Messages

Hi Tom B!

Haven't been able to get here for ages, but just logged in and saw your M-O posts.
Look forward to seeing you there as part of the festivities.  

We have near 900 vintage and post vintage MX entries for the weekend, and you will have 23 Classic 125s to race with, representing 13 different brands of motorcycles from the late 60' - early 70s (highest representation from Pentons....!).  What a great class!

See you there!
Dave janiec

AHRMA Members, POGers,

Jim was a true inspiration in American Moto Cross. He was indeed the "First American", and he allowed all the rest of us to realize we (Americans) could compete. Some of us just supported him and our riders, other Americans took the inspiration and went on to dominate world MX.

Perhaps more importantly, Jim was a genuine man who treated everyone with respect and true pleasure in meeting them and sharing their opinions and thoughts.

Everyone Jim met thought they had made a true friend of a "famous" person - and the best part of it is - they had! He was the real deal and we will miss him tremendously.

Unpretentious, gregarious, concerned with others, life loving and competitve, that's the Bimbo I will remember. With God's Speed, Jim... to heaven.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jim's family.

In addition to the memorial services in Yakima this weekend, there will be a tribute at the Chehalis AHRMA National Vintage MX at the riders meeting on Sunday. Jim was a regular at this race since his return to racing and his AHRMA family will be mourning the loss and celebrating his life by racing the bikes and era he loved!

Dave Janiec
AHRMA

Tom, Pentonites,
The fire on Sunday at Gatorback was an unfortunate incident that occasionally happens, but we all need to be prepared for that rare instance.

The bike in question was a Yamaha 650 Sportsman Twin that had crahed in its first moto.  Durning staging for the second moto, (well away from the pits and the start line - they do it different at Gatorback    , the bike backfired when restarted and the K&N filter caught fire, and instatntly grew to a raging fire with flames 20 feet in the air!  The owner/rider later told me that he thought he must have had a small leak in the tank that soaked the K&N and it wen t up like a roman candle after the backfire.

In spite of the remote location of the "staging", a fire extinguisher was immediately put to the test (and failed, misreably), followed by the visit of the nearby water truck (directed quickly by the promoter's crew) to finally extinguish the fire.

A point for all of us - we (AHRMA) require a fire extinguisher in your pits - how many know that or have one (at other events) because its a good idea, period?  Although it didn't make a difference in this case, I have seen other  cases where it did.

Lessons learned?

Dave Janiec
AHRMA Tech[:0]

Buck  usually races the AHRMA National at Chehalis each year.  

He also came down to the final west coast AHRMA Ntional this year at Tulre ( acouple weeks ago).  He rode the open traction TT on Saturday in addition to Sunday's MX,  and rode Marsh Runyon's KR Harley in the Main (with absolutely NO practice!), and was pure entertainment to watch.

Cheers, Dave J.

Bildough,
If you are talking about theAHRMA NW VMX regional at the Johnston Ranch outside Klamath Falls next weekend, you can join AHRMA (and AMA, if you need to) and enter at the track.
This polciy exists at all our races with  a very few exceptions.  Our most popular nationals are pre-entry, ONLY, such as Daytona (Gatorback) and Mid Ohio.
You can also call the membership office on any weekday and join, as well.
Have fun at Klamath Falls!

Regards, Dave Janiec
AHRMA

Dan,

I'm glad that you and our fellow POGers are happy with this. We (AHRMA) really strive to keep the MX period technology  represented properly (so that as many of the bikes of the period are competitive and will be seen on the track), but  we also like to be as "friendly" as possible.

Your solution is one of the better ones, and you correctly identified our primary method for determining if you have limited the forks to 7".

Look forward to seeing you on the track, having fun!
Dave

Lew,
John is correct on the travel on the forks, they are from a post 74 model, and the forks are considered a "major component".  Congrats on your "Cover Boy" status!

For John,
I couldn't get to Gatorback unitl  Friday  afternoon, and thus missed CC tech.  If you were not noted in tech, then someone spotted you or protested later in the day.  James Smith is obviously VERY familiar with tthe CanAms and probably helped in this case.

In that case, in the best scenario you should have been searched out in the pits (maybe they couldn't find you) and the bike or protest discussed, rather than have it posted with no score (that is our last resort to get the rider/bike involved).
I'm glad to hear it all worked out when you brought it up, and we try to ensure that  fairness prevails.  We want our members to feel at ease bringing a situation like this to the officials, in  a calm fashion.

See you all at Cahuilla Creek and/or Sandia (or for you eastern tyoes, I'm trying to work my schedule to be at Mid Ohio again this year), Dave

PS, My Pentons are coming together and I WILL race a D model this year (new year's resolution!).

Larry,
I knew as soon as I saw the cover shot that some of our sharp-eyed members would catch the forks on Lew's bike.
Yea, we missed them!

AHRMA does tech for two primary reasons.  

First, Safety.  the newest vintage bike out there is 30 years old.  Most would be very surprised to hear some of our horror stories of what we've found in tech (missing swingarm, axle, steering stem, etc bolts, fo an example).

Second is compliance with the rules,  intended to help keep the spirit of the racing era of each particular class.  Do we catch everything? - heck no.  There are over 40 different brands of vintage bikes that we see in tech (routinely around 25-30) and each had changes from year to year.  James Smith and I are continually seeking info and learning about all these bikes and year changes, and we try to train our helpers on these, as well.
 
As in almost all racing, there is always the option for competitor to protest a bike in his/her class that may have made it thru tech.

The bottom line for us is safe and fun racing, and trying to keep the bar level for as many bikes as we can in each era represented in the class structure.  For those that have in-depth knowledge of a particular brand, we are always seeking info to better do our job.  

Hope to see you at the track (Diamond's was a blast),
Dave Janiec
AHRMA West MX Tech Chief/Trustee

Paul, Dennis,
Vintage dual sport is great fun!  And it attracts a lot of interest from modern riders if  we are "in the mix".
5 of us rode the 20th annual D-37 Barstow -to-Vegas Dual Sport ride last weekend (in my case reliving a couple legal race events,  plus the last outlaw race event).
We had the following street legal vintage bikes:
1958 AJS 650 twin (Ed Crowell won the oldest rider award at 73)
1953 BSA Goldstar ( Terry Pratt won oldest bike award)
1966 Hindal frame Triumph 650
1967 Triumph TR6 650
1966 Matchless 500 G80CS ISDT Factory replca (me)
As opposed to two years ago (several Pentons, Cubs, Huskies, etc), there were not many other vintage bikes this year (only a HusKy sidecar and one other Triumph that made it halfway), but if you are street legal, the AMA Dual Sport Rides are a real hoot, and the other riders just go crazy over all the older bikes.  I wish I had a dollar for all the pictures taken of our bikes at stops - would have paid for our entries (and losses in Vegas Sat nite!).

This is a fun area for growth in our vintage sport.  Street legal Pentons would be great bikes for this (must carry oil for mixing).
Cheers, Dave Janiec

Rob, All,

Small correction/clarification on the Mid-Ohio Schedule.  Vintage MX will be on Saturday, Post Vintage on Sunday (a first for Mid-Ohio). Here's why:

The general plan for the year regarding dual National MX race weekends is to have the shorter travel Vintage bikes on Satruday when when we have a "Natural" track like the one at  Mid-Ohio, Diamond Don's etc, where the same general area is used.  Post Vintage long travel bikes would then be on Sunday.

For events held on a man made or maintained MX track that can be reworked overnight (or a separate track like Casey has), the Post Vintage will be Saturday with Vintage on Sunday.  This represents the majority of our AHRMA National tracks for next year.

That's the general intent . The dates will be updated in VV, and are already updated on the website.

Cheers, Dave Janiec
AHRMA Trustee

Rob,
Best news is your safe return home!  Thanks for the note- I sent you a seaprate reply).  Terry Pratt of Cycle News helped me load and pack your trailer with the three bikes and gear. Hope they made it safely, we had a little bit of fun figuring out your tiedown configuration for the three bikes.
BTW, you probably haven't tried to unload yet, but your race bike is stuck in gear (the shift lever is artistically wrapped around the foot peg a couple times, and offset with beautiful green mid-ohio turf as a souvenir).  It will roll out nicely with the clutch in, but you will also have some significant pipe damage to deal with.  Otherwise the damage looked cosmetic.  All minor compared to your good health!
Hope to see you back in the saddle soon!
Dave Janiec

 

Steve,
Just to confirm for you, as usual, the POGers are absolutely right!  For Cross Country (or the ISDTRR, in this case) your bike would fit in the Post Vintage +50 Novice class nicely.  If you have any addional questions on AHRMA rules, please don't hesitate to e-mail me.
Regards, Dave Janiec
AHRMA West MX Tech Chief, Trustee

 

Teddy,
I've been in Wash DC this week, just got home.  My home phone number is (760) 446-1065.   It's also listed in the back of the AHRMA Handbook.  I work in the DoD so we are a little busy right now, but I will get back to you as soon as possible.
For all the POGers, Keep in mind that the BEST source for machine eligibility questions is from the eligibility committee  - their phone numbers are also listed in the back of the AHRMA Handbook, and on the AHRMA website.
That having been said, I'm always happy to try to help (and keep fully up to date, myself!) any POGers or other vintage bike fans with AHRMA rules.
Cheers, Dave Janiec

 

Brian, POGers,
I can help here.  All 125 Pentons with ANY  model 125 Sachs engine are legal in the Classic 125 Class, including the highly sought after D model.  Monarchs with that engine are legal, as well.

See you at  Honey Lake - (if you haven't been there yet, gear it to climb a long, sandy hill at ~4000" altitude).
Cheers,
Dave Janiec
AHRMA West MX Tech Chief, Trustee

 

Just got my VMX copy today.  Looking forward to VMX issue #20 and "KTM - 50 Years in the Dirt".

I really liked the feature in this issue (#19) on the 1970 DKW 125. I have very pleasant memories of the 125 Deek.  

I was lucky enough to get my  only "overall" first at an enduro at the 1973 Capital City Enduro (in Tallahassee, FL the year before it was a National) on a '72 125 DKW with the Earles forks.  

I only won because I was on minute 3 and the course was underwater - later riders were literally sunk.

The bike was very versatile, quick, and forgiving (thaks to the forks), I raced it  in Enduros, Hare Scrambles and MX  (in Texas) until1975 and could keep up reasonably well with the Elsinores until I had to shift  :-(   .....
I 'd like to get another to join my 73 Penton SD.
cheers, Dave Janiec