MOTORCYCLES

I started riding motorcycles after I got out of the Army in 1969. My first bike was a 175cc Kawasaki and I was riding it with friends in the deserts of Southern California. After about one year I moved up to a Yamaha 250cc which I raced in various desert races during the period 1970-1973 (Barstow to Vegas, etc). Around 1973 I started racing motocross at local tracks in Southern California (Saddleback, Escape Country, etc.) and decided that the Yamaha didn't quite cut it. I then purchased a 1974 Bultaco (Spanish) 250cc motocross bike. In 1975 my wife and daughter moved to Modesto and I started racing in that area. Around 1979 I purchased a open class Maico (German), kept that bike until I was injured in 1980 and when I got out of rehab I picked up a new open class Honda. I raced Hondas for a local shop until I moved to beautiful Cayucos in 1985. I didn't ride bikes again until I purchased a 1968 Triumph Bonneville in 1997. After finishing restoring it I then picked up a 1999 BMW R1100S. I was having so much fun riding street bikes that in 2001 I picked up a pristine 1974 Norton Commando (with only 3,700 miles on it!). I sold the Triumph in April 2002 and found a nice 1975 BMW R90S (the bike that won Daytona in 1976). I just recently sold the Norton to a friend of mine. My latest bike is the 1974 Maico that you see below. I decided to get back into motocross racing again and after looking at the organizations available signed up with the American Historical Racing Association (AHRMA) to race vintage motocross (bikes have to been a 1974 or older). Their races are all over California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. My latest acquisition is a 1979 Maico. It was purchased torn apart and without an engine or wheels. The restoration of this bike is almost complete and it should be up and running for the beginning of the next season which starts in February 2004.