CN
III ARCHIVES
BY LARRY LAWRENCE
I
t was the first AMA Grand National Series race
ever held in the Pacific Northwest and 5000
strong packed the stands at Portland Meadows.
The Portland round of the AMA Grand National
Championship marked the mid-point of the 1954
season and on the one-mile oval the factory Har-
ley-Davidsons of Joe Leonard and Paul Goldsmith
were heavily favored - or perhaps the factory Indian
of Bobby Hill. Yet in spite of the fact that Portland
fans would surely be rooting for home-state hero
Gene Thiessen, few thought the local boy would
have much of a chance against the national stars.
But Thiessen had a secret. He'd tuned his BSA
Gold Star to the nth degree.
"The National was just five laps," Thiessen recalls.
"And I tuned my bike so hot, that it would only run sev-
en laps. Anything beyond that and it would've blown
up."
Thiessen's hot-rodding of his
BSA paid off. Hill led on his In-
dian going into the final lap, but
then Thiessen pulled the trigger
on his highly tuned BSA and
moved into the lead. Harley rid-
ers Charlie West and Goldsmith
teamed up and tried to draft to-
gether to catch Thiessen, but it
was too late. Thiessen raced to
the victory, in front of a cheering
home crowd, by two bikelengths
over the Harley pair.
That would prove to be Thies-
sen's proudest moment as a
racer. "Not just for the fact that
I beat riders like Goldsmith, Hill
and Leonard," Thiessen said.
"But my home-tuned BSA beat the fastest Harleys
and Indians in the country."
Thiessen was perhaps the least known member
of BSA's famous Wrecking Crew of 1954, which
consisted of Al Gunter, Dick
Klamfoth, Bobby Hill and
Kenny Eggers, all originally
on rigid frame Star Twins,
and Tommy McDermott (East
Coast) and Thiessen (West
Coast) on BSA Gold Stars.
While BSA supplied Thiessen
with his bike and parts, Gene
was responsible for maintain-
ing and tuning the bike.
"Being a factory rider back
then was nothing like it is to-
day," Thiessen said. "We were
pretty much on our own. And
there wasn't any money in it. I kept good financial
records during my racing days and I think when it
was all said and done, I pretty much broke even.
That's about it."
FAITHFUL TO THE BIKES OF BIRMINGHAM
P110
