Strength, endurance and sheer speed!
Vern Amor
You don’t win close to 1,000 trophies racing motorcycles without taking a few risks and Vern Amor counted 28 broken bones in his first 27 years of competition. “I used to be pretty wild,” he told an interviewer in 1977. “I road raced a…
Terror on wheels
Joseph Baribeau
The name “Wild Joe Baribeau” wasn’t the invention of a manager or publicity agent; he came by it honestly, being named by the newspapers of the day. If the name Joe Baribeau isn’t familiar to most of us today it’s because a full 100 years…
“I don’t sell bikes, I create enthusiasts”
Phil Funnell
Long before the term “adventure touring” came into the motorcycling vocabulary, Phil Funnell was out there doing it–around the world in the most challenging ways he could find. Phil was a restless spirit when he arrived in Canada in 1966…
“For the betterment of motorcycling”
Greater Vancouver Motorcycle Club
Energy and longevity are the hallmarks of the Greater Vancouver Motorcycle Club, whose motto is “For the betterment of motorcycling.” The GVMC has been an integral part of the motorcycle community since 1922, when it was launched as the…
Making Canada one of the top markets for Harley-Davidson in the world
Don James
In 1973, when Trev Deeley was asked to become the exclusive distributor of Harley-Davidson motorcycles in Canada, his business partner Don James was involved from the start. Together, the two men transformed the retail motorcycle business…
The King of the Dump
Bill McLean
Bill McLean was known to his great many friends as the man who did it all: motorcycle racer, national champion, motocross instructor, race team manager, product planner, No. 1 retailer, sponsor and family man. Along the way he had other…
His fans called him Superman
Blair Morgan
Blair Morgan hit the sports of motocross and snocross racing like a prairie storm, setting records, winning championships and thrilling fans who responded by calling him Superman.
The nickname derived from his airborne antics on a machine…
The nickname derived from his airborne antics on a machine…
Riding his opposition into the ground through sheer endurance
Ross Pederson
The record says simply that Ross Pederson was the best Canadian motocross racer of all time. The numbers are astounding: 38 CMA national championships, 13 No. 1 plates and three times winner of the CMA’s prestigious White Memorial Trophy.…
“You would have to hit the wall at close to 60 miles an hour, otherwise it wouldn’t put the fire out”
Palmer Rutledge
History has shown that one enthusiastic motorcyclist can eventually inspire dozens, even hundreds, of others to take up the sport. That is especially true when a keen rider can look back on a lifetime of more than 100 years himself. Such…
University tuition or a Triumph street bike?
Bob St. Goddard
In 1965, with his second year of fine arts studies at the University of Manitoba set to begin, Bob St. Goddard made a life-changing decision. Would it be university tuition or a Triumph street bike? The bug had bitten and the Triumph won.…
Learning to make their own fun
Victoria Motorcycle Club
When the situation demands, you learn to make your own fun, and so it’s been with the motorcyclists of Victoria for more than 100 years. Being in what was a rather isolated location in 1906, the city’s riders banded together with local…
Embracing life on two wheels for the last 60 years
Tom, Doris and Gerhard Walther
A motorcycling family through and through, the Walthers have embraced life on two wheels for the last 60 years. Not long after the Second World War ended, Gerhard Walther bought his first motorcycle, an Austrian-made 250 cc Puch, and…
Drawn by the thrill of competition
Dave Wildman
Probably the reason Dave Wildman has got so much out of motorcycling is that he put so much into it. From early days onwards he’s been drawn by the thrill of competition. During his teenage years Dave was a spectator at the Brands Hatch…