Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Eddie Mulder Eddie Mulder today: Mulder (above) at his personal shrine in his Acton, California g 24 today. I don't think that I would change anything if 1 had to do it all over again." Mulder continued to stay on top in the TI circuit, and he also smoked the indoor short track at Long Beach, win~ ning all nine events on a Triumph Cub in 1965. At Ascot Park, Mulder was the king, earning high-point honors for eight years straight, and winning just about everything there was to win. But he never rode the entire national circuit. He did go on to win the prestigious'Triple Crown TI Series that wa held at Peoria, Castle Rock and Ascot' 1966. "1 was the only one to ever win all the Triple Crown TTs back to back:: Mulder says. "Then I turned around and won Ascot again,. and I won Sante Fe. I've won every TI that was on the national schedule. 1 went to Sante Fe in 1972 because they didn't have that event earlier in my career, and I ended up setting the fast time and then went on and won my heat race and the main event." Mulder even had his go on the twostrokes, and he began riding a Montesa 360 in some of the TI events. He was able to capture a fourth at the Houston Astrodome TI on a Montesa, and it was also the brand that he used to make yet another transition, as he began tackle motocross. Once '8gain, the learning curve was a steep one, as Mulder found himself mixing it up with the sport's best. . "I was one of the first guys that got to race against the Europeans, and I did that for about a year:' Mulder says. "That was when Roger De Coster, Joel Robert and all those guys first came out here (to America). They were absolutely amazing. They had an exhibition one night at Ascot the night before the Dirt Diggers Hopetown Grand Prix, and all these Europeans were there to ride a TI. I borrowed one of Roger DeCoster's spare bikes fOf the race and went around all of them in the first corner and smoked them all towards the first jump. We went about six laps, and I beat them all and I got a standing ovation. (Promoter) J.e. Agajanian gave me a hundred bucks, which was kind of cool. Then we went to the motocross the next day and the Europeans just hammered me. They were so fast." Just as change was coming in the sport of motorcycle racing, it was also home. He keeps bUsy doing stunts restoring bikes..•and racing (below). Besides promoting two blockbuster vintage events per year, he can usually be counted on to win a class or two at them. coming in Ulder's career. e had a presence at the track and a flashy and aggressive riding style that drew attention, and soon he was approached by the movie industry for motorcycle stunt work. One of his first gig came in the classic Clint Eastwood film "Magnum Force." "One night, this guy comes up to me at Ascot and says he neeQ.s someone to jump 125 feet from the deck of one aircraft carrier to another on a policedressed Triumph:' Mulder recollects. "They asked me if I was interested, and I thought, 'What the hell, sure.' They picked me up in Burbank and flew me to San Fransisco. I took a look at it and said, 'Sure.' But what we didn't figure on in the distance of the jump was the tide change, so when I made the jump, there was an extra distance of almost three feet between the decks of the carriers. It was real close." Mulder continues to work in the movie industry today, where has doubled for such actors as James Brolin and done numerous car and motorcycle chase and crash scenes in shows and commercials. His resume features work from. such popular shows as "Dukes of Hazard" and "CHiPs." Recently, Mulder's driving ability could be viewed in the Subaru automobile commercials featuring actor Paul Hogan. And when he isn't doing stunt work, he's still racing. Vintage dirt track racing has provided Mulder with the means to once again show his stuff on the track, and he continues to slide his Triumph 750 - a machine that he and his longtime friend Jack Hately built. "Vintage racing has really helped bring back the sport of dirt track racing:' Mulder says. "It has really opened up a whole new avenue for racing. Who would have thought that I would be running around the Sacramento Mile at 130 mph when I'm 54 years old? The vintage national are great, and 1 really enjoy getting involved with promoting these races. It has enabled a whole group of racers from the '60s and '70s to come back and race, and it has knitted us back together. It has also given the people who have always dreamed of racing the chance to do it." He also gets a lot of pleasure building bikes. One if his most recent restorations is a Triumph TR6 desert sled. "I love to sit out here in the garage and build and work on motorcycles:' Mulder says. "It's a great feeling to see a 50- or 60-year-old guy getting to fire off a new bike that I built." Motorcycle racing has given to Mulder exactly what he has given to it - so II'\any fond memories and grea t stories, such as: "The year that I won the Triple Crown at Peoria, I lost my clutch before the qualifier. Smitty, the local Triumph dealer, said that I could pick any bike that I wanted. I pulled the clutch out of one of his bikes, slapped it into mine and set the fast time and then won the heat and the National. At the trophy presentation, I gave the big trophy to his son, Bobby. Well, last year at the event at Wiliow Springs, this guy walks up to me and hands me this box and says, 'I thought that you might like to have this.' I opened up the box and it was the trophy that I had won in Peoria. The Triumph dealer's son gave me back my trophy after all these years. It about made me cry. I was real proud to have it back. It's amazing." Or: "I was planning on going down to help pit for my friend Scott Dunlevy and drive one of the trucks shuttling the riders at the 1997 Baja 1000. Then I get this call and it was Scott saying that he had lost his other rider and he wanted me to take the guy's place. I told him to get a life! I was nowhere near being in shape for the 1000, but I thought about it and decided to go for it. We went down and pre-rode, and I was so sore I could hardly walk. We rode an XR628, and we were chasing this guy during the race, and I was thinking 'Who is this guy?' Well, I found 0\1 t after the race that it was Rick Johnson, and we ended up taking second behind them in the Over 30 Pro clas and seventh overall. It was really amazing! Bruce Ogilvie and Honda took real good care of us." 1m many ways, Mulder has never strayed far from home. From his house, which overlooks Acton, one can see the area that once held the race track where he began his racing career, a career which has outlasted that facility as well as Ascot, where he set numerous track records throughout the '60s and 70s. No matter. Mulder's house is aver· itable racing museum, complete with eye-catching posters from those days, and photos that show him taking the checkered flag while mounted on some bestial incarnation of a big twin, wearing jeans, work boots and a T-shirt. The man in those pictures is a little older now, and a lot wiser. But he has never lost the passion. Once a racer, always a racer. "It's just a great feeling to run off in a corner on the track and roost dirt!" Mulder says. "I love this sport. I was out of dirt track racing for a few years, doing the stunt stuff, but the vintage racing has been good for the sport, and it is really growing, and it keeps a lot of pe0ple busy. Besides, you can only do so much yardwork!" _

• Cover