Photos by Ryan Armbrust , David Shelleny and Savannah Rose

But her story begins in rural Illinois where she was the youngest of all boys . “ My dad had a barn full of rad four wheelers , go-karts , six wheelers and all kinds of powersports stuff he worked on ,” she said . “ I grew up loving being in the garage . And riding fast and getting into trouble were encouraged .

Her first experience on a bike happened at the age of 11 . “ My dad picked me up a little dirt bike ,” she laughs , “ and the only thing he told my brothers was you have to teach her to ride this and she has to wear a helmet . Neither of those things happened . They taught me loosely how to shift , but not how to brake , and I didn ’ t have a helmet on . It lasted about 27 minutes and I smashed into a fence post , smashed my face , banged up the bike and my brothers scattered . But that 27 minutes was enough for me to get the bug .”

It wasn ’ t until adulthood that she bought her first bike , though . She had all the gear – but no bike . “ I wanted a 1964 Honda Dream 305 , and I found one in white in the suburbs of Chicago . It was my little ‘ cream puff .’ It was a great beginner bike .”

“ My dad had a barn full of rad four wheelers and go-karts , and all kinds of cool powersports stuff he worked on ,” Jacqui said . “ I grew up loving being in the garage .”

“ But then I went to Vintage Motorcycle Days at Mid-Ohio ,” Jacqui continued , “ which features the largest swap meet in the country , with parties at night . It ’ s a hoot . BMW was the featured marque that year , and I saw a bunch of older Beemers with hundreds of thousands of miles . So I realized I could have a vintage bike and still ride it everywhere .”

And ride it everywhere she did . “ I quit my job and toured the middle part of the U . S . in the first couple of months ,” she told us . “ I did an entire lap of America , toured Europe solo on it twice , been to multiple Moto GP races overseas , the Ducati factory , ridden through the Alps , and rode it to the Mediterranean , too . It ’ s an awesome machine I know I can count on .”

After doing a highly read blog during one of those trips to Europe , IMS hired her to tour with its motorcycle shows . “ After a full season of doing that motorcycle show , enough companies saw me out there – since few women worked trade shows at the time – that I became a frontrunner for women in this space .”

Then , in 2012 , Victory Motorcycles hired her as a brand rep . Once Victory shut down , she went on to represent Indian Motorcycle . “ That led to an interest in racing ,” Jacqui noted . “ At one of the first Super Hooligans races they asked me to jump in and do commentary , and that led to me doing racing commentary for Super Hooligans , and eventually American Flat Track , Sons of Speed , Flat Out Friday and more .”

Since event life has changed , pro talkers aren ’ t as in demand like they used to be , so Jacqui ’ s found other ways to use her skills . “ For the past three years ,” she said , “ I ’ ve being doing a

72 | MAY 2020 | THUNDERPRESS . NET