DarthRider
01-29-2006, 12:35 PM
...at the party ending our annual sales meeting, I had one of the top thrills of my motorcycling life!
I was there to see and participate in Malcolm Smith receiving our Lifetime Achievement Award!
A little background. For many, Malcolm will need no introduction. For guys who have seen "On Any Sunday" Malcolm was the grinning super-racer on the old twin-shock Husqvarna who did it all, made it look so easy and had such great fun doing it. He was and is all that...and much, much more. If you have NOT seen "O-A-S", do yourself a huge favor and buy, rent, steal a copy of the DVD or VHS and check him out. Your local library may have a copy. Any motorcycle dealer can order one from Tucker Rocky, I'm sure they are available elsewhere too. One thing that came out in the movie, a little, was his friendship with motorcycle racer Steve McQueen. I hear McQueen may have also made some movies too. Steve used to race under the name "Harvey Mushman" to hide his dangerous avocation from movie moguls worried about him bending up that multi-million dollar body! But he and Malcolm were actually very close friends and Malcolm has great respect for Steve as a racer. That is saying a hell of a lot, coming from him.
Several years ago one of my Peckerhead Bros went on one of Malcolm's Colorado Trail Rides (something akin to a flight into space being described an "an airplane ride"!) At that time I had a very large "Warlock" Doberman Pincer named...Malcolm Smith. I gave my bud the dust jacket for my OAS VHS and asked him to get Malcolm Smith to autograph it for Malcolm the Pooch. He did. I actually met Malcolm for the first time at the sales meeting and asked him if he recalled that...he got a big cheesy grin on his face and said "I sure do! I get asked for all kinds autographs but never one for a dog, especially one named Malcolm Smith!"
One of Malcolm's greatest attributes is his humility. He is friendly, affable, totally approachable. I've known or met a number of the best motorcycle racers ever. Malcolm is the first one that did not have an ego the size of Arizona. No "attitude". He is the Anti-Cocky Racer. He gives the word "Gentleman" a whole new definition.
He ran a successful motorcycle dealership for years which he sold. He now owns another very successful store in Cali. In the meantime he founded and ran Malcolm Smith Racing which morphed into MSR...a brand every dirt rider is, or should be familiar with. He sold that and my company then bought it, maybe late 70's, early 80's. We wisely signed him to a long-term contract to design, test and help market the MSR line of off-road gear and hard parts. He personally gets involved with each new product and has the authority - and eager willingness - to veto anything that is not up to his very high standards.
He is a fixture & icon in our company, and the motorcycle industry and is motorcycling's equivalent of a National Treasure.
Our Lifetime Achievement Award has only been award 7 or 8 times in 30 something years, each time except one, posthumously.
Malcolm is always at the sales meeting and was totally surprised when he was called up for this award. We surprised him with the attendance of his wife and two grown kids. They had an excellent video of the OAS segments about him and other things from his well documented life. He was blown completely away and had a very hard time talking with the tears and choking up. There were about 400 people there, probably 90% motorcyclists, 50% of those racers or ex-racers. And a very large group of them wiping tears and trying to talk but couldn't, yours truly certainly included! It was a truly beautiful experience and one I will never forget.
There are many, many other "Malcolm" stories but I will save the ones I know for another time.
Dave
I was there to see and participate in Malcolm Smith receiving our Lifetime Achievement Award!
A little background. For many, Malcolm will need no introduction. For guys who have seen "On Any Sunday" Malcolm was the grinning super-racer on the old twin-shock Husqvarna who did it all, made it look so easy and had such great fun doing it. He was and is all that...and much, much more. If you have NOT seen "O-A-S", do yourself a huge favor and buy, rent, steal a copy of the DVD or VHS and check him out. Your local library may have a copy. Any motorcycle dealer can order one from Tucker Rocky, I'm sure they are available elsewhere too. One thing that came out in the movie, a little, was his friendship with motorcycle racer Steve McQueen. I hear McQueen may have also made some movies too. Steve used to race under the name "Harvey Mushman" to hide his dangerous avocation from movie moguls worried about him bending up that multi-million dollar body! But he and Malcolm were actually very close friends and Malcolm has great respect for Steve as a racer. That is saying a hell of a lot, coming from him.
Several years ago one of my Peckerhead Bros went on one of Malcolm's Colorado Trail Rides (something akin to a flight into space being described an "an airplane ride"!) At that time I had a very large "Warlock" Doberman Pincer named...Malcolm Smith. I gave my bud the dust jacket for my OAS VHS and asked him to get Malcolm Smith to autograph it for Malcolm the Pooch. He did. I actually met Malcolm for the first time at the sales meeting and asked him if he recalled that...he got a big cheesy grin on his face and said "I sure do! I get asked for all kinds autographs but never one for a dog, especially one named Malcolm Smith!"
One of Malcolm's greatest attributes is his humility. He is friendly, affable, totally approachable. I've known or met a number of the best motorcycle racers ever. Malcolm is the first one that did not have an ego the size of Arizona. No "attitude". He is the Anti-Cocky Racer. He gives the word "Gentleman" a whole new definition.
He ran a successful motorcycle dealership for years which he sold. He now owns another very successful store in Cali. In the meantime he founded and ran Malcolm Smith Racing which morphed into MSR...a brand every dirt rider is, or should be familiar with. He sold that and my company then bought it, maybe late 70's, early 80's. We wisely signed him to a long-term contract to design, test and help market the MSR line of off-road gear and hard parts. He personally gets involved with each new product and has the authority - and eager willingness - to veto anything that is not up to his very high standards.
He is a fixture & icon in our company, and the motorcycle industry and is motorcycling's equivalent of a National Treasure.
Our Lifetime Achievement Award has only been award 7 or 8 times in 30 something years, each time except one, posthumously.
Malcolm is always at the sales meeting and was totally surprised when he was called up for this award. We surprised him with the attendance of his wife and two grown kids. They had an excellent video of the OAS segments about him and other things from his well documented life. He was blown completely away and had a very hard time talking with the tears and choking up. There were about 400 people there, probably 90% motorcyclists, 50% of those racers or ex-racers. And a very large group of them wiping tears and trying to talk but couldn't, yours truly certainly included! It was a truly beautiful experience and one I will never forget.
There are many, many other "Malcolm" stories but I will save the ones I know for another time.
Dave