In June of 2004 the Pacific Northwest Museum of Motorcycling (MoM) acquired a 1973 Bultaco Alpina from Bob Paradis at www.bikesalvage.com to raffle off as a fundraising bike. Discovered in Vancouver, Washington, the nearly perfect bike was in excellent running condition. We never could uncover why it was in such good shape at the age it was, although we do know that the original owner was a “very careful rider who maintained it well.” We were excited to get it. Bob has been a great supporter of MoM over the years.

We enlisted Pacific Northwest motocross legend Jim Pomeroy to ride and autograph the Bultaco. Jim wowed the world in 1973 with his win in Barcelona, Spain, where he was the first American to defeat the Europeans in Grand Prix racing. This catapulted Jim into being the Bultaco poster boy and boosted sales of the durable machines. He soon had the nickname “Jimmy the First,” which is how he signed the tank. Jim is an honorary board member of MoM.

We sold tickets as fast and furiously as we could, attending a variety of venues. Five bucks for a shot at winning a great little bike was a good deal and our efforts were typically greeted with enthusiasm. Some of the places were hit were: The Farm during the Chehalis Classic AHRMA National Trials and Scrambles (in August and October), the Vintage Motorcycle Enthusiasts (VME) monthly meeting at Planet Georgetown in Seattle as well as at their annual event, The Isle of Vashon TT, Motorcycle Works of Renton (where the bike was stored), the Anacortes Oyster Run, at Soundrider’s Three Pass Blast, the International Motorcycle Show in Seattle, and at the Salmon Bay Eagles in Seattle.

The winner was drawn on the crisp evening of January 8, 2005 at the VME annual holiday banquet. It was just the place you’d expect to find packed with old motorcycle enthusiasts, in the historic Eagles lodge building in Ballard. Over 100 people enjoyed fine food prepared under the guise of Greg Field. VME Vice President Barry Mercer oversaw the drawing of the raffle winner from a tank bag full of tickets that was held by MoM’s president, Jack Mackey. Around 420 tickets were in the bag as the lovely Kelp Parker reached in and drew the winning name, Eric Benson, 41, or Leadville, Colorado.

Leadville is in a different time zone, but we thought winning a bike would be a good reason to wake somebody up. So we dialed Eric and his wife Debbie answered. “Seattle? Bultaco? Raffle ticket?” She then told us that he was asleep. He had had the great misfortune of being stuck at 12,000 feet in the Colorado Rockies while out snowmobiling and was deep in a well earned slumber. Apparently, wrestling a stuck snowmobile from the snow can burn up a few calories. MoM Historian Thomas Samuelsen received a phone call from Eric the next morning and the blanks were filled in.

Eric was born in upstate New York and grew up on a dairy farm. Farm=space=mini bike riding ground. His first ‘real’ bike was a 250 Bultaco Alpina and his brother rode a Bultaco Frontera 370cc, which Erick owns to this day. They continued to ‘grow up Bultaco’ and raced in their local gravel pit with Washington State’s Jim Pomeroy as their hero. At 10,000 feet, Erick and Debbie’s home of Leadvilel has the history of being a two-fisted mining town in which Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid knocked over the bank. After “finally paying off the remodel” of their home, Eric scaled back to working just one job and is currently employed with the Vail Resort Company. In their spare time Eric and Debbie started riding in the AHRMA MX National Scrambles Series.

Eric said that “Having fourteen motorcycles that run and six race-ready Can-Ams, were were able to start on the circuit.” Debbie’s racing career has taken off–in the AHRMA MX she is #2 overall in the Women’s Vintage category and she is the National Champion in Post-Vintage. When Eric was asked how it feels to live with a National Champion, he said the “Debbie is a good sport and great to get along with except when she breaks down on the track–I’m her mechanic.”

Eric bought his winning ticket from MoM Treasurer Rolf Immo-Gabbe in August at The Farm in Chehalis. Eric says that Chehalis is his “favorite track in the series; everything about it is wonderful.” MoM has run the swap meet for the past two years with the organizers of the Chehalis Classic donating 100% of the swap meet proceeds to benefit the 501(c)(3) organization–it is getting bigger each year and we are grateful for this support.

This successful raffle wouldn’t have been possible without the following people: Randy Morrison, the organizers of the Chehalis Classic, Eastside Harley Davidson (they loan their tent to us when needed), Soundrider, The VME, Cycle Barn, Motosports News, Planet Georgetown, www.bikesalvage.com, Ted Abernathy and the staff at Renton Motorcycle Works.

The ticket sellers and MoM Board members are: President Jack Mackey, Vice-President Tim Purtill, Treasurer Rolf Immo-Gabbe, Historian Thomas Samuelsen, Barry Mercer, Patrick Roush, Ted Abernathy, Greg Field and Bob Paradis. And to all of the people who bought raffle tickets, thank you for your support. We will have a new raffle bike soon, so set aside a $5 bill and be the next winner!