If The AMA, Harley and Now Vance and Hines Build It, Will They Come?

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Scott Zampach rests up in his garage at Mid Ohio in '94 after a practice session. One of Zampach's Don Tilley-sponsored Harley Davidson 883's sits outside his garage on display. Zampach was the winningest rider in the Twin Sports/883 classes over the years, amassing a handful of AMA 883 Championships in '91,'92,'93 and '95. He also finished 2nd in class to Matt Wait in '94. Don't let the friendly smile warm you over-Zampach was ferocious on the track.
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Roy Nicholson leads on his #55 H-D 883 over #1 Scott Zampach, #2 Shawn Higbee and #80 (unknown) during the AMA Twin Sports Race at Mid Ohio in '94. Competition in the class was fierce although, as per most H-D pavement races, speeds were nominal at best. So were the 'extra' crowds on hand that came running to see their beloved twins race, and even win for a change on the pavement. But the class and the racing didn't draw any more paying customers then a road race would have anyway, even at Road America, some 50 miles up the road from the H-D factory. The class was eventually dropped for others more technologically advanced then a bilge pump on steroids.
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Nigel Gale on his #1 H-D 883 machine in the paddock area at Road America in 1990. Gale was sponsored by Bartel's H-D at the time, even though his leathers say 'Mockbee Racing' on the leg. This was the first year for the U.S. Twin Sports , Harley Davidson Twin Sports or Super Twins class in AMA Pro Road Racing as it was called in it's different 883-based variations.
Gale won the inaugaral championship in '90.
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Scott Zampach--The 'Z- Man'--on his #1 Tilley Harley Davidson-sponsored championship winning 883 at Road America in 1992. Zampach also won the '89 AMA 600 SuperSport Championship and won a slew of races and championships in WERA throughout his racing career. With his skill and personality, he is still missed on and at the track after all these years. Last I heard he was selling Harley's for Fletcher's H-D in Clearwater, Fl. He did some announcing for several years at Road America as well during Super Cycle Weekend.
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The Z-man leads Nicholson and Higbee onto the main straight at Mid Ohio during the Twin Sports race in 1994. Even though the technology on these bikes wasn't exactly state of the art as in the Superbike and other classes, the racing was close and the oil spills were few. Higbee won the '95 AMA Twin Sports Championship with Bartel's as his sponsor. Matt Wait winning the title in '96 and Eric Bostrom in '97 were the other class champs in the series run.
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It was announced at Daytona the week before last, that the AMA, Harley Davidson, and Vance and Hines would be putting on a new class for select rounds this year of AMA Road Racing based on the new for the U.S. H-D XR1200. In what could surely be looked at as taking a step back in time to the old Twin Sports 883-based classes of '89-'97, someone is looking to try and fill the stands at AMA events, especially the way the fans ran away from the running of the 2009 season. But the big question is and still remains--if they build it, will they come?
This sport we all love and cherish so much isn't baseball and this isn't 'Field of Dreams' so putting people in the seats at any motorcycle racing event, or especially an AMA Road Racing event, is going to take more then just advertising to the Harley crowd, because we already know that they won't come based on the fact that it didn't happen from 1989 through 1997 when the 883-based class ran.
And this surely doesn't take away from the fact that, albeit much slower then the superbike or sportbike classes, the racing WAS extremely close and and the competition was fierce. Add to that the talent that came out of the series. Riders such as Ben Bostrom ('98 AMA Superbike Champ and '08 AMA SuperSport Champ) and Eric Bostrom ('97 Twin Sports Champ), Aaron Yates, Matt Wait ('96 Champ), Shawn Higbee ('94 Champ) and Scott 'The Z-Man' Zampach ('91-'93 and '95 Champ) not only raced and won championships, but most went on to the big bike classes, having been groomed on the art of tight, close low horsepower racing. Learning in the class was at a premium, as the draft was not kind if it was lost. High torque and low horsepower meant learning to learn and love the draft.
We applaud the AMA, H-D and V&H for trying to drum up more interest in the races, as we all know the need of having to draw paying customers. And I fully expect to see that these races will be great for competition and closeness. But drawing paying customers with a shaker class will not work, just as was proven in the past. And part of the problem, we all have to face, is the fact that unless a person is into bikes already, even being a race fan, doesn't automatically mean they will 'get it.' There are an awful lot of ways to draw a full house, but to keep them drawn and quartered, they DO have to get it. And I'm sure, as you are reading this and thinking the same, if someone doesn't get the motorcycle racing thing, it doesn't matter what type of race you put on. They might come initially for curiosity sake, but they won't return, because they don't get it. And that is something that I have seen for over three and a half decades of going to these races. Some people just don't get motorcycle racing like they do other types of motorsports events, whatever they may be. It's just that simple and I don't think that will ever change to the point where all of a sudden the crowds just show up in droves. Otherwise, why, after all these years, people don't rush the gate to see one of these things. And that applies to the flat track scene, as well. You can put on the best show on wheels, but if the crowd doesn't have a clue, you are lost.
I hope I'm wrong, as time will only tell. I think it still gets down to the fact that if you dig motorcycle racing-unless it's supercross or motocross-the numbers are what they are and you have to appreciate it and deal with it at the levels that have been sustained attendance-wise for decades. And that is a sad reality in the world of motorcycle racing from my eyes, as nothing equals a good high speed two wheel race. Nothing!
I found a couple of articles to go along with today's rant on the scene of AMA Road Racing. The first one below was written by Dean Adams over at SuperBikePlanet.com and dwells in a much better way then I can about the numbers, or lack thereof, over the former Twin Sports and future XR1200 series. And below that is Paul Carruthers at CycleNews.com official release from Daytona talking about the new series.
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Dean Adams over at SuperBikePlanet.com ponders the age-old question--If the AMA and Harley (and now Vance and Hines as well) build it, will they come:

http://superbikeplanet.com/2010/Mar/100304dtwinsports.htm

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The official release as posted by Paul Carruthers over at CycleNews.com talks about the Vance and Hines involvement in the new XR1200 class, where the five race series will compete at, as well as the purse money up for grabs in the new class:

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2010/03/04/a-vance-hines-harley-class-for-2010

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Thanks again for stopping by. As always, if you have a spin on this or anything else, leave me a comment for discussion. I wish I knew how to put more people in the stands at road race and flat track events. Hell, if I did, they would have been overflowing decades ago.....