The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) is an American nonprofit organization of more than 200,000 motorcyclists that organizes numerous motorcycling activities and campaigns for motorcyclists' legal rights. Its mission statement is "to promote the motorcycling lifestyle and protect the future of motorcycling." The organization was founded in 1924 and as of October 2016 had more than 1,100 chartered clubs.
Enduro is a form of motorcycle sport run on extended cross-country, off-road courses. Enduro consists of many different obstacles and challenges. The main type of enduro event, and the format to which the World Enduro Championship is run, is a time-card enduro, whereby a number of stages are raced in a time trial against the clock.
Motorcycle racing is the motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major varieties include motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Other categories include hill climbs, drag racing and land speed record trials.
James Sherwin "Bud" Ekins was an American professional stuntman in the U.S. film industry. He is considered to be one of the film industry's most accomplished stuntmen with a body of work that includes classic films such as The Great Escape and Bullitt. Ekins, acting as stunt double for Steve McQueen while filming The Great Escape, was the rider who performed what is considered to be one of the most famous motorcycle stunts ever performed in a movie. He was recognized for his stunt work by being inducted into the Stuntmen's Hall of Fame.
An enduro motorcycle is an off-road racing motorcycle used in enduros, which are long-distance cross-country, Trails, time trial competitions.
Michael Andrew “Mike” Kiedrowski is an American former professional motocross and enduro racer. He competed in the AMA Motocross Championships from 1987 to 1997. He is a four-time AMA motocross national champion. He is only the second competitor in AMA history after Jeff Ward to win national championships in the 125, 250 and 500 classes. Kiedrowski was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2007.
Ron Bishop was an American off-road motorcycle racer. He was a long-term participant in the Baja 1000 and other desert off-road races.
Dick Mann was an American professional motorcycle racer. He was a two-time winner of the A.M.A. Grand National Championship. Mann was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1993, and the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998. He was one of the few riders to ride motocross and Observed Trials as well as dirt flat tracks, TT and road racing.
David Lawrence Ekins is an American off-road motorcycle racer who pioneered the sport of desert racing in the 1950s. He was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2001.
Gary Jones is an American former professional motocross racer. He competed in the AMA Motocross Championships from 1971 to 1976. Jones is notable for winning the inaugural AMA 250cc motocross national championship in 1972. Jones then successfully defended his national championship in 1973 and 1974, winning three consecutive 250cc motocross national championships while competing on three different brands of motorcycles, a feat which has never been repeated in AMA motocross history. He was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2000.
Carl Lee Cranke was an American professional motorcycle enduro competitor. He represented the United States in 10 International Six Days Trial (ISDT) in the 1960s and 1970s. He earned seven gold medals and two silver medals in ISDT competitions to become one of the most accomplished American enduro riders of his era. Cranke was also notable for his two stroke engine tuning abilities, and was also credited with helping develop Penton motorcycles. He was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2000.
Richard Burleson is an American former motorcycle enduro racer. He is considered one of the top competitors in AMA history, winning a record eight consecutive Enduro National Championships. His domination of the national enduro series earned him the nickname King Richard. Burleson was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999 and was named an AMA Legend in 2016.
James Nelson "J. N." Roberts, is an American former professional off-road and enduro motorcycle racer and a film industry stuntman. In the 1960s and early 1970s, he was a dominant motorcycle competitor in American desert racing centered in the Mojave Desert of Southern California. At one point in his desert racing career, Roberts won 27 consecutive desert races, earning him the unofficial nickname of King of the Desert. Roberts was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999 and, into the Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2009. He is also a member of the Hollywood Stuntmen's Hall Of Fame.
Larry Roeseler is an American professional off-road racer. He is notable for having won the prestigious Baja 1000 desert race a record 13 times, the most of any competitor since the race's inception in 1967. His victories made him one of the most accomplished multi-discipline desert racers in off-road racing history.
The following outline is provided as an overview of motorcycles and motorcycling:
American Flat Track is an American motorcycle racing series. The racing series, founded and sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in 1954, originally encompassed five distinct forms of competitions including mile dirt track races, half-mile, short-track, TT steeplechase and road races. The championship was the premier motorcycle racing series in the United States from the 1950s up until the late 1970s.
Bruce Ogilvie was an American off-road motorcycle racer. He was a top American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) District 37 desert racer, winner of multiple Baja 500 and Baja 1000 races, and a long-time manager of American Honda’s off-road race team. Ogilvie was posthumously inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2010.
Kurt Caselli was an American professional off-road motorcycle racer. He was a three-time AMA Hare & Hound National Champion and the 2007 AMA Sportsman of the Year. He died in a racing accident during the 2013 Baja 1000 in Baja California, Mexico.
John Penton was an American professional motorcycle racer and entrepreneur who developed an enduro motorcycle brand that bore his name. A national champion enduro rider, he was an influential figure in the development of off-road motorcycle racing in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s. He also founded a successful off-road motorcycle boot and apparel company. Penton was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998.
Scot Harden is a professional off-road motorcycle racer. He has held managerial and executive positions at Husqvarna, KTM, BMW, and Zero Motorcycles.
