The Racer X Vintage Inter Am was last weekend and it was a good time.

The idea came from Scott Wallenburg, publisher of Racer X and Tim Kenedy, a local vintage Bultaco lover. They got the blessing of Davey Coombs and presto! Vintage Inter Am.

Scott Wallenburg in action on a nice 125 Monarch

Vintage racing is interesting to all senses. Of course I enjoy looking at cool old bikes, a lot more than working on them! Then some of the guys still run bean oil and that smell is music to my nose. Then the old two stroke bikes have a different sound that throws me back in time. Then there is the lower back pain caused by vintage suspension, is lower back pain one of the senses?

I rode a couple of really nice Can Am’s. Really nice Can Am’s, is there such a thing? Well, I was pleasantly surprised. New friend Randy Moe offered to let me ride his bikes and they were pretty darn good. I rode a 1973 250cc MX bike and a 1980 400cc Qualifier version. They were both clean and tight. But gosh, what a lot of work it took to ride the old bikes! Shifting required moving the entire leg to get enough swing in the old shifter. Rear drum brakes, you would have to put your heel on the pedal to get enough meat and sinew to slow you down. The front drum brake required both hands to operate, very awkward when diving down a rough straight away. The clutch? One time, off the line and that was it.

I didn’t win a trophy, but I did have a good race in one moto, my cheering section was full of beer by the time I got the old bikes figured out so they were loud and I was proud! Lets see a second and a last equal? No trophy, but it was fun and I would do it again.

Heres a cool Bultaco, I think it belongs to Tim Kennedy, event promoter.

I will do a full story for the magazine, so I can’t give away all the story here, so make sure your subscription is current and I’ll see you there.

Charlie