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/1541867
VOLUME ISSUE DECEMBER , P117 Two years after Ghost Cycles was born, Salvatore Jr came along. "I'm called 'junior' but my dad didn't have my middle name of Joseph, so I guess I'm not really junior." Sonny learned to walk amid the rows of handsome European machines and even - tually began assembling new bikes, fixing old ones, and "doing whatever was needed to help out." Unlike his pop, he headed to the racetrack (scrambles at that time) to show off his speed. "My first race was at age 10. I was riding a Suzuki 100 and hit a pothole. That bike had no sus - pension, so the bars came right out of my hands. I crashed, but I was half a lap ahead, so I got up and won. The shop guys saw that I was pretty fast, so they built me a Ducati 100 race bike. After that, I moved to a 250 Ducati." Sonny was one of a group of American motocross prodigies who were taken in by the CZ fac - tory and sent to Czechoslovakia in 1970. Along with John DeSoto, Brad Lackey and 14-year-old Marty Tripes, DeFeo learned the art of motocross from Czech star Vlastimil Valek. "We lived in a hotel, right next to the factory. We would train in the gym, then head to the track, which was just a couple of miles away, so we would ride our CZs. "It was fun, but it was also hard. They would take the seats off our bikes during training. The language was different, and even the food was crazy. One morning, at the hotel, John DeSoto asked for ham and eggs. Well, the eggs were barely cooked, and the ham still had the hog's hair and skin on it! He wouldn't eat it. I think he even went home not too long after that." DeFeo continued to race locally, battling New York hot shots like Barry Higgins and Jim Weinert. After winning the first AMA 250 National in Atlanta, he followed it up with another win at round two in Olive Branch, Mississippi. After that, the series moved west to California, where, due to a lack of traveling funds, DeFeo's winning streak was snapped. "At that time, there was no money to send us out that far," he said. "Both Barry [Higgins] and I had won the first two races, and we probably could've both won championships for CZ. It was a big mistake." DeFeo continued to ride the National championship circuit for the next few years, going from his CZ to Maico. In 1974, Harley- Davidson brought him on board to help them design their new moto - cross bike. DeFeo was well-paid but frustrated with the American company's stubbornness. "They had put telescopic forks on the rear of the bike, replac - ing the shocks, and it just wasn't working. I would tell them that the angle was wrong and all sorts of issues were going on, but they wouldn't listen to me. I finally said, 'Why are you pay - ing me all of this money, but you won't do what I tell you to do?'" The Harley ride ended and DeFeo went back to a Maico. A couple of years later, his pro career came to an end after a crash left him with a badly injured shoulder. "By that time, my dad was having some financial issues at the shop, so I went home to work with him. I raced a few times and even did some road racing on a Moto Guzzi." Today, Sonny DeFeo is still a skinny fellow, 72 years old and still working on motorcycles. Ghost Cycles is long gone, but Sonny keeps himself occupied with an eBay shop and a repair business. Fifty-three years have passed since 1972, and there have been many winners of the 250cc AMA Nationals. There are strings of titles and even unde - feated seasons. Many have won, but only one is the first winner. Just as the Port Washington cops could not chase down his father, no racer will ever pass Sonny DeFeo. CN Subscribe to nearly 60 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives DeFeo was fast enough to beat the best in the country.