CN
III ARCHIVES
BY SCOTT ROUSSEAU
P114
the BSA 650cc twin in hill-
climb form, complete with its
stretched swingarm, chain-pad-
dle rear tire and nitromethane
fuel in the tank.
Born in 1933, Bowlby began
riding motorcycles as a teen-
ager. He purchased his first
BSA in the late '50s and fell in
love with the performance and
simplicity of the British-built
twins. His competitive career
actually began in the drag rac-
ing discipline, though he hardly
made a mark there. But after
attending a few hillclimbs in his
area, Bowlby decided to give
it a try despite his disbelief at
the way riders would punish
their machines every time they
crashed.
"I looked at the pieces fly-
ing off those bikes when they
tumbled down the hill," Bowlby
once said. "I thought to myself
that I would never do any-
thing like that to my bike. And
wouldn't you know it, two years
later I was right out there with
them."
After a solid amateur career,
Bowlby made his professional
debut in 1966 at age 32-not
exactly a green age for a rookie
pro. A runner-up finish in his
H
illclimbers are a special
breed, and as hillclimbers
go, they don't come any more
special than multi-time hillclimb
champion and AMA Hall of Fam-
er Earl Bowlby, the Ohio native
whose brilliant career spanned
three decades.
A fiercely loyal BSA dealer,
Bowlby won all 10 of his titles
on hot-rodded incarnations of
Earl Bowlby
finished out his
hillclimbing career
with 10 AMA
National titles.
CRUSTY DEMON OF
EARL
