fat rat
10-08-2007, 02:13 PM
Found this posted by Dave Edwards of Cycle World -
Bud Ekins, racer, stuntman, bike collector, industry icon, passed away Saturday. He had been in failing health for some time and was admitted to Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles last week. No official announcement yet. More as it becomes available. Best thoughts and wishes to Bud's family and many friends.
In the early Fifties, Ekins traveled to Europe to take on their best in motocross, what we knew as "rough scrambles." He was supreme in the desert, won the tough Big Bear Run several times and medaled in the International Six Days Trial. He was also a successful Triumph dealer and, of course, introduced Steve McQueen to off-road riding. That is Ekins jumping the barbed wire, doubling for McQueen in 1962's The Great Escape.
http://www.superhunky.com/images/1mmd.jpg
At one point he had more than 100 classic bikes in his collection, mostly early American. Though lately he got around via wheelchair, he was one of the judges at the past Legend of the Motorcycle Concours, still a peppery old dog at 77. He was an original.
http://www.legendofthemotorcycle.com/images/LOTM2007_1236.jpg
British moto-journalist and classic-bike nut Phillip Tooth recounted this story from the Irish Rally, one of Ekin's favorite events:
"Bud was at the rally in 2005, often sitting in a wheelchair because his legs weren't up to standing for long periods. He started the rally as a passenger in a sidecar bolted on to a 650 Panther. It was piloted by an American friend of his who I suspect is way past 60. I don't think he was an experienced sidecar driver—certainly not on the roads we were riding, and not with a left-side sidecar. On the first morning of the rally, he didn't make a tight bend on a narrow, steep descent to the bottom of a valley, lost control and crashed. The bike ended up under the sidecar, hooked up in barbed wire. Bud had been thrown clear.
"When I arrived shortly after the accident, the rider was laid flat out and being comforted. Bud was sitting on the grass sipping from his hip flask and smoking a Gauloises. I told him it was about time he stopped trying to jump barbed wire fences...
When the ambulance arrived 45 minutes later, Bud said, "If that ain't a smokin' and drinkin' ambulance, tell them to send another!" Bud was shaken, not stirred."
Bud Ekins, racer, stuntman, bike collector, industry icon, passed away Saturday. He had been in failing health for some time and was admitted to Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles last week. No official announcement yet. More as it becomes available. Best thoughts and wishes to Bud's family and many friends.
In the early Fifties, Ekins traveled to Europe to take on their best in motocross, what we knew as "rough scrambles." He was supreme in the desert, won the tough Big Bear Run several times and medaled in the International Six Days Trial. He was also a successful Triumph dealer and, of course, introduced Steve McQueen to off-road riding. That is Ekins jumping the barbed wire, doubling for McQueen in 1962's The Great Escape.
http://www.superhunky.com/images/1mmd.jpg
At one point he had more than 100 classic bikes in his collection, mostly early American. Though lately he got around via wheelchair, he was one of the judges at the past Legend of the Motorcycle Concours, still a peppery old dog at 77. He was an original.
http://www.legendofthemotorcycle.com/images/LOTM2007_1236.jpg
British moto-journalist and classic-bike nut Phillip Tooth recounted this story from the Irish Rally, one of Ekin's favorite events:
"Bud was at the rally in 2005, often sitting in a wheelchair because his legs weren't up to standing for long periods. He started the rally as a passenger in a sidecar bolted on to a 650 Panther. It was piloted by an American friend of his who I suspect is way past 60. I don't think he was an experienced sidecar driver—certainly not on the roads we were riding, and not with a left-side sidecar. On the first morning of the rally, he didn't make a tight bend on a narrow, steep descent to the bottom of a valley, lost control and crashed. The bike ended up under the sidecar, hooked up in barbed wire. Bud had been thrown clear.
"When I arrived shortly after the accident, the rider was laid flat out and being comforted. Bud was sitting on the grass sipping from his hip flask and smoking a Gauloises. I told him it was about time he stopped trying to jump barbed wire fences...
When the ambulance arrived 45 minutes later, Bud said, "If that ain't a smokin' and drinkin' ambulance, tell them to send another!" Bud was shaken, not stirred."