Bear from www.oldbikebarn.com brings you coverage of AMA Vintage Days at Mid Ohio. This is one of the best Vintage Motorcycle weekends in the country!

Bear from www.oldbikebarn.com gives you a walk through of one of the largest motorcycle swap-meets in the country. Lots of cool old bikes and parts to look see at this event, with plenty of inspiration for you next winter project.

Today’s Daily Deal is for one of my Fav bikes of all time!

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Press Release Issued By American Motorcyclist Association (April 21, 2009)

What do the Crimean War, the manufacturing of rifles, and the building of bicycles have in common?

They’re all events that led up to the British Birmingham Small Arms Co. — better known to the world as BSA — producing motorcycles that ultimately became among the most iconic in the world. The legendary brand will be honored this year as the Marque of the Year at AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days, set for July 24-26 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.

“Despite its rather unorthodox beginning, BSA endured and carved out an impressive place in motorcycling history,” said Tigra Tsujikawa, marketing and special events manager for the AMA. “BSA Gold Stars, Shooting Stars and other models rightfully earned a reputation for performance on the track, and played a large role in the brand remaining popular long after the factory shuttered its doors in the 1970s. I’m personally looking forward to showcasing the marque at AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days, and highlighting the machines and people who made BSA famous.”

The Birmingham Small Arms Co. was formed in 1861 by a group of gun makers to supply weapons to the British government during the Crimean War. As the war declined, the company branched out into making bicycles, and by 1903 produced its first experimental motorcycle, along with automobiles. Its first in-house motorcycle appeared in 1910, and a subsidiary, BSA Motorcycles Ltd., was created after the first World War saw the company move back into arms manufacturing for the duration.

Between wars, the company focused on refining its motorcycles into well-regarded, reliable transportation that sold well in England, where BSA boasted that one in four motorcycles on the road was made by their company. From the beginning and throughout its history, BSA made a splash with the evocative names it chose for its motorcycles: Blue Star, Empire Star, Golden Flash, Road Rocket, Spitfire, Thunderbolt and Lightning are among the most well known.

Perhaps its most famous model was the Gold Star, “born” in 1938 but refined after WWII. It was named after the Gold Star pins awarded to motorcycles that lapped the famed Brooklands track at more than 100 mph, and would ultimately become the bike of choice among England’s young rockers, who stripped them of unnecessary parts and hot-rodded them into café racers.

During the 1950s the company turned to racing, fielding teams in the Junior Clubman class at the Isle of Man TT. By 1956, BSAs made up 53 of 55 entries in the class.

Looking to replicate its sales success with racing in the United States, the factory entered a team of racers in 1954 in the Daytona 200, which, at the time, was held on the beach course. Aboard a mixture of single-cylinder Gold Stars and twin-cylinder Shooting Stars, BSA riders swept the top five places in the race, cementing the brand’s image in the U.S. as a performance machine.

However, small, reliable, oil-tight Japanese machines were starting to gain momentum in the United States. BSA continued to have mild success with the three-cylinder Rocket 3, but by the 1970s, performance Japanese motorcycles had displaced BSAs in the minds of many motorcyclists.

Following a merger with the Norton Villiers Triumph Group, the combined company stopped producing BSA-branded machines in 1973.

Still, BSAs endure today as both competitive vintage racers and, along with other British brands such as Triumph, staples of the modern café racer culture.

To learn more about BSA history, see numerous machines in person — both on display and on the track — and maybe even add one to your own collection, there’s no better place than the country’s largest celebration of motorcycling heritage: 2009 AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days.

The weekend will include highlights such as vintage racing and North America’s largest motorcycle swap meet. Also on tap are demo rides of current production bikes, motorcycling seminars, stunt shows, the new product Manufacturers’ Midway, club corrals featuring marque and regional clubs, and guided rides through the rolling Ohio countryside. The Classic Clubs this year will be the Sandcast Only Owner’s Club (SOOC), and the International CBX Owners Association.

This year will be particularly special because it commemorates the 85th anniversary of the AMA, and will feature a parade of classic motorcycles representing each year of the AMA’s 85 years. Museum staff has compiled a list of significant models produced since 1924 for the parade. Volunteers with bikes on that list are encouraged to contact the Museum for information about participating. Information is at www.motorcyclemuseum.org.

AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days benefits the AMA’s Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum. The goal of the Museum, located on the campus of the AMA in Pickerington, Ohio, is to tell the stories and preserve the history of motorcycling.

For more information about AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days, visit www.AMAVintageMotorcycleDays.com. Tickets can be purchased at the website for the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course: www.midohio.com.

Source: www.amadirectlink.com

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Ever wonder where the paw in our logo comes from? Our Founder was given the nickname “The Bear” while he was in the military. Other companies may use paws in their logo, but here at OBB, there’s a man that stands behind this one!

It took a couple of years to rehabilitate my body and career, thankfully the military paid for my reeducation and I studied web design and business. Because I couldn’t ride at the time, the Internet became my outlet to stay active in the sport. I built a hobby web site called www.oldbikebarn.com. The site had, pictures my of bike builds, and my rant’s about bikes and the industry. I was selling off my personal collection of vintage parts on the site to pay the bills… soon I began to receive hundreds of emails weekly asking me for parts for the older bikes I loved. Remember, this is back in the late Nineties, early 2000′s and the Internet was not what it is today.

I seized this opportunity and started to source reproduction and new parts for my site. I moved into my first commercial location; where things really took off, the web site was getting lots of traffic, and I could barley keep up.

That’s when the one-man-show became a company made up of motorcycle lovers/enthusiasts. My younger brother Billy came aboard at that time and has since grown through every level of the company to become the Director of Operations and my right hand man. Today, the company has grown to have a vast line of products covering hundreds of models; 1969 to present day.

Old Bike Barn is dedicated to anything motorsports but with a paticuler focus on supporting 10-year and older motorcycles and the people that ride them.

We continue to add new products and new tools to help serve you

1. We have Live Chat on the web site 10am to 5pm Monday to Friday
2. You can easily find parts for your specific application by using the search by bike feature at www.oldbikebarn.com
3. You can submit a support ticket through the contact us page 24/7
4. Sign up for our Newsletter to get great deals, tech tips, jokes
5.The Old Bike Barn Blog is another great resource for Motorcycle news that adds to our by Biker’s for Biker’s commitment.

Keep it between the ditches and the Shiny side up. 

Bear, founder Old Bike Barn
bear@oldbikebarn.com

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It’s time for a long over due thank you to the gang at Rice Paddy and this new blog its the perfect place for this sort of thing. I’d especially like to thank  Tom the owner, this summer at Vintage days he rolled out the best Ohioan hospitality, and fed our whole gang on our first night there with at truly  gourmet BBQ with all the fixings. Thanks Tom it sure made our first day, run a little smoother and took a little stress of my plate after Traveling 12 hours in convoy from up state NY. I’d like to reciprocate a BBQ for your team on July 24th 2009 at AMA Vintage Days. The Old Bike Barn team will be in attendance at 2009 AMA Vintage Day’s again, and a day earlier this year to get setup.

The Rice Paddy has parted out over 1,000 motorcycles over the past few years they have parts in stock for even rare bikes,     Old Bike Barn covers new parts for vintage bikes but these guys have the stuff you just can’t get anymore. Check them out at www.ricepaddy.com

Rice Paddy BBQ

After the show Tom even took care of getting our photographer Tristan Brand to the airport to fly to his next gig. Click the image below to see more of Tristan’s coverage of the event!

Tristan and OBB Staffer Pat stunting a Golf Cart!

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