Once more, the first full week in October has come and gone, bringing with it the wonderful Fall Hershey antique auto show. The weather was beautiful, Monday through Friday, with the rain only showing itself on Saturday. (If you’re a Hershey old-timer, you feel obligated at this time to relate the ‘walking two miles, uphill […]
Recently myself and the entire Vintage Motor editorial staff left the plush, well-lit corridors of the Vintage Motor Company and ventured to the Pennsylvania mid-state, to visit the home of our old friend, Miller “Gig” Hamilton. Gig is recognized by vintage dirt bike enthusiasts across the country–particularly Maico fans, for whom one of Gig’s engine […]
I had just finished the restoration of a 1972 Rickman-Montesa, and naturally sent pictures to a few friends. “Wow—that’s nice! Are you gonna ride that?” My friend hit upon The Big Issue in the vintage motorcycle hobby/community: “Ride ’em or hide ’em”. There are some that feel strongly that vintage bikes should be ridden, to […]
Oak Motocross Park swung open its gates/cow fence this past weekend for another great time in the country! Oak MX Park (Coalport, PA—west of State College, PA) is an enthusiast-owned (the Ecklund family) venue that retains what might have been the best of motocross. There’s low fees, a good, varied dirt track, food trucks, and […]
Saturday, June 11th was the second running of the new “Motorbike Day” at the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) Museum in Hershey, PA. The museum has, in the past decade, become much more of a recognized location for vintage motorcyclists, and has been featuring excellent motorbike exhibits, beginning with 2009’s joint AMCA/AACA Fast from […]
Our good friend Pete Noneman—who you may know from his work supporting the Legends and Heroes program—was recently fortunate to avoid the northern cold for a bit and be in Daytona, Florida. Pete attended the 4th annual Daytona vintage motocross, run inside the famous stadium. Besides the usual mixture of interesting motorcycles, Pete is one […]
Preparations started months—years—before, of course. There were discussions with local government and corporations, evening phone calls, maps and diagrams, disagreements, more phone calls. Retired club members worked out the plan with busy younger members—who later enlisted even younger volunteers to help with the grunt work, as well. Thousands of theoretical little two-dimensional squares on paper […]
Recently I’ve encountered many grateful motor enthusiasts from the Northeast area. They recognize how fortunate we are, not only to be finally post-COVID, but to be in such an epicenter of vintage motoring activity. After all, (and especially if you’re in the southeastern PA area, as we are) we’ve got the The Big One—the Fall […]
Hodakas incorporated competition-proven frame geometry, while at the same time attending to required street-legal equipment—though with minimalist (lighter weight) treatment. Built from 1964 through PABATCO’s demise in 1977, Hodakas were loved, at least initially, by the press and the riding public—possibly for relating to buyers as riders rather than simply customers—and filled a role in motorcycling not unlike American Motors Corporation in the automotive world: a small energetic competitor nipping at the heels of a sometimes deaf and monolithic establishment.
Up front, let me state that from nearly any direction you arrive from, to reach the small town of Oley, the ride will almost certainly be beautiful. The old villages of southeastern Pennsylvania, settled by German immigrants in the early 1700s, contain surviving period stone houses and original hardwood barns that continue to be studied by historians and sociologists