CN III ARCHIVES
P126
BY LARRY LAWRENCE
BIG BEAR BURKE
R
oy Burke was a leading racer and
national hillclimber from the 1930s
through the 1950s, the rider from the Pacific Northwest earning a reputation as
one of the best all-around riders of his
era. Burke won the Class A National
Hillclimb in Muskegon, Michigan, in
1947 and in 1952 he earned the Class
C Open Hillclimb national title in Lewiston, Idaho.
Perhaps Burke's biggest accomplishment in racing was becoming
National Cross Country Champion
by winning the prestigious Big Bear
Run in Southern California in 1955.
Burke was also one of the original
founders of the Oregon Motorcycle Oldtimers, a club dedicated
to preserving antique motorcycles
and the history of the sport in that
region of the country.
Burke was born in 1919 and
raised in the Portland suburb of
Milwaukie. His love of motorcycling began at an early age.
When he was 12, Burke bought
an old Harley-Davidson for five
dollars, but the catch was that
a washing machine motor powered the
machine.
"When the drive belt wore out I couldn't afford
to replace it, so out went the motorcycle," Burke
recalled.
That was only the beginning. After he got rid
of the washer-powered Harley, he quickly moved
on to a string of other bikes that included a Cleveland, in addition to the normal crop of Indians and
Harley-Davidsons.
By the late 1930s, Burke was riding an Indian
Chief and competing on a regular basis in area
field meets and TT races, which were very popular in the Pacific Northwest. He said his earliest racing hero was Ed Kretz.
During World War II, Burke served in the Air
Corps. After the war, he returned to competition
