A friend asked about motorcycle legends that are lesser sung than the usual Rainey, Schwantz, Rossi, etc. What are some of you favorite motorcycle heroes that may not have gotten as much spotlight as they deserved?
Deserved? Well I'll throw a couple out that I might rank higher than some people might rank them: Mamola, Christian Sarron, Hayes, Quarterly, Merkel, Ricky Graham, Jimmy Filice, Juan Lopez Mella . . . a lot more that just escape me right now but that's a good enough start.
Kurt Hall. Honestly a bunch of great motorcycle racers over the years have gotten little to no public notice.
Wow didn't know he passed..... used to go to the formula USA races back in the day at Road Atlanta . Man he could sling that bike around .
Dale Quarterly did more, with less, than many guys of his era. Bubba Shobert could have been world champ, if only... The last guy to win the true AMA Grand Slam. A race win at all disciplines of flat track, and a road race win, when road racing was still part of the Grand National Championship. Jimmy Filice. Legendary for showing up as a wildcard and whuppin' the 250GP class at Laguna Seca Marco Lucchinelli. One of the forgotten 500GP champions. Almost became the first guy to win world championships in 500 and superbike. If only Ducati had gone to those last fly away rounds. Angel Nieto. He may have dominated the smaller classes. But 90 world championship race wins, and 13 world championships is worth respecting. Fred Merkel. The first world superbike champion. And first repeat champ too. A man of style and speed Dick Mann was the most versatile winner in motorcycle racing. Road racing, flat track, trials, enduro, he could do it all. And at a high level. His back to back Daytona 200 wins, on Honda then BSA was amazing.
Freddie Spencer Mike Hailwood Any of the Dunlop family racers Loved that era...Dick "Bugsy" Mann Mert Lawill Gary Nixon Gene Romero David Aldana Damn....this could take a while... Edit: Hollywood Edition Steve McQueen Marlon Brando Joe Namath
