The mini-motorcycle community I’ve come to enjoy

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I recently returned from two fabulous small bore motorcycle rallies. I first visited the 2nd annual Barber Small Bore Rally hosted by Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Alabama. The second rally was held in Maryville, Tennessee, the Smoky Mountain Small Bore Rally. This is my second year being involved with the small bore motorcycle community, and I even purchased a Honda Monkey a little over a year ago to participate.

Mike (r) and friends about to slay the Dragon on a bunch of minis.

What I have discovered through the past couple of years I have spent with the small bore crowd, is what a close-knit family they are. They only have one thing in mind, and that is riding their small bore motorcycles at every opportunity. Throughout my time with these people I’ve enjoyed nothing but great experiences. Everyone is willing to help each other and all they want to do is have fun riding together. One of the things that I’ve noticed that is different from any other group I’ve been around lately is that no one discusses anything about politics. How refreshing is that?

A small (pun intended) but enthusiastic community of riders.

I have made so many new friends in the two years that I have been participating in these rallies and really enjoy going back every time. I am already looking forward to next year‘s rally in Tennessee as riding the “Tail of the Dragon” and many other great roads around that part of Tennessee are so much fun on these little bikes.

Riding the Tail of the Dragon, with like-minded lug nuts.

Like any other group of motorcyclists, these riders are serious about hopping up their machines to make them perform better than stock. Many of these small motorcycles are not intended to go very fast and sometimes only being able to hit 45 to 50 miles an hour can be a handicap on the street. A huge industry is born just like for big bikes, to hop these up and make them go faster. I went to some small bore drag races in Tennessee and witnessed some of these little machines reach 100 mph in a quarter mile. Pretty amazing.

Riding the world famous Barber Motorsports track, on our minis. You know you want to!

After riding Hwy. 129, aka the “Tail of the Dragon” on my bone stock 2023 Honda Monkey, I decided to get my good friend Wayne Strickland of The Speed Shop do some modification magic on the Monkey to go at least 65 mph so I can keep up with everyone else. There is such a great aftermarket following for these little bikes now, not to mention so many other small motorbikes coming on the market here in the States. I feel this is really a great wave of the future for motorcycling- small, affordable, easy to ride, easy to maintain, easy to mod. What’s not to love?

A custom Honda Ruckus, and a mini-wheelie. Both rallies are ridiculously fun.

Some of the many activities that I have been able to participate in with at both small bore rallies have been poker runs, meet & greets, lots of group rides, mini-moto drag races, raffles, a night ride that included over 400 motorcycles that rode from Maryville some 40 miles through the streets of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and beautiful bike shows. Some of the people that build these bikes take these machines very seriously and produce beautiful motorbikes. They even hosted a moto scavenger hunt at the rally in Tennessee. I have truly found a new home among these mini moto riders!

Such a cool Honda Grom. Looks quick standing still.

I have made so many new friends through my association with the small bore community these past two years, and I am really looking forward to continuing this as these rallies keep growing across the nation and around the globe.

Come join the mania!

Mike Boyd