Vintage Racing -- Not just for the "Vintage"

Why might someone consider vintage motorcycle racing instead of 'modern' motorcycles? And what is meant by 'vintage', anyway? Read on, and these and many other questions should be answered.

First and foremost, vintage motorcycle racing is fun! Vintage racing has the advantage of being substantially cheaper in many cases, as you're not investing in the purchase of a new or nearly new motorcycle.  Many of the current SMRI vintage racers are racing motorcycles that they developed from a favorite streetbike they owned.  There is a certain pride in competing on a motorcycle you had a hand in engineering and building into a racer.  A vintage bike racing with SMRI can be one that was built as late as 1978 for one of the Historic Vintage classes or as recent as 1983 for the SuperVintage class.  If you have an older European, Japanese or British bike, chances are excellent it'll fit into one of the vintage classes.  The older bikes have less power, so tires (and money) last longer and your speed isn't as fast while you're racing.  SMRI is the most supportive regional club for racing these older motorcycles in the desert west, so if you live in Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Texas or New Mexico, racing your vintage motorcycle with SMRI is the best place to be.

SMRI has four classes for Historic Vintage, and a fifth class for newer vintage bikes called SuperVintage.  Historic Vintage has an Ultra Lightweight, Lightweight, Middleweight and a Heavyweight class.  Ultra Lightweight bikes are Honda CB160/175/200’s, Yamaha DT-1 175cc two strokes and the like.  If you have a 350 Honda twin or a CB450, you could race it in the Lightweight Historic Vintage class.  If you have a Yamaha XS650, a Honda CB550 four, or a Norton or Triumph 750, the middleweight class is for you.  If you have an early Honda CB750 four, old Kawasaki Z1 or a Suzuki GS1000 from the 70's, you could race it in the Heavyweight Historic Vintage class.  All the Historic Vintage bikes are eligible for the SuperVintage class, where you could also race a Honda CB900F, Kawasaki GPz550, or even a first generation Honda Interceptor.  We also allow modern modifications to SuperVintage motorcycles.  If you have 17” wheels, radial tires and big brakes on your old scoot, then SuperVintage is where you need to be.  Just about any well maintained older bike with good tires, brakes, and some safety wire can have seasons of fun in one of our gentleman racer vintage classes.

The vintage racers at SMRI offer a vintage racer mentor program.  We will help you with your bike set up and track day preparation.  If you have too much fun with your bike on a track day, we encourage you to enroll in one of SMRI’s premier race schools.  We'll help you with bike set up, and the school will get you a competition license to allow you to race with us.  Please read SMRI's rulebook for more details and to see what class your bike may be eligible for, located on the website.

We also have an agreement with the CCS Southwest folks in Phoenix to form a mini-regional series in the desert known as the “South West Vintage Cup”.  Additional info is available on this website.

To hook up with the Vintage Support Group for live time help and communication, please visit the Vintage chat room at:  http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/SWVMR/