"DIRT RIDER has a'
more intelligent, adult
outlook on the sport."
Nam.: Dick "Bugsy" Mann
OCcuPlltlon: Retired racer; development consultant; reliability trials organizer; classic bike
and car restorer
Riding history: "My first bike was a Cushman' motor scooter I got for my _paper route
when I was 16. Then I graduated to a 1949 BSA
Bantam.. I started racing pro shorttrack and halfmile in 1952, when I was 18, and retired after the
1973 season. I was part of the Richmond (California) Ramblers motorcycle club. We rode
someplace every day after work. A lot of the
cowtrailing I did in the early '50s was done at
night. We'd get up around midnight and ride the
hills until three or four in the morning with
headlights. I always invited a Harley along because they were the only ones with lights that
lasted all night. One of the goals of my life was
to ride the ISDT. I only rode the Six Days once,
in 1975 at the Isle of Man.. At .one time or
another I've been involved with all of the motor-'
cycle sports, but I found the difficulty factor
highest in trials. One of the things I'm really
proud of is that I was one of the guys who helped
set up motocross as a professional sport in the
United States. As it turned out, John Penton and
I wrote the professional rules for motocross in
the U.S. for the AMA. Now, at the age of 52,
I'ni riding motocross in the Old Timers class.
Tr.ck record: AMA Grand National Champion, 1963 and 1971; three-time Grand National
Championship runner-up; 16 years in Grand National top ten; oldest Grand National Champion
at age 37; winner in all five categories of Grand
National racing (shorttrack, TT, half-mil~, mile,
and road racing); winner,of the 250 class ·at the
first AMA ·professional motocross in the U.S.;
winner of the Daytona' road race in 1970 and
1971; ISDT medalist at age 41.
o
~
~
Blk•• curr.ntl, owned: 1937 BSA V-Twin;
three or four vintage mot.ocross bikes; .BSA
Rocket III; Husqvarna four-stroke MX; "the list
goes on and on.. .it 'gets boring."
.....zln.: "I like the approach DIRT RIDER
takes. It's not just a' bunch of crazy motocross
pictures intended t'p thrill sub-teenagers. DIRT
RIDER has a more intelligent, adult outlook
on the sport. Some
magazines seem to feel
that motocross is the
ultimate part of dirt
racing, however DIRT
RIDER treats every
aspect of dirt riding as
though "it's as important as any o"ther. I
Like everything about
the magazine."
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