

A truly epic opportunity to win a bike ridden and signed by AMA Hall of Famer and 1993 World Champion Kevin Schwantz? You bet! Raffle tickets give you chances to win a new Suzuki GSX-R1000 painted in Schwantz’s late ’80s Pepsi Racing livery, and also benefit the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame and Museum — where legends live! A winner will be drawn next July at 2023 AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. DON’T MISS THIS!

Turn journeys into expeditions.

reach far-off, epic landscapes and discover diverse cultures. supported by 240 mm of high-end wp xplor suspension, the new norden 901 expedition has all the features you need to travel further.

all it takes is a turn of the wheels and whole new worlds are within reach.

Photo: TOAST