Foundation Governance

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Board of Directors

The Antique Motorcycle Foundation is governed by a volunteer board of directors with extensive depth in the motorcycle industry, antique motorcycling, non-profit organization management, and museum administration. Directors are not compensated for their service and receive only partial reimbursement for attending board meetings and carrying out assigned duties on behalf of the Foundation. 

 

Roger Smith, President

Roger Smith has been involved in motorcycling since 1964 when, as a young teenager, he rented Honda motorcycles in Ontario, Canada, for 25 cents an hour.

Today, he is a retired Pontiac, Michigan, police detective, having served the community for 25 years, focusing much of that time on crimes against children. He states, “Being retired, I am prepared to offer all the time necessary to support the Antique Motorcycle Foundation and help it perform to its maximum potential.” Roger's past service includes having been a board member of the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club for many years, serving as its public relations officer, and for a time, he was the Vice President of the Vintage Motorbike Club. Roger joined the AMF board in 2010 and over the years, has served as its Secretary, VP and now President.

He has restored vintage motorcycles that have reached the AMCA Winners Circle and earned a Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum Concours Championship with special recognition along with the prestigious Cycle World Magazine Excellence in Restoration Award. While he enjoys all motorcycles and rides a modern Harley-Davidson Street Glide, his main focus is on vintage import motorcycles and helping those enthusiasts become more involved in the Antique Motorcycle Foundation and the AMCA.

 

Denise Rich-Gross, Vice President

Denise's interest in motorcycles began at the age of five when she began to admire and mimick her brother's Honda 305 Dream. In 1981, she purchased a 1946 Harley-Davidson Servicar in three boxes. Over the course of eight years and several conversations with aficionados, she put the servicar back together and still rides it to this day.

Denise is a Senior Judge for the AMCA and she has been an AMCA member since 1993. She is currently a deputy judge and director for the AMCA's Lake Erie chapter where she has secured multiple grants for equipment to bolster motorcycle maintenace and repair at two local techincal centers.

Denise earned her Ph.D. in education from the University of Akron, her master's degree from Cleveland State University and her bachelor's degree from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She currently resides in Ohio.

 

Mark Bayer, Secretary

Mark has had an interest in the motorcycle since his first ride on a mini-bike back in the early 1960s. Within a year he purchased a used Honda Cub and like most early enthusiasts moved up to larger machines over the years.

Back in the 1980s Mark began studying the motorcycle and started building a library of books, magazines, and documents related to the motorcycle. Around 2000 he put together a course on the history of the motorcycle and was able to teach the class at a local university, through motorcycle clubs, and even at a few motorcycle dealerships. This material was the foundation of his first book titled: An Overview of Motorcycle History in America: A Topical and Social Narrative. His second book was titled: Significant Motorcycles That Have Influenced the Sport: Motorcycles from before 1900 to Today. Mark continues to write and has his next two books planned and currently in process.

Mark has been involved in numerous motorcycle clubs and has served at times in numerous leadership positions. He has been a long time member of the AMCA and VJMC motorcycle clubs as well. Mark has written many articles for various magazines on vintage motorcycles and has been involved on planning and developing over 100 motorcycle events and rallies. He holds a Doctor of Education degree and his greatest passion is to continue his studies related to the motorcycle and to make its history available to the public.

 

John Fiorino, Treasurer

John Fiorino hails from Idaho and has been involved with vintage motorcycles for many years. He has acquired numerous Hondas, including a 50, 90, 125, 175 and unrestored, but excellent condition 450. He also picked up a Suzuki 800 along the way.

Prior to joining the Antique Motorcycle Foundation, John served on six other boards of directors where he was treasurer for two of them. Included are the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club of North America and the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club of Idaho.

John states "I understand the value of community service, and will bring a fresh perspective, a proven track record, and a passion for service to the organization. My goal as a director will be to assist the organization in its continuing mission to educate and inform the community about vintage motorcycling and create interest in being part of the vintage motorcycling hobby."

 

Aimée deChambeau

Aimée deChambeau has long held a deep appreciation for the beauty found in the design of machines, particularly classic motorcycles. Her earliest memory of being on a motorcycle was sitting on a sleek black and white Harley Davidson belonging to a Pittsburgh Police Motorcycle Unit officer when she was a toddler. Relatively recently Aimée upgraded from passenger to rider, and in learning how to care for her 1983 Honda CM250 starter bike also discovered the excitement of the hunt for parts, manuals, and instructional videos! While she appreciates motorcycle of all types, her focus is on BSAs and Triumphs and she and her husband are currently rebuilding a 1968 Royal Star and restoring a 1966 Bonneville.

As an educator and librarian who focuses on helping people find and use information to feed their passions and learn new skills, Aimée offers the AMF Board rich experience to help further its educational and advocacy mission. She has served on several non-profit and professional boards of directors, and enjoys working collaboratively with other board members to plan strategically, set goals, and fulfill the organization’s mission. She holds a Ph.D. in Sustainability Education and a master’s degree in Library Science, and is fundamentally interested in how communities form in order to support life-long learning goals for individuals. Aimée states, "I enjoy immersing myself in the world of vintage motorcycles, and am excited to share my enthusiasm with others though work on the AMF Board." 

 

Bill Murar

Bill Murar has been riding motorcycles since he purchased his first one, a Gilera-made Sears 106SS, in 1969. Since that time he's owned hundreds of Sears, Yamaha, BMW, Ural, Panonia and Sachs motorcycles. He enjoys refurbishing motorcycles, especially those from Sears. An AMA Life Member, Bill was fortunate to have his unrestored 1965 Allstate displayed at the AMA Heritage Museum for two years in the mid 90's and at the Packard Museum in Warren, Ohio in 2011. The Puch made SGS250 was chosen to be "Miss April" in the 1995 AMA Glory Days Calendar.

A retired firefighter/paramedic, he devoted 30 years to the Brookpark, Ohio Fire Department. In 2004, he and his wife Joyce created the LakeErieLoop, a charity ride around Lake Erie to benefit pediatric burn victims. The "Loopers" have donated over $45,000 towards this very worthy cause. He has also been a motorcycle safety instructor in Ohio since 1987 and has personally taught over 3,000 motorcycle riders. In 1991, he began a 15 year road racing career with both AHRMA and WERA-Vintage; mostly on a 1972 Yamaha DS7 250cc twin that resulted in two national championships with WERA-Vintage. Bill and Joyce have ridden in all 50 states, all of the Canadian provinces and 6 European countries and continue to tour at least once a year to Provincial Parks in Canada and National Parks in the US. Most of their current riding is done with their two Yorkshire terriers, Max and Layla.

Bill states, "I've been in public service most of my adult life and I'm quite passionate about the small displacement vintage models. I believe my knowledge in the small bore motorcycles will be of benefit to the AMF and its members."

 

Jan Ringnalda

Jan Ringnalda is based in Ohio. His interest in motorcycles began when he was young, and he saw his first CBX wheeled into the showroom in 1979. Over the years, he has restored, recommissioned, repaired and reassembled many of the six cylinder beasts.

Jan has a PhD in Materials Science and still works with researchers at The Ohio State university on Electron Microscopy for his daytime occupation, where he works with leading scientists to discover what makes the nitty, gritty. These microscopes magnify to the level of atomic resolution, which needed for researchers looking at virus particles like COVID-19 as well as semiconductor and advanced materials research.

Ringnalda has been the president of the International CBX Owners Association since 2009 and with his son Robby is actively involved with racing a CBX in WERA and AHRMA associations. He has a collection of vintage Hondas and offers restoration and recommission services at the www.mrcbx.com company he runs with Robby. They have recommissioned and restored many CBX’s to get them ready for the next caretaker, and they take the motto “dedicated to the preservation of the CBX” very seriously. Jan enjoys the large displacement motorcycles; it needs to be 750cc or larger to get him going at acceptable rates of speed.