AHRMA

May 1-2, 2010, will mark a milestone for Pacific Northwest motorcycling. AHRMA, the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association, will run its first-ever national road race in our corner of the country.

The Portland AHRMA Classic will showcase their full mix of vintage and modern grids at Portland International Raceway.

There, you will see low-slung black BMWs from the 50s, grudge matches between Harley and Indian hand shifters, an absolute gaggle of Honda CB160s launched LeMans style, and smell two stroke exhaust from proper 1970s GP bikes.

The modern grids will have Sounds of Singles (SOS) races and Battle of Twins (BOT) races. The SOS races are populated with more modern big single cylinder motorcycles in several different classes. The BOT races are populated with more modern twin cylinder motorcycles in several different classes.

Racing will occur both Saturday and Sunday with full racing schedules both days. The Portland AHRMA Classic is a two-day event; each day is considered a separate race day for championship points.

If you’ve never seen an AHRMA race, you’ll be pleased to witness the commitment to getting historically significant motorcycles back on the track. Motorcycles once ridden by Cal Rayborn, Gary Nixon and Yvon Duhamel regularly take the green flag alongside more mundane Triumphs, Hondas and even the occasional Moto Guzzi or Paton.

A conversation with Chris Page, a local event organizer, revealed that road racing is just the beginning for the Portland event. "Our intention is to create a two-wheeled festival," he said. "It’s not just about vintage race bikes. The plan includes motocross, trials, a bike show, even a scooter race."

Motocross has occurred at PIR since the 70s, and for this event bikes from that era will run there again. On Saturday, May 1^st, the organizers of Thursday Night Motocross will join with the Sang-Froid Riding Club to bring back the rubber band start and visions of Roger DeCoster to the PIR track. The facility will be set specially for suspension-challenged vintage and evolution motocrossers, adding a natural terrain grass section to the normal Portland track.

Scooters from the Pacific Scooter Racing Association will perform their brand of low horsepower madness at a lunchtime demo on an abbreviated portion of the big track. A motorcycle swap meet will occur Saturday. An open-entry bike show judged by the Oregon Vintage Motorcyclists is on tap for Sunday. Vendors ranging from Speedymoto to Corazzo to local Ducati dealer MotoCorsa will be on hand. And we hear rumors of stunt riders as well.

The organizers of the Portland AHRMA Classic have plans for front-row motorcycle parking saying, "We want a line-up of bikes behind the entire grandstand."

Old BMW’s, BSA, Triumph, Norton, AJS, Matchless, Harley Davidson, Indian?
Ride it.

Vintage Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, Ducati?
Ride it.

New CBR, YZF, GSXR, ZX’s?
Ride it.

New Ducati, BMW, MV Agusta, Triumph?
Ride it.

Rat bike?
Ride it.

Scooters of all brands and all years?
Ride it.

I think you get the point. Ride to the races and support the event. It sounds like a good way to spend a Saturday, Sunday, or both, in May. I can smell the bean oil from here.

See you there!

Froggly Pondscum/Spring 10
Photo courtesy of Brian Reynolds @ Caliphotography.com.

If you go: See www.portlandAHRMAclassic.com for additional details.