Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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VOL. 53 ISSUE 14 APRIL 12, 2016 P113 Motorcycle Industry Council I got to know John Harley and I tried to influence him to let me sell Harleys, but there was a longtime dealer in the area and it wasn't possible." Having started in the business as a scooter dealer, the racing side of motorcycling was completely foreign to Jacobson. But a good friend, racing announcer and magazine columnist Roxy Rockwood, gave Jacobson a history lesson on racing and how important it could be to a dealership. Jacobson began by sponsoring local riders, one of them was Boston Cycles own service manager Frank Camillieri, who became one of the leading road racers in New England. With Kevin Cameron turning the wrenches, the Boston Cycles-sponsored riders earned many more impressive accomplishments. Cameron smiles when thinking about Jacobson always wanting to make sure the shop name was out there. "Our first big racing suc- cess came when Jim Evans (who was a Mel Dinesen discovery) was third at Talladega behind the two factory Yamaha 750s," Cameron said. "We phoned John to tell the gladsome tidings and his response was, 'Did Jim remember to wear his Boston Cycles hat in Victory Circle?'" Jacobson's personal involvement really stepped up when they began sponsoring a speedy up-and- comer from Texas named Rusty Bradley. Bradley had a phenomenal amateur career and was by all accounts, the next big thing in road racing. Unfortunately he died in his first expert race, the Daytona 200 in 1971. The experience was life changing for Jacobson and, while his businesses were still involved in racing (Boston Cycles also sponsored Jim Evans and Ron Pierce for a time among others), Jacobson never again was as closely involved. Jacobson helped launched a college scholarship program that was administered for years by the AMA in Bradley's name. With motorcycle sales booming, Jacobson's busi- ness grew and he opened several other shops, a chain of motorcycle accessory stores and scooter rental businesses on Nantucket. Frank Camillieri spoke to how the guys who worked for "JJ", as they called him, felt about him. "He was the best boss I ever had and a good friend," Camillieri said. "My mechanics once had a problem with the way I ran the shop so John called them into a meeting. After listening to their grievances he told them if they didn't like the way I ran the shop they could quit. Once I did fire everyone on a Friday and told them they could re-apply on Monday if they wanted. He let me do stuff like that." When the Loudon National was shut down be- cause of violence surrounding the rally, it was Jacobson who stepped in and met with the Governor of New Hampshire to find a solution to help revive the event. To help get the race back on its feet Jacobson became the promoter. He helped guide Loudon back to health, although he used some rather unconven- tional means of crowd control. "We rented for the weekend a gravel pit next door to the track and we made that a campground," Jacob- son remembers. "I had all these bad guys now in my campground and I didn't know how to control them and I couldn't get the police to come in so I hired the Hells Angles. "They wouldn't wear staff t-shirts," Jacobson grinned. By the late 1970s Jacobson said the business became too much of a grind. "It got to the point when it wasn't fun anymore," Ja- cobson explained. "I loved the mechanical aspects of motorcycles, but I never got a chance to do that part of it because I was always on the phone or at the bank. So I narrowed the businesses down to one shop and sold that to my employees." Today one of Jacobson's only remaining remnants from the Boston Cycles days is an antique ABC Sop- with that is on display in Jacobson's house. "I feel proud and it's not for any self-accomplish- ment, but for the people we had Boston Cycles," Jacobson said. "I felt like I was a coach and for me it's many years later when the influence of the shop came into focus and a lot of it has to do with the in- ternet. To see some of the comments on the Boston Cycles Alumni Facebook page…I mean that makes me proud. Prouder than all the bikes we sold or the awards we got from the manufacturers." CN Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives