Honda Road Racerhead #10

Chris Carr (shown here at this morning's AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame breakfast with Denis Maning and Leslie Porterfield), is a modern-day renaissance rider, having raced at the top in three different realms. * CJ photo

Open-mindedness is a tradition in motorcycling. When I was making that aforementioned drive this morning, I was on my way to the 22nd Annual AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum Breakfast. The Hall has long celebrated diversity, inducting road racers like Kenny Roberts, dirt trackers like Jay Springsteen, off-road racers like Malcolm Smith, but also non-racing motorcycle enthusiasts like Jay Leno, Malcolm Forbes, and Arlen Ness. Among those having breakfast at the Hilton Beach Resort were a diverse collection of Hall of Fame members, including Bill Baird (who won seven-consecutive AMA National Enduro titles during the ’60s), Margaret Wilson (a dedicated member of the Motor Maids, post World War II), and John Penton (who did everything from win enduros and compete in the ISDT to set a cross-country record to import Husqvarna and KTM motorcycles; he’s also the cover boy for the upcoming April issue of American Motorcyclist magazine).

And lest you think the breakfast attendees were just folks who had only ridden back in the day, many of them actually rode to Bike Week, including an 84-year-old lady named Gloria and her daughter, who had to dig a path through the snow from their garages to the street before they left home.

It's easy to make fun of the Main Street crowd, but a little unconvincing when they're on motorcycles and you're in a rental car. * CJ photo

The breakfast was emceed by Tom White, a former racer who, with his brother Dan, owned White Brothers, an aftermarket and distribution company that catered to everything from dirt bikes to sport bikes to cruisers. They’ve since sold the company, but Tom still owns 132 motorcycles and is doing his best to give back to motorcycling. Interviewing people from the floor was AMA Board Chairman Stan Simpson, who currently rides a Gold Wing 1800 and KTM EXC 525.

At one point, Simpson asked how many on hand had been inspired by the movie On Any Sunday, and just about everyone in the room raised his or her hand. As readers of this column are likely to know, that epic motorcycling film includes stories on flat tracker Mert Lawwill, off-roader Malcolm Smith, road racer Kenny Roberts, and actor Steve McQueen (among others).

The sign says "Welcome Bikers," and no single sub-genre has a monopoly on that. * CJ photo

The highlight of the breakfast was the world’s fastest woman motorcyclist, Leslie Porterfield, interviewing the world’s fastest motorcyclist, Chris Carr, and BUB streamliner owner Denis Manning. Carr is a rare modern-day example of a renaissance motorcyclist, not only for his 367 mph top speed, but for his seven AMA Grand National Championships and even for his stint in AMA Superbike aboard the Harley-Davidson VR1000.

When racers switch teams or bikes and are asked about their prospects, the standard response is to say something along the lines of “They’ve all got two wheels,” the point being that a motorcycles are motorcycles. While obviously an oversimplification, it’s absolutely true, and it’s nice when we can look for similarities rather than differences. Of course my opinion is that road racing is best, but judging by the number of fans in the grandstands this afternoon compared to the number of choppers down on Main Street this morning, there are plenty of people who don’t necessarily share that view. We could really use some interest from those folks, but that’s unlikely to come if we only view them as potential revenue sources and not fellow motorcyclists.