GODSPEED, MALCOLM SMITH

The day before Thanksgiving, I was getting ready to spend the weekend in the Mojave desert with Bruce, Aaron, and Maddie Wedeking of PRP Seats fame and their families. Then came the email from the AMA that legendary motorcyclist and AMA Hall of Fame member Malcolm Smith had died at 83. He had suffered from Parkinsons for two decades, and while I knew he was in a better place, it was a bummer to lose yet another hero who had such a big influence on my life. Malcolm was the co-star and scene stealer in Bruce Brown’s iconic film “On Any Sunday,” the 1971 classic that made me want to race motocross and go to work for Dirt Bike Magazine (whose first issue hit newsstands a month before OAS hit the big screen).

Coincidentally, Mav-TV aired three of Brown’s earlier bike documentaries a couple of months before, and one was about Brown covering the 1968 Mexican 1000 for ABC’s Wide World of Sports. Malcolm Smith had won the 1967 overall on a Husqvarna, as he had met Edison Dye the year before and became a Husky dealer, and he was interviewed at the start. Brown was impressed with Malcolm’s speed, grin, and amiable persona, and I’m sure that played a part in Smith joining Steve McQueen and 1969 AMA Grand National champ Mert Lawwill in OAS. That same year, Malcolm won his first of seven-straight International Six-Day Trials gold medals and opened Malcolm Smith Motorsports in Riverside, California.

I’ve been blessed to meet and work with so many of my heroes, especially Malcolm. In the late ’90s, I did a Honda XR400R test and photo shoot with Malcolm in Taylor Park, Colorado. We got the bike from Fay Meyers and camped the night before. Malcolm had a cab-over camper, and my Dad met us on his BMW adventure bike. We grilled over the fire, ate, and settled around the campfire. Malcolm told several stories about his racing and riding exploits, including losing his clutch while leading the Baja 1000. The Husky’s clutch was slipping more and more when he saw a burnt-out van in the desert. Malcolm cut a clutch plate out of the side of the van, installed it, and went on to win the race. Smith would win eight 1000s on two and four wheels, his last in 2004.

The next morning, we got geared up for the photo shoot and ride, and my Dad was loading his BMW. Malcolm told Dad, “Superman couldn’t ride that bike where we’re going!” Dad laughed and answered that he was going exploring.

Smith had bought a ranch outside of Salida, and he knew all of the area’s best single-track trails. We were on what I called the “Sound-of-Music” Trail. He stopped and said, “See that tree? Take different lines, don’t leave any marks, and meet me behind the tree.” It was one of Malcolm’s secret trails, and his son Alex broke his RM80’s case on it. Malcolm produced some Moose epoxy, and we were soon underway on our epic ride. Unstoppable Malcolm!

Another time, Dirt Bike was conducting an enduro-bike shootout, and the test-rider list was Malcolm, Kevin Hines (’87 AMA Enduro #1), and DBM’s Jim Holley and Shane Trittler. We went up Alamo Mountain’s Snowy Trail, shot photos in snow all day, and switched bikes several times. We shot until losing light, so we headed down Alamo road, racing the night. Everybody crashed on slick ice, Trittler twice, but Malcolm never fell. He rode the edge of the road, where there was soft snow, not 4×4-compacted ice. I’m sure that he had his typical ear-to-ear grin under his helmet.

In 2021, Johnny Campbell and Scott Harden put on the Handstands at 100 mph celebration of desert racing at the Doffo winery, and the grande finale was rolling the 50th-anniversary remastered edition of “On Any Sunday.” Everyone there was inspired and influenced by Malcolm, and it ended with a standing ovation. Godspeed, Malcolm Smith, and thanks for everything!