Carnival & Fair News

The American Motordrome Company is the largest Wall of Death attraction in the U.S. Starting in 2025, rider and co-operator Bill Applegate will own this behemoth, one of only three traveling Wall of Death attractions in the country.

The vintage live action thrill show is performed in a silo-shaped wooden cylinder with motorcycle daredevils, including Applegate – whose stage name is Hobo Bill – riding the vertical wall and performing a variety of stunt, trick, and acrobatic riding feats.

The attraction has been a mainstay of carnivals and road shows for over 100 years. According to Applegate “The Motordrome thrill show has been around since 1912. We recreate those original shows, in which motorcycles are racing around inside what is essentially a big wooden barrel.”



He explains that before the debut of television, Wall of Death shows were coveted entertainment. “There was a show at every midway in the country. Some of them were combined with performing lion acts. Although they aren't commonplace anymore, people still love them.”

The show features antique Indian and Harley-Davidson motorcycles along with hand-built 4-wheeled racing go-karts, he says. “I currently ride a 1928 Indian Scout, the boss rode a 1927 Indian Scout, and we have Harley Davidson dirt bikes form the 70s,” Applegate relates.

Applegate's mention of “the boss” refers to Jay Lightman who stopped performing last year at age 72; Applegate has had nine seasons of riding, and there are currently three performers in all.

Daredevil rider Lightman also constructed the attraction. “It was built by Jay in his backyard back in 1998,” Applegate says. “It's been traveling full time since then.” Through a structured deal, Applegate will own the show in full in 2025.

The company is the largest traveling Wall of Death show, with a drome that rises 14 feet in height and runs 30 feet in diameter. “Any of the other performing shows that you can see would fit inside of this one,” he points out.



The thrilling show allows up to 200 audience members to feel the wind and enjoy the rush of motorcycles racing only inches away from them.

Applegate notes that the American Motordrome Company doesn't follow a specific route, although the show starts and ends its season in Florida. They typically run shows from May to December. “We are for hire anywhere throughout the U.S., and starting in 2025, we will be available to go into Canada as well,” he says.

The performances require a great deal of skill and stamina. “Each show runs between 15-20 minutes and our normal schedule has us performing once every hour for the duration of whatever event we are performing at. Whenever there are people waiting to see us, we will do a show,” Applegate attests.

The company performs at both large and smaller events. “Some of our biggest venues include the Florida State Fair and the Mid-Ohio AMA Vintage Motorcycle Show, which is a dirt bike racetrack weekend in Lexington, Ohio. We also perform at the Barber Motor Sports Park Vintage Weekend in Alabama, one of our longest running shows.” From the Three County Fair in Northampton, Mass. to the Hunsader Pumpkin Festival in Bradenton, Fla., American Motordrome Company shows up ready to ride.

Applegate asserts that “We joke around saying that the riding is the easy part for us, and in many ways that's true. We have to drive to the event, build up the drome, and take it down. Compared to the transport and set up, riding is the easier thing to do,” he laughs.



The show is transported on a 50-foot flatbed semi-truck trailer. “It's in a lot of pieces of twenty – the walls are made up of twenty panels. We have twenty mud sills as well. The drome stays assembled for the duration of the event, and then we disassemble it and move on to the next show. It needs to be reassembled from those twenty floor sections, twenty wall sections etc. each time.”

The assembly process is time consuming. “If we get six people from an event to help the three of us, it takes eight hours to set up, and that means eight hours of heavy lifting. Each set up is like eight hours at a gym,” Applegate states.

But despite the hard work, the show goes on, and is expanding the number of venues at which it performs. The COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns very much affected the company, Applegate says. “That was a rough time for us. Before COVID we usually performed at 23 different locations over seven months. Since the pandemic, it has been lower. We have 14 spots booked this year but will probably take on a few more. During 2020 we had absolutely nothing, and only a few spots came back the next year. Everything is slowly coming back, but that was a rough time for us not to have those gigs.”



He reports that “We're just getting back into fairs. In June, we spent some time at the Long Island Fun Fest, which is a big fair in Long Island, and we were there for ten days doing three shows a day. Along with fairs, we do many events at Harley Davidson dealerships and motorcycle sports events such as a very large one at the St. Louis Motorsports Park, where they sell many different kinds of bikes.”