Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126059
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By Jack Mangus
e-
"Are y ou going to race again?" Gary N ixon wish es he had a nick el for every time he
answered that qu estion last win ter. I heard it a do z en tim es dur ing an afternoon spent
in N ixon's st ore, Gary Nixon En terprises in Cock eysville, Marylan d, just pr ior to this
year 's Daytona 200.. Nix on alwa y s answered that qu estion with "I never qu it. " Nixon
ham't h eard that question lately. A second in th e Daytona 200, a f irst or seco nd in th e
Vene zuelan 200 (a race still awaiting an /lIM d ecision on the final results), and a string
of co nsisten tly strong performan ces in Europe have rightfully placed Nix on back
wh ere he belongs - at th e top. What f ollows is a virtual potpourri of item s which all
deal with one Gary Lloyd Nix on . Ran d om th ought s about a real racer.
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"Yo u k now, I' m really no t much of a
sales man ," sa id the sma ll. muscu lar man
beh ind the co un ter af t er a cus to me r had
j us t exite d Gar y Nixon Enterprises
without p urch asin g an y thing. But what
wasn 't ob vio us to this man, Gary Nix on .
WdS t hat the "custo mer" h ad , just as
many do, en tered the newly -opened
sto re just to say hello and p erhaps
exc hange a few words with the man all
agree ra nks high on anyb od y 's t op -ten
list of all-ti me great mo torcycle racers.
While there has been a Gary Nixo n
En terp rises fo r m an y years , it 's o nly in
the past six o r seve n years that h is
bu siness has bec ome mo re than a means
to pad a wallet which many though t was
~ready fattene d to t he burst ing poi nt.
"He started this whole thing of
selling racers what they had to
haveto do business."
Neil Keen
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UGary Nix on was the first mot orcycle
racer in modern times to make a living
a t his cra ft in the off season ," says th e
absolute sage o f those modem t imes,
Neil Keen . "I knew Gary wh en he was
j ust a kid out of Oklah om a. He moved
to Maryland t o be clo se to Triumph and
start ed o ut in his own bu sine ss venture
by making up so me special t ools which ,
at the ti me , T riumph in this co u ntry
was having made at high priced mach ine
sho ps-thi ngs like simp le la the jobs . He
th en star te d making front wheel hubs,
cas ti ngs rather th an machine jobs, and
started putting t ogether entire wh eels.
Fron t and rear wh eels. Barnes t ypes.
Chuckie Palmgren had starte d rid ing for
Nixon -- he 'd j ust gotten out of th e
Army -and he wa s doing most o f the
ac t ual work gr inding o ut these ite ms .
Bu t I 'tt:' jumping ahead a b
it.
.. Ra y Hen s le y had moved fr om
Michigan out to Cal ifornia and he wa s
sponsoring a kid on a Honda- and Ray
had the id ea to make a swingarm frame.
Remember, everything back in th at
period of the '60s was all rigid frame as
for as track racing was concerned. Well,
Ray built one and his racer got the high
point Novice thing at Ascot th at year.
All this was being done through a
company Ray was working for : Sonic
Weld .
"Well, the next logi cal progression was
to put together a frame - for Nixon's
500cc Triumphs, and - th is wa s done
through Nixon 's constantly sear ching
for something better than wh at
Triumph wanted him to race. Triumph
was . really into the stock thing. Like
their racing bikes should use stock
frames and things like that. Anyway,
Hensley and Nixon got involved in
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m a k i ng that frame sim p ly beca use
Nixon wa nted t o help his racing effort.
If my mem ory serves me co rre ct ly , and
I beli eve it does, the first time Nixon
rod e that lI en sley swingarm frame was
at the first Louisville Invitatio nal. Now
don ' t get me wr ong, o ther-peo p le had
run swingarm fra mes before. Ed Kretz
was running th em in ;'4, but beli eve me
they really d id n' t wo rk . Like Kretz was
all over the trac k with one, but anyone
wit h fo resigh t co uld see that they wo uld
eve nt ual ly be the th ing .
" An yw ay , to make a lo ng story short,
peopl e lik e Nix on and my self decided
th at swingarm frames mad e ou t of
chromoly steel were t he way t o go .
lIen sley was ma king th em , but yo u
wo uldn't bel ieve how hard it was t o
co nvince racers th at th ey were th e way
to go . S I 60 . Tha t' s right, S 160 is wha t
o ne cos t, but the work involv ed t o sell
on e was not hing but h ard wo rk.
"Event ual ly, RdY had a fall ing o ut
with Sonic Weld and Nixon and I lent
him the money t o sta rt Tr a c ~ma ste r .
It 's all d ocumented hi st o ry fro m th at
point on, " co ncl uded Neil K een.
D o cum en ted h i st or y. Noway.
Do cumented to those few indiv id ua ls
wh o have foll owed trac k raci ng for at
le a st a de c ad e, b ut. for m o st
m otor cyclists it 's so me thi ng that man y
take fo r gra nte d, ye t k now next t o
notJ!!n g abo ut.
We wo n' t ge t in to a ye ar -by-year,
rac e-by-race fe C-d P of Nixon's life ; th at's
al ready bee n well d ocum en ted in
R AC ER : T HE STORY O F GA RY
NIXON by J oe Scalzo . But we will
upda te yo u o n Nix o n 's life sin ce the
publish ing of Scal zo's b oo k, wh ich was
reprinted in pap erback form several
ye ar s ago and ca n be found if one looks
hard enough.
"When it comes down t o dollars
and cents, he doesn't need a
calculator."
Gene Romero
One o f, if not the mo st . articula te
racers o f all time, Gene Romero , ' had
th is to say abo ut Nixon, "When it
co mes d own to dollars and cen ts, Nix on
doe sn 't need a calculato r. He's o ne of
the forerunners o f ma king mot orcy cl e
racing a bus ines s and/or a career. li e
never surprises me, be cause I respe c t
him . We've had o ur falli ng o uts , bu t I
think I can say he's my friend . li e 's a
ra c er' s ra cer .
You
know .
ther e's
prob ably only a dozen o r so guys who
can really say they 'r e racer s." Xixo rr's
definitely one of th ose. In fac t, he's
THE ra cer."
" Oeterminat io n . That one word
sums up Nixon. "
Gary Scott
How d id Gary Nixon be come THE
racer ? Le t the curr ent Gr and Na tio na l
Ch amp ion Gary Sco tt answer that
qu estion: " De termina tion. That on e
word sums up Nixon."
D et ermin ati on. Something every
successful person must have. Some have
more of it than others and thus so me
_ ach ieve more. I t 's o ften said th at certain
rac ers have natur al talent, while others
had t o learn th eir cra ft step b y step.
Nixo n is always pl aced in the latter
category . ISDT ac e Carl Crarrke dispels
th e n a t ur al-ta len t line o f th ought ,
.. Eve ry bo dy is saying th at Kenn y
Robe rts is the grea tes t mot or cy cl e racer
in history . Th ose same pe opl e say th at
he p ossesses natural talent. W