Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE B ill Johnson helped establish Triumph Motorcycles in the United States. His company, John- son Motors, imported and sold British-made motorcycles starting in the late 1930s when foreign- made motorcycles where a rare sight on American roads. John- son also helped revolutionize the way motorcycles were sold. He opened a dealership in Pasadena on a busy street in the high-rent district of town. The dealership featured a roomy two-story show- room with floor-to-ceiling glass that tastefully displayed the machines. Johnson also believed in racing as an excellent form of advertising. He backed many of the leading riders of the 1940 to 1960s and sponsored many racing events across the United States during the same period. Johnson had a most unlikely background to become involved in motorcycling. William Johnson Jr, was born in Winnemucca, Ne- vada, in 1905 and into a wealthy family. His father was a vice president with Bank of America. Johnson grew up in San Fran- cisco, and while he came from a privileged background, his father believed in teaching young Bill to earn his own way. While attending Stanford University, Johnson paid his way through school by working P118 the Los Angeles-based Salsbury Corporation, which manufactured the scooter. Ed Brady, Johnson's brother-in-law, and Johnson were so enthused about the scooter business that they became associ- ated with the Salsbury Corporation. By the mid-1930s, Johnson, who became an avid reader of the British motorcycling publications, ordered an Ariel Square Four. He was so impressed with the fit and finish of the Ariel, he felt certain the American market was ripe for the relatively refined British mo- torcycles. Johnson discussed the idea of importing British motorcy- cles to America with his business partner and accountant Wilbur Cedar. Cedar was older and had a solid financial background. Johnson trusted his judgment, and when Cedar agreed that the prop- osition was reasonable, Johnson decided to go into the motorcycle business. In 1938, Johnson established British and American Motors (later to be re-named Johnson Motors) various menial jobs, including stints as a milkman, hotel clerk and grape picker in the San Joaquin Valley. He showed no interest in motor- cycles and thought little about them except for a group of riders he often encountered while returning to school on Sundays. The group rode, as Johnson described, "hell for leather" on the twisty mountain roads. "If truth were known, I dare say that some of my good friends of today in San Francisco were par- ticipating in those Sunday rides," Johnson wrote years later. He graduated from Stanford and later the University of Southern Cal- ifornia Law School. After earning his law degree, Johnson appeared destined to take the typical path of practicing law. He indeed started a law firm in Los Angeles. In 1936, while vacationing in Hawaii, John- son saw a motorglide scooter be- ing used on the island as a delivery vehicle. When he returned home, he bought one of the scooters and met Foster Salsbury, who owned Bill Johnson was the man behind Johnson Motors and an original promoter of Triumph Motorcycles. AMERICA'S MAN OF TRIUMPH