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/1537326
(Left) American- born Robert Lusk was a well-known motorcyclist in Europe who never slowed down, even well into his 70s. (Right) Lusk raced with success on both sides of the Atlantic. Robert Lusk, 1940-2025 E xpat American Robert Lusk passed away on June 9 at his home in Southern England. He was 85 years old and had been a resident in the UK since 1968. Bob Lusk was a born-again bik- er with a fascinating background: Raised in rural New England, where, while growing up, he ac- quired skills in many handicrafts, including leatherwork. But he enjoyed a motorcycling epiphany at the age of 15. "I'd help out in a local gas station after school," he recounted. "Each day, a bloke who commuted to work on his Triumph Bonneville would park it outside the forecourt. One day, I went over and sat on it, looked down, and saw the kickstarter. Then, I put my foot on it, and it started—on its centerstand, thankfully! And in that moment, the only way I can describe it is, God came down and put his hands on me and said, 'Robert Lusk, this is your life!' " In the early 1960s, Lusk dropped out of Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, to become one of Yamaha's first American dealers, while road racing them successfully in both the Northeast USA and Canada. He finished third on an air-cooled Yamaha rotary-valve single in the 1967 125cc Canadian GP behind Bill Ivy's factory V4, as a conse - quence of which he arranged to emigrate to Britain to pursue a racing career there. However, a nerve injury sus- tained in a crash during his final American race forced Lusk to stop racing for 30 years, until a chiro - practic treatment allowed him to restart his career in UK Classic racing. Meanwhile, he'd begun producing handmade leather goods to sell from a stall at Lon- don's Portobello Road Market. By 1997, Robert Lusk had built a multimillion-dollar footwear business with four London stores, employing almost 100 people. His neck injury had healed, so togeth - er with 11-year-old son Chester, he began racing Mini Moto. Both Lusks ended up as age-group champions in their new sport. Inevitably, Bob Lusk began Classic racing too, initially with the 1977 Honda MT125R air- cooled single, with which he won the 2005 CRMC British 125cc championship title at the age of 65. Success came on both sides of the Atlantic, with visits to Loudon to ride former rival WIND IN THE P32