People Watching: AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days

Ever been to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for a weekend of AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days? If not, man, you should go. If you’ve been, you’re probably hooked. You’ll find extinct, endangered, and classic brands of bikes being sold, ridden, or raced (hard). Various vintage racing is happening all around you while new-model demo rides are available at all hours. Of course, what would VMD be without the massive motorcycle swap meet? It’s breathtaking, in an extremely miscellaneous and random kinda way. We’ll be featuring Mid-O in many articles to come, but for today, we wanna paint a picture of what we feel is the highlight of the event: People watching. So, grab a lemon shake-up, find a shade tree and enjoy watching this sampling of Midwest motorcycle culture pass by. (We took these pics in 2010.)

Mid-Ohio: Motorcyclists Crossing Entering the Infield — Run whatcha brung.

Mid Ohio: Vintage Dirtbikers — "You see, children, there was a time when people raced what they called 'two-strokes.' It was a magnificent sound."

Mid-Ohio: Motorcycle Figurehead — His ancestors were Vikings.

Mid-Ohio: Vintage Sidecar Racers — Crouching Racer. Hidden Monkey.

Mid-Ohio: Swap Meet Pondering — When considering a big purchase, WWAND? (What Would Aaron Neville Do?)

Mid-Ohio: 6-wheeler — When it rains at Mid-Ohio, this would reeeeally come in handy.

Mid-Ohio: Custom Sidecar — "Jeeves, to the infield!" he commanded, whilst atop his lawn chair perch.

Mid-Ohio: Big Dudes on Little Bikes — At times, it seems the population at VMD is dominated by big dudes on little bikes.

Mid-Ohio: Little Bike Gang — Hide ya kids. Hide ya wife...

Mid-Ohio: View of the Swap Meet — Plan your weekend accordingly; this is only a small percentage of the swap meet.

Mid-Ohio: Swap Meeters — If you were to pick any random part off of your bike, there's a good chance a guy at Mid-Ohio is looking for it.

Mid-Ohio: Radio Flyer Cargo — Radio Flyer Use #12,503: Hauling bottom end back to campsite.

Mid-Ohio: Mobile Consignment — A consignment shop of sorts. If you're not interested in the motorcycle items, they also sell patriotic Cornhole Beer Holders.

Mid-Ohio: AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days Road Racer — Respect.

Mid-Ohio: Flxible Bus Guy — This fella drove this "Flxible" bus all the way from California.

Mid-Ohio: Swap Meet Transportation — Goldwing Trike.

Mid-Ohio: From the Fuuuuture — "Excuse me, sir. Future Motorcycle Days is over thataway."

Mid-Ohio: Swap Meet Utility Vehicle — The baby-blue diamond plate, battering ram edition.

Mid-Ohio: For Sale Shirt — Guerilla Marketing.

Mid-Ohio: Rockabilly Bass — Some great rockabilly music by Highway 13, playing in the Cafe Racer Magazine tent.

Mid-Ohio: Speedcult Bike and Folks — Len's Cafe Racer (he's on the far right; runs Speedcult with his bro, Bryan).

Mid-Ohio: Vintage Motorcycle Days Traffic Jam — Ever see a traffic jam where people are smiling? Welcome to Mid-Ohio.

Mid-Ohio: Motorcycle Serentiy — Of course, there are places to go to "get away." You can find this scene in the infield of Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Keep it dialed-in for more posts about the incredible mix of old bikes, vintage racing and people-watchin’ at VMD. Maybe we’ll see you out there this year?