The Inaugural Moto Beach Classic
Presented by Roland Sands
The inaugural Moto Beach Classic started out as a wild idea and developed into a Southern California cultural explosion. The one-day festival brought together Super Hooligan street bike flat track racing, drag and mini bike racing, No Limitstunt shows, surf contests, art, music, food, custom motorcycles and of course, the love for two wheels. From sunup to sundown, SeaLegs at the Beach in Bolsa Chica was at capacity and filled with lovers of all types of creativity and counterculture. At any given moment, engines could be heard on the purpose-built hooligan flat track while waves were crashing as some of the West Coast’s best surfers competed for bragging rights in the WCBR Surf Competition. Live music from talented bands such as Black Uhuru, Unwritten Law, and Lit performed until the doors closed on what many thought was one of the most entertaining and authentic moto events to hit the coast of California in years. we streamed the Moto Beach Classic live on our Facebook and you can re-watch the entire event above!
At the core of the event were the race pits, with over 120 hooligans, veterans and professional racers from across the nation orchestrated into a compact carnival. Recognizable by their multi-colored pop-up tents, teams brought makes and models of almost every motorcycle out there raging from antique hand shift Indians and Harleys, to modern Ducati's. The smell of burning octane and brakes mixed with salty air and taco's made for quite the sight to onlookers on Pacific Coast Highway and those hanging on the fences beachside.
With over 40 Super Hooligan racers signed up, the points series final of the Roland Sands x Indian Motorcycles Super Hooligan National Championship (SHNC) was primed to be one of the most exciting race events held in recent years. It was also primed to be the most gnarly and guarenteed a backburner of a main event with over six heats packed with hungy Hooligan riders gunning for the top spot.
And because that's not gnarly enough, race day was also the day that one lucky Hooligan would win a brand new Indian FTR Purpose-built Flat track race bike. Three riders had the opportunity to snag the unicorn and bring her home in a winner-take-all double points finale. Fortunately, Alex Mock of DRT Racing, along with his crew made short work of wrangling the Hooligans and keeping the program running like clockwork.
The ultimate prize, an Indian Motorcycle FTR750 was up for grabs to the SHNC Series Champion, and three riders had the opportunity to take home the bike in a winner-take-all double points finale. Points leader and Grand National Champion, Joe Kopp, was leading Brad Spencer by a single point, with Andy DiBrino trailing by only 10 points – all three were in contention for the FTR.
Mikey Virus took the 1K Dunlop Dash for Cash in a sneak preview of the front runners for the evening.
Local spoiler, first timer and eventual double winner, Frankie Garcia, ended up with the Super Hooligan main event win on a freshly prepped Ducati Scrambler, and took home an Airtrix custom painted Bell Helmet, amongst other prizes. Mikey Virus of the Rusty Butcher team took a close second on his HD Sportster, and also took home the K&N Holeshot award. This left the battle for the Super Hooligan Championship wide open with Joe Kopp and Brad Spencer scrapping for the fourth position.
As racing goes, you put two competitors together vying for the prize and shit can happen, as it certainly did when Spencer tapped Kopp’s rear wheel in turn three resulting in both riders losing several positions with only a few laps to go. This scrap and loss of position by the two points leaders nudged DiBrino into the SHNC points lead with his third place finish. A double points round is bound to stir up the leaderboard, and proved to do so by placing DiBrino in the lead by a mere one point over previous leader, Joe Kopp. Robert Bush finished 4th on the Deus machine with Johnny Murhpee a close 5th on the RSD Pickle Tracker. Joe Kopp finished up 6th, James Monaco 7th, LCQ winner Troy Hoff was 8th, Joey Robinson 9th, Brad Spencer 10th, local hooligan Jason Klements 11th, Jordan Baber 12th and Chris McDougal ended his night with a DNF after crashing at the beginning of the race.
Sponsor and Indian Motorcycle partner, Baume & Mercier supplied custom engraved Clifton Club watches to SHNC runner ups Joe Kopp and Brad Spencer. Speakeasy Original provided custom Super Hooligan Championship rings to the top five leaders as well, which included Jordan Baber and Jordan Graham. Smokey Elford, a vintage Indian bike builder of Smokeys Classic Motorcycles in Long Beach, was dubbed with the Motul Cleanest Bike award at the event. It was Super Hooligan National Championship winner, Andy DiBrino, who took home the lions share of the prizes, as well as a $2,500 check from Bell Helmets for his accomplishments. Hooligans were not the only guys ripping around the track, as multiple classes hit the dirt including: Open Pro, Cycle Zombies Degenerate Choppers, Born Free Tank Shifters, VonZipper Vintage and Run What Ya Brung, where winners of each class were presented a custom trophy by FMF Racing.
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Moto Beach Classic Flat Track Winners:
Open Pro Winner – #98 Kayl Kolkman
Cycle Zombies Degenerate Choppers Winner – #79 Rob Bush
Born Free Tank Shift Winner – #3x Scott Jones
VonZipper Vintage Winner – #262 Craig Bouman
Run What Ya Brung Winner – Shawn "Mad Dog" McConnell
BMW Boxer Cup Challenge
The BMW Boxer Cup Challenge featured a host of riders from diverse backgrounds. Frankie Garcia, who won the Super Hooligan finale, also took home the sprint race win in a hard fought duel with Kevin Duke. It was a tough crowd with legends like Nitro Circus star Andy Bell going out in the first round, Shameless’ Justin Chatwin, custom builder Maxwell Hazan, Cycle World’s Sean MacDonald, META's Ben Giese and seasoned photographer Preston Burroughs behind the bars - anything could happen on the sandy narrow course.
The Vendor Village
The Vendor Village was lined from asphalt to sand with industry leading manufactures. Interspersed were local style makers along with dozens of additional moto and surf vendors. This eclectic grouping of large companies and individual shops lent to a high energy atmosphere where attendees could enjoy a cold beer at the Pacifico Airstream or opt for a spiked drink served up at the Red Bull Energy bar.
Architects of Inspiration was one of the centerpieces of RSD’s Moto Beach Classic event; a collection of unique installations inspired by surf and motorculture. Curated by Kelly Yazdi and the Roland Sands Design team, the Architects of Inspiration area was a combination art collective, bike show, live mural displays, and a library lounge all designed to complement the Moto Beach experience by providing guests with a relaxing atmosphere.
Initially structured to solely be an art collective and bike show, the Architects of Inspiration grew to be a bigger platform that included more creatives, such as live muralist painters, local music gurus, as well as international builders. “On the day of the event, we constantly had to expand the borders of the Inspiration area because there were just so many amazing things to encompass in the show; so many unique installations, never before seen builds, and local talent who came to the show wanting to share their creations with us,” says Kelly Yazdi, “... it was truly a special event that took on a life of its own, and I’m blown away by the hard work and creativity of the RSD team as a whole.”
Attendees of the Art Collective and Bike Show got to experience unconventional visions in 3D which combined music, art, surfing and motolife into a visual exploration. Next door to the Collective and Show was the Library Lounge, a relaxing space where event-goers got to hang out and catch up on some of the best editorials of the culture including META, Sideburn and ROLL. The Architects of Inspiration was truly a feast for the eyes and ears, surrounded by breaking tides and the vibrations of motorcycle racing and great music.
Artists: Adam Fedderly, Alex Earle (Earle Motors), Eddie Lee, Erik Jutras, Genevieve T. Davis, Matt Allard (Inked Iron), Nicolai Sclater (Ornamental Conifer), Guy Salzaar (local artist), Riot Cycles, Jamie Robinson-MotoGeovideo/booth, Eddie Lee- creator of Iron Vault Studio
Live Artists: Jackie Danger (Live Muralist) , Andy Schmidt (Guitar Cycliano Drumme) , Mark Moreno (DJ), and The Love Crew
Builders: Aaron Klink, Revival Cycles, Brat Style, Chopper Dave, Yuishi Yoshizawa (CW- Zon), Greg Tomlinson(VonZipper), Hugo Eccles (Untitled Motorcycles), Lindsay Ross, Lossa Engineering, Kott Motorcycles, Maxwell Hazan, Mike Flores, Raccia Motorcycles, Riot Cycles, Satya Kraus (Kraus Motorcycles), Shaik Ridzwan, Shinya Kimura, Spirit Lake Cycles, Lucky Wheels Garage, RSD bikes, UMC (Untitled Motorcycle) Ducati “Hyper Scrambler”, Stacie London’s Honda “Triple Nickel 555, Yuichi Yoshizawa and Yoshikazu Ueda of “Custom Works Zon.”
