TURNERS FALLS — Nova Motorcycles’ Unsprung Moto Road Rally and Open House will kick back into gear for its fourth annual event on Saturday.
After a hiatus in 2020, the rally will feature 32 riders with motorcycles both old and new. The riders will traverse a 70-mile morning route and a 98-mile afternoon route before returning to Nova Motorcycles at 147 Second St. for an open house. There will also be four agility courses.
The Unsprung Moto is based off of Motogiro d’Italia, a historic motorcycle rally and tour of Italy.
“A lot of people who participate in the Motogiro event participate in the one around here, too,” said Bailey Sisson, a mechanic at Nova Motorcycles. “It’s just a fun, laid-back event.”
Motogiro d’Italia, however, exclusively features vintage motorcycles, a rule that the Unsprung Moto rally has been willing to deviate from.
“Our rally is based off of that, except we don’t have any restrictions,” Sisson said. “We want to keep motorcycles alive, no matter what they are.”
Registration begins at the shop at 7:30 a.m. After a rider’s meeting at 8:45 a.m. and check-in at 9 a.m., riders will begin their first agility course in which they drive through a course of cones in the parking lot. After, the riders will begin their 70-mile morning course before returning for another agility course. After a lunch break, the riders repeat the cycle with the 98-mile afternoon course.
“It’s not really speed-based,” Sisson said. “It’s regularity and endurance-based.”
The riding loops will pass through Turners Falls before heading into Greenfield, through the hilltowns and back. While each rider will get a route sheet to guide them the day of the race, Nova Motorcycles co-owner Peter Chilton said he’s keeping directions intentionally vague until Saturday.
“The route is somewhat secret until the day of the event,” Chilton said in an email. “Navigating it correctly is part of the challenge.”
Chilton predicted that the day of riding will conclude at around 5:30 p.m. The open house at Nova Motorcycles, which is free and open to the public from 3 to 7 p.m., will feature an awards presentation, music and food.
Chilton and Sisson each said the rally and community benefit each other mutually. The idea is that the general public may gain a better appreciation for the local motorcycling scene (or motorcycling in general), while the event itself strengthens the community by bringing people together.
“It’s important to us that people realize that Western Massachusetts is a motorcycle destination,” Chilton said. “A very good one at that.”
“It can be an intimidating scene. … There’s a stigma around motorcycling that we don’t fall into,” Sisson said. “We do really want to create an environment of inclusion. We really want to be a hub of community.”
Registration costs $35 for the rally. More information about the event, as well as a link to register, can be found at unsprungmoto.com.
Reach Julian Mendoza at 413-772-0261, ext. 261 or jmendoza@recorder.com.