[PAAirheads] Moto Giro Event for 2019

[Todd Trumbore]

Subject: Moto Giro Event for 2019

I plan on organizing and hosting a Moto Giro some time next year.  As you know this is a competition riding smaller displacement motorbikes, typically less than 250cc, and older bikes, some restrict the age to 1957 or older.  I would relax these rules to 305cc and years 1970 or older.  In Europe they hold this event over several days or a week, we would reduce this to one day, followed with a nice cook-out and tire kicking session.

I’m posting this notice now in hopes of gaining interest with you and your riding friends and to give you time to acquire an older smaller displacement bike.  If this is something that interests you please let me know.  Tom Cutter is just now dusting off his 1967 Bridgestone 175cc Hurricane scrambler...what about you?

Hoping for a nice response.  Your thoughts and suggestions always appreciated.

Regards, Todd Trumbore


The first Motogiro d’Italia ran in 1914. It was a real motorcycle race over Italian public roads. This counterpart of the automotive Mille Miglia became Italy’s premier two-wheel road race. After World War II the event burgeoned, and by 1954, 50 different manufacturers were competing in an eight-stage event covering more than 2,100 miles. Three years later, it was all over: A fatal crash in the 1957 Mille Miglia led the Italian government to ban public road competition.

In 2001, a company named Dream Engine, run by a Ducati executive, resurrected the giro as a reliability trial. The original giro had classes for 75cc, 100cc, 125cc and 175cc machinery. The new giro had classes for the same size bikes, with the bikes limited to 1957 or earlier. The idea caught on, and giros are now being held around the world and across the U.S., including New England, Alabama and California, in addition to the original event in Italy, which is now presented by Club Terni. The rules differ from event to event, but the idea is always the same: riding small, older bikes against the clock on scenic roads.

Many people build bikes specifically for giro events. “I first learned about giro events from a friend in Scotland, who invited me to the event there,” says Barry Porter, owner of the 1954 MV Agusta 175 CSS Disco Volante featured here. “I went over and rode and had a blast. I came back home and went looking for an MV Agusta to ride in the giro.”