Here’s the handout Craig Haggart is using to evangelize 160 racing in the Bay Area.  Someone could easily take this idea, modify it to match your particular area and run with it anywhere.  Probably well worth having a handout to give to the inevitable curious folks who stop by.

Michael

RACE  A  40-YEAR-OLD  160cc  MOTORCYCLE?

…ARE YOU CRAZY?

Yeah, we’ve been called crazy more than once, but we sure do have a blast.  If you’ve ever thought that it might be fun to get out on a track with a little vintage café racer – well, you’re right!

There are actually quite a few good reasons for racing a Honda CB160:

1.They’re cheap.  You can buy or build a whole race bike for what some people with modern bikes spend just to buy a set of billet pegs and a fancy exhaust.

2.They’re pretty common.  You can usually find a good one without much trouble.

3.Parts are still available.

4.They use modern tires that cost $70 each and can last a whole year.

5.They’re robust and easy to work on.

6.The tires may be skinny, but a CB160 racer corners remarkably well.

7.They’re cool little bikes and are lots of fun to race.

8.Doing well in a race is more about skill than equipment.

9.There’s a very active community of friendly, knowledgeable, helpful racers.

10.   Did I mention that they’re cheap?  And fun?

Naturally, there are a couple of downsides:

  1. Totally tricked-out 160s see about 14 or 15 horsepower on a dyno.  A more typical one is probably more like 12 hp.  If power is your thing, a small vintage bike isn’t likely to satisfy you.
  2. There aren’t many venues left in the Bay Area for organized vintage road racing.

There’s not much to do about downside #1, but downside #2 is something we’re trying to remedy.   Until recently, there was a Bay Area-based organization called VMoto that put on 4 races per year in conjunction with vintage car races at Laguna Seca, Reno-Fernley, and Portland.  But there weren’t enough people signed up to schedule any events after 2006.  We also race with AHRMA, but that organization only has one annual West Coast race.  That leaves AFM, with about a million 19-year-old sportbike riders and maybe half a dozen riders on vintage bikes at most.  It would be nice to at least get more vintage bikes involved with AFM; it would be even better to also get VMoto going again.  We also do track days together, which can be as much fun as an organized race.

A bunch of people in the Pacific Northwest race 160s all the time.  They have set up an e-mail list on the web called Formula 160 at groups.yahoo.com/group/F-160 . Pretty much any question you have about building a 160 vintage racer can be answered by someone on that list.  It’s nice to know that any problem you can think of has almost certainly been solved by someone already.

If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me at CRAIG.HAGGART@YAHOO.COM or CB160RACER@YAHOO.COM .   I can at least help you locate a bike if you like.

Craig Haggart

Sunnyvale, California

1966 Honda CB160 vintage racer

VMoto #77,  AHRMA #677,  AFM #677R

It’s challenging to ride a slow bike fast, it’s fun to dice it up with friends, and it’s great when your largest racing expense is likely to be the entry fee and gas for the van!

v.4.1   12Mar09                                                                                                                                                                 (More info on back…)

Racing organizations:

AFM (American Federation of Motorcyclists): www.afmracing.org

AHRMA (American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association: www.ahrma.org

Some Bay Area track day organizations:

Keigwin:  http://www.keigwin.com/ (AFM “New Racer School” option)

Pacific Track Time: http://pacifictracktime.com (AFM “New Racer School” option)

Zoom Zoom: http://zoomzoomtrackdays.com (AFM “New Racer School” option)

Track Club (formerly Club Desmo): http://www.thetrackclub.com

CLASS (Reg Pridmore): http://www.classrides.com

Red Shift (formerly dP Safety School): http://www.rideredshift.com

California Superbike School (Keith Code): http://www.superbikeschool.com/

Take It 2 The Track: http://ti2tt.com