14 minute read
Dick Mann Tribute
assembled by Joe w. Koury with the help of the racing community
Dick Mann (June 13, 1934 – April 26, 2021) was an American professional motorcycle racer and two-time winner of the AMA Grand National Championship. Most seasoned riders and vintage motorcycle enthusiasts are familiar with Dick Mann, but a short bio is included here for those who aren’t. Mann was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1993, and the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998. He was one of few riders to compete in motocross, observed trials, flat track, TT and roadracing. Mann was the secondwinningest rider in AMA Grand National Series history with 24 national victories. His career on the pro circuit spanned the early 1950s to the mid-'70s. Mann rode his first motorcycle delivering newspapers on a Cushman scooter as a teen and he worked as a motorcycle mechanic after high school. His amateur racing career began in 1954 and he won his first AMA Grand National title in 1963. He won the prestigious Daytona 200 in 1970 on a Honda and repeated the following year on a BSA. Mann became the first rider to win motorcycle racing's career Grand Slam by winning Grand Nationals on the mile, half mile, TT, and roadracing
circuits. He retired from national competition in 1974. Mann was a designer and fabricator of frames and related parts throughout his career. In addition, he also worked for and acted as consultant to several motorcycle manufacturers and owned a business specializing in restoring and selling vintage racing motorcycles. His wife’s name is Kay. Earlier this year, AHRMA honored this icon of motorcycle racing with a new competition. It’s called the Dick Mann Team Challenge and brings together all of AHRMA’s on- and off-road disciplines. The Dick Mann Team Challenge is based on teams made up of one competitor from each AHRMA competition discipline. We were all very proud to have Dick as a member of the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association (AHRMA). He regularly competed in AHRMA vintage motocross events (blue bike #5) and was also involved in AHRMA race promotion and track layout dating back to AHRMA’s formative years. Dick left his mark in a big way. Condolences to the family and all his friends. We’ve assembled a few stories and anecdotes and appreciate those who contributed. Thanks also to Debbie Poole for her efforts in collecting the content and John McCoy for the additional information and photos.
JEFF SMITH
Dick Mann and I were friends. I first met him at a TransAm event in 1970. Although our ages were within four months of each other, both born in 1934, my career was in decline while Dick’s was in full bloom. He went on to win the Daytona 200 in 1971 on a BSA having already won in 1970 on a Honda. He was also Captain of the USA team at the Transatlantic Match races in England. Oddly, Dick and I rode BSA Bantams during our very early competition days with the Atlantic Ocean and most of America between us. For some reason, which even Dick could not explain, his long-time friends called him Bugs or Bugsy. Kay always calls him Richard, but for me and thousands of his fans it is always Dick. Ed Youngblood calls him “the most versatile rider America ever produced” having read Ed’s excellent book—Mann of his Time—I can only agree. Dick was not all motorcycling; he was a history buff with a particular interest in the Civil War period. We didn’t actually work together until I joined AHRMA as Executive Director in 1990. AHRMA was in financial difficulty and with a determined team of Fred Mork, Rob Stickler, Bob Barker, Dick and the rest of the Board, we managed to right the ship. Dick had a particular interest in off-road racing, but he appreciated the great work Jack Turner did with our roadrace program. Dick laid out many vintage friendly motocross and trials around the nation. He understood the type of tracks needed for the vintage motocrossers to have the most fun. There were no double or triple jumps in Dick’s layouts. He rode at most events, especially in the west. His machine preparation was always meticulous, and he built machines for many AHRMA racers. Just a couple of years ago we held a show at Steamboat Springs of machines Dick had built. There were more than 40 there, three of which were mine! Dick put together 1939, 1952 and 1959 500 Gold Stars for me. They are the pride of my collection. We met at board meetings and race events all over the country working together to improve AHRMA. Dick was instrumental in creating large parts of the rules we use and could be counted on to bring an eagle eye for interpretation. We didn’t always agree but did always arrive at an accommodation if only sometimes to not agree! There
was no rancor in our discussions; we always explored and fine-tuned our opinions. Dick’s criticism was always constructive and between us we created some great AHRMA events. Some years ago, Dick was diagnosed with cancer of the throat. The treatment was difficult and the results debilitating. Dick never complained and bore the burden with dignity. Dick had a natural grace in all he did, racing motorcycles, conducting meetings or just conversations. He was a true gentleman and will be missed by all of us. God speed, my friend.
JOHN MCCOY
The group that started the club which became AHRMA was largely Dick Mann's idea in the mid-1980s, and he organized vintage dirt bike rallies from 1985, with a little help from his friends. In the 1987 photo, two of Dick's heroes, Hap Jones and Tom Sifton, spoke to the crowd, to the obvious delight of Dick himself. To the right stand Kenny Roberts Sr. and Kenny Roberts Jr, with Kurtis just out of view. Other guests included Neil Keen, Mert Lawwill, Bart Markel, Jody Nicholas, Gay Nixon, and others. He built the #65 Matchless (red bike in the group photo) from parts. He always wore his Six Days helmet, and the sweatshirt said AHRMA.
JOHN HART
I was living in New York City in the ‘80s, originally from Southern California. While I was at a local bookstore, I grabbed a copy of Dirt Bike Magazine off the rack. There was an article about the Dick Mann Dirt Rally at Sandhill Ranch in Northern California. There was a phone number listed at the end of the article, so I thought I would call to see if there were any such vintage motocross events on the east coast. A woman answered, and I told her I had seen the article. She said, “I’ll let you speak to my husband.” The woman was Kay, and of course her husband was Dick Mann. Mr. Mann told me there were not any vintage motocross events on the east coast, but he encouraged me to go to local tracks and see if any of them would be interested in running a vintage class. He sent me the CVRG (California Vintage Racing Group) rules. I contacted the AMA and got the number of the Metropolitan Sports Committee District 34 (NY State) and determined when their offseason meeting was. At the end of the meeting if there
was time for any new business, they would allow me to speak briefly about what was going on “out west” with vintage bikes, which I did. After the meeting, the owners of Claverack MX in Hudson, NY, approached me and said they would offer a vintage class at their events. That was in 1989, and I ended up being the first AHRMA NE coordinator. We eventually had AHRMA races in NJ, NY, PA, and New England following that inaugural year. After 30-plus years I still enjoy competing and spending time with the AHRMA family. Thanks Dick.
ROB STICKLER
I first met Dick Mann in September 1982 or 1983. I was driving in Steamboat when the radio went to a live broadcast from a vintage motocross being held in town. As one of the “kingpins” of Timberline Trailriders, the local club that had put on an enduro for 15+ years, I was pretty interested in who dared do a motorcycle event in town without involving us. I found a small motocross event in a pasture with old bikes and this nice man explained what was going on. I realized he was famous, and Dick realized he’d found the local motorcycle group he needed to put on the event. That was the beginning of Timberline promoting the AHRMA motocross, trial and dirt track (and helping with the vintage and modern roadraces) in Steamboat until 1996. Every year Dick and Kay would arrive early, and Dick would lay out the track along with a cast of helpers. He brought trials enthusiasts and somehow got permission for us to use the ski jumping area downtown. Years later he and Beno Rodi and others pushed to get the dirt track event going at the local track. He was always insistent on the events being well run and period correct. As I struggled as a new motocross rider on my 650 Rickman, he quietly pointed out how each corner he laid out had two lines through it (although most were simply following the guy in front). How I laughed when I zipped around a buddy I had been chasing for several laps when I remembered Dick’s advice. In the late 1980s, Jeff Smith joined AHRMA and between Jeff and Dick, our club never had better advice and more fun. Most of our enduro club members found vintage bikes to compete with in the trial and motocross. The races continued to grow and ended with us limiting motocross entries, requiring pre-entry and skipping the lunch break to get the 500 riders accommodated. The trial at its peak had over 160 entries and 18 sections. Great fun! As I became more involved in AHRMA I saw that Dick was always at the events, be they in the Northwest or the Midwest. He’d lay out tracks, encourage local help, help with race order and scoring and usually put on a dazzling show of riding ability. I remember one race at Road America on the old off-road truck course (a smooth wide mx track) where almost everyone, including the corner workers, stopped to watch Jeff and Dick circulate the track like they were on two hovercrafts, shoulder to shoulder. I was elected trustee in 1993 so I got to know Dick a lot better. As a newbie, I was full of “new” ideas and questions about the rule book but Dick always patiently explained why and how the rule got to where it was, and it always made sense. His insight into motorcycles and racing was beyond reproach. And he always had that twinkle in his eye. After trying about every make of old bike, I finally asked Dick if he could build one for me and he agreed. Three
years later I received my beloved Rigid Goldstar trials bike. When he delivered it, Jeff Smith looked it over and said it was just like the one his dad gave him after he was sacked by Norton but remarked Dick did quite a few things better that the BSA factory did. I remember exhausting myself with my usual inability to properly bring a BSA to life, asking Dick why he couldn’t fit an electric starter to my bike. Without hesitating he looked at me and said “Stickler, if I did that, you’d sprain your thumb!” His wit and wisdom never ended. I’ll miss him dearly but thank him for all the memories.
DAVE AND CINDY WILSON, COLORADO
Our daughter, Amanda, used to help at AHRMA events years ago. At an AHRMA national trial in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Amanda, a middle-schooler at the time, was tabulating scores from the rider loop cards as the riders came in. Dick was there and noticed that Amanda was struggling. Her calculator stopped working, and she was becoming frustrated. Dick stepped in and offered to show Amanda some tricks on how to tabulate the loop card scores quickly and easily. He worked with her until she got it, and then she was able to handle the job with confidence on her own. After that, Dick always spotted Amanda at events and came to say hello; Amanda was tall with beautiful red hair, so she was hard to miss. As an adult, Amanda attended the Premier and Classic event at Steamboat Springs, Colorado, a few years ago, and Dick spotted her watching the races by the side of the track. He stood with her for this photo (Mandy Wilson photo) to be taken, many years after her “Dick Mann math lesson.”
DEBBIE POOLE, TIBURON, CA
In the early ‘90s my husband Rob and I decided to fly in to the AHRMA national at Grattan, MI. Vintage motocross and trials were offered in acreage adjacent to the roadrace course. A well-known character and AHRMA enthusiast, Jim “Smiley” Cameron, transported bikes from the west coast to the event, and among his load to Grattan were my CZ and Robʼs BSA. We arrived early enough to survey the MX area with Dick and others and set the stakes and ribbon for the track. At one juncture, a discussion between Dick and the others developed about a section that might be a challenge to some riders, and what might be done to make the route less intimidating. A solution seemed to be at hand when Dick turned to me and asked, ”What do you think, is this part going to be all right?” Although Rob had been fairly well-acquainted with him, I didnʼt know Dick well, and had only been around him since starting to ride in AHRMA events a couple of years prior. I was a novice rider, and not a very good one at that. Yet he wanted my opinion, and it wasnʼt a patronizing gesture. In effect, he wanted my OK. Not long after that I began to understand and observe when it came to AHRMA, Dick Mannʼs concerns were for the average rider, and those of lesser ability. Of course, he respected and enjoyed the fast riders, but he truly believed that AHRMA should cater to those short on natural talent, but long on enthusiasm. I donʼt think many recognized this in him, but many of his decisions and efforts in AHRMA came from this commitment to the average enthusiast. While AHRMA members are looking forward to the present and future with the upcoming Classic MotoFest at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, they are doing so with an eye on the past with the recent loss one of its founders and most cherished members. Mann, along with Fred Mork and Mike Green, started the California Vintage Racing Group, which would go on to become one of the charter groups under the AHRMA banner in 1989.
“Dick spent his entire life around motorcycles and promoting vintage racing,” Mork said of Mann. “All motorcycle enthusiasts owe him so much. Dick Mann was a racer’s racer—meaning that the racers all looked up to him and people would try to emulate him. He stood out and had a lot of grit and was well-respected. He was the father of vintage motocross.” “We’re ready for a great experience,” said Rob Poole, a veteran of vintage motocross who’s been competing for 22 years. “We’re setting up a great track and hoping the atmosphere will be festival-like with all the different types of racing going on. I’ve always really liked Laguna Seca, and the road racers are very excited about coming because it’s a pinnacle track and it’s on everybody’s bucket list.” “We’re honoring Dick this season,” said Poole, who credits Mann with getting him into vintage racing in 1989. “This season is kind of hollow without him because he’s the guy who made this all happen. He worked tirelessly to help vintage racing take place and did a lot for the sport. He taught me a lot about motocross track layout and bike setup.” Many of the roadracers have never been on the fabled road course. “I know it’s a famous place—everybody knows what Laguna Seca is,” said Pete Jorgenson, an AHRMA off-road racer who was friends with Dick Mann. “I’m looking forward to seeing and experiencing it. I’ve only ever seen it in a magazine, and I knew that it was a place I wanted to race someday.” Jorgenson recalls an encounter with Mann early in the AHRMA days that still sticks with him. “The first time I went to an AHRMA MX race and saw Dick, he told me that every time I came to one of those races, it was always going to be 1969 on the track. I thought that was really cool because that was a great period in motorcycle racing.” There’s no doubt Mann would’ve had plenty of input into how the motocross track at WeatherTech Raceway will be set up. (Segments of the preceding three paragraphs courtesy of and used with consent from Justin Shaw, Laguna Seca Communications Manager.)
