The classic bad ass motorcycle racer thread

[budman]

Love the spider webs that reach out and touch us. I have had many.

Love to hear more.

Tomorrow a bigger Wardy thread (because he deserves it) and another for a special dude that was a total bad ass for one day. Marty Moates.

 

[budman]

Marty Moates -- King for a day

Marty Moates is likely obscure for many of you. The privateer MX rider from the late 70's jumped into the worlds view in the 1980 USGP becoming king for the day. The race was featured on ABC Wide World of Sports and the expectation that Brad Lackey was the US hope to challenge the dominating Euro's got a shock... so did I. I had never heard of the guy really.

That day at Carlsbad Raceway Moates became the most bad ass racer.

youtu.be/pywBDBd-plE

 

[SFMCjohn]

... how cool is that? :ride

... that bike must have been
a handful to race ... :thumbup:laughing

... what does LOP stand for ...? :dunno

 

[budman]

I assume it was the team / shop that was supporting him.

I watched the video last night (just fixed the link -oops). The comparison of the BSA to the Yamaha bike was very cool. "Latest Technology" etc... how time flies. So was the profile on Brad Lackey.

Watching bikes on the track had me recalling when I road it. They had it prepped on race day, but I am sure it was still slippery hard pack and tough to ride. An advantage to the Americans who raced their often. When we road it it was a beast.
Some historical names in that race.

Man... that was a great day.

More on LOP http://www.vitalmx.com/forums/Moto-Related,20/Laurens-from-LOP-Interview,556197
http://vault.racerxonline.com/1979/mx/intro

 

[CocoLoco]

I keep seeing picks of some of the badasses who have run out on the salt flats...they are holding up cards with 300+ mph on them. I wonder what it's like to go 300+ on the ground. Does the world turn into a point on the horizon with everything else just a blur roaring by?

 

[budman]

Jeff Ward - Wardy

Jeff Ward was one of the most successful riders ever. He deserves a little more love so I am giving that to him. The guy is awesome.
His first appearance in the thread is here.

From his AMA HoF page:
Jeff Ward will be remembered as one of the all-time greats in motocross. 'Wardy' won seven AMA national championships and proved to be perhaps the most versatile rider in the history of the sport, winning 125cc, 250cc and 500cc national motocross titles.

After he was inducted into the Hall of Fame for his motocross success, he further proved his versatility by winning the 2004 AMA Supermoto Championship.

During his motocross career, Ward won a total of 56 AMA nationals, placing him third on the all-time motocross/Supercross win list at the time he retired from motorcycle racing in 1992. He had one of the longest careers of elite motocross riders, covering 15 seasons in the pro ranks.

Ward’s early life included racing minicycles and became the best minicycle rider of his era. At 10 he had a bit part in the classic movie “On Any Sunday,” doing a long wheelie on his little Honda 50. If you saw the movie and did not know who that kid was now you do.! As a 12 yo watching it and one who owned the book "Learn to Wheelie" I was awed by his stand up one wheel action.

Ward started racing Pro in 1978 in the 125 class. He earned five top-10 finishes and finished his rookie season ranked seventh. In 1979 Kawasaki hired Wardy and he would remain Team Green the rest of his career. His year on the Kawi saw him ranked sixth. Ward also first did some Supercross racing in ’79, but only racing in select events.

In 1980 Jeff finished third in the 125 motocross outdoors and took his first Supercross podium finish. He took third again in the 125 series in 1982 and in 1983 he finished 2nd in the 125 behind Johnny O’Mara.

1984 started with his first Supercross race and won four SX finals that season. In the 125 outdoor series he won eight of the 10 nationals and his first AMA national championship.

In 1985 Ward finished in the top five in eight of the 11 rounds edging out Broc Glover by just two points to win his first Supercross championship. The 250cc outdoor series meant five 250 national wins and the 250 title. Both his first 125 title and his 250 title were the first for Kawasaki.

Ward won his second AMA SX championship in 1987 over Rick Johnson winning five races and with podiums in 10 of the 14 rounds. Ward beat Johnson for the Outdoor title too. Both won three races and the slim 7 point margin left Team Green with another C’ship. 1989 brought Ward to the 500cc national motocross series winning the championship, which he repeated in 1990. He competed in both classes in the outdoors in ’89 and finished 2nd behind Jeff Stanton in the 250 class. How exhausting is 4 moto’s on race day???! :wow

Wardy was part of seven winning U.S. Motocross des Nations teams. :flag :hail His familiar #3 was always a threat. Ward retired after the 1992 season (sort of).

After retiring from MX/SX Ward began racing cars. He came within a few seconds of winning the 1997 Indianapolis 50. I remember being pretty stoked to see a MX dude in the exciting race. He ended up third and won the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year Award. I think he gave it up because he thought it was too dangerous. Anyone know for sure??

What makes Jeff even more special was while in his mid 40’s he started competing in the new AMA Supermoto Championship. He was damn good too winning the title in 2004 against riders half his age. He ended up repeating in 2006.

Wardy is on my list for the top 25 guys in this thread.

Championships
AMA Motocross
1984—Won AMA 125cc national motocross title.
1985—Won AMA national 250cc motocross and Supercross titles.
1987—Won second AMA national 250cc Supercross championship.
1988—Captured second AMA national 250cc motocross title.
1989—Won AMA national 500cc motocross championship to become first rider in history to win every major AMA national motocross title.
1990—Won second consecutive AMA national 500cc motocross championship.

Supermoto (which he came back to after his Indy Car years)
2004—Won AMA Supermoto Championship at 43 years of age.
2006—Won X-Games Supermoto Championship at 45 years of age.
2006—Won AMA Supermoto Championship.
2008—Won X-Games Supermoto Championship at 47 years of age.

Indy Racing League
1997—Finished third at Indianapolis 500 in maiden effort, finished 30th in IRL season point standings.
1998—Earned career-first pole position at Phoenix IRL race, four top five finishes, finished career-best 6th in IRL season point standings.
1999—Finished career-best second at Indianapolis 500, three top five finishes, finished 11th in IRL season point standings.
2000—Finished fourth at Indianapolis 500, two top five finishes, finished 11th in IRL season point standings.
2001—Two top five finishes, finished 11th in IRL season point standings.
2002—Winner of Boomtown 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, finished ninth at Indianapolis 500, two top five finishes, finished 11th in IRL season point standings.

Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series
2009—Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series Rookie of the Year
2009—Dirt Sports Rookie of the Year
2009—2nd Place in Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series Championship, behind by 1 point
2010 started barfing Just seeing if you are really reading this.

 

[Disco]

Figured I'd post my contribution to this thread

 

[bikeama]

:afm199 Old and Classic bad ass motorcycle racer picture. Got this picture from West Coast Flattrack FB page. Looked up the names and found 5 AMA HOF members. Armando Magri was known to me as the HD dealer in Sacramento. Paul A Bigsby interesting background on what he did after racing. Cy Homer, one of the Greatest Generation. Many of the others in this picture I am sure have a story to tell.

Ed Kretz
http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/hal...&rblFname=S&txtLname=&rblLname=S&discipline=0

Armando Magri
Sacramento HD Dealer
http://www.cyclechaos.com/wiki/Armando_Magri
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08g4y16pznk

Ben Campanele
http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/hal...&rblFname=S&txtLname=&rblLname=S&discipline=0

Billy Mathews
http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/hal...&rblFname=S&txtLname=&rblLname=S&discipline=0


Hap Jones
http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/hal...&rblFname=S&txtLname=&rblLname=S&discipline=0

Paul A Bigsby
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Bigsby
Before working in music he was a motorcycle racer known as "P.A. Bigsby", and was the foreman of Crocker Motorcycles, and designed many components. For example, the overhead-valve cylinder head for their first V-twin motorcycle. The vibrato arm unit, however, was what made Bigsby's reputation, as it was used by Gibson, Gretsch and other guitar companies. In 1966, Bigsby sold the company to former Gibson guitar executive Ted McCarty. On May 10, 1999, the Fred Gretsch company purchased the Bigsby company.[2]


Sam Arena
http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/hal...&rblFname=S&txtLname=&rblLname=S&discipline=0

Cy Homer
http://wingnutsmotorcycleclub.blogspot.com/2009/07/cy-homer-january-1948.html
https://80fsheadhunters.org/2011/12/25/october-november-1944-numfoor-island/cy_homer/

 

[budman]

Good stuff Bill. :thumbup

I knew Sam Arena Jr. His Dad was a super talent and legend to me and a lot of the folks that knew Sam Jr. who sold bikes at So. Bay Suzuki when they sponsored me.

 

[budman]

Jimmy Filice

Jimmy Filice was one of the most versatile AMA professional racers from the 1980s to early 2000s. He was AMA Flat Track Rookie of the Year in 1981 and later turned to road racing to become one of the elite riders in the history of AMA 250 Grand Prix racing.

The Californian won a total of 29 AMA nationals in both the AMA Grand National Championship and AMA 250 Grand Prix Series. He would go on to become a three-time AMA 250 Grand Prix Champion. His single biggest victory came in 1988 at the U.S. round of the 250cc Grand Prix World Championship at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California. Filice was also a factory AMA Superbike rider for Yamaha in the mid-1980s.

Filice started competing in local minibike races on a Yamaha 60, but when he tried flat track it did not start well, but before long he was one of the top young riders on the NorCal circuit eventually becoming a national amateur flat track champion. In 1981 Yamaha sponsored Jim Filice’s rookie expert season and he landed on the Roberts/Lawwill team and had a successful rookie campaign racing both flat track and roadracing. He won a national on a Half-Mile and went on to earn the AMA Flat Track Rookie of the Year Award and won the AMA 250 Grand Prix at Pocono. A strong season had him finishing second to Eddie Lawson in the final standings.

His second season on the AMA Grand National circuit was tough as Yamaha’s sole factory rider in the series on a bike that was not that competitive scoring only two top-10 finishes all season and fighting injuries. In roadracing he did much better with four victories in the AMA 250 Grand Prix Series and was in the hunt for the championship all season, finishing third in the rankings.

In ’83 he hooked up with Eddie Atkins closed out the season with a flourish, winning three of the final five miles. His victory at the San Jose Mile was a dream come true for Filice… it was awesome to watch! :thumbup AMA Superbike was the place to be and Filice joined the series in 1985 as a privateer. Filice scored two runner-up finishes that season on the brand new Yamaha FZ750 and ended the season ranked 6th.

The next year Yamaha signed him, along with a young John Kocinski, to lead its new factory AMA Superbike team. The bike was underdeveloped and mechanical issues all year left Filice with only two top-five finishes all season. In 1987 and had better results with three podiums. Some of the other racers has some skills….. Wayne Rainey, Kevin Schwantz, Doug Polen, Doug Chandler and Bubba Shobert. Filice ended 1987 ranked seventh in Superbike.

1988 turned up the volume for Filice when legendary GP tuner and team owner Erv Kanemoto called Filice to see if he would be interested in filling in at the 250GP event at the USGP at Laguna Seca (just two weeks away). Filice showed up to ride a 250 Grand Prix machine for the first time in five years. The Honda NSR250 was the best bike he’d ever ridden and he nearly matched the pole time set by future 250GP world champ John Kocinski. Filice rocked and took the checkered flag by a 12-second margin!!! The win led to Filice’s decision to retire from flat track racing and concentrate solely on road racing.

Filice became a factory test rider for Honda’s racing arm, HRC, and he raced select Japanese, U.S. and world championship races. In 1990, Filice was set to tackle the world championship full-time but a car accident left Filice with numerous serious injuries and it took him more than a year to recover. In ‘91 he began the year racing in World Championship Grand Prix, but he was not ready and returned to the US to race on a privateer bike. Filice went on a late-season run, winning four races and earning the AMA 250 Grand Prix title – his first professional championship a full decade after he began his pro career.

In 1992, Filice rode for the Camel Honda squad but lost the title to an up-and-coming Colin Edwards, winning two races. Wayne Rainey offered Filice the opportunity to race on his Otsuka Electronics Yamaha AMA 250 Grand Prix team in ’93. Filice dominated the AMA 250 Grand Prix Series, winning nine of the 10 rounds on his way to his second championship. Watching Sears Point Filice’s win at Sears was his 19th AMA 250 Grand Prix win of his career, which at that time was the record for the series.

Filice concentrated his efforts in Europe for the next several years and only raced selected AMA 250 Grand Prix rounds, still winning some of those. He also raced the occasional 250 and 500cc GP. He accepted the job of running the Kenny Roberts Training Camp in Barcelona, Spain in ’96 and did very little racing. After a 4 year stint he returned to America and made a comeback to racing in 2000. He rode a limited schedule on a PJ1-sponsored Yamaha, but had a win at Loudon.

In 2001, Filice race a full season in AMA 250 Grand Prix for the first time since 1993. Rich Oliver had dominated the class and broken all of Filice’s records in the class and the two battled for superiority. Filice took the C’ship by a single point winning his third National Title. Filice’s final race series was in AMA Supersport racing in 2002, but he struggled with a factory ride. His Dad did get to travel with his son for the first time and that had to be priceless way to end his career.

Filice was another California Motorcycle bad ass!

 

[bikeama]

.........

1988 turned up the volume for Filice when legendary GP tuner and team owner Erv Kanemoto called Filice to see if he would be interested in filling in at the 250GP event at the USGP at Laguna Seca (just two weeks away). Filice showed up to ride a 250 Grand Prix machine for the first time in five years. The Honda NSR250 was the best bike he’d ever ridden and he nearly matched the pole time set by future 250GP world champ John Kocinski. Filice rocked and took the checkered flag by a 12-second margin!!! The win led to Filice’s decision to retire from flat track racing and concentrate solely on road racing. ..........

I was at Laguna in 1988. Standing next to two Germans who were cheering for Anton Mang the current world champ. They could not understand any rider going so much faster than Anton. They were sure they should know who the rider was if he could go that fast. I told them he was just a dirt tracker from the valley. That was a great weekend.

 

[budman]

Rich Oliver

Rich Oliver rocked the AMA road racing series for a while. The five time National Road Racing Championship winner has 71 National race victories.
He is the only road racer in history to post an undefeated season, which he did three times. Rich won 20 consecutive races in ‘96 and ‘97. He also was a WERA 250 National Champion, and he also won the Formula USA Championship on a Team Roberts Yamaha YZR500 Grand Prix machine. Rich raced multiple classes in the AMA including Superbike. Rich’s garage is an amazing collection of trophies and photos. (pic below)


youtu.be/ZsJEUpXQ3qk

Oliver came through the AFM and went on to race the AMA series and for a couple years he raced the “run what ya brung” WERA Formula USA Series (where the rules were wide open).

In 1990 Oliver ran the Marlboro colors of Team Roberts on his Yamaha TZ250 racing against the beastly highly modified 1000’s with four-times (or more) displacement advantage. Oliver and his teammate Robbie Petersen were thrown into the Formula USA after his Daytona 250 GP win, when team owner Kenny Roberts announced that he was pulling his team from the AMA series. Oliver was the favorite to win the 1990 AMA 250 Grand Prix Championship and I am sure he would have collected many more victories if he would have stayed in the AMA series. The 250's lack of power hurt Oliver and he would work his ass off through the corners only to be blown away on the straights, but in one race he slayed the big boys on the twisty and technical Grattan Raceway course in one of the heat races. (Formula USA ran a two moto race format).

Rich is featured in an interview on couple news broadcasts that were local previews to the Formula USA races

youtu.be/jv4euS930M0

Since his last year racing, which was 2003 he has run the Mystery School which I and many other barfers have gone too. He is a good teacher and I suggest you go! It is fun and informative providing great riding skills on the dirt that crossover to the track in many ways.

Interview with Rich on Motorcycle.com

Nice little vid by Kazman at the Mystery School.

Another vid from the Mystery School

youtu.be/IaAslshT_2U

Rich is not only a bad ass, he is a gentleman.

 

[89fj]

1988 Laguna GP race, we were there and watched Jimmy Filice smoke the Euros! Epic

 

[Johndicezx9]

Rich Oliver is another local from Pacific Grove! :thumbup

PG High woulda had a helluva race team.

 

[budman]

I would expect Mr. Oliver to get a call from the AMA Hall of Fame one day soon.

I think I need to go back to Europe to capture some more guys.

 

[budman]

Mike "the Bike" Hailwood

Mike “the Bike” Hailwood started racing motorbikes when he was just ten. A visit to the Isle of Man when just a lad probably influenced his decision to choose racing as a career. In the late 50’s while his teens he got serious and even won the Pinhard Prize which was an award for the top racer under 21. In the early 60’s this little Japanese company named Honda signed the you man and success was quick. 1961 took Hailwood to The Isle of Man TT where he won he won in the 125 cc, 250 cc and 500 cc categories, becoming the first rider to do that. He also took the four-stroke, four-cylinder 250 cc Honda to the 250cc world championship.

Hailwood signed with MV Agusta in ’62 and won four consecutive 500cc World Championships. He was the first rider to do that too. Mike made a good choice chasing a racer career! 1964 included the US GP race at Daytona which he won after earlier in the day setting a new one-hour speed record on the MV 500 cc recording an average speed of 144.8 mph on the banking. After his successes with MV Agusta, The Bike went back to Honda and win four more world titles in 1966 and 1967 racing both the 250 and 350 classes.

Hailwood was an iron fist at Isle of Man TT. By 1967, he had won 12 times on the island mountain course including one of the most dramatic Isle of Man races beating his great rival, Giacomo Agostini. His lap record of 108.77 mph on the Honda RC181, that stood for the next 8 years. Hailwood was the highest paid racer of this era and was a playboy jet setter.

After suffering breakdowns in 1967, Hailwood relocated to South Africa where he started a home building business their first house in October 1967. With continuing mechanical issues Hailwood retired. In ‘68 Honda pulled out of Grand Prix racing, but paid still paid Hailwood a million bux (today’s money) to not to ride for another team :wow I guess they thought that way he would come back to them when they returned to the GP circuit. In his GP career he started 152 races winning 76 an was on the podium 112 times.

In 1969 Hailwood raced select 500 cc races in selected races without World Championship status including European events on a Honda. Most of those were street races where he proved hit metal. He had already started to race cars and with no other factory racing teams available to compete against MV Agusta placing third in the 1969 Le Mans 24-Hour race in France as a co-driver of a Ford GT40 with David Hobbs.

In 1970, Hailwood was again lured back to racing by the BSA team riding a Rocket 3 at the Daytona 200 race. The race ended for him when failed due to overheating, but he was battling near the front. Hailwood tried again at the 1971 Daytona race putting the BSA on the front row. He led the race but again broke down. He then went car racing full time racing in both Formula 1 and 2. He never had great success, but he was competitive.

Amazingly in 1978 after years on car racing Hailwood comeback at the Isle of Man TT in the Formula I race. The 38 yo rode a Ducati 900ss to a hugely popular win. He raced the following year riding a two-stroke Suzuki RG 500 to victory in the Senior TT. He used that same 500cc bike in the Unlimited Classic finishing 2nd by just 2 seconds. He then called it a day.

Tragically Mike was killed in a car crash the following year. Two of his 3 kids were killed with him and only one son (David) survived. :rip

Before the was “the Man”… there was “The Bike” and he was bad ass.

 

[dtrides]

One of the things that made watching Rich Oliver great?
Great competition!
I give you local boy and 3 time AMA 250 GP champ Chuck Sorensen!
Chuckie and Rich had some fantastic battles while Chuck was riding for Team Stargel on a Aprilia 250.
DT

 

[budman]

Chuck is a real deal. He is racing in the AFM in 2018 and this ding bat website named barf will be one of his sponsors. Bad ass huh?? :teeth

 

[dtrides]

I heard he was coming back....didnt know he had a BARF factory ride!:thumbuparty:ride
DT

 

[budman]

:laughing

Barf factory. OMG. :laughing