PERSPECTIVES A taste of things to come

BY MITCH BOEHM

and our AMA crew met with a ton of old, new and potential clients, all of whom seemed plenty excited about this magazine and the AMA’s wide range of events, racing and non-racing activities, and government-relations efforts.

At the end of the four days we were all pretty spent, but it was fun, and plenty energizing…and it reminded me once again of the time I attended my first industry trade show when I was just 13, in Cincinnati, Ohio, in early 1976.

At the time I was coming off a season of motocross aboard a hopped-up Honda XR75, and looking forward to a year of racing a thennew Yamaha YZ100C, and the guy who’d built my XR (and who’d end up building my YZ) — Clevelander Dale Dahlke, who ran a small satellite shop in my hometown of North Ridgeville called Cleveland Motorcycle Supply (the main store exists in Cleveland to this day) — asked my parents if he could haul me down to Cincy for a bike show. They blessed the idea, this being the ’70s and all, and we headed South.

I had no idea what I was in for, but as soon as I got my credential and walked onto the show floor, I’m pretty sure my life’s orbit was altered forever. Row after row of aftermarket companies I’d seen advertising in the magazines, and even some OEs; a few factory (and famous, whoa!) racers signing autographs at their sponsors’ booths; handfuls of cool bikes and parts on display; and maybe best of all, stickers galore! I ended up with a Champion Spark Plug bag that was half-full of every type of sticker I could find — and there were hundreds being given away.

It took me a decade to stick all those cool moto-industry stickies, but the memories of that weekend, and the realization that motorcycling was an actual industry you could work in and make a living at, stayed with me…and less than a decade later I found myself as a junior staffer at Motorcyclist magazine in Los Angeles. To this day I credit that show and Mr. Dahlke for at least some of the impetus that brought me there — and to the AMA. So thanks, Dale.

Before I sign off, I’d like to welcome Mr. John Burns to our freelance cadre. Burnsie is one of the industry’s most popular and colorful scribes, having written for the likes of Cycle, Cycle World and Motorcyclist over the years, and we’re happy to have him contributing to what we’re doing here at American Motorcyclist.

Director