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This is the start of our new site(the old motordrome.org), thrillarena.com! My laptop crashed, taking most of the old site with it! We are still working on it, but in the meantime - life
and riding goes on...
My name is Sam. I ride a 1931 101 Indian Scout motocycle on the side of a 90 degrees (straight up & down) wooden barrel board wall. It is the sport of motor drome riding, more
commonly known as the “Thrillarena” or “Wall of Death”. I have been a drome rider for most of my life and have had the priviledge of riding 11 different dromes...2 of which were in Europe - 1 for the Varanne
Family(from France) on a German Drome(Pitt’s Todeswand), and the other their Drome in France! Presently I ride for Jay Lightnin’& the American Motor Drome. Herein you will experience the rich history of motor drome riding, told both in pictures and stories. Included are walls, riders and sites from around the
world! This site is dedicated to the memory of my mentor and savior, Sonny Pelaquin, who took me off the street, taught me to ride and to laugh... and gave me my wonderful life- high on the wall! (“There can never
be too many motor dromes!” - Sonny Pelaquin)
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This site was created primarily to honor the riders of this industry (motor drome riding). Most are gone, but they are NOT FORGOTTEN! I will be working on restoring the
historical pages one by one, but to get the site up and going, we are starting here. We are also going to feature other interesting and talented people in the industry... some of whom we would not be
here without and to whom we owe a debt of Thanks! (Sara Liberte, Gothgirl, Ice, Jay Allen(Broken Spoke Saloon), Mike Corbin(Corbin Seats), Dave Nichols(Easyrider), John Parham(J&P Cycles), Chris & the Cycle Source gang!, Indian Larry Legacy, Mark Barnett(Barnetts Motorcycle Showcase), Billy Lane, Cyril Huze Customs, Dave Perewitz, scootergoods, etc., just to name a few - and there are many, many
more I have not named!)
I will be putting up a full on links page to all our sponsors and advertisers asap)!
Some pages here are begun.We will be adding as we go, though this SITE IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION! You can still access what’s left of the old site at www.motordrome.org etc...
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Motor dromes have been around since the early 1900s. They were the natural evolution of the wooden board track motordromes (1 mi., 1&1/2 mi., etc.). They kept increasing the angle of the
wall (making them more steep until they reached 68 degrees!), which in turn increased the number of serious accidents. There had even been a track where the racing was advertised as, “Racing Neck & Neck with
Death”! This led to the more familiar name, “wall of death”.
After a number of accidents in which many riders were killed or injured, and an accident in which not only some riders, but several spectators were killed, it was decided due to public outcry that the sport of boardwall racing had gotten too dangerous... and it ended. There were already some smaller, portable dromes in operation - but they were more like bowls than walls. The new ones that these riders flooded America with in this aftermath were 90 degrees straight up and down. In the first old pics, you can clearly see some of the same track riders with their bikes and trademark gear! You can see some of these pics on the “riders”pages.
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MUCH, MUCH MORE TO COME!! The entire site is under construction....
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