AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days Ride In Bike Show
It was once again a pleasure to team up with the American Motorcyclist Association to bring back the Old Bike Barn crossroads for the 2021 AMA vintage motorcycle days at the famous Mid Ohio sports car course. The crossroads features an assortment of tents and displays showcasing some of the greatest vintage motorcycles the different regions of the world have to offer. Some of our favorite areas like the impressive originals and restorations of the VJMC - vintage Japanese motorcycle club, are always filled with some serious showstoppers from the realm of Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha and Suzuki. They always bring out only the finest and most pristine survivors of the seventies and eighties superbikes. This year the classic British motorcycle club of Cincinnati also showed up in force with a beautiful collection of some of the finest Norton, Triumph, Ariel and BSA motorcycles we have seen to date.
The crossroads also brings some very talented moto themed artists like the versatile works of Wayne Maure who had his own tent jam packed full of vintage racing and classic chopper inspired paintings. We were also very honored to share the official Old Bike Barn merch tent this year with the one and only Devil Chicken Design, Christopher Galley, who set up shop with his collection of decollage/ mixed media masterworks. Chris also brought his whole entire paint kit and spent the weekend doing a one of a kind painting in his unique style right there on site just for the show. He blended styles from urban decollage to graffiti street art stenciling and even classical painting techniques to put together a really amazing piece right there in the tent before our eyes. It was a pleasure to watch his painting evolve over the course the weekend.
Other interesting aspects of the crossroads included a special racing themed booth set up by the AMA with a chance to meet legendary flattrack Racer Dave Aldana and view some of his race bikes as well. Dave also did some question and answer workshops with several of the attendees at the show. The AMA also held several moto themed workshops in their tent as well with much useful information for moto enthusiasts attending the show.
We were also lucky to have Brian and the Skidmark garage crew and set up an entire "shop tent" where people could utilize their own bike station in the comfort of the shade and repair anything they needed to their bikes. The tent included individual bike lifts and all the tools needed to service your bike. Which proved to be quite a lifesaver for many riders as they ran into issues with their bikes over the course of the weekend.
Saturday brought out the main event in the crossroads with the Old Bike Barn AMA hall of fame ride in bike show where attendees of the event have a unique opportunity to showcase their vintage bikes in a variety of categories. You'll see just about everything at the ride in bike show ranging from American, British, to European, and Japanese. The Class list gets more refined and breaks down into categories of 1939-1969, 1970-present, Custom (all years), Competition (all years). Whether you are into street bikes, dirt bikes, customs or whatever it may be, there truly is a great mix of everything here.
We've been lucky to have some really incredible bikes in the show ranging from fully custom restomods to beautiful pristine original stock bikes that are literally showroom quality. Some of the finest well preserved bikes get most of the attention as attendees of this show really appreciate and get up close with the bikes they remember riding in their glory days.
Once everyone had a chance to let their bikes be seen our own Bear Haughton with a select few guest judges Casey Cooper, Tom Heil, Mike Grudewald and Mark Mederski, made their selections for the best of the best in each category and then took to the podium to present the awards to each of the winners. The winners get their chance on the mic to share a story about their bike or speak to the crowd about any questions people might have on the builds. A great time to reflect on the work people have put in to keep these fantastic vintage bikes on the road.
We want to thank the AMA for putting on such an incredible event every year! We are truly honored to be a part of this event and doing our part to keep vintage motorcycles alive and well. Thank you to everyone who stopped by the booth to chat it up with the Old Bike Barn crew, we were extremely happy to see so many people excited about vintage motorcycles. We are already looking forward to next year, and can't wait to keep the good times coming.
The crossroads also brings some very talented moto themed artists like the versatile works of Wayne Maure who had his own tent jam packed full of vintage racing and classic chopper inspired paintings. We were also very honored to share the official Old Bike Barn merch tent this year with the one and only Devil Chicken Design, Christopher Galley, who set up shop with his collection of decollage/ mixed media masterworks. Chris also brought his whole entire paint kit and spent the weekend doing a one of a kind painting in his unique style right there on site just for the show. He blended styles from urban decollage to graffiti street art stenciling and even classical painting techniques to put together a really amazing piece right there in the tent before our eyes. It was a pleasure to watch his painting evolve over the course the weekend.
Other interesting aspects of the crossroads included a special racing themed booth set up by the AMA with a chance to meet legendary flattrack Racer Dave Aldana and view some of his race bikes as well. Dave also did some question and answer workshops with several of the attendees at the show. The AMA also held several moto themed workshops in their tent as well with much useful information for moto enthusiasts attending the show.
We were also lucky to have Brian and the Skidmark garage crew and set up an entire "shop tent" where people could utilize their own bike station in the comfort of the shade and repair anything they needed to their bikes. The tent included individual bike lifts and all the tools needed to service your bike. Which proved to be quite a lifesaver for many riders as they ran into issues with their bikes over the course of the weekend.
Saturday brought out the main event in the crossroads with the Old Bike Barn AMA hall of fame ride in bike show where attendees of the event have a unique opportunity to showcase their vintage bikes in a variety of categories. You'll see just about everything at the ride in bike show ranging from American, British, to European, and Japanese. The Class list gets more refined and breaks down into categories of 1939-1969, 1970-present, Custom (all years), Competition (all years). Whether you are into street bikes, dirt bikes, customs or whatever it may be, there truly is a great mix of everything here.
We've been lucky to have some really incredible bikes in the show ranging from fully custom restomods to beautiful pristine original stock bikes that are literally showroom quality. Some of the finest well preserved bikes get most of the attention as attendees of this show really appreciate and get up close with the bikes they remember riding in their glory days.
Once everyone had a chance to let their bikes be seen our own Bear Haughton with a select few guest judges Casey Cooper, Tom Heil, Mike Grudewald and Mark Mederski, made their selections for the best of the best in each category and then took to the podium to present the awards to each of the winners. The winners get their chance on the mic to share a story about their bike or speak to the crowd about any questions people might have on the builds. A great time to reflect on the work people have put in to keep these fantastic vintage bikes on the road.
We want to thank the AMA for putting on such an incredible event every year! We are truly honored to be a part of this event and doing our part to keep vintage motorcycles alive and well. Thank you to everyone who stopped by the booth to chat it up with the Old Bike Barn crew, we were extremely happy to see so many people excited about vintage motorcycles. We are already looking forward to next year, and can't wait to keep the good times coming.
Photos by Mike Vandegriff