One of the world’s premier off-road motorcycle racers, Malcolm has participated in races all over the world – mostly off-road and endurance races. He won eight gold medals between 1966 and 1976 in the International Six Day Trials, the European cross-country event considered the Olympics of motorcycling. This motorcycle is the one that carried Malcolm to the gold medal in 1967. It’s a 1967 Husqvarna 250 that was built for Malcolm to ride in that race.

Husqvarna was originally a Swedish arms manufacturer that also built bicycles. The company started building motorcycles using NSU and FN engines in 1903, then began designing and building its own engines in 1920. Following World War II, Husqvarna concentrated on making small displacement off-road motorcycles using a two-stroke engine it developed in the 1930s. Husqvarna is now a division of BMW.

Malcolm Smith’s talent on two-wheels earned him a co-starring role in Bruce Brown’s 1970’s classic motorcycle epic, On Any Sunday with Steve McQueen. The movie showed people just how fun motorcycling could be and helped launch an explosion in the popularity of off-road motorcycling in America.

Malcolm now splits his time between Malcolm Smith Motorsports, a large motorcycle dealership and off-road accessory store in his hometown of Riverside, California, and his Sunshine Ranch high in the mountains of Colorado near St. Elmo.

Please follow and like us:

The 1948 Indian Chief in the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum is now 63 years old and doesn’t look a day over, well, absolutely brand new.

The ’48s life started as a bike ridden for a very long time. As the story goes, down from owner to owner, this bike is a three-owner bike. The first owner bought her brand new and rode her all over the country – hitting the Sturgis Rally many times. The original owner loved his Chief and kept up with the proper maintenance to keep it a dependable bike for short or long rides. These old bikes needed more maintenance than new bikes, so it was a labor of love to keep the Chief in such great shape.

The meticulous care of the old Chief kept it in top condition so when the second owner acquired it, the Chief didn’t really need repair. Still, the second owner had plans to restore the bike to “better than new” condition. The restoration did not include making the Chief just like new but even more flashy than new – almost like eye candy.

The second owner was so proud of how the bike turned out he made room in his office for it behind velvet ropes. When it was time to remodel the office the bike was not included in his plans. It was time to part with his beloved masterpiece.

Through the grapevine Kenny Price heard of its intended sale. Photos were sent through the internet and Kenny bought the bike at full price for the “Kenny Price Collection.” Kenny made sure every bike he owned ran so he took the Chief through its paces and fired it up. Within a few hours it ran like a dream and was ridden for several miles before being put into the collection.

Kenny’s collection of rare and unique bikes grew but could not be admired by many since the collection was housed in a private room at his manufacturing facility. Kenny decided he wanted to share his collection with other motorcycle enthusiasts, so he sent most of the antiques to South Dakota where many of them found a great home at the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum.

Thanks to Kenny and other owners, the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum & Hall of Fame can share the great history of motorcycling with the public.

Thanks, Kenny!

Click on Samson’s banner to check his new web site.

Please follow and like us: