The Vintage 1000 now in its 6th year is a pre 1981 "vintage only" motorcycle ride that spans a course of 1000 miles of incredibly diverse terrain that mixes some the most extreme trail riding and gorgeous beautifully paved roads that the Appalachian mountains can offer. Adam and Jamie Sheard of the moto repair shop "Speed Deluxe" out of Chattanooga, TN wanted to bring something exclusive to people who eat, sleep and breathe vintage motorcycles of all brands. Something that could push them out of their comfort zones and test their vintage steeds and willful spirits to a crash course of high and low speed endurance riding all while using only traditional paper maps and handlebar mounted roll charts only.
Just south of Chillicothe, Ohio sits a beautiful landscape of rolling hills and forests that are host to a few incredible hideaways that are like something out of a dirtbike lovers dreams. Imagine an old camp hideaway spot that has a full hare scrambles course laid out along with dirtbike jumps and multiple swimming spots to cool off in after ripping through the woods. This place does exist and it is called Camp Waterlow.
Earlier this year we set out to giveaway not 1, but 2 70s Honda GL1000 survivor motorcycles. We planned to draw the winner live at AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days Saturday July 11th at the Old Bike Barn Crossroads. With the current pandemic and AMA VMD being postponed, we felt we still needed to honor the giveaway and draw the winner live at the original date selected. Over the weekend we setup up at the Old Bike Barn headquarters and live streamed the drawing on both Facebook and Instagram and a winner was drawn!
'm sure most people wouldn't think to take a stock bike and turn it into another stock bike but in a friendly build off that's exactly what Keith Carlson of Indiana did with his 1978 CB550. He had a long time love affair with the CR500's and the 1986 model caught his eye more than any other so he wanted to know what a Honda street bike would look like transformed as a tribute and this beautiful restomod build was born. We caught up with Keith at a local bike night and took his bike aside to get a better look at some of the neat elements of this CB turned CR.
With the rise in popularity of events like The Race of Gentlemen, the 45" flathead WL and WR Harley Davidsons have become once again a quite sought after motorcycle due to the amount of abuse those fantastic old motors can withstand. Originally being produced mainly for military use during the second World War these mighty mini motors were on the frontlines for several years. However after the war ended the civilian market was flooded with several of these great bikes that have since survived all these years later to still be ridden today. After being bitten by the 45" Flathead bug after coming home from an exciting weekend on the shores of Wildwood, NJ for the races last year we sought out a good friend back in the midwest Billy "Mumbles" Miller who has been holding onto a rather interesting 1946 WL Flathead.
