S
omething happened at the
Baja 1000 last year [2008]
that didn't draw much attention
but was significant, neverthe-
less. Motorcycle Hall of Famer
Ron Bishop, the only motorcycle
racer to have competed in all 40
Baja 1000s, missed his first race
ever. It marked the end of one of
the most impressive streaks in all
of motorcycle racing.
"I had a team together," Bishop
explained. "And at the last minute,
things fell apart. I had some offers
to ride with other teams, but it
was so late in the game that I just
decided to sit it out."
Over the years Bishop became
one of the true legends in long
distance off-road races such as
the famous Baja 1000. Bishop
raced every Baja 1000 from its
start in 1967 to 2007. He won nu-
merous class titles in many of the
major off-road motorcycle races
of the 1960s through the early
2000s, including the Baja 1000,
Baja 500, Tecate 500, Mint 400
and Mexicali 300.
During the mid-1970s Bishop
was also a two-time member of
the American team in the Interna-
tional Six-Day Trials (ISDT, now
called ISDE). Bishop was a fac-
tory off-road racer for Kawasaki
and later Rokon.
Bishop was born in Woodland,
Washington, March of 1943. His
family moved to Southern Califor-
nia when he was 10 and settled
in Escondido, a town in San Di-
ego's north county. The area was
a hotbed of off-road motorcycling
and most of Bishop's friends had
motorcycles. Bishop's first ride
was a Cushman Eagle scooter,
which he naturally took off-road.
He rapidly moved from the scoot-
er to a Mustang and eventually to
what Bishop called his first real
motorcycle—a Zundapp 250cc
Super Sabre.
CN
III ARCHIVES
P122
BY LARRY LAWRENCE
The Bishop of Baja
Ron Bishop was a top
all-around off-road
racer in the 1960s
through '80s and
competed in every
Baja 1000 race from
1967 to 2007.
