Original Extreme Motorcycle Thrillshow

Just like the paint on the machines that race around the inside, the outside of our building shines with Americas' colors Red, White and Blue. Motor Dromes are an American Original dating back to the early 1900's and the beginnings of the motorcycles. The board tracks were first, some were as big as 1 mile with slightly banked corners. Speed is the thrill and as the motorcycles got faster the banks got steeper and higher. The racers were reaching speeds in excess of 90 miles per hour on tracks made of 2x4's stacked on edge. The bikes had no brakes and the spectators had no barriers, so like everything else that is fun the board track racing was eventually outlawed. You can't keep a daredevil from daredevilish behavior and the carnivals were the outlet. Mobile race tracks without the straight-a-ways, motor dromes. There may have been as many as fifty or sixty dromes during their heyday in the late 30's. The Lion Dromes were the biggest, as big as 47 feet across the diameter. Lion dromes had extra doors for the cats caged on the outside. Many were combination dromes, a slant wall and a vertical wall with a short start track. There were also silo dromes with only a vertical wall and start track. Some buildings traveled by truck others on train cars. The buildings varied as much as the men that built and road them. People will always try to "out do" each other, which brings on refinements. Jay Lightnin' has set the bar to its' highest level both in craftsmanship and materials. Jay hand picked every board used from the mudsills to the riding surface. The building is constructed entirely of wood with some bolts, nuts and cables holding it all together. The walls are fourteen feet tall and make a 30' diameter riding surface. A simple structure that amazingly can withstand the 3Gs of force put to its' inner wall and hold a crowd of more than 150 adults every show. the building is as much the show as are the motorcycles. Once you have experienced the show in person you will never forget it. The most asked question is "how long does it take to set this up?", let's just say that it's a good days work. But if you really want to know just come help us build it some day, help is always welcome.

In 1998 there was just two shows operating in the United States mostly on the east coast, on the west coast a new drome and show were beginning to take shape. 2001 Sturgis, South Dakota American Motor Drome Companys' Thrill Arena makes its' debut. 2009 the building made 15 appearances across the U.S. from Murrels Inlet, South Carolina to Gladstone, Oregon. Since that first trip down the road the building has logged close to 300 thousand miles with no sign of slowing down. They have been not so easy miles either. There was the time fire destroyed the truck parked next it, bubbled the paint along the left side. Countless miles of rain. Wind is the worst, not while it's on the road but when she is up and ready to ride. Winds in Sturgis, SD. lifted her off the blocking in 2007, a wonderful testiment for our top maker but a hair-raising experience and a lot of stress on the building too. All that and the we ride sometimes 12 shows a day, it becomes easy to see exactly why there are so few shows left.