Vintage Motorcycle Days @ Mid Ohio - July 5-7 - Advice for a first timer?

Moto Obsessed
Edited Date/Time 7/23/2019 5:38am
Very excited to finally make my first pilgrimage to Mid Ohio to experience Vintage Motorcycle Days. Renting a trailer and making the 8.5hr drive. Hauling up about 5 bikes and a bunch of parts and misc "excess" that I could stand to purge.

My buddy I'm going with went last year for the first time - he can only describe it as Motorcycle Woodstock Laughing We have a vendor spot (not on the main row, over near the showers apparently?)

ANY ADVICE for a first timer is welcomed. Advice related to tips for selling, tips for buying, tips for camping and other logistics or things to consider??

Best to look for the good deals first thing on Friday before they're gone, or on Sunday when everyone is packing up and dropping prices so they don't have to haul it home??? (or both??)

Any ways to advertise what you've got?? The VMD facebook page seems to be the best place I've found to show what I'll have for sale and where to find me..

Who else will be attending this year?? Hopefully the weather is nice all weekend. I heard it was great last year; but I've seen photos from previous years where rain and lots of wind came through..

The million dollar question I have going into it: What the heck will I come home with?? Can only imagine...



2
|
VintageRacer 6/13/2019 11:31am
6/13/2019 11:31am
Take a pit bike. The place is huge, you can’t walk the entire facility and a pedal bike would even be tough. You’ll need lights on your bike after dark also.
It’s kind of like the Wild West when the sun goes down. Huge party atmosphere.
The swap meet is epic though. If you don’t wanna haul your stuff home price it accordingly. Someone will buy it. If you’re going to try and get rich you’ll be taking it all back home.
Check the swap meet ASAP for the best stuff available, it’ll be gone quick.
Take lots of cash.
The place is overwhelming, way more than I expected. Have a good time.
3
MaxPower
Profile picture for user MaxPower
Posts
2646
Joined
8/15/2006
Location
NJ US
MaxPower 6/13/2019 8:29pm
6/13/2019 8:29pm
BRING A PIT BIKE
The swap meet was disappointing to me. Unless you build CT70s. Maybe it's most swap meets but a good amount of things I saw for sale was worse than things I put out for Monday morning garbage. Not everything but a lot of it was. And prices were high for this stuff.
BUT it was so much fun. I enjoyed a bunch of old men that love dirt bikes like me. Pit bikes all over. I don't know if they had the pit bike flat track every year, but it was great. Bikes would jump in to it like a spinning wheel and get flung off. My favorite was a CT70 that laid a roost like a kx450. That thing was sick. I'm jealous I wish I was going.
2
Moto Obsessed 6/13/2019 8:50pm
6/13/2019 8:50pm
MaxPower wrote:
BRING A PIT BIKE The swap meet was disappointing to me. Unless you build CT70s. Maybe it's most swap meets but a good amount of things...
BRING A PIT BIKE
The swap meet was disappointing to me. Unless you build CT70s. Maybe it's most swap meets but a good amount of things I saw for sale was worse than things I put out for Monday morning garbage. Not everything but a lot of it was. And prices were high for this stuff.
BUT it was so much fun. I enjoyed a bunch of old men that love dirt bikes like me. Pit bikes all over. I don't know if they had the pit bike flat track every year, but it was great. Bikes would jump in to it like a spinning wheel and get flung off. My favorite was a CT70 that laid a roost like a kx450. That thing was sick. I'm jealous I wish I was going.


Pit bike is covered... Honda Cub... CVT transmission, so I don't even have to shift anything Laughing
5
MaxPower
Profile picture for user MaxPower
Posts
2646
Joined
8/15/2006
Location
NJ US
MaxPower 6/15/2019 2:30am
6/15/2019 2:30am
It was justt a fun clean time that kept getting bigger and bigger as more and more joined. Eventually like everything it came to an end when someone invited the cops to the party.

This was just the beginning. It was all inclusive.
https://youtu.be/WI64Z5aR8No
I can't see the allowing this much fun much longer
4

The Shop

See All »
Rupert X
Profile picture for user Rupert X
Posts
10048
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
Newark, OH US
Rupert X 6/21/2019 2:21am
6/21/2019 2:21am
Me too, first timer this year, and I only live 45 minutes away.... gonna take a bunch of CR shtuff for sale. I usually (35 years) go to Red Bud. My 87 project
4
Chikers791
Profile picture for user Chikers791
Posts
25
Joined
2/10/2018
Location
New Castle, PA US
Chikers791 6/24/2019 5:18am
6/24/2019 5:18am
You're going to be blown away! I started going about five years ago, and it's absolutely the one event I look forward to and wait for every year!!!
PN27416
Profile picture for user PN27416
Posts
1018
Joined
6/12/2008
Location
Coopersburg, PA US
PN27416 6/24/2019 1:57pm
6/24/2019 1:57pm
Do the pit bikes have to be registered still? A few years back I got told to park my z50 twice Friday morning. Said it had to be street legal. Bought the first plate I could find in the swap meet, zip tied it on and was never bothered again.
2
SLOWTIME
Profile picture for user SLOWTIME
Posts
578
Joined
12/1/2014
Location
OH US
SLOWTIME 6/24/2019 2:16pm
6/24/2019 2:16pm
PN27416 wrote:
Do the pit bikes have to be registered still? A few years back I got told to park my z50 twice Friday morning. Said it had...
Do the pit bikes have to be registered still? A few years back I got told to park my z50 twice Friday morning. Said it had to be street legal. Bought the first plate I could find in the swap meet, zip tied it on and was never bothered again.
Never had a problem with any type of registration needed
kb228
Profile picture for user kb228
Posts
6161
Joined
1/31/2018
Location
Mansfield, OH US
kb228 6/25/2019 7:24am
6/25/2019 7:24am
Hate to say it but i live 10 mins away from mid ohio and have never been. What do you do all weekend? Romp around on pitbikes?
3
Peter Villacaro 6/26/2019 4:11am
6/26/2019 4:11am
kb228 wrote:
Hate to say it but i live 10 mins away from mid ohio and have never been. What do you do all weekend? Romp around on...
Hate to say it but i live 10 mins away from mid ohio and have never been. What do you do all weekend? Romp around on pitbikes?
Yeah there's that(the quote), there's cross country, motocross and road racing, there are demo rides, usually an auction, a featured brand, a "grand marshal" (notable motorcycle person), oh yeah and a huge swap meet, other than that there's nothing going on.
2
husky125
Profile picture for user husky125
Posts
263
Joined
5/26/2009
Location
Paris, OH US
husky125 7/1/2019 9:50am
7/1/2019 9:50am
Rupert I can't believe you've never been? We'll be camped over near the woods with the same obnoxious hooligans waving ole glory in the name of vintage motocross! The bikes are ready but not so sure I am!


4
Moto Obsessed 7/1/2019 6:36pm
7/1/2019 6:36pm
husky125 wrote:
Rupert I can't believe you've never been? We'll be camped over near the woods with the same obnoxious hooligans waving ole glory in the name of...
Rupert I can't believe you've never been? We'll be camped over near the woods with the same obnoxious hooligans waving ole glory in the name of vintage motocross! The bikes are ready but not so sure I am!


Kames! I lived in Akron/Canton for 7th and 8th grade ('96/'97), and Kames was the coolest back room honey hole moto shop!! Still remember just hanging out back there, watching Crusty tapes and snagging stickers. Cut my teeth on "real moto" at Broken Spokes on my CR80. Great memories!!
1
husky125
Profile picture for user husky125
Posts
263
Joined
5/26/2009
Location
Paris, OH US
husky125 7/2/2019 5:02am
7/2/2019 5:02am
husky125 wrote:
Rupert I can't believe you've never been? We'll be camped over near the woods with the same obnoxious hooligans waving ole glory in the name of...
Rupert I can't believe you've never been? We'll be camped over near the woods with the same obnoxious hooligans waving ole glory in the name of vintage motocross! The bikes are ready but not so sure I am!


Moto Obsessed wrote:
Kames! I lived in Akron/Canton for 7th and 8th grade ('96/'97), and Kames was the coolest back room honey hole moto shop!! Still remember just hanging...
Kames! I lived in Akron/Canton for 7th and 8th grade ('96/'97), and Kames was the coolest back room honey hole moto shop!! Still remember just hanging out back there, watching Crusty tapes and snagging stickers. Cut my teeth on "real moto" at Broken Spokes on my CR80. Great memories!!
No way!!! That's awesome! I still support them although they don't do too much in moto anymore. Online stores have pretty much killed the moto accessory sales for them.
mxracer106 7/2/2019 9:16am
7/2/2019 9:16am
I plan on going...just keeping an eye on the weather before I commit. It is indescribable....and you will have a blast! If you are racing, I advise you to bring ear plugs if you want a good nights sleep. First time I was there, got woken up at 2am by the loudest motorcycle I have ever heard(sounded like a motoGP bike at 16,000 rpms!) in the burn out pit smoking it's rear tire for 20 minutes while drunk crazies yelled at the top of their lungs! Had a hard time getting back to sleep afterwards, and made it tough racing moto on 4 hours of sleep!! I think there are some youtube videos posted of this "burn out pit". Crazy stuff goes on there 24/7. Enjoy!!
Rocky739
Profile picture for user Rocky739
Posts
302
Joined
1/9/2017
Location
Indianapolis, IN US
Rocky739 7/8/2019 6:26am
7/8/2019 6:26am
Hope you all had fun... I know I'm beat and bruised from one end to the other. Bent bars on pit bike, bent bars on the 97 CR 125... Probaly a minor concussion in the cross country race, ass whuppun on the RT Ducati in vintage MX. My nephew wadded up the 125 in a corner yesterday and popped his shoulder out, so a detour to the ER... Oh and a guy crashed into me Saturday in the vintage MX and tweaked his knee pretty bad, was awful as our bikes were hung together and I had a hell of a time getting them off him... Hope he's ok and wasn't too major. I felt awful as time seemed to go so slow as he was pretty freaked out while getting him free and getting the track crew over to him.

Now for a day of washing and cleaning... See yall next year!!
3

Pit Row

See All »
Premix
Profile picture for user Premix
Posts
1514
Joined
1/5/2014
Location
AS US
Premix 7/8/2019 10:03am
7/8/2019 10:03am
VMD was a great time again. Threw the motor back in my 125 Friday night after getting it rebuilt and headed South. Both days started off a bit greasy but came around for a great racing surface both days. Day 2 was brutal by the end of the motos. Pictures don’t do it justice for how rough it got.

Took the W in the Modern Class Saturday with a good battle with some riders from Georgia and PA. Sunday started off rough as I crushed the pipe on my 125 in the opening lap of moto 1. Luckily there was a shop at the track that had the fittings to blow the dent out about 5 minutes before the start of my first 125 moto. They kept the classes rolling Sunday and we were done by 1:30. Super impressive for the amount of riders. Ended up 2nd in the Revolution +30 (on a 125!) and 4th in the Revolution 125cc class on Sunday. Was hoping for a podium in both classes but a couple old fast pro’s came out and put a whooping on us old weekend warriors.

I made it through the swap meet a couple of times, still some good stuff left by Saturday. Gotta get their early for the deals. Honda had a massive display set out with some great old factory bikes and a brand new CR500 they found in the warehouse.

We didn’t camp this year due to the weather and knowing it was going to be a mud fest in the pits, but we did stick around to watch a little campground circle track racing. That may be the highlight of the weekend.










4
GIwasB4
Profile picture for user GIwasB4
Posts
2585
Joined
7/24/2008
Location
Beverly Hills, CA US
GIwasB4 7/8/2019 11:09am
7/8/2019 11:09am
Great pics premix, sounds like you had a successful weekend. I'm going next year, regardless of what the boss say's.
2
OldPro277
Profile picture for user OldPro277
Posts
1616
Joined
11/9/2009
Location
Avonmore, PA US
OldPro277 7/8/2019 1:44pm
7/8/2019 1:44pm
Premix-- great job this past weekend!! Wish I knew it were you ,I would have introduced myself as a fellow Vital dude. And although those pics are good they really didn't do those ruts justice ,lol. They seemed a LOT deeper racing thru them !! We had an up and down weekend. Starting with the "up" on Fridays cross country, I got a podium finish (3rd) on my 82 XC in the Evo 2 +50, and my son in law won the #1 plate in the Vintage open class on my 74 Yamaha MX360. Saturday was the beginning of the issues. During practice my Evo bike (76 RM250) spun the stator plate and tore shit up, had to scratch out of that class---and my vintage +50 bike (74 Husky250) developed a weird vapor lock(?) but we thought we had it straightened out minutes before the gate drop. Got a massive holey and had a 12 second lead (according to my buddies ,lol) by the end of lap 1 , then the bike died again !. So another DNF. My son in law ran my FMF125 in the Evo 1 125 class and went 4-4, but went 2-2 in Evo 2 125 on Sunday on the same bike. He went 2-DNF on the 360 in Vintage Open when the throttle cable broke on the way to staging!!! I was leading the mudfest Evo 3 +50 when I hit a haybale avoiding a crashed rider ( he was on the first gate) went over the bars and popped my bad shoulder out of place,put it back in but was too painful to continue in such shitty conditions.(I'm no Chad Reed,lol). But all in all we had a good time ,but the weather was certainly a major downer !!

3
OldPro277
Profile picture for user OldPro277
Posts
1616
Joined
11/9/2009
Location
Avonmore, PA US
OldPro277 7/8/2019 2:06pm
7/8/2019 2:06pm
Oh and a VERY IMPORTANT big shout out to the Log Road Mx track crew !!! They made what should have been an un-rideable track into a great one for Saturdays moto's , and did a excellent job after Saturday evenings monsoon to make Sundays track at least raceable -and in a very tight time frame !!!-Great job guys !!!

And a ridiculously big amount of Thanks goes to the tractor operator that towed my loaded down 35' Outlaw and 17' loaded trailer out of the foot and a half deep mudhole that were the MX pit area. We had 10 bikes loaded between those between the trailer and motorhome and I was fearing we'd be stuck in there until mid-August but my man got us out with skill,precision and a certain amount of chutzpah!! Wish I had gotten your name, I'd send you birthday cards for the next 10 years !! Thanks again !!
2
Premix
Profile picture for user Premix
Posts
1514
Joined
1/5/2014
Location
AS US
Premix 7/8/2019 3:18pm
7/8/2019 3:18pm
OldPro277 wrote:
Premix-- great job this past weekend!! Wish I knew it were you ,I would have introduced myself as a fellow Vital dude. And although those pics...
Premix-- great job this past weekend!! Wish I knew it were you ,I would have introduced myself as a fellow Vital dude. And although those pics are good they really didn't do those ruts justice ,lol. They seemed a LOT deeper racing thru them !! We had an up and down weekend. Starting with the "up" on Fridays cross country, I got a podium finish (3rd) on my 82 XC in the Evo 2 +50, and my son in law won the #1 plate in the Vintage open class on my 74 Yamaha MX360. Saturday was the beginning of the issues. During practice my Evo bike (76 RM250) spun the stator plate and tore shit up, had to scratch out of that class---and my vintage +50 bike (74 Husky250) developed a weird vapor lock(?) but we thought we had it straightened out minutes before the gate drop. Got a massive holey and had a 12 second lead (according to my buddies ,lol) by the end of lap 1 , then the bike died again !. So another DNF. My son in law ran my FMF125 in the Evo 1 125 class and went 4-4, but went 2-2 in Evo 2 125 on Sunday on the same bike. He went 2-DNF on the 360 in Vintage Open when the throttle cable broke on the way to staging!!! I was leading the mudfest Evo 3 +50 when I hit a haybale avoiding a crashed rider ( he was on the first gate) went over the bars and popped my bad shoulder out of place,put it back in but was too painful to continue in such shitty conditions.(I'm no Chad Reed,lol). But all in all we had a good time ,but the weather was certainly a major downer !!

Thanks. Mid Ohio was in my back yard growing up so every time we go there it’s just a big reunion of people I get to see once a year. Reminds me why I love grass roots moto. Sounds like you guys had quite weekend as well. Hope the shoulder heals quickly.
2
mxracer106 7/9/2019 8:45am
7/9/2019 8:45am
Rocky739 wrote:
Hope you all had fun... I know I'm beat and bruised from one end to the other. Bent bars on pit bike, bent bars on the...
Hope you all had fun... I know I'm beat and bruised from one end to the other. Bent bars on pit bike, bent bars on the 97 CR 125... Probaly a minor concussion in the cross country race, ass whuppun on the RT Ducati in vintage MX. My nephew wadded up the 125 in a corner yesterday and popped his shoulder out, so a detour to the ER... Oh and a guy crashed into me Saturday in the vintage MX and tweaked his knee pretty bad, was awful as our bikes were hung together and I had a hell of a time getting them off him... Hope he's ok and wasn't too major. I felt awful as time seemed to go so slow as he was pretty freaked out while getting him free and getting the track crew over to him.

Now for a day of washing and cleaning... See yall next year!!
Damn Rocky...hope you and your nephew are healing up ok?? Sucks to read about all your bad luck, and I did see that beautiful RT Ducati out there Saturday, but didn't realize that was you on it! Great looking bike! We got there Friday morning and I couldn't believe how packed it was, and due to the rain they had earlier in the week, I had to camp clear over by the swap meet area as there were not any spots left near the mx track that didn't have water or too much mud. After slopping around in the mud between rain storms, we decided to pack it up Saturday evening while it dried up enough to get my camper and truck out before the next storm. I was bummed I didn't get to race, but hopefully it will be better for us all next year!

Mud-Ohio 2019






1
yeroc281
Profile picture for user yeroc281
Posts
136
Joined
2/7/2015
Location
Columbus, OH US
yeroc281 7/22/2019 9:41pm
7/22/2019 9:41pm
My second year and it was a Sunday mudder. Had fun didn't crash (well 2 tip overs in a corner in Moto one) and didn't come in last.



GIwasB4
Profile picture for user GIwasB4
Posts
2585
Joined
7/24/2008
Location
Beverly Hills, CA US
GIwasB4 7/22/2019 10:11pm
7/22/2019 10:11pm
That's awesome, thanks for posting. How was the swapmeet, parts galore or junk everywhere?
yeroc281
Profile picture for user yeroc281
Posts
136
Joined
2/7/2015
Location
Columbus, OH US
yeroc281 7/23/2019 5:21am
7/23/2019 5:21am Edited Date/Time 7/23/2019 5:38am
Swap meet is lined up in organized rows. Treasure (or junk) everywhere, some people selling at their own campsites. If you need something it's probably there somewhere. A buddy of mine hesitated on a pretty clean stock 96 CR125 that sold for $1000. The guy was asking $1800 initially. The guy who bought it threw some tires on it and raced it the next day. The track crew did an amazing job with prep. It was so bad at practice I almost reconsidered racing. By the second moto's it was rough and rutted up. DEEP ruts. Jumps we're very tame. The only downside is I spent $90 for about nine laps (practice and 2 moto's). $40 for Sunday's admission to the gate and then if you're racing it was $50 for the first class. They do have a free modern 2-stroke class(I raced my 96 last year) but I didn't sign up for it this year. You can save a little money by pre-ordering tickets. I would recommend making a weekend of it, especially if you're driving far. I live in Ohio so I thought Sunday would be enough with the rain that fell Saturday night.

Post a reply to: Vintage Motorcycle Days @ Mid Ohio - July 5-7 - Advice for a first timer?