Like many who today make their livings on the business side of professional motor-sports, Mark Coughlin began his career as an amateur racer himself. He raced motorcycles on Northeast road courses in Bridgehampton (NY), Loudon (NH), and Pocono (PA).
In his 20s, Coughlin admits he was a decent amateur in the 350 cc class. But walking through the paddocks of these tracks on race weekends, he always admired the professional teams with trick factory racing bikes and the talented technicians hunched over them.
Realizing that lack of funding—and possibly talent—would prevent him from ever achieving a chance to race a factory Honda, Kawasaki, or Yamaha, he decided to pursue opportunities in motorsports elsewhere.
Coughlin is now the proud owner of not one but three of “Doc” Kieffer’s old cycles.
Dr. Dave “Doc” Kieffer raced motorcycles for almost 30 years, and was an inspiration to Mark Coughlin.
Coughlin’s career in motorsports is significant. He’s managed Valvoline’s North American racing activities, as well as spent time with both Ford and Jaguar. Today, at 55 years old, Coughlin is executive vice president of Consulting for Octagon Sports Marketing. It’s a lofty position, one where he occasionally enjoys conversations with Formula One Chief Bernie Ecclestone, NASCAR CEO Brian France, and drivers from every area of professional motorsport.
But deep down inside, Coughlin is a racer, and motorcycle racing is what he still craves.
As a young racer, one of the riders he admired from a distance was semi-pro Dr. Dave “Doc” Kieffer, a renowned orthopedic surgeon from Wyoming who road-raced motorcycles for almost 30 years.
“Doc pieced together lots of the pro riders when they got hurt in racing accidents,” Coughlin says, “so they gave him all the super-trick factory race parts for his bikes when they were a season old. Doc bought Ducati, Honda, and Kawasaki street bikes for, say, $7,000, then bought the $25,000 race kits to make them track-ready.”
Rare factory front forks and engine pieces often wound up in his transporter on race weekends. They were gifts from his rider friends. According to Coughlin, Kieffer bought and raced dozens of bikes. When he was done racing the bikes, he stored them in his workshop in Laramie, Wyoming.
“He did it right,” Coughlin says. “He had a new box truck to haul his equipment, and he flew his own airplane to the track.”
Kieffer raced for probably 30 years, and decided to hang up his leathers in the mid-’90s. In Laramie, the bikes sat silent for nearly 20 years before Coughlin heard a rumor in 2012 that Kieffer might consider selling his race bike collection.
Coughlin flew from North Carolina to Colorado. Then he drove to Wyoming. There, he says, he walked into a “motorcycle racing time capsule.”
Kieffer gave Coughlin the opportunity to have first option on his collection of bikes. He purchased three significant bikes: a 1982 Kawasaki Moriwaki 1000 cc AMA Formula One bike, a 1986 Honda VF750 RK Superbike, and a 1988 Honda RC30, plus crates of brand new, extremely rare factory “Team Only” parts.
All three bikes have significant factory and pro racing history. “I’ve hired a pro rider to race these bikes at vintage races,” Coughlin says. “I feel fortunate to be able to finally live an era that I could only admire from a distance as a kid. I didn’t have a pot to piss in when I club raced, but today, I like the team owner role.”