thePULSEA Biker’s Best Friend, On-Street and Off
By Kimberly Dunbar
Adam and Heather Mancini prove that two wheels can be as fierce ~ and fast, if not faster ~ than four.
The Mancinis, who own Out of Control Racing on West Boylston Street in Worcester, specialize in high performance off-road bikes and motorcycles, modifications and supplies. “We can build and customize,” said Adam. “It’s just like people with hot rods ~ they come to us when they are looking to fix up their bikes.”
Heather and Adam met when they were 14 years old and the bond they shared over dirt biking and four-wheeling has lasted 18 years, ten of those in marriage. “We both have been riding all our lives,” said Heather.
Adam started riding at the tender age of three, and spent six years competing in motocross races. In 2004, he took home the motocross championship in his age category. But Heather isn’t one to stand by and watch her husband have all the fun: “I hate being a passenger,” she added, sharing that her next purchase will be a cranberry colored Yamaha R1. The Yamaha will replace her Honda CBR 600, the “starter” bike she bought after earning her motorcycle license.
When it comes to their shop, Heather and Adam are a true team. Adam is the mechanic downstairs while Heather sets up the appointments and runs the showroom upstairs. “My favorite part about this is being able to work together every day,” said Heather. Team Mancini has two members in training: their son and daughter. Heather added that her seven-year-old daughter loves four-wheeling while their five-year-old son has already learned to balance on a bike and ride it around the track in their yard.
Their son rides is the same yard where Adam and Heather started their business, back when friends would bring their bikes over to be worked on by the couple. “At one point there were too many bikes in our yard,” said Heather. “Then we found this place and took a chance. We’ve been here for five years and it has been great.”
Heather added that she and her husband love the industry and want to see it grow. Adam insisted that over the past few years the number of street bike riders has at least doubled (especially the number of female riders), something he attributes to the increasing restrictions to off-road riding. A decade ago, it was easy for Adam, Heather and their friends to ride their bikes in the woods and through sandpits.
“Back then, everyone in the neighborhood had bikes and places to ride,” said Adam, who added that their old sandpit in Webster is now filled with 350 houses. “Now, little by little, they are taking it all away from us.” Adam and Heather keep on top of the new sound and land laws that prohibit bikes in certain areas and restrict racing and riding and relay the information to official clubs that have their own tracks in New England.
But the couple isn’t worried about the sport. “They keep coming up with more noise and age laws to hinder us, but we always find a way around it,” Adam said.
