From 1973 to 1983, the United States was going through what’s now known as the “malaise era”. It’s not really hard to figure out why this was happening, after all, the Vietnam war had just come to a close, fuel economy/emissions regulations were stricter than ever, and political turmoil was mixing with disco dancing in a way that no one really needed. As a result of all these unique elements, automobiles of the era were slow, bland, and frankly, uninspired.
Motorcycles of this period, however, were anything but malaise and it seemed like our country had found its passion not in Automobiles but in the culture of motorcycles. This era produced some of the most legendary bikes, machines that would go on to inspire, slightly terrify, and build a permanent place in the hearts of fun-loving men and women everywhere.
I was introduced to Sam at the Hard Times Show in Worcester, Massachusetts. As soon as he pulled up and parked his bike, it immediately started getting peoples attention. When asked, he had no problem wheeling his 1950 Harley Davidson Panhead around to the side of Ralph’s Rock Diner to get away from the crowd so we could chat and shoot a few pictures.
We were lucky enough to spend some time with Kacey Elkins of Krossover Customs on our "Motorcycle Sherpa" trip he had won via one of our promotional trip giveaways. The trip covered an extreme 2 weeks of riding in the most versatile and amazing landscapes stretching across the Himalayan mountain regions of Nepal. During this trip we got to know Kacey and his skills as a rider and builder much better and he then went on after the trip to use those skills to make the ultimate adventure bike out of one of our favorite vintage Japanese build platforms, the Yamaha XS650. Only he set out to achieve making this like no other XS650 anyone had ever seen and we couldn't have been more excited to see it finally presented at our Old Bike Barn Crossroads bike show at the AMA vintage motorcycle days event. We had some time then to get a few shots of the build and talk with him a little more about why he chose this as his adventure build of choice.
There's no better way to spend a weekend than taking in the sights, smells, and sounds of vintage motorcycles racing. From a outside perspective, we've watched the vintage road race scene gain more and more traction with organizations like WERA, and AHRMA These organizations have done the best they can to recreate the golden years of vintage road racing and we tip our hats to them. Walk through the pits of one of their vintage events and you'll feel like you hopped in a time machine and went back to the 60's-70s. With these events you tend to see a trend of motorcycles that participate like the Honda CB160, CB350, Triumph daytona, Ducati Desmo, but one bike you don't see often is a Honda CBX. We caught word of a local racer in the suburbs of Columbus, OH. who was the son of MRCBX, If you're into CBX's then chances are you know who we are talking about. Through a local vintage motorcycle facebook group we connected with Robby Ringnalda to get the story on how road racing a CBX came to light.
The local Indianapolis "Ton Up" club decided that vintage bikes needed somewhere to go to bring more people together. They began hosting a Vintage Bike Night there every first Thursday of the month. That tradition has carried on for years now and brought out some of the most incredible restorations and custom builds that would have otherwise just been sitting in a well preserved collection in the far corners of the state.
