Strictly for the Fans of Two-Wheeled Motorsports
Daily Slideshow: A handful of events that any biker can enjoy whether as a spectator or by leathering up and joining in.
Any Flat Track Race on the Mile
The big mile-long flat track race takes place several times a year at tracks in Arizona, Sacramento, CA, and the biggest one in Springfield, IL. These are the tracks where superhuman men corner inches away from the wall, elbow to elbow, at speeds close to 150 mph. For a long time, AMA flat track was a Harley only event, with no other bike maker able to produce a motor as well suited to the dirt as the Sportster-based XR750. In the past 10 years, though, Kawasaki, Ducati, Triumph, Suzuki, and Indian have all been fielding entries and nipping at the heels of the Motor Company. This year the AMA races in Springfield in May and in September. You can see the schedule at AMA Pro Flattrack.
Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas
Now sure, not a lot of people think of Harley Davidson when they think of MotoGP racing, but this is a huge biker event every year no matter what you ride. The Circuit of the Americas is in Texas, near Austin, so of course, there will be tons of Harleys there, like everywhere else in Texas. You may not want to be caught dead riding a plastic clad sportbike yourself, but there is no denying the superhuman abilities of these riders and their bikes as they push closer to 200 mph every season. You can get all the info, and watch the last race, or an onboard helmet cam lap here.
Hill Climb
Imagine drag racing. Now imagine it in the dirt. Now imagine it in the purpose-built up a hill that gets progressively steeper, and there may be a few times where you get air in the middle of it. That is hill climb racing. For the lower less powerful classes of the bike, the winner is the one who gets furthest up the hill. For the more powerful ones, like the unlimited bikes with paddle tires, extended swing arms, and an alcohol burning V-twin in a dirt bike frame, it is a matter of who has the lowest elapsed time from the bottom to the top. If you are going to Laconia Bike Week in New Hampshire anyway, there is traditionally an amateur hill climb just down the street at the local ski resort. Check out some video of it here.
Race of Gentlemen or similar
There has been a trend very recently to counteract the high dollar custom bike, and astronomical auction prices, as seen on TV, by riding vintage bikes in anger, in events similar to those held back in the day. The Race of Gentlemen is basically a drag race held on the sand in Wildwood, N.J., and only opened to pre-war bikes and hot rods. They have been attempting to branch out and have events in other locations, so check their site for other upcoming venues. Another very interesting, though harder to spectate race is the Motorcycle Cannonball, where even older bikes race coast to coast on the open road. If you are anywhere near Los Angeles, CA, Hell on Wheels MC always has a class for the really old bikes at their monthly events.
Peoria TT Races
Since 1947 the Peoria Motorcycle Club has organized a race which combined flat track dirt oval, a jump, and a few right turns for good measure, all on a 5/8th-mile course. It set the standard for what would be a TT race in this country. Many other tracks have run similar races over the years, but the Peoria TT is the big one, and still part of the AMA dirt track season. Of course, whenever you have a bike-focused event like this, you draw bikers from all over, and it becomes a party. There are plenty of opportunities to make the scene in town, and a bike show, as well as other activities. The big race weekend is usually in the middle of August, right after Sturgis.
Harley / Hooligan Night at the Local Dirt Track
As I mentioned before, Harley-Davidson for a long time had a lock on professional flat track racing. In order to increase the number of spectators, many local small dirt tracks started inviting street riders on any old Harley to come race on one weekend a season. Some called it Harley Night, some called it Street Bike Night, and many called it the Hooligan Class, but no matter what you call it, it was big messy fun. Typically these were tracks only about a quarter-mile around, so speeds were in the 30-60 mph neighborhood. Costa Mesa Speedway, in Orange County, California, has been doing this for 40 years or so several times a season at their speedway races (single cylinder, single speed, purpose-built bikes).
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