American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 231 October 2018 | Page 10

Moto Bay Classic - Motorcycles, Music
and Art in the City by the Bay
Photos: Jacob Vaughan
San Francisco, August 16 - 18
Tucker V-Twin’s Dale Spangler reports
Following the success of the first
annual Moto Beach Classic at Bolsa
Chica State Beach, Huntington Beach,
California, in October 2017, those
intrepid showmen and women at
Roland Sands Design (RSD) took the
formula north to the San Francisco Bay
in August this year and saw over 5,000
guests attend a one-day festival that
has generated a veritable storm of
internet and social media traffic.
“This was a passion project,” says
Roland Sands, “and our first attempt
for RSD to bring our ‘Greatest Show on
Dirt’ to San Francisco’s Embarcadero
Pier 32 for a celebration of
motorcycles, music and art.”
The combination of motorcycle flat
track and drag racing with a surf
competition, art show and music that
made the Moto Beach Classic an
overwhelming success first time out
looks to be a winning formula that
plays just the right notes at just the
right time.
With its urban setting and spectacular
views of the Oakland Bay Bridge, San
Francisco Bay and downtown skyline,
Pier 32 is a picture-perfect place to
hold a motorcycle event. With racing,
stunt riding, music and art on the
schedule, Sands created the Moto Bay
Classic to have its own unique festival
atmosphere with the same focus on
fun as Moto Beach.
No stranger to motorcycle action, Pier
32 is the same location where the
2000 Summer X Games took place—
the first to include Freestyle Moto-X. It
was here that a then 15-year old Travis
Pastrana recorded the highest score in
X Games history with a 99.00 Gold
Medal run. Less talked about is that
Pier 32 is also the location of
Pastrana’s (in)famous jump into San
Francisco Bay. Having just won his first
X Games Gold, Pastrana donned a life
vest under his riding gear and
proceeded to launch himself (and his
Suzuki RM125 motorcycle) off a four-
foot high berm into San Francisco Bay,
much to the delight of the fans in
attendance. Needless to say, the city of
San Francisco (and EPA) were not as
impressed, and Pastrana’s derring do
is not talked about much in those parts
these days.
Supported by Tucker V-Twin, who had
two VIP dealer experience facilities set
up, practice for the hooligan racers
kicked off the program at 11:00 am
with the roar of the twin-cylinder
engines and smell of burnt rubber
bouncing around and blowing
through the downtown canyons of the
San Francisco cityscape.
Although hooligan racing has been
around since the 1970s, “run what ya’
brung” racing has really taken off in
the last few of years, and as a result,
RSD created a national championship
series. With events scattered
throughout the western half of the
United States, the 2018 Super
Hooligan National Championship
Series (SHNC) is comprised of nine
races. With a limited set of rules, racers
must show up on a 750 cc or larger
street bike, from any manufacturer,
and the rules focus on minimal
fabrication to keep costs low. For
example, a stock production frame
must be used, and no geometry
changes are allowed unless they are
not bolt-on.
The result is an accessible form of
racing with a more level playing field
and closer racing. In addition to the
premiere Super Hooligan, other less
serious classes include Run What Ya’
Brung, Air-cooled 2-Stroke, Mad
Monkey Mini (150 cc or under),
SuperMoto, and even a small-bore XR
class. Part of the allure of hooligan
racing is that the bikes raced are
typically not meant for the track.
Instead of exotic and expensive factory
race bikes, these are everyday
motorcycles - which only adds to the
grassroots street-cred appeal of
hooligan racing.
As the racers burned rubber on the
hooligan track, at the same time over
on the gymkhana course the finals of
10
the fifth annual San Francisco
International Police Motor Skills
competition were going on. The
competition started on Thursday with
semi-finals on Friday and the finals
Saturday. Think these policemen just
sip coffee and eat donuts all day?
Think again! These guys can ride!
Seeing the bike handling skills of these
policemen was impressive—
especially the ones riding police-issue
baggers.
A stroll through the venue around
noon revealed the other Moto Bay
activities going on, such as the
“Kidkhana” electric strider bike demos
for kids, the “Architects of Inspiration”
art and bike show sponsored by
Husqvarna, and bike demos by several
of the OEMs. Vendors were scattered
about selling their wares, and Tucker
distributed brands Roland Sands, Arlen
Ness, Vance & Hines, Performance
Machine, Burly Brand, Progressive and
Dunlop, who were all in attendance to
display product and interact with the
fellow motorcyclists in attendance.
The main event Hooligan racing
commenced around 3 pm. Andy
DiBrino took a close-fought win in the
Super Hooligan final, with Robert Bush
and Mikey Hill rounding out the
podium. A crowd-pleasing display of
tire-shredding burnouts followed the
finish and the air filled with smoke
while shards of flying rubber peppered
fans lining the race course.
With its mix of motorcycles, music,and
art in a laid-back festival setting, the
Moto Bay Classic had all the right
ingredients for a perfect day of fun. As
the event’s description states, “the
RSD Moto Bay Classic promises
something for everyone. With a
constant flow of activities and
participation from attendees, you’re
not just watching the show, you’re a
part of it,” and to judge by the reaction
of the crowd, we’d say the RSD crew
hit the mark!
AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER - OCTOBER 2018