Story by Jim Witters
Photos by Jeff Guciardo
“Is this the 500 head?” asked Frank Humphries, of Carlisle, Ohio.
“No,” came the response. “The 500 head doesn’t stick out like that.”
Such is the discourse at the massive swap meet at AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.
Humphries claimed to be “just looking at miscellaneous stuff.”
“I have a motor that I need some parts for, but I am finding a lot of parts are cracked,” he said. “But I found some gas valves and petcocks.
“And this throttle I bought is very unusual,” he said, holding up a handgrip. “I’m not sure what it’s for but the price was right.”
FAMILY OUTING
Aaron Cooper of Erie, Pa., said his family gets together every year for AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days, and the swap meet is a must-see.
Meandering with is 9-year-old nephew, Owen Cooper of Chicago, Aaron was searching for a Honda Ascot carburetor.
“It’s for my dad,” he said. “He calls the shots. I just answer the phone and go find what he tells me to look for.”
MOTORCYCLE CULTURE
For Zac Biberstine and Kim Waterman of Indianapolis, the AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days swap meet is a blooming tradition that epitomizes the motorcycle lifestyle.
“I want everything,” Waterman said. “All the dirt bikes, especially. But we didn’t bring a trailer, so, so far, we have stuck to small accessories.”
Biberstine has been attending this event for five years.
He said he likes to search “for things that have a good story -- what something’s been through or where a part came from or how a bike was built.”
“You realize that there are so many things that happen every day here that you can never see it all,” Biberstine said. “The culture -- the races on the track, the motocross, the clubs. Each year, I try to get here earlier so I can meet more people and see more things. My goal is to see everything there is.”
LIFETIME OF ENJOYMENT
Jerry Stark, of Seymour, Ind., said motorcycles have been a part of his life since he was 6 years old. And he got his son, Jacob, involved when Jacob was 3.
The family restores Maico motorcycles, built by the German manufacturer Maicowerk A.G. beginning in 1926.
“I have a 250 that my grandpa bought new and that I raced in hare scrambles,” Stark said. “I love Vintage Motorcycle Days. This is my time of year. This is like Christmas for me.”
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