Emde to serve as Vintage Days Grand Marshal

From the American Motorcyclist Association

PICKERINGTON, OH -- In 1971, a group of young American motorcycle racers who rode for the Birmingham Small Arms Co. (BSA) -- marketers of the BSA and Triumph brands -- flew to England to compete against some of the most talented motorcycle riders in the world at the inaugural running of the Trans-Atlantic Match Races.

Don Emde was one of those riders. Although the Americans didn't win, Emde had a solid pro rookie year when he returned to the States. With third-place finishes at the Daytona 200, the Talladega 200 and at the Kent, WA Mile, Emde scored the third most road-racing points in the AMA Grand National Championship that season behind Dick Mann and Kel Carruthers.

That's just one story that attendees can look forward to hearing from Emde, now an AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer and the Grand Marshal at 2009 AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days, set for July 24-26 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, OH.

"I consider it a real honour to be asked to be the AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days Grand Marshal," Emde said. "There's so much of motorcycling represented at AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days, from the road-race course to the swap meet to the motocross track to the half-mile at the fair grounds in Ashland. The range of interest is considerable. You say 'vintage' to one person, and it might mean a bike from the '70s, and to someone else it might be an old Indian from the '40s."

With BSA serving as Marque of the Year at 2009 AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days, Emde was a natural choice for the honour of Grand Marshal. The Southern Californian's history with BSA runs deep. Emde grew up at his father's BSA dealership in the San Diego area, and when Emde's dirt-track status advanced in 1970 from novice to amateur, he graduated to a BSA A65.

"BSA helped a lot that year," Emde remembered. "I won a lot of main events at Ascot. I won the California State TT Championship. Then, in 1971, BSA put together its biggest race team ever, which contested the first year of the Trans-Atlantic Match Races."

Emde's greatest competitive achievement came the following year at the 1972 Daytona 200, when he was competing for Team Motorcycle Weekly with backing from Yamaha. He raced a Mel Dinesen-tuned Yamaha 350cc two-stroke. Emde won, making it the first Daytona 200 victory for Yamaha and the first time a two-stroke won the race. Emde also was the first son of a Daytona 200 winner to repeat the feat, and he did it on the smallest displacement bike to ever win the event.

After his racing career ended, Emde continued to work in the motorcycle industry. He became publisher of Motorcycle Dealernews in the mid-1980s, and launched a magazine called Motorcycle Collector. That publication was short-lived, however, but the Parts Magazine title he started soon after continues today. An avid collector himself, Emde owns a large compilation of memorabilia and historic racing photographs. He also authored the definitive book on the history of the Daytona 200.