American motocross pioneer, race team manager and motorcycle industry executive Mark Blackwell is getting another honor: being recognized as an AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Legend. Blackwell, who was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2000, will be feted alongside the 2013 induction class during AMA Legends Weekend, Oct. 18-19 at the Green Valley Ranch Resort, Spa and Casino in Las Vegas.

Blackwell will be honored alongside Torsten Hallman, another member of the of 2000 class, who will be recognized as a Legend for helping introduce motocross to America and for founding gear maker Thor. Like Hallman, Blackwell excelled at several different facets of the motorcycle industry.

As a racer, Blackwell was one of America’s first motocross racing stars, competing in the late ’60s and early ’70s. In 1970, Blackwell was hired to ride for Husqvarna and traveled to Sweden to train with the factory riders. He came back to the U.S. the following year and raced in the Trans-AMA series, winning the American class title by beating Brad Lackey by a single point. In 1972, Blackwell won the prestigious Daytona Motocross before returning to international racing in Europe. Continue Reading »

The Sturgis Motorcycle Museum & Hall of Fame announced it will induct five new members for 2013. The Hall also announced it will add one new member to its Freedom Fighters Hall of Fame.

For 2013, the Hall will welcome to its ranks motorcycle attorney Russ Brown, custom chopper builder Rick Fairless (pictured above), Harley-Davidson dealer Bill Gikling, actor Marjoe Gortner of the television special “Sturgis: The Great Ride”, and antique motorcycle expert Lonnie Isam, Sr. Motorcycle rights advocate “Still” Ray Fitzgerald will be inducted to the Freedom Fighters Hall of Fame.

The six inductees will be honored at the Sturgis Motorcycle Hall of Fame Induction Breakfast, Aug. 7 at the Lodge at Deadwood in Deadwood, S.D. Tickets are available for $35 a piece or $300 for a table of eight at http://www.sturgismuseum.com/cart/.

Check after the jump for what the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum & Hall of Fame says about its new inductees. Continue Reading »

The somewhat drawn-out drama surrounding the mis-nomination of Derek “Nobby” Clark to the 2012 class of the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame has finally come to an end with the AMA announcing today that in a supplemental vote Clark was elected to the Hall of Fame.

The supplemental vote for Mr. Clark was implemented by the AMHF, which overseas the Hall of Fame, in response to procedural errors that invalidated Mr. Clark’s inclusion on the original ballot. The supplemental vote did not affect the other 2012 Hall of Fame inductees.

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The Made in the USA Foundation has named Zero Motorcycles to its 2012 Hall of Fame class, recognizing the electric motorcycle manufacturer’s commitment to American manufacturing.

Zero Motorcycles, founded in 2006 in Santa Cruz, Calif., by former NASA engineer Neal Saiki, becomes the second motorcycle manufacturer named to the Foundation’s Hall of Fame. Harley-Davidson was inducted in 2011.

First established in 2010, the Foundation’s Hall of Fame celebrates businesses that display dedication to American manufacturing. Criteria includes product quality, company’s contribution to U.S. job creation, accurate labeling and promotion of US-made products labor and environmental standards. Continue Reading »

The estate of legendary motorcycle racer and all around fun guy, Gary Nixon, will go on auction June 16,2012, in York, PA.

Nixon passed in August, 2011, while recovering from heart surgery. A two-time AMA Grand National Champion (1967 – ’68), Nixon was an accomplished flattrack and road racer. He was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998.

Of the many items listed in the auction are a number of Nixon’s motorcycles, including a Triumph Cub, a 1968 Triumph 250, another racing Triumph Cub, and his personal 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 250.

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In a break from tradition, the AMA will this year not only announce the names of those inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame (Nov. 16 – 17, Las Vegas, Nev.) but will also announce those men and women who were considered for induction.

From the AMHF:

On Nov. 16 at the Red Rock Casino, Resort & Spa in Las Vegas, Nev., the American Motorcycle Heritage Foundation (AMHF) will welcome a new class into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame. This year, for the first time ever, the AMHF will announce not just the final class of inductees, but on Monday, April 2, will reveal the men and women who have been nominated for consideration of one of motorcycling’s highest honors.

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The American Motorcyclist Association inducted five new members to its Hall of Fame while also honoring two racing legends and existing members of the Hall during the 2011 AMA Legends & Champions Weekend.

A sold out crowd at the Nov. 18 induction ceremony at the Red Rock Casino, Resort and Spa in Las Vegas saw Phil Schilling, Stu Peters, Fred Fox, Norbert Schickel and Doug Polen get enshrined into the Hall of Fame for their contributions to motorcycling.

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Motocross racing promoter Stu Peters has been selected to the 2011 Motorcycle Hall of Fame class.

The founder of Continental Motosport Club, Peters began promoting motocross racing in 1968 at tracks in southern California. Today, CMC is one of the largest motocross organizations in the U.S. with such series as the Golden State Nationals, the Copperstate series and the Pac-West Nationals.

“We brought the word ‘motocross’ to the West Coast in the late ’60s,” Peters says. “Then, everything was called ‘rough scrambles’ or ‘scrambles.’ I wrote a press release that I sent to the L.A. Times back in January ’68. A guy named Shav Glick called me up and wanted to know where this word ‘motocross’ came from. I told him I brought it back from Europe.”

A former professional racer in Europe, Peters was approached by the AMA to promote two rounds in the 1970 Trans-AMA series, the first national championship series in the U.S. to be sanctioned by the AMA and recognized by the FIM.

“What makes a successful race is taking care of the racers, at any level,” Peters says. “Good rules, a fair race, a good track and decent prizes. Even when local pros, like Jeff Ward, started following the national series, they would still race the Golden State races, even if that meant taking a red-eye back from a Supercross to make it to a Sunday morning CMC race. For me, those are the highlights, being able to put on great races for so many years and providing a stepping stone for so many great racers.”

Peters will be inducted to the Hall in a ceremony Nov. 19 in Las Vegas. He joins

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Doug Polen Joins Motorcycle Hall of Fame Class of 2011
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Schilling Headed to Motorcycle Hall of Fame

[Source: AMA]

American motorcycle pioneer Norbert Schickel has been named to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame’s 2011 class.

Schickel founded Schickel Motor Co., in Stamford, Conn., in 1912, a year after exhibiting his first “two-cycle” motorcycle at the Chicago Motorcycle Show. Schickel Motor sold more than 1,000 motorcycles between 1912 and 1924 when the company filed for bankruptcy. Schickel’s designs included innovations such as twist grip transmission control, a rotating magneto spark advance, spring fork front wheel suspension and an integrated frame and fuel tank.

“It’s fitting for the Motorcycle Hall of Fame to reach back 100 years in time and honor one of the true pioneers of American motorcycling,” says Jeffrey V. Heininger, chairman of the American Motorcycle Heritage Foundation, which raises money for the Hall of Fame. “The Hall of Fame honors and memorializes the men and women who have made motorcycling great. And without early pioneers like Norbert Schickel, there would be no American motorcycling.”

Schickel will be inducted into the Hall at a ceremony Nov. 18 in Las Vegas alongside Cycle editor Phil Schilling, Parts Unlimited founder Fred Fox and road racing World Champion Doug Polen.

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[Source: AMA, SchickelMotorcycle.com]

Former AMA and World Superbike Champion Doug Polen has been named to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame class of 2011.

“Any fan of motorcycle roadracing will remember Doug’s amazing – and dominating – championship runs on the AMA and World Superbike stages,” says Don Rosene, a member of the American Motorcycle Heritage Foundation Board of Directors. “At a time when the series saw plenty of fast competitors, Doug was clearly the fastest. And he’s still on the track, racing, teaching and promoting motorcycles and motorcycling.”

Born in Detroit but a Texas resident for most of his life, Polen was a privateer racer in his youth who actually retired from racing as a 21-year-old in 1982. Thankfully, his retirement was short-lived and Polen came back to race in 1986 in the Suzuki GSX-R National Cup Series, winning 45 of 51 races and taking the 750cc title.

Teaming up with Yoshimura Suzuki, Polen competed in Japan, winning the Formula 1 and Formula 3 championships in 1989. In late 1990, Polen left the Yoshimura team to join Eraldo Ferraci to ride the Ducati 851. With the Fast By Ferracci team, Polen won a record 17 races to win the 1991 WSBK championship while also capturing the AMA Pro Twins Championship.

Polen would defend his WSBK title in 1992 on the Ducati 888. The following season, Polen concentrated on racing just the AMA Superbike series, winning the 1993 title. Polen would add two more world championships, taking the 1997 FIM Endurance World Championship with Peter Goddard, and again in 1998 with Christian Lavieille with the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team.

Today, Polen runs his own riding school, Doug Polen’s 1 on 1 Riders School.

“The thing is that you ride and you race, and when you’re doing it, you’re doing it to have fun and be competitive against other people, but also to try and make a mark and have something you can look back on and be proud of,” Polen says. “This is kind of like putting a stamp of approval, so to speak, on my career, and I take it as a very flattering thing.”

Polen joins Cycle magazine editor Phil Schilling and Parts Unlimited founder Fred Fox in the 2011 Hall of Fame class. They and the other yet-to-be-announced inductees will enter the Hall in a ceremony Nov. 19 during the AMA Legends & Champions Weekend in Las Vegas.

Press release after the jump.

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