Last year, we realized there were no British motorcycles on the track. Yeah, we fixed that.
- Griffin Smith Takes the Controls of “Pooh Bear”
- Team Skippy Joins the CBE Paddock
- Bringing British Motorcycles Back to the Track
- Racing You Can Experience Up Close
- Join Us at the Canaan TT
The CBE Race Works team returns to Canaan Motor Club in Canaan, New Hampshire, for the Canaan TT on Saturday and Sunday, August 8–9.
After practice sessions each morning, the team will compete in the Heavyweight SuperVintage and Euro Cup races. This promises to be an exciting weekend for the riders, the CBE crew, and everyone who comes out to experience vintage motorcycle racing up close.
Griffin Smith Takes the Controls of “Pooh Bear”
Griffin Smith, a former Classic Bike Experience intern and now a Triumph and Ducati technician at Cyclewise Vermont, will pilot “Pooh Bear,” the CBE Race Works Norton Commando.
Griffin represents exactly what the CBE internship program is designed to encourage. He began by gaining practical experience with vintage motorcycles and has continued developing those skills professionally. This weekend, he puts that experience to work on the racetrack.
“Pooh Bear” will be on the track for morning practice sessions both days before Griffin lines up for the Heavyweight SuperVintage and Euro Cup races.
Team Skippy Joins the CBE Paddock
Griffin will be joined by veteran racer Peter Booth aboard the Team Skippy Suzuki T500.
Peter and builder Ken Lavallee have campaigned the two-stroke Suzuki for years, achieving considerable success together. Their experience, preparation, and unmistakable race bike add another dimension to the CBE paddock.
The Norton Commando and Suzuki T500 represent two very different approaches to vintage motorcycle performance. Seeing them prepared, started, and raced is part of what makes a weekend at Canaan so memorable.
Bringing British Motorcycles Back to the Track
CBE Race Works entered the Canaan event last year and immediately noticed something missing: there were no British motorcycles competing.
Returning with the Commando is about more than entering another race. It is part of the Classic Bike Experience mission to keep these motorcycles running, visible, and doing what they were originally built to do.
Vintage motorcycles are fascinating in a showroom, but they take on an entirely different character when they are fired up and ridden at speed. The sound, movement, and mechanical personality of each machine become part of the experience.
Racing You Can Experience Up Close
Canaan Motor Club is an especially welcoming place to watch motorcycle racing. The track offers excellent vantage points, allowing spectators to follow the action from several locations around the course.
Visitors are also invited to stop by the CBE paddock between practice sessions and races. You can meet the riders and crew, see the motorcycles up close, and learn more about what it takes to prepare vintage machines for competition.
A weekend pit pass is $25, and children under 12 are admitted free.
If you have never attended a motorcycle race, this is a wonderful place to begin. You may arrive curious and leave hooked. That is what happened to us last year.
Join Us at the Canaan TT
Come spend part of the weekend with Classic Bike Experience, meet Griffin and Peter, and cheer on “Pooh Bear” and Team Skippy.
The Canaan TT runs Saturday and Sunday, August 8–9, at Canaan Motor Club in Canaan, New Hampshire.
For track information, directions, and visitor details, visit the Canaan Motor Club website.
We hope to see you at the track.
Jack and the CBE Team