Five Questions with Vintage Bike Guru Dave Boydstun

Jerryland: Five Questions with Vintage Bike Guru Dave Boydstun

by Jerry Bernardo

JB: You are very well-known for your knowledge and restorations of vintage dirt bikes. Aside from that, rumour has it that you were a badass racing motocross back in the day. True or false?

DB: That is what I have heard. I got lucky growing up in So Cal, the hot bed of motocross on the West Coast. I managed to get some factory support from Yamaha, AJS and Bultaco.

JB: How much time did you spend as the president of AVDRA (American Vintage Dirt Racers Association?

DB: From September of 1990 to September of 2020. I was also the National Off Road Director for AHRMA

JB: If one was to ask me who is the Google Master of dirt bikes, I would not hesitate and say that you were. The way you can rattle off detailed information on such a plethora of varied vintage bikes and racing history is eerie, if not uncanny. Is there one specific brand you lean to factoring in your own personal taste?

DB: Not really. I was always interested in a motorcycle that I never heard of or owned before. I focus mainly on pre 1970 motocross bikes in my sales/restoration/parts business. I am the guy who looks at a bike and says: “That is the wrong bolt for that year and model.”

JB: Once a year you make an appearance at the legendary Mecum Motorcycle Auction. On average, how many bikes do you bring to sell each year?

DB: When I come to the Mecum Auction with a trailer, I bring about 12 to 25 motorcycles to auction off if everything goes as planned. My sales output has averaged to be about 17 units for 15 years in a row now.

JB: One of the new ventures you have started to get involved with is that of a moto influencer. Not a lot of people know that high view numbers can put a shitload of money in your pocket. How is all of that new-found territory going?

DB: Yes, it can but I am not there yet. 10 million views is the next milestone in order for me to make some real money there. I just hit nine million eight hundred thousand, so I am very close to getting a paycheck. I have been averaging about 40 to 60 thousand views a day, and sometimes as high as 125 thousand. I am just talking about something I love and never knew there was money in sharing information on YouTube.