Actor will join fellow AMA Board Member Charles Goman on track at this summer's
AMA Racing Vintage Grand Championships
PICKERINGTON, Ohio -- Long-time motorcyclist and American Motorcyclist Association
(AMA) Board Member Perry King has battled injustice as Cody Allen in the NBC series
"Riptide," global warming as President Blake in the movie "The Day After Tomorrow,"
and societal norms as Chico in "The Lords of Flatbush." But the accomplished actor
has faced few challenges that stack up to the one he'll tackle this July 24-26 at
the AMA Racing Vintage Grand Championships at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in
Lexington, Ohio: racing a vintage off-road bike.
"Vintage racing seems fitting to
me," said King, who has raced cars but
never competed
on a motorcycle despite decades of riding
experience. "I'm pretty vintage myself
now. I feel like a vintage guy, and I
love motorcycles, so it seems like a perfect
fit."
Accepting the invitation of fellow AMA Board
member and vintage motorcycle racer
Charles Goman, King will line up with
Goman to race in the vintage hare scrambles
and motocross programs at the event, which are
part of AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days,
a three-day celebration of motorcycling
heritage that includes bike shows, seminars,
North America's largest motorcycle swap meet
and vintage and post-vintage competition.
Goman said that King showed particular
enthusiasm in vintage racing at a recent
AMA Board of Directors meeting. Goman was
happy to oblige King's interest.
"Perry and I just hit it off, and I let
him know about coming out and vintage
riding,"
Goman said. "I offered him a ride on one
of my bikes, and he was very interested
in doing it. I told him I normally ride
the hare scrambles and then vintage motocross,
and he was game."
While King said he's thrilled and excited to
compete at the AMA Racing Vintage Grand
Championships, he doesn't intend to ride on
the edge in either the woods during
the hare scrambles or on the track during
motocross.
"There are just three rules: don't crash,
don't crash, don't crash," King said.
"You just can't heal the way you can when
you're young. I do tend, certainly in
cars, to find it hard not to go for it. But I
want to make sure I have many years
left of fun. I'm not looking for the red mist
to descend over my eyes."
Goman is an Ossa aficionado, and will likely
loan King a 1974 Ossa Phantom 250 to
ride at the AMA Racing Vintage Grand
Championships.
"I don't know much about it, but I love
everything with two wheels, so I know I'll
love it," King said. "If I were
Charles, though, and I had more than one race
bike,
I'd give the other guy the more difficult one
to ride."
King said that the vintage racing program
isn't the only activity he's looking forward
to at AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days.
"I'm a motorcycle addict. If it's
motorcycles, it fascinates me. I'll be in
heaven
there," King said. "I have 26 bikes
now, and half of them are vintage. I like them
all in different ways. Certainly one favorite
is a '68 Bonneville that I built from
a basket case in 1977, then used up and
rebuilt again. Another is a '71 BMW R60.
It had been sitting in the corner of
some guy's shop, and he just wanted it to
go away. I got it for 600 bucks. It took me
two hours to clean the carbs and put
a battery in it, and it was running. I
just love old bikes."
Goman added that the people are an equally big
attraction of AMA Vintage Motorcycle
Days.
"Just seeing everybody and meeting all
these old and new friends is great,"
Goman
said. "It's a fair thing to say that in
the vintage racing world, if it wasn't for
the people I've been meeting, I'm not sure I'd
still be doing it. When it comes
to AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days, the
motorcycles are great, but it's really the
people
-- in the pits, in the swap meet or on the
track -- who do it for me."
King and Goman will race in the inaugural AMA
Racing Vintage Grand Championships.
The AMA Racing Vintage Grand Championships
will crown AMA National Champions in
road racing, motocross, hare scrambles, dirt
track and trials. Winners of select
classes will earn AMA National No. 1
plates to defend at the 2010 AMA Racing
Vintage
Grand Championships.
In addition, the rider with the highest
cumulative point total in select dirt-track
and road-racing classes will be honored as the
AMA Track Racing Vintage Grand National
Champion, and the rider with the highest
cumulative point total in select motocross,
hare scrambles and trials will be the AMA
Off-Road Racing Vintage Grand National
Champion.
More information and online entry forms are at
AMARacing.com and AMAVintageMotorcycleDays.com
About AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days
AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days includes vintage
racing, North America's largest motorcycle
swap meet, bike shows, demo rides of current
production bikes, motorcycling seminars,
stunt shows, the new product Manufacturers'
Midway and club corrals featuring marque
and regional clubs. The Marque of the Year for
2009 is BSA, whose bikes became synonymous
with racing in the United States when the
brand swept the top five positions at
the Daytona 200 in 1954. The Classic Clubs
this year will be the Sandcast Only Owner's
Club (SOOC), and the International CBX Owners
Association.
This year will be particularly special because
it commemorates the 85th anniversary
of the AMA and will feature a parade of
classic motorcycles representing the past
85 years. Volunteers are encouraged to contact
the Museum about participating in
the parade. Information is at
MotorcycleMuseum.org