SCORE Journal

SCORE-Journal-September-2021

SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing

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SCORE’s Greatest Motorcycle Racers Of All Time Part 1 BAJA’S TWO-WHEEL HEROES By SCORE Journal Staff For more than 50-years, Baja racing has spawned many legendary racers and vehicles that have been etched into our memories and the record books. None of them, however, would have made off-road racing history if the sport had not succeeded in its early infancy. Fortunately, off-road motorcycle racers of the time were the first to lead the way into Baja competition with their riding skills and enduring talent. This caught the attention of racers from other motorsports worldwide, to test their skills and their vehicles in what has become the most prestigious off-road racing events to win. Many motorcycle racing legends started Baja racing and continued throughout the sport’s history to showcase their amazing talent. To honor those legendary racers, SCORE Journal is featuring the greatest of all time as part of an on-going series that will appear in the next several issues. The series will include motorcycle racers who have won a considerable amount of Baja races throughout SCORE’s history, as well as those who have changed the sport with their tenacity and enduring talent. BUD AND DAVE EKINS aJa's Racing Visionaries The sport of Baja racing owes its start to visionary and talented motorcycle racers who had an idea for a publicity stunt that would eventually take on a life of its own. Bud and Dave Ekins were accomplished motorcycle racers who loved desert racing and were very experienced at that type of riding technique. “When you grow up in the San Fernando Valley, (Southern California) you go out riding in the desert and you learn to go fast without being able to see very well because of the dust,” said Dave Ekins in an earlier interview. Bud was an accomplished racer, winning the Catalina Grand Prix in 1955 and was a three-time Big Bear Hare & Hound winner. Dave had also won the event in smaller displacement classes. The brothers also raced in the International Six Days Trial in Europe, where they heard some talk about riding in Baja, Mexico. Bud had the idea to ride 1000 miles across the entire Mexican Baja Peninsula, Tijuana to La Paz, as a publicity stunt for his brother Dave’s racing sponsor, Honda Motorcycles. The idea became a reality on March 17, 1962, with a timed run that succeeded in gaining newspaper headlines of the feat. Since Bud Ekins had a contractual conflict with Triumph Motorcycles, Dave Ekins got Bill Robertson Jr., whose dad had a Honda Motorcycle dealership, to make the run with him. The two pre-ran the course, viewing it from above from an airplane owned by Walt Fulton, a motorcycle racer and former Catalina GP winner. Using two Honda CL72 motorcycles with heavier duty chains added as the only upgrade, Ekins and Bill Robertson Jr. set out for the challenge. Refueling was accomplished when the riders would reach remote airplane landing strips used by Doctors Without Borders to bring in medical supplies to rural areas. According to the Ekins family, the two carried small Honda tool kits, extra spark plugs, and a spare headlight bulb. The Hondas had a standard 2.4-gallon fuel tank that would take them 60-miles, so the two averaged 55 mph. After starting at midnight March 17th, the two reached La Paz in 39-hours and 56 minutes. While they hoped the ride would make them famous, they actually received little coverage. It wasn’t until two years later that both Bud and Dave Ekins returned to Baja. Their second attempt was on Triumph motorcycles, two TR-6 (65cc twin) and two TR-5 (500cc) with accomplished desert riders Eddie Mulder and International Six Days Trials gold medalist Cliff Coleman making up a four-rider team. On May 3, 1966, the team again set out together to beat their previous time. “The four of us rode our own bikes the total distance,” said Dave Ekins. “The thought to trade-off riders never crossed our minds. We all raced long distances in the desert with success. That is what was familiar to us.” Riding in pairs, the team overcame several obstacles, leaking oil, a seized chain, and more. Dave Ekins continued on the TR-5 with the oil issues until it seized near a Pemex station. After refilling the motor with oil, he continued and posted a time of 41-hours and 31 minutes, beating their old record. This second attempt received much more publicity and ultimately led to the creation of NORRA and the first official Mexican 1000 race in 1967. The timed runs in Baja became so popular that they were followed by another official run in 1968. Although the Ekins brothers are credited for starting what would become the SCORE Baja 1000, the two continued to compete in off-road racing. Bud raced with actor Steve McQueen in the now-famous Baja Boot, built by Vic Hickey, as a navigator at the 1968 Stardust Raceway. Ekins also went on to race the Baja Boot at the inaugural Baja 500 race with co-driver Guy Jones, winning the race. “I was working as the Safety Tech for the motorcycles with the NORRA crew members during the race,” said Dave Ekins. “I do remember Bud arriving at the finish in first place. It was a big moment for my brother, Guy Jones, and Vic Hickey.” With their incredible story and initiative that turned a timed event for publicity into a new form of off-road racing that has endured over five decades, there’s no doubt that Bud and Dave Ekins take one of the top spots as one of SCORE’s greatest motorcycle racers of all time. SJ

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