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.
The Motorcycle Hall of Fame has announced it will induct Parts Unlimited founder Fred Fox as part of its 2011 class.
“It’s not exaggerating to say that if you ride, it’s extremely likely that one or more parts on your bike, or at least one piece of your riding gear, was supplied through your dealer by Parts Unlimited or Drag Specialties,” says Jeffrey V. Heininger, chair of the American Motorcycle Heritage Foundation, which raises money for the Hall of Fame. “Fred Fox’s reach in the motorcycle world is vast, and he’s definitely earned a place among the greats in the Motorcycle Hall of Fame.”
Fox founded Parts Unlimited in 1967 as a distributor of motorcycle parts and accessories. In the ensuing 44 years, the company grew to become a giant n the powersports aftermarket industry, offering products for motorcycles, snowmobiles, ATVs and personal watercraft, and brands such as Thor Motocross, Moose Off-Road, Icon and Z1R.
“This is obviously a very nice honor, and it’s much appreciated, but at the same time, there’s a lot of people I could give credit to for making this work,” Fox said. “It’s not a one-man band. We were, at one time, up to 1,600 employees.”
Fox (pictured above on the left, receiving an award from MIC chair Larry Little) also helped foster amateur and professional racing, sponsoring several racing series, and served for 14 years on the Motorcycle Industry Council on its board of directors and its various trade committees.
“I was obviously a little surprised,” Fox says about being named to the Hall of Fame. “A lot of the people in the Hall of Fame are pretty good racers, and I was a mediocre racer. I saw that they were faster than me, and I was a mechanical engineer, so I worked on the tuning side of it, and the rest of it grew out of that. I have a lot of mottos, but one is ‘Get out of bed and try to run the business better than the day before.’ We’re very proud of that.”
Fox joins Cycle magazine editor Phil Schilling in the Hall of Fame’s 2011 induction class. They and the rest of the yet-to-be-named 2011 inductees will be inducted to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame on Nov. 18 at the Red Rock Casino, Resort & Spa in Las Vegas as part of the AMA Legends & Champions Weekend.
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Full press release after the jump.
