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/1463045
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 13 MARCH 29, 2022 P123 In 1960, Bishop began racing scrambles and TT races. "I'd race a TT every Friday night at Cajon Speedway in El Cajon," Bishop recalled. "Then I'd put knobbies on the bike and go scrambles racing that week- end." Bishop learned from watching some of the San Diego area's top riders, such as Cal Rayborn and Ralph White. While Bishop en- joyed racing TT and scrambles, he found the waiting around be- tween races to be excruciating. "You'd race, then sit around for hours until you got to race again," Bishop remembers. But in enduros, hare scrambles and long-distance desert races, Bishop found his calling. In those events, there was no waiting around, just hours of wide-open racing. Bishop rode many of the major off-road races of his era. The Greenhorn Enduro, Barstow to Vegas, and the grueling long- distance races such as the Mint 400 and the Baja 1000. Bishop became one of the leading off- road racers on the West Coast, but he wanted to prove himself among the best in the country. In the early to mid-1970s, the opportunity to show his skills outside of the West came in the form of ISDT qualifiers held throughout the country. Bishop earned a factory Kawasaki ride in 1973. It was a plush life com- pared to the normally low-dollar standards of off-road racers. Bishop flew to the races, stayed in nice hotels and had me- chanics looking after his motorcycles. Off- road racing legend Walt Axthelm was the team's manager. Bishop, who grew up on the hard- packed, dusty and wide-open trails of Southern California, learned to ride in the tight trees, loamy dirt and often muddy conditions of the East Coast races, making him one of the most versatile off-roaders of his era. He qualified for the 1973 ISDT—which was the first time it was held in the United States—in the scenic Berkshire Mountains in western Massachusetts. Un- fortunately, Bishop's (and all the other factory Kawasakis) expe- rienced gearbox failures in the international competition and he did not finish the race. Even though his first ISDT outing wasn't a success on the track, Bishop still very much en- joyed the experience. He came back and qualified again for the ISDT in 1975, riding for the fac- tory Rokon squad. That year, the prestigious weeklong event was held on the Isle of Man. Halfway through that year's race, Bishop suffered a hard crash and broke ribs, once again, putting him out of the race. Nevertheless, Bish- op later said that representing his country in two ISDT appearances was among the most memorable episodes of his racing career. Being a factory Rokon rider gave Bishop a great insight on one of the most unique off-road racing motorcycles in the history of the sport. Rokons featured automatic transmissions. Bishop recalls the special riding tech- niques that were needed to ride this unusual bike. "The Rokon would freewheel down hills, so you had to go against your instincts and give it throttle to actually control the back end of the bike," Bishop said. "It had a snowmobile-style drive. One good thing about it was you couldn't kill the engine. If you fell off the thing it would just lie there and idle. Going up Bishop still operates Ron Bishop Motorcycles in San Diego.