MOTOCROSS AMERICA!

otocross America tells a fascinating story in compelling and entertaining fashion. From the birth of motocross in the 1920s to its arrival in America in the ‘60s, and from the spawning of supercross in the ‘70s to meteoric growth in the ‘90s, it’s all there. Many of the scores of bikes on exhibit were ridden by the sport’s elite: Roger DeCoster, Brad Lackey, Jim Weinert, Jeff Ward, Gary and David Bailey, Jeremy McGrath and Ricky Carmichael, to name just a few.
     As you would expect, the Japanese “Big Four” and Europe’s KTM are represented, along with rare and exotic examples from the likes of AJS, CZ, Eso, Greeves, Lito, Monark, Norton and Triumph; in all, more than 25 brands are represented. Products that emerged from the inventiveness of dozens of aftermarket companies-apparel, pipes, bodywork, suspension tweaks and more-will also jog memories.
     A thorough trip through this exhibit will require several hours, but the multi-media displays and availability of headsets programmed with an in-depth audio guide accommodate visitors at whatever pace and depth they choose.
     Among popular features are the X-Dome, with a multi-media celebration of the sport, and the impressive Motocross Resource Center that provides a wealth of information about the present-day motorcycle industry and live links to more than 1,300 related websites to help create new MX racers and fans.
     Special events scheduled around the Motocross America exhibit will include a reunion and dinner on Thursday, July 14, featuring many of the sport’s legends. That event will be open to the public, but reservations (call 614-856-2222, Ext. 1234) are required.
     When you go: The Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum is open seven days a week (call for holiday hours) from 9am – 5pm and is conveniently located East of Columbus, Ohio, just off Interstate 70 at Exit 112/Route 256. For more information, call (614) 856-2222, Ext. 1234; or visit www.motorcyclemuseum.org.
     A lavishly illustrated companion catalog (224 pages hardbound) will be published this summer by Motorbooks International. To purchase, visit the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum gift shop or www.motorbooks.com, or visit www.heartlandmedia.info for copies signed by curator Ed Youngblood and author Bill Amick.

A pristine 1977 MC5 Penton 250 occupies the foreground in a Motocross America display area it shares with classic bikes including a Montesa Cappra, Suzuki TM250 and ex-Steve Wise works Kawasaki. f you think history is static, boring and best left to academics, prepare to have that notion shattered when you visit Motocross America, the ambitious and groundbreaking exhibit which occupies the main exhibit hall of the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum in Pickerington, Ohio, throughout 2005 and 2006. The exhibit is already in place and will celebrate its official opening in conjunction with the July 15-17 AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days, but is the product of more than two years of labor by Executive Director Mark Mederski and the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum staff and board, curator Ed Youngblood, and dozens of designers, fabricators, lenders and enthusiasts. Even at skin-depth, Motocross America is a remarkable collection of scrambles, motocross and supercross machines, photos, artifacts and memorabilia. It offers casual visitors a delightful stroll through a slice of motorsports history and a colorful tribute to a nice little British invention that Americans turned upside down and inside out to create the original extreme sport. But it will be much more than that, a veritable Motocross Mecca, to motocross enthusiasts of all ages. Everywhere you look-on the impressive exhibit fixtures, along the flowing and well-designed walkways and in some cases literally falling from the rafters-there are machines, materials and visuals sure to provide more flashbacks than a Woodstock reunion. Best of all, the loving and in some instances lavish presentation gives context to the exhibit’s “things” and brings them to life.
otocross America tells a fascinating story in compelling and entertaining fashion. From the birth of motocross in the 1920s to its arrival in America in the ‘60s, and from the spawning of supercross in the ‘70s to meteoric growth in the ‘90s, it’s all there. Many of the scores of bikes on exhibit were ridden by the sport’s elite: Roger DeCoster, Brad Lackey, Jim Weinert, Jeff Ward, Gary and David Bailey, Jeremy McGrath and Ricky Carmichael, to name just a few. As you would expect, the Japanese “Big Four” and Europe’s KTM are represented, along with rare and exotic examples from the likes of AJS, CZ, Eso, Greeves, Lito, Monark, Norton and Triumph; in all, more than 25 brands are represented. Products that emerged from the inventiveness of dozens of aftermarket companies-apparel, pipes, bodywork, suspension tweaks and more-will also jog memories. A thorough trip through this exhibit will require several hours, but the multi-media displays and availability of headsets programmed with an in-depth audio guide accommodate visitors at whatever pace and depth they choose. Among popular features are the X-Dome, with a multi-media celebration of the sport, and the impressive Motocross Resource Center that provides a wealth of information about the present-day motorcycle industry and live links to more than 1,300 related websites to help create new MX racers and fans. Special events scheduled around the Motocross America exhibit will include a reunion and dinner on Thursday, July 14, featuring many of the sport’s legends. That event will be open to the public, but reservations (call 614-856-2222, Ext. 1234) are required. When you go: The Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum is open seven days a week (call for holiday hours) from 9am – 5pm and is conveniently located East of Columbus, Ohio, just off Interstate 70 at Exit 112/Route 256. For more information, call (614) 856-2222, Ext. 1234; or visit www.motorcyclemuseum.org. A lavishly illustrated companion catalog (224 pages hardbound) will be published this summer by Motorbooks International. To purchase, visit the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum gift shop or www.motorbooks.com, or visit www.heartlandmedia.info for copies signed by curator Ed Youngblood and author Bill Amick.
Flames don’t begin to capture how hot the talent on display is. Bikes in this photo were ridden by Hall of Fame members including Jim Weinert, David Bailey, Jeff Ward, James Stewart, Gary Jones and Donny Schmit. A rare Eso 500 from Czechoslovakia is in the foreground of the “Birth of Motocross” display. A high-flying Motocross-Thru-the-Ages visual includes two very different flavors of Italian motocrossers: a Parilla Scrambler (partially obscured) and Harley-Davidson/Aermacchi MX250. Gear and memorabilia from AMA National Champions including Jim Weinert, Rick Burgett, Bob Hannah and Johnny O’Mara line a walkway leading to a technology display. AMA Supercross Championship bikes from Yamaha (Chad Reed) and Honda (Ricky Carmichael) flank the entrance to the X-Dome multi-media experience. Bikes suspended in mid-air set the tone for the “Explosion of Supercross.” A Jimmy Ellis Can-Am and jerseys of the stars memorialize the famed Superbowl of Motocross at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Engine cutaways span the motocross ages, from four- stroke to two-stroke and back again. The Motocross America Technology exhibit includes a variety of suspension components, a naked Yamaha Monocrosser and a Team Kawasaki relic: the race-shop refrigerator that’s been in service from Brad Lackey to James Stewart.