Motorcyclists take center stage at Mo-Kan on Saturday

Laurie Sisk, The Joplin Globe, Mo.
·3 min read

Jun. 17—Saturday was a motorcyclists' paradise at Mo-Kan Dragway as scores of bikers gathered for the Midwest Motorcycle Drags Swap Meet and Expo.

The event featured three classes of drag racing, open time runs for anyone with a motorcycle, a swap meet and a bunch of fun for motorcycle enthusiasts.

"We lucked out on the weather, it's a great day for the event and we have a good chunk of people out here that are enjoying the day," Mo-Kan General Manager Tyler West said.

About 80 racers were entered for the event.

In addition to prize money of $200 to $500 in each class, the event also offered the opportunity for casual bikers to see how their bikes performed on the dragway during open test runs.

Sam Partlow, of Sarcoxie, is one of the cyclists who took advantage of the opportunity to test run the 2020 Polaris Slingshot that he bought in 2021. Partlow said that he had raced his Ford Mustang about 10 years ago at the strip, and was curious what his Polaris could do.

Partlow said he was impressed after logging a time of 13.80 seconds on the quarter mile strip.

"That's a lot better than I thought this thing could do," Partlow said. "Things went wrong with the run, but I actually did really well, it was a 13.80 and I thought I was going to run 14:00 or 15:00. I was impressed."

Racers from all over the Four State Area showed up, including Chad Kalagias, of Centerton, Arkansas, who brought his 2023 Suzuki Hayabusa — not to race, but to see how it would run.

But racing wasn't the only draw Saturday. The event also featured a motorcycle show and swap meet.

Scott Wind, of the Joplin-based Galloping Goose motorcycle club, organized the nonracing side of the event, which included the motorcycle show, swap meet and vendors. Wind has organized the event for the past 13 years.

"This was basically my idea, my baby, my brainchild," Wind said.

Wind said after Mo-Kan owner Carl Blanton gave the green light for the event, he and some members of his club got to work organizing it. Though Wind, also known as "Big Tiny," is primarily responsible for the nonracing side of the event, he also travels to various motorcycle rallies and races throughout the region to try to get racers to come and check out the local event. Even without his networking with bikers, Wind said the event continues to grow.

"This event has gained enough notoriety that guys are just showing up, even those we haven't talked to," Wind said. "We had a couple of guys even come up from Little Rock (Arkansas) and we have never even been down there before."

The bike show also offered handcrafted trophies made from pistons and other motorcycle parts by artist Jason Petty.

One of the bikes on display was Mike Gorman's 1970 Bonneville Triumph chopper that he customized over the past 18 months.

"I've had it for about 45 years," Gorman, of Joplin, said of his Triumph. "I pulled it out of a basket after about 38 years and built 'The Bruise.'"

Gorman calls his bike "The Bruise" because the colors change from black to blue to purple and even a little yellow, depending on the angle of the viewer.

Gorman said the bike has only about a half a mile on it after his customizations.

Zach Armstrong, Goodman, judge for the bike show, said the bikes are judged in a variety of categories, including frame, front end, engine, the driveline, accessories, customization and more.

Events at Mo-Kan continue on Fridays with Fun Drags and Bracket Series racing on Saturdays ahead of the dragway's big Nitro Chaos Anniversary races July 14-15, featuring NHRA World Champion sisters Megan and Rachel Meyer.