Today in motorcycle history, July 6, 1964

  



    

  With seemingly dirt in his bones, one of the greatest motocross racers to ever come out of the state of California, Rick Johnson, is born in La Mesa, California.

  Hands down Rick Johnson was one of the great AMA Motocross and Supercross racers of all-time. During the 1980's, he won seven AMA National  Championships and was part of four winning U.S. Motocross des Nations teams. In all, Rick tallied an amazing 61 AMA National wins and was crowned Champion in AMA Supercross and both 250cc and 500cc Motocross.

  When Johnson called it quits in 1991 he was then the all-time AMA Supercross wins leader.  More than likely he would've had even more impressive numbers had injuries not forced him into early retirement at twenty-six.

  Look at these final stats - AMA Motocross Champion in 1984, '86, '87 and '88,  Supercross Champion in 1986, '88, AMA Supercross Champion 1986, '88 and AMA Pro Athlete of the Year in 1986 and 1987.

  Rick Johnson was inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame in 1999.

  Today in motorcycle history proudly supports the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD). www.nabd.org.uk

Today in motorcycle history, July 3, 1972

  

  

  Motorcycle record holder Siddhartha Sankar Saikia is born in Jorhat, Assam, India.

  An Indian Evel Knievel?  Jorhat's Indian Larry? Huh? What? Read on..



  After telling his friends (for what seemed like years) that he would get in the Book of Records, Siddhartha Sankar Saikia of Jorhat finally got his name inducted into the Asia Book of Records. Siddharthas oddball feat; "Most Consecutive Yoga Postures on a Motorbike".


  In a press release issued by the office of the India Book of Records from its unit in Faridabad, Haryana, it stated, "Siddhartha Sankar Saikia of Jorhat, Assam, performed a total of 62 yoga postures while riding a motorbike (an Indian-built TVS), covering a distance of 800 metres (approx. 2,625 feet) within 55 minutes, on March 31, 2013 on Nimati road, Jorhat, Assam. His attempt has been approved by the India Book of Records and now he has been honored with a title of "Record Holder". India Book of Records has awarded him with a certificate and a trophy for being an extraordinary person."

  Talking to the NorthEast News (NEN), Siddhartha said, "I am very much excited to have got my name inducted as an Asian Book of Record holder, which would not have been possible without the support of my family and well wishers. Now I am going to practice more and see if I can become a Guinness Book of Record Holder too."






   I'm just trying to keep you informed.






  Today in motorcycle history proudly supports the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD). www.nabd.org.uk

Today in motorcycle history, July 2, 1955

  

  New Zealander Russell Wright sets a new World Land Speed Record of 184.83 mph at Swannanoa, Canterbury, New Zealand, straddled upon his Vincent Black Lightning.

  Stunningly, unlike other more famous Land Speed Records Wright's were achieved not on the Autobahn or the huge expanses of Bonneville but on a narrow Canterbury road, still drying out from rain the night before, a ballsy move in itself. Tram Road at Swannanoa, about 20 miles northwest of Christchurch, was bordered by gravel, wire fences, some people and, partly on one side, a hedge. 

   On Russell's first run a sound like a shotgun blast pierced even the scream of his Vincent's motor. He'd hit a damn bird, unfazed, he continued twisting the throttle. 

  Although the Vincent was handling well, a thought crept into his mind about the Smiths 150 mph mark. 

  "I realized as I was gripping those 15-inch width handlebars, and with the stark knowledge that I had only 2 inches of steering leeway, that I was now completely in the hands of the good Lord above." 

  On the second run, just at the point where the high hedge on his left side stopped, a wind gust hit the side of the Vincent's fish-shaped shell pushing it across the road and towards spectators. An instinctive and delicate correction saved who knows how many lives. This time Wright stepped off his bike with a chalky complexion, to confirmation from an International Motorcycle Federation (IMF) timekeeper that the 187 mph run meant he was now the holder of a new World Land Speed Record.



  Just thirty-one Black Lightnings were built and they were effectively a competition-prepared version of the Black Shadow. Wright's Lightning had been tweaked by the Scottish engineering legend Bob Burns, who also provided the bike's streamlined shell.

 After the speed record was official Burns attached a simple sidecar to the bike and Russell then broke the record for sidecars, his two runs averaging 162 mph.

  Russell Wright died in 2013 at 83, his widow, Elaine, sprinkled the first of his ashes near a memorial set up to commemorate her late husband's feat. The rest were released into the wind from the back of a bike, as he would have loved.

  "Russell and I have come here many times and it's very sad to think this is his last ride here, but this was his last wish, to have his ashes scattered at Tram Road."

  Today in motorcycle history proudly supports the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD). www.nabd.org.uk

Today in motorcycle history, July 1, 1955

  

  

  Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd is founded.  

  Genichi Kawakami, then president of Nippon Gakki, develops the first Yamaha motorcycle, the YA-1. The  125cc, two-stroke, single is nicknamed 'Aka-tombo', meaning red dragonfly after its maroon and ivory two-tone paint job. 

  The YA-1 goes on sale in February 1955, and on July 1 the new motorcycle division is separated from Nippon Gakki. Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd. is born.


   With two wooden, single-story factory buildings and 274 employees, the fledgling company dares to confront the competition. Yamaha almost immediately becomes known for their high-performance bikes by winning the third Mt. Fuji Ascent Race in July 1955, and then sweeping the top places in the Ultra-Light Class of the first Asama Highlands Race of the All Japan Endurance Championships. 

  Although Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd were latecomers to the party, with their success on Japan's racing scene and with the introduction of the YC-1, a deluxe version of the YA-1, in 1956, they were able to prove they belong and at the same time boost the image of Yamaha and draw the attention of motorcycle fans across Japan.




  Also on this date -

 

 1961 - the Hells Angels grant Auckland, New Zealand, a charter making it their first official chapter outside of the United States.




  2000 - The mandatory lid law* is repealed in Florida.

  *Riders over 21 years of age may operate or ride upon a motorcycle without wearing protective headgear securely fastened upon his or her head if such person is covered by an insurance policy providing for at least $10,000 in medical benefits for injuries incurred as a result of a crash while operating or riding on a motorcycle.

  Today in motorcycle history proudly supports the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD). www.nabd.org.uk

Today in motorcycle history, June 26, 1998

 
  


   

  The Art of the Motorcycle exhibit opens at the Solomon R.Guggenheim Museum in New York City.

  The Art of the Motorcycle exhibition presented 114 bikes chosen for their historic significance and/or design excellence. The exhibition attracted the Guggenheim's largest crowds ever. Rock star crowds. It was reported that some people waited in line for over three hours. The exhibit received mixed but positive reviews in the art world, with the exception of some snobby art critics who turned their noses at the very thought of such a show desecrating the hallowed halls of the Guggenheim. Please.


  The thought of turning the Guggenheim into a three month long bike show came from the gas and oil-stained mind of then director Thomas Krens, an admitted lover of two-wheeled art himself, and supported by a novel corporate tie-in with BMW. The motorcycles were selected by both motorcycle and art historians, plus the help of Guggenheim advisers. The exhibition was described by historian Jeremy Packer, "... as representing the end of a cycle of demonization and social rejection of motorcyclists, followed by acceptance and reintegration that had begun with the mythologized Hollister riot of 1947 and ended with the high-end marketing of motorcycles and the newly fashionable biker image of the 1980's and 1990's. A long-overdue celebration of the sport, the machines and the pioneers they love."


  A few mouth-watering samples in case you missed it...The 1894 German built two cylinder, water cooled, four-stroke, 1,489cc Hildebrand & Wolfmüller, the 1907 air cooled, F-head Curtiss V8 that set the unofficial land speed record of 136.36 mph, a 1926 Brough Superior SS100 Alpine Grand Sport, 1915 1000cc Indian 8-valve board track racer, 1923 1000cc Harley-Davidson 8-valve board track racer, 1937 500cc Triumph Speed Twin, 1974 Ducati 750SS, 1969 Norton 750 Commando Fastback, 1930 740cc Excelsior Super X, 1931 497cc Ariel Square Four and a 1924 498cc Moto Guzzi C4V. My palms are sweating and there were 103 more I haven't even mentioned.


  With over 2 million visitors in New York, Chicago, Bilbao, Spain and the Guggenheim Las Vegas, it became the most successful exhibition of industrial design ever assembled, and one of the most attended museum exhibitions of any kind, ever. In the words of Billy "Flint" Williams, "Fuckin' A, brother. Fuckin' A."

  The mind blowing exhibition ran until September 20, 1998, giving motorcycle geeks, such as Flint and myself, plenty of time to gawk, drool and quiver. 

  Today in motorcycle history proudly supports the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD). www.nabd.org.uk

Today in motorcycle history, June 25, 1941

               

    

  The BSA Club of Perth, Australia, votes to suspend club activities due to the shortage of available fuel. The club will remain idle until 1946.

  The inaugural meeting of Perth's BSA Club was held on Monday, March 15, 1937 at Mortlock Bros Ltd.,  914 Hay Street (the address was the Mortlock Brothers BSA/Harley-Davidson shop).

   35 BSA riders decided to form the club, draw up a constitution and elect officers. It was decided that membership was open only to owners and riders of BSA motorcycles.

  The BSA Club was very active in organizing road races, rally's and various social events from the get-go. Then came 'The War'.  At the clubs 100th meeting, (held on June 25, 1941), it was decided that they would put the kickstands down until fuel conditions improve, or for "the duration of the war" whichever comes first.

  The first post-war meeting was held on the February 27, 1946, it was at this meeting when the constitution was, begrudgingly, altered to open membership to riders of other makes of motorcycles.

  The club is still going strong, but today they're known as the BSA & Harley-Davidson Club.

  Today in motorcycle history proudly supports the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD). www.nabd.org.uk

Today in motorcycle history, June 24, 1972

  Evel Knievel, still feeling the results of a compressed vertebrae and broken knuckles suffered at Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta, Georgia two weeks earlier, straps on a doctor-ordered back brace and jumps ten cars in East St. Louis, Illinois. 

  Evel Knievel successfully jumps ten assorted vehicles at St. Louis International Raceway in East St. Louis, Illinois. On June 11, Knievel crashed his Harley-Davidson XR during a practice jump in Atlanta causing him to do the unthinkable - cancel the Atlanta show.  

  Fast forward 13 days - Evel gets help adjusting his fitted back brace and does wheelies back and forth for the crowd to see. After the jump he feels 'minor discomfort' and actually sees a doctor only to find what the Atlanta hospital missed - four broken ribs.   

  Broken ribs or not, he would repeat the performance the next day.

  "The people don't come to see me die. They come to see me defy death." - Evel Knievel






  In 2008, Six Flags St. Louis introduced their $7-million Evel Knievel wooden roller coaster. Passengers ride in 24-passenger red, white and blue trains that fly along 2,700-feet of track with features like high banked turns, fan curves, camelbacks, a double down drop, and sixteen hills. During the ride the twisted maze of wood track crosses over itself 14 times.

  Today in motorcycle history proudly supports the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD). www.nabd.org.uk