MotoAmerica at Road Atlanta

The 2018 MotoAmerica racing season roared off its “launch pad” at Road Atlanta, April 14 and 15th, to great fanfare. With nail–biting racing, accompanied by the gravity-defying stunt shows of the Tony Hawk Experience and American Motor Drome’s Wall of Death, MotoAmerica put on a weekend spectacle like no other.
The “young guns” of Junior Cup (300-400cc) led off both days, racing for glory in the MotoAmerica entry-level class. Of particular note to Born to Ride was the first-ever female podium in American road racing history, as Jamie Astudillo took 3rd place on Sunday, after a 4th place finish on Saturday. Dads of daughters everywhere were proud.
The brand new Super Twins class featured a grid full of Suzuki SV 650s and Yamaha MT-07s. The deep throaty roar of V and in-line Twins across the grandstands was palpable. We hope this class will continue to grow in number of racers and popularity.

The Supersport 600 class saw a new rivalry develop, between veteran Yamaha Factory rider JD Beach and Hayden Gillim, who rode Superstock 1000 last year. They split the podium both days, swapping 1st and 2nd on two races.
Superbike 1000 also saw the return of dominant performances by defending class champion Toni Elias, demonstrating why he’s a renowned, world-class competitor. Toni took the checkered flag in perfect conditions on Saturday, then in adverse, rainy and windy conditions on Sunday. A true champion in every respect. Toni will be hard to catch this year, much less defeat.

We had opportunity to talk with Tony Hawk, after he took a VIP 2-up “hot lap” ride around Road Atlanta with retired racer Chris Ulrich. Asked what he thought of the experience, Tony exclaimed, “That was like the best, customized rollercoaster ride ever! When Chris pinned it across the front stretch, hitting 160 mph, it was a level of adrenaline rush and fear that I’ve never experienced before. Incredible.” Coming from the skateboarding legend himself, that spoke volumes.
The howl of uncorked motorcycle engines, the rush of triple digit speeds screaming by, and the drama of racers battling for position across the track course- a weekend of MotoAmerica racing is indeed an adrenaline rush in every respect, even for spectators.

World class American road racing is back, thanks to the vision and leadership of Wayne Rainey and company. For the season schedule, results, standings, and highlights, visit MotoAmerica.com. If a race is held anywhere near you, make arrangements to attend- you’ll be so glad you did. Catch the races broadcast live on BeIN Sports and BeIN Connect. And of course, Born to Ride will report on all the action, as the race season progresses.
We hope you are as excited as we are!
*More & better photos coming up in the May issue of Born to Ride.

MotoAmerica Preseason Observations

Spring is here, and racing is in the air.
MotoAmerica, the nation’s premier motorcycle road racing organization, returns for its 4^th season. Helmed by racing legend Wayne Rainey, 3-time World Gran Prix champion, MotoAmerica is returning the sport to its former glory days of the 1960s-1990s. With race weekends spanning the country (3 of which run here in the South), the season kicks off at Road Atlanta with great fanfare, including exhibitions by Tony Hawk & Friends, the infamous American Motor Drome Company “Wall of Death”, a Kid’s Zone and the “Caffeine & Kickstands” custom bike show.
I talked with Paul Carruthers recently, MotoAmerica’s Communications Manager, about the 2018 season-

Rob- 2017 was such a thrilling season: The epic battles between Toni Elias, 2016 defending champion Cameron Beaubier, Roger Hayden, and veteran Josh Hayes; Toni taking the Superbike title in the end; Garrett Gerloff winning his 2nd consecutive Supersport title, etc. After watching the preseason testing, who’s looking strong to threaten for the titles this year?
Paul- The preseason has been a good one, and has shown just how close we expect the racing to be in the Motul Superbike class. Cameron Beaubier has been impressive in coming back from injury to lead all the tests and you can tell that he's full of confidence and wants that number one plate back! We all know now how strong Toni Elias can be, so counting him out would be silly talk. There's also a lot of fast young guys jumping up to Superbike this year, riders like Mathew Scholtz and Garrett Gerloff.
Rob- There’s been some realignment of the classes this year, and the introduction of Super Twins, which I think will be thrilling to watch- definitely to hear!
Paul- We think the Twins class has a good future. It's normally a big class in club racing and we think we'll see a lot of local guys showing up to race. It's an interesting class, and we might see a lot of different things out there on the track. Should be fun to watch and, as you say, listen to!
Rob- What can fans expect to see in the racing this year?
Paul- They will see great racing in every class. The Junior Cup will be loaded with talented kids this year, now that it's open to all the manufacturers. Superbike will be a thriller at every round and Supersport will be closer than most people think.
Rob- What can fans expect to experience at a MotoAmerica event this year?

Paul- We are making a big push to make our events truly “events”. While our focus will always be the racing, we are ramping up the other activities so that our fans will have plenty to do every single day at our races. At Road Atlanta, for example, we're having Tony Hawk and his team come in to give the fans skateboarding exhibitions on a giant ramp that will be in the paddock. (Road Atlanta round will also feature the "Wall of Death") We will have musical acts at most of the events, so I think people will be impressed with MotoAmerica in 2018.
Rob- beIN Sports network will be carrying all the races this season, right?
Paul- Between beIN Sports and beIN Connect, all of our races will get live coverage. It might switch around as to what races are on what platform, but they will all be covered.
Rob- Road racing has a long history here in the States. What do you see as its future? A return to the glory days of the 60s-90s?
Paul- It's a different time, but we’ll get it to where it needs to be. We want competitive racing, a chance for our riders to race internationally and we want to provide events that our fans can enjoy from morning ‘till night.

Rob- Can viewers also find and follow the action on MotoAmerica’s website?
Paul- Yes, we’ll have timing and scoring on the site from every event so people at home can follow the action. We are also packing the site with quality content about our series, our teams and our riders with both the written word and video content.
Rob- Born to Ride will be there, covering the Southeastern rounds, and running regular updates on the standings as the racing progresses. It’s going to be an exciting season.
Paul- As always, we look forward to seeing you guys there, and we can't wait to get started!

Don’t miss the speed and roar of American motorcycle road racing- Visit MotoAmerica.com for tickets to every championship weekend, and catch the races on beIN Sports and beIN Connect all season.

2018- The State of American Motorcycling

 

Much has been written and discussed in recent years about the apparent decline of motorcycling in America. Sales have been down over the last decade or so. Baby Boomers are beginning to age out of riding, and yet their children, the Millennials, aren’t flocking into dealerships as previous generations did. Harley Davidson has posted quarterly sales declines for about a year and a half, and most other major brands, domestic and import, have felt the pinch of decreased showroom traffic. Much hand-wringing has ensued as a result, with some bemoaning the future death of our sport- riding replaced with driverless automobiles and highways, Uber and Lyft- style services becoming the norm, and expanded rapid transit forcing motorcycling into some impending extinction.

In the past year, further evidence of motorcycling’s slow slide was said to observed in the sudden death of Victory Motorcycles, an announcement that shocked us all. Polaris’ reasons were actually understandable, as they chose to focus R&D and marketing on the legendary Indian brand. EBR (Erik Buell Racing) shut down operations, again, which was not as surprising. Even MV Augusta, the boutique Italian sportbike brand, has found itself in and out of bankruptcy the past few years. And yet, Triumph has posted record U.S. sales in 2016 and 2017, with the reimagining and reengineering of their Bonneville line. As I’ve stated before, they seem to have their finger on the pulse of the American rider, young and old.

Industry insiders and outsiders agree that more can be done to grow motorcycle riding in America. Robert Pandya started the “Give a Shift” Initiative, a forum to discuss the health and future of the Powersports industry. AMA has been generating dialogue over effectively passing our sport on to the next generations. And the big brands are showing signs of awakening, realizing that slapping some fresh paint and accessories on old models won’t bring in flocks of new riders. New and revived brands are positioning themselves to grab market share, such as Royal Enfield, Hyosung, Ural, Husqvarna, even Janus (built in Goshen, Indiana) among others, all building appealing machines for the next generation.

I’ve given this some thought myself, and would like to offer some suggestions from my observations- for the industry, and for us as passionate riders.

To the Motorcycle Industry:

We are not in the 1980s anymore. Gone are the days of assuming “If you build it, they will come” (apologies to “Field of Dreams”) or “race on Sunday, sell on Monday.” I remember in my youth when everyone from Harley to Honda advertized on TV, in magazines and newspapers, and even on billboards. Just marketing in motorcycle publications won’t cut it- you’re “preaching to the choir” so to speak. Go grab the attention of potential riders, like you used to in decades past.

Build bikes that are approachable, appealing, and affordable to new or returning riders. There’s a reason Indian sells so many Scouts and Scout 60s. They aren’t huge, heavy and intimidating, they aren’t the price of a small car, and they evoke a nostalgia younger generations want to connect with. They are but one example. Harley’s Iron 88 is a big seller, the entire Triumph Bonneville line moves well as do Ducati’s Scrambler models and BMW’s RnineT offerings, not to mention the Japanese “Big Four” with cool, retro-styled bikes, all under 1000cc and many under $10,000. Build more of those, market them, and future generations will walk through your doors.

To the Riders of America:

There are many reasons we ride. We talk about these among ourselves, in our riding groups, and across the moto-media we interact with. But when was the last time we invited someone to visit a local shop or dealership with us? Or attend a bike night or rally event with us? Or volunteered to attend a motorcycle safety course together? A new Lightspeed Data study cited in Powersports Business revealed that in 2017, Millennials comprised 36% of all bike sales, new and used, at an average of $8500 per bike, with Generation X riders not far behind. That is promising, but we must “keep the throttle pinned” by discussing and demonstrating our wonderful world of motorcycling at every opportunity. Millennials will ride, Gen Xers are returning to the fold, and the emerging Gen Z (18-under) can catch the fever as well. Let’s be contagious.
May the future of motorcycling in America be bright.