Cycle News

VOL. 52 ISSUE 30 JULY 28, 2015 P121 50cc Mondial out there with an AJS 7R." The formation of CVRG was one of the earliest formal bodies, such as it was, to exist for vintage racing. There was also vintage racing going on in the Pacific Northwest and at a track in Las Vegas. CVRG invited the best vintage riders from those groups to compete for a season-ending West Coast Gold Cup. It marked the first regional vintage championship. CVRG and a few smaller clubs set the stage for what would become an explosion of popularity of vin- tage racing. After a few CVRG races running in con- junction with West Coast AMA National road races, it was clear vintage racing was really gaining traction. Out east there was the Historic Motorcycle Rac- ing Association, which raced the Daytona vintage events. By 1986, it was clear that a National or- ganization would be necessary to administer this burgeoning sport. AHRMA was originally formed as a privately-held business corporation. Other groups were brought together under one banner and one set of rules, and in 1989, AHRMA was reorganized into the member-owned association. By the late 1980s and early '90s the vintage races during Daytona Bike Week became huge, drawing thousands of fans to watch classic motorcycles, often raced by some of the best-known racers from the past. AHMRA's Formula 750 and Premier 500 classes became the main draw. "It was basically all the big four-stroke bikes that were being raced before the TZ came along and made pretty much everything else obsolete," Green explained. Eventually AHRMA picked up the Battle of the Twins class after it was dropped from AMA Pro's schedule and then for a time added Sound of Sin- gles. AHRMA events drew racers and motorcycles from across the globe. A street race at Steamboat Springs, Colorado, was perhaps the biggest event outside of Daytona in the 1990s. Everything was going along well for vintage racing during the 1990s. Other genres of racing came un- der the AHRMA banner as well, such as motocross and flat track. But then things began to unravel. One problem was that the series became a victim of its own success. Old guys racing old bikes began to change when some teams starting bringing in young guns and current pros to race their vintage machines. Then there were the costs involved. When vin- tage racing began many of these old motorcycles could be had for a song. "I traded a Honda 100 for a three-cylinder Triumph," Green laughs about how cheaply some of the best vintage racing machines could be had in the early '80s. But then owners began to realize what they had, the prices of vintage mo- torcycles, especially ones with racing pedigrees, shot through the roof in the 1990s. No longer would most riders be willing to race their suddenly precious motorcycle that might be worth tens of thousands or more. Gradually parts were remanu- factured to the point that many of the bikes being raced had few, if any original parts. Then there was the problem of the riders, own- ers and fan base getting old. But Green and Quinn were both unanimous that the way vintage racing was structured in America eventually led to its downfall. Everyone had a voice, which meant that there was always a lot of infighting and people wanting a class for their bike and rules to allow things they wanted. It got out of hand and eventually lawsuits were flying and vintage racing took a nosedive. "It was politics," Green said. "Everybody had their own agendas and then you had big egos involved." While today vintage racing is a shadow of what it once was 20 years ago, there are signs that vintage can still be popular with the Barber Vintage Festival giving this part of motorcycle racing a big shot in the arm. And of course what is considered vintage is changing, especially when you ponder motorcy- cles that are 25 years old now are 1990 models! It remains to be seen as the vintage racing progress- es how these newer classics will be implemented with the bikes of an earlier era. CN Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives

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