15 join Motorcycle Hall of Fame

Allan Johnson

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

The Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame will induct eight individuals and two organizations into membership Saturday at its fourth annual gala dinner at the Renaissance Airport Hotel in Mississauga. This brings the hall's total membership to 44. There will also be a display of historic racing motorcycles associated with some of the inductees.

Lorraine Sommerfeld talks with inductee Muriel Kelly of Steel City Riders

Carl Bastedo has been involved in motorcycling as a rider, racer, dealer, racing sponsor, promoter, marketer, motorcycle park operator and racing team manager during 50 of his 65 years. Much of his motorcycling activity has been in the off-road area, motocross and International Six Days Enduro-related events, and he is currently team manager of Canada's Motocross des Nations effort. He was a sparkplug for the formation of the Motorcycle and Moped Industry Council (MMIC).

The Canadian Race Communications Association (CRCA) has, for 50 years, been the unsung hero of safety in motorcycle and car road-racing marshalling. Rarely noted by spectators except perhaps as "flagmen" or "corner marshals," CRCA volunteers have given in excess of 350,000 hours of their time to establish and operate flag stations that ensure the safety of competitors at numerous tracks.

Ivor Lloyd was an experienced Welsh road racer when he and his family immigrated to Canada in 1957. His Isle of Man TT and production racing experience stood him in good stead in Canadian road racing through the 1960s whether riding a Manx Norton, Matchless G50, Norton Commando or 750 Ducati. He won more than 50 motorcycle races.

Duane McDaniels was the man to beat in Canadian motorcycle road racing from 1968-71. With partial Yamaha support, McDaniels won the 125cc class of the North American Grand Prix in 1968 and the Canadian Grand Prix in 1969. With full Yamaha sponsorship, he won the Canadian championships in 125cc, 250cc and 500cc classes for 1970 and 1971.

Don McHugh carved a niche for himself in Canadian motorcycling history as a colourful stunt and "Wall of Death" rider billed as "Flash McHugh" or "Captain McHugh." He wore white leathers while racing and drove a white Cadillac convertible. McHugh also won nine national dirt-track championships, four expert ice-race titles and a Centennial Medallion of Excellence as a Canadian champion. He raced from 1947-94 and died at the age of 70 in 2001.

Ken Morgan, national supervising chief instructor for the Motorcycle Training Program of the Canada Safety Council (MTP-CSC), began his career in 1975. After 35 years of effort to raise safety standards and awareness, Morgan says the success of the nationwide CSC program has been in "moving the `discussion' about the value of motorcycle safety from the meetings and conferences of academia out into the mainstream of the riding population."

Morgan says only 35 people signed up for the CSC in 1975, but 16,000 Ontario motorcyclists took a training course in 2008.

Jim Sehl gained acclaim as a dedicated bike tuner for a long lineup of successful racers. He has a reputation of building faster, better-running bikes. Riders of these bikes include his brothers Dave and Doug Sehl (the latter a Hall of Fame inductee in 2008), Michel Mercier (also a 2008 inductee) and a host of others. John Parker, one of those riders, estimates that Jim Sehl has been involved in tuning motorcycles for at least 20 Canadian No. 1 plate holders during the last 42 years.

John Williams won five world championships from 1972-81, five American Grand National Championships and 10 Canadian championships from 1965-78. Many of these wins were accomplished with a nitromethane-fuelled Honda CB750 special that generated more than 200 horsepower.

The Steel City Riders club began in 1947 under the seemingly comical name of "The Flying Midgets." That name was a response to the rival Hamilton club, the Blackhawks, who preferred members to have large motorcycles. The original 30-member club has now grown to include more than 500. (Read more about the Steel City Riders on page W2.)

Bar Hodgson's career in the Canadian motorcycle industry began as a rider of various obscure British makes, progressed to owning a Toronto custom shop and starting a Kawasaki dealership, the Superbike Centre, and a motorcycle magazine publishing company.

In 1977, he established what has become the North American International Motorcycle Show – now the largest motorcycle show on the continent.

In 1999, Bar and Hedy Hodgson established the International Motorcycle Heritage Foundation to act as a motorcycle show feature.

In 2005, Bar and Hedy modified the Heritage Foundation into the Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame.

In 2007, the Hall of Fame was gifted to the Motorcyclist's Confederation of Canada (MCC).

Historical members The Hall of Fame will also induct, in a new category, the following deceased members:

Ron and Eve White, long-time Canadian Motorcycle Association officials until their untimely deaths in 1971; George Davis, a pillar of motorcycle sport in Quebec for more than 60 years; Bill Sharpless, one of Canada's greatest all-event motorcycle racers; and James Graham Oates, the first person to ride across Canada, in 1928, from Halifax to Vancouver.

Lorraine Sommerfeld talks with inductee Muriel Kelly of Steel City Riders

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