The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) has announced the recipients of its 2014 AMA Awards. The six national awards, conferred by the AMA Board of Directors, recognize outstanding contributions in the world of motorcycling and acknowledge support of the AMA mission to promote the motorcycle lifestyle and protect the future of motorcycling. 

The most prestigious of the awards, the AMA Dud Perkins Lifetime Achievement Award, was given to Mike and Margaret Wilson of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for their lifelong commitment to fostering the growth and acceptance of motorcycling, and their dedication to the AMA and its Hall of Fame. Other 2014 award recipients include: 

• AMA Bessie Stringfield Award – Scot Harden, Vice President, Global Marketing, Zero Motorcycles
• AMA Hazel Kolb Brighter Image Award
  • "Why We Ride" feature film – James Walker, Producer; Bryan H. Carroll, Producer/Director; Chris Hampel, Writer/Co-Producer
  • "Road Warriors, The Bleeding Edge of Motorcycle Racing" feature film – Matt Greenstone, Writer/Director
• AMA Outstanding Road Rider Award – Donald L. Green, Lead Instructor, Fort Knox, Kentucky Army Traffic Safety Training Program Office, and Motorcycle Safety Foundation RiderCoach with the Kentucky Motorcycle Rider Education Program
• AMA Outstanding Off-Road Rider Award – Jim Pilon and Paul Flanders, AMA District 37 Dual Sport organizers and promoters of the LA-Barstow-Vegas desert event
• Friend of the AMA Award – Roy Garrett, AMA Life Member, ABATE of Indiana and Discover Indiana Riding Trails (DIRT)

Melbourne "Mike" J. Wilson and Margaret Wilson, AMA Life Members and inductees into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame, were awarded the 2014 AMA Dud Perkins Lifetime Achievement Award for their many decades of service to the AMA. The award pays tribute to its namesake, AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Dud Perkins. 

Mike and Margaret Wilson have both served with distinction on the board of directors of the American Motorcycle Heritage Foundation, which raises funds for the Hall of Fame, and are among the foundation’s principal benefactors. The Wilsons commissioned and donated the beautiful bronze sculpture, "Glory Days," which graces the Hall of Fame’s display area and serves as its official logo. Mike has also contributed in the design and development of displays at the museum. 

Margaret, a longtime member of the Motor Maids, has ridden her motorcycles over 550,000 miles and is an enthusiastic supporter and promoter of women’s motorcycling clubs and events. She was awarded the AMA Bessie Stringfield Award in 2003. 

The AMA Bessie Stringfield Award memorializes the accomplishments of AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Bessie Stringfield and recognizes efforts to introduce motorcycling to new or underserved markets. For 2014, the award was given to Scot Harden and Zero Motorcycles for their pioneering work in the field of electric motorcycles. Harden has been instrumental in reaching out to motorcyclists young and old, experienced and novice, to gain acceptance of the newest way to get around on two wheels.

 

The AMA Hazel Kolb Brighter Image Award honors its namesake, Hall of Famer Hazel Kolb, and salutes individuals who have generated positive publicity for motorcycling. For 2014, it was given to the production and directorial teams of two remarkable motorcycling films: "Why We Ride" and "Road Warriors, The Bleeding Edge of Motorcycle Racing." 

The 2014 AMA Outstanding Road Rider Award recipient, AMA Life Member Donald L. Green, was honored for his tireless efforts to train armed forces personnel at Fort Knox in Kentucky and his commitment to the Kentucky Motorcycle Rider Education Program. Green has successfully trained more than 3,000 students, conducted 111 Basic RiderCourses, 51 Basic RiderCourses2, 19 Military Sportsbike RiderCourses and 5 Advance RiderCourses.

The AMA Outstanding Off-Road Rider Award highlights the achievements of an individual who has contributed to the promotion of the motorcycling lifestyle and the protection of off-highway motorcycling. For 2014, the award was presented to two deserving members of AMA District 37 in southern California, AMA Life Members Jim Pilon and Paul Flanders.

 

Their dual-sport committee successfully organized and now maintains and promotes one of the world’s best known dual-sport events, the LA-Barstow to Vegas Dual Sport Tour, or LA-B-to-V. Launched in 1984, the 400 mile-plus tour typically starts after Thanksgiving and has routes for dual sport, adventure touring, vintage bikes, sidehacks and small displacement machines, so long as they are street legal. 

The 2014 Friend of the AMA Award recognizes the innovative work of Plainfield, Indiana’s Roy Garrett. As an AMA Life Member and member of ABATE of Indiana DIRT, Garrett has been a fixture in the off-highway riding community for his many years of promoting responsible off-highway recreation. In acknowledging Garrett with this award, the AMA was impressed by the ability of Indiana’s on- and off-highway clubs and organizations to work together to protect the riding freedoms of all of the state’s riders.

For more information about the AMA Awards Program, to see past recipients and learn how to nominate individuals for future consideration, please visit www.americanmotorcyclist.com/about/amaawardsprogram.