Limited to 1972 and older and 350cc and smaller machines, SBBA is a vintage small-bore ride spread out over six days and 800 miles. Those numbers may not sound particularly ambitious, but by themselves they don’t tell the story. A test of endurance for both rider and machine, SBBA is a deep dive into the core of what motorcycling’s all about — camaraderie and adventure.
Beginnings
2023 witnessed SBBA’s fourth run, with 23 riders piloting their small-bore bikes on a tour that swept them across Colorado’s Western Slope, starting and ending in Palisade, epicenter of Colorado’s peach industry.
Launched in 2020 by Coloradans Ben Foster and Todd Wallis, SBBA was spawned by a shared interest in small bikes. An avid bicyclist, Ben, an IT specialist at the University of Denver, had discovered mopeds following a repetitive motion injury that limited his bicycling. A few years and more than a few Lambretta, Vespa and Allstate scooters followed, but when Ben decided the scooter scene wasn’t his thing he started looking for something else to ride, ending up with a Sears Allstate, nee Puch, 2-stroke “twingle.” Todd, an insurance claims specialist who works the salvageof wrecked vehicles, discovered small-bore fun after getting a Sears Allstate in the late 1980s.
