CN
III ARCHIVES
BY LARRY LAWRENCE
A
few years ago Harley-Davidson asked me to
research the history of African-American racers
who competed on Harley-Davidson motorcycles. At
first I felt the task would be nearly impossible because
records of this type were never kept by the AMA, but as
I began my research I started uncovering small nuggets
of information. One lead led to others and over a four-
month period I was able to uncover some of the long
forgotten history of some of America's earliest African-
American motorcycle racers.
African-Americans participated in motorcycle racing
since the inception of the sport in the first decade of
the 20th century. Like in many sports, motorcycling in
America was largely segregated through the first half
of the 20th century, which led to African-Americans
having their own racing activities outside mainstream
professional motorcycle racing avenues. Motorcycle
racing in the minority community was on a smaller
scale and segmented with regional hotbeds. But the
competition was vibrant nevertheless and black mo-
torcycle clubs viewed with great pride the accomplish-
ments of racers in their ranks.
After World War II barriers began to fall and after
some pressure by organizations like the NAACP, blacks
for the first time were allowed to legally race by the
AMA.
The following are a few of the better known African-
American riders who helped tear down the color
barriers that predominated in the first half century of
motorcycle competition.
"Wild Bill" Johnson
A pioneering African-American rider emerged dur-
ing the early 1930s— "Wild Bill" Johnson. Johnson,
a professional hillclimber of Somers, New York, is
generally considered to be the first African-American
racer to compete in AMA professional competition
as early as the 1930s, and may well have been the
first African-American member of the AMA. A Harley-
Davidson dealer, Johnson arranged for a local hill to be
used for a meet, but the owner of the property would
only permit the hillclimb under one condition—Johnson
would be allowed to compete. Local racing officials
agreed, but were not quite as brave as they initially
appeared. Possibly fearing a backlash from fans or
fellow competitors for allowing a black rider in the
meet, Johnson was touted to the local press as being
a full-blooded American Indian. Johnson continued
competing into the 1940s. He ran a motorcycle shop
and was said to continue working on bikes right up to
his death at age 95.
Walter "Ace" Moran
The armed forces often used celebrities who were in
the service to promote the war effort. One African-
American racer was featured in this fashion. The Army
touted a racer named Walter "Ace" Moran. Moran
went from racing in Washington D.C.-area events to
being a motorcycle mechanic for the Army. Moran's
story was spread by Army press agents to African-
American newspapers. His story and image appeared
in newspapers across the country in the early 1940s.
It is fair to say that, thanks to the Army's PR efforts,
"Ace" Moran was the most-highly publicized African-
American motorcycle racerin the history of the sport
up to that point.
Howard Jackson – "The Utah Kid"
Atlanta had a thriving African-American racing com-
MOTORCYCLE RACING'S EARLY AFRICAN-AMERICAN
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Buster Payne (holding trophy) become the first known
African-American rider to earn an expert license and
compete in AMA Grand Nationals. (Courtesy of the
Payne Family Collection)
