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/128342
Crusty Demon of the Hill H ill climbers are a spe cial breed, and as hillclimbers go, they don' t come any more special tha n mult iti me hillclimb champi o n and AMA Hall of Famer Earl Bowlby, the O hio native whose brilliant career spanned thr ee decades. A fiercely loyal BSA dealer, Bowlby wo n all 10 of his titles on hot -rodd ed incarnations of the BSA 6S0cc twin in hillclimb for m, complete with its stretched sw ingar m, chain-paddle rear tire and nitrom ethane fuel in the tank. Born in 1933, Bowlby began riding mot orcycles as a teenage r. He purchased his first BSA in the late 'SOs and fell in love with the performance and simplicity of the British-built tw ins. His competitive career actually began in the drag racing discipline, though he hardly made a mark the re . But afte r attendi ng 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 cras hed. "I looked at the pieces flying off those bikes when they tumbled dow n the hill ," Bowlby once said. "I thought to myself that I wou ld never do anything like that to my bike. And wouldn't you know it, two years later I was right out there with them." Afte r a solid amateu r career, Bowlby made his professional de but in 1966 at age 32 - not exactly a gree n age for a rookie pro. A runne r-up finish in his fi rst pro hillclimb gave way to his first career AMA National win in 1968, Bowlby putt ing in a winning run of 7.87 seco nds. His AMA Hall of Fame bio states, "To illustrate how quickly hillclimbing changed during Bowlby's era , 16 years after setting that time at Muskegon, Bowlby came back to set a new hill reco rd in 1984 at 4.7 1 seconds." Bowlby would go on to win 10 AMA national titles, including a record-sett lng four consecutive titles from 1976- 1979, during his 25 years of professional racing. That 1984 season was clearly his greatest, as he set the Michigan recor d and won the AMA and Cana dian National hillclimb titles in the same season. During his career, Bowlby, who was not onlya B5A fan but also a dealer for the brand, became well respect ed by the co mpetition for his immaculately pre pared machinery. He rare ly suffered a failure and continued to put in consistent. points-gathe ring perfo rm ances eve n in the face of the new-fangled , high-revving Japanese inline fours that began to invade the hills as his career reached its twilight. "These high tech machines... the re's no question that when they'r e running right, they are the fastest thing on the hill today," Bowlby said during a late '80s te levision interview. "But my motorcycle is set up in such a way that it is more likely to run every we ek." True enough, as the sport was we ll into that four-cylinder era when Bowlby scor ed the last of his 10 AMA National titles at the Devi!'s Staircase in O regonia, Ohio , on October 14, 1990. Bowlby finished fourt h in the event to lock down the crown. He then retired with more than 80 national wins and also six Canadian national titles. Afte r hanging up his helmet, Bowlby cont inued to help ot her riders, including fellow Ohioa n Tim Frasier, who went on to win the AMA S40cc Nationa l Hillclimb title aboa rd a Bowlby-backed BSA. Bowlby contin ues to run his own dea lership, Bowlby Motorcycles, in Oh io today. Scott Rousseau 94 SEPTEMBER 22, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS 40th Anniversary 30 YEARS AliO. •• September 24. 1974 The Americans had just finished up battling it out at the 49th ISDT (Now called the ISDE) in Camerino, Italy, where the World Trophy Team finished in fourt h place. Some of the riders on the team were Jack Penton, Tom Penton and Carl Cranke...Anders Michanek was crowned World Speedway champ ion after a pe rfect day of racinlJ in Got henberg, Swed en ...M,tch Mayes was the overall winner at a District 37 Hare and Hound race in Luce rne , California... There was a little side note about Jim Weinert pre-entering a SCO RE offroad race that was to be held at Riverside Raceway. At the time Weinert was the first American to win a Trans-AMA race against the dominating European riders . i!0 YEARS AliO... September ee; 19B4 On the cover was a special Honda CBX that we test· ed . This bike was equip ped with a one -off chrome molly frame, e ngine modifications and a host of other improvements...We also did a test on Yamaha's BW200N. To most peo ple this bike was known simply as the "Big Wheel" because of the oversized ATV-Iike tires . We loved riding the bike and felt that riders of all skill levels could enjoy it...Factory Honda ride r Ron Lechien won the 250cc Pro-class at a local motoc ross race in Valencia, California, while Eric Kehoe too k the win in th e 125cc Pro-c1ass...Ran dy Mamola got his third win of the season at the final round of World Championship Grand Prix racing in Mugello, Italy...The American team of Jeff Wa rd , Johnny O'M a r a a nd David Bailey took top honors at the Motoc ross des Nations in Ruskeasanta, Finland. 1U YEARS AliO. •. September et. 1994 Luca Ca dalo ra appeared on the cover after his win at round I2 of the 500cc World Championship Road Race Series in Monterey, California. Cadalora won over the heavily favored American riders who usually win the race every year...Ch ris Carr got his fifth victory of the 1994 AMA Grand National Championship season at the Castle Rock IT Taking second to Carr was Joe Kopp, while Mickey Fay took third ...We interviewe d 125cc World Motocross champion Bob Moore. After eight years of competing on the World Motocross scene, Moore got the title, while most American riders opted to stay in America...We did a test on the new S uz u ki RM250 and found it to be one of the most improved new bikes of the year - even though it didn't look like it visually.