Springsteen: The Boss (of flat track).

Bikes People

cool footage of AMA flat track champ Jay Springsteen

We don’t claim to be aficionados of AMA racing, far from it. Our only knowledge of AMA racing is from a bunch of images and films. But every time we discover a fresh batch of AMA stuff, particularly from the 1970s, we fall in love with the atmosphere, the texture and the racing we see.

We came across this great footage from a TV documentary of Jay Springsteen, who was, apparently The Boss of the dirt track bit of AMA in the seventies.

We love the look of flat track bikes in themselves – seeming for all intents and purposes the essence of the grown up toy. That sit-up-and-beg stance, the semi-knobby tires and the low long profile. Perfect for a short-distance blast around many a British neighbourhood – particularly in the winter, of course, when road conditions and meteorology conspire against those pristine road machines that get dusted out on sunny summer weekends.

The non-pretentiousness of flat track machines is a massive part of their appeal, too. Stick with this 30-minute edit long enough to check out the sheer character of the riders and we reckon you’ll be aching for a machine and a time like these. Flat track is blue collar racing at its best. And AMA in the seventies was where it found its purest expression.

Springsteen

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One Response to “Springsteen: The Boss (of flat track).”

  1. AlmostaCowboy

    Thanks for posting. Brought back lots of great memories. Springer was a few years younger than me, so I never raced against him (fortunately for me).