Reason For Being
The Washington State Motorcycle Hall of Fame, from now on referred to as the WSMCHOF, was created from a combination of events. The first being a magazine I produced for several years called "Bench Racer." For many years I would talk to younger people in motorcycle shops, and at the race track, and they had no idea who set the original marks for motorcycle greatness in the northwest and around the world. So I started doing in depth interviews for motorcycle newspapers, and then for my own magazine that you can now read here for free in the "Interviews" section. This gave the younger racers an understanding that they were not the first racers on earth and could learn lessons from their elders. Geez, do we sound OLD! Another input was two birthday parties that are also here under "Motorcycle Parties" that I held at my house for Bruce Lind and Buck Murphy who are good friends and people I had the privilege of racing against, and were also interviewed. One party was for road racers and the other for motocrossers and most of the people had not seen each other for maybe 35 years. Everybody had a fantastic time. The last key was the Oregon Old Timers who put on a banquet every year in October where the Lanphere family of Bob Sr and Bob Jr (Beaverton Honda Yamaha/Renton Motorcycles, and numerous car dealerships) provide the backing, and a jet plane to get many racers from the On Any Sunday era from California to the banquet. Over 200 people have a great time talking about the past and honoring riders from that era. I at age 54 am one of the youngest people there. Put these ingredients all together and I dreamed up this WSMCHOF. First of all I didn't have to travel three plus hours one way to party and the crowd would be much younger. And are we not twice the size of Oregon? Why don't we have our own party?
So with the help of Ron Orr, Buck Murphy and Terry Saxlund we will honor every year two outstanding motorcycle racers from Washington State who have stood out amongst all other racers in their time. They can come from road racing, motocross or dirt tracking. It will not include industry people, club organizers, road riders, legislators, lobbyists or anybody who isn't a racer. It is for people who lived the life.
WSMCHOF is a pending 501 (C3) non profit organization. At least I hope so.
When talking to Bob Jr he told me how much it costs to rent a banquet room at a hotel and that he would offer for free his facilities at Renton Motorcycles. That would save us a bunch of money and was very happily accepted. The Lanphere's are very good people. Luckily Mick Kelly's restaurant, owned by some very nice Irish people, is upstairs and will cater the food. And it's easy to find with tons of free parking.
The Washington State Motorcycle Hall of Fame, from now on referred to as the WSMCHOF, was created from a combination of events. The first being a magazine I produced for several years called "Bench Racer." For many years I would talk to younger people in motorcycle shops, and at the race track, and they had no idea who set the original marks for motorcycle greatness in the northwest and around the world. So I started doing in depth interviews for motorcycle newspapers, and then for my own magazine that you can now read here for free in the "Interviews" section. This gave the younger racers an understanding that they were not the first racers on earth and could learn lessons from their elders. Geez, do we sound OLD! Another input was two birthday parties that are also here under "Motorcycle Parties" that I held at my house for Bruce Lind and Buck Murphy who are good friends and people I had the privilege of racing against, and were also interviewed. One party was for road racers and the other for motocrossers and most of the people had not seen each other for maybe 35 years. Everybody had a fantastic time. The last key was the Oregon Old Timers who put on a banquet every year in October where the Lanphere family of Bob Sr and Bob Jr (Beaverton Honda Yamaha/Renton Motorcycles, and numerous car dealerships) provide the backing, and a jet plane to get many racers from the On Any Sunday era from California to the banquet. Over 200 people have a great time talking about the past and honoring riders from that era. I at age 54 am one of the youngest people there. Put these ingredients all together and I dreamed up this WSMCHOF. First of all I didn't have to travel three plus hours one way to party and the crowd would be much younger. And are we not twice the size of Oregon? Why don't we have our own party?
So with the help of Ron Orr, Buck Murphy and Terry Saxlund we will honor every year two outstanding motorcycle racers from Washington State who have stood out amongst all other racers in their time. They can come from road racing, motocross or dirt tracking. It will not include industry people, club organizers, road riders, legislators, lobbyists or anybody who isn't a racer. It is for people who lived the life.
WSMCHOF is a pending 501 (C3) non profit organization. At least I hope so.
When talking to Bob Jr he told me how much it costs to rent a banquet room at a hotel and that he would offer for free his facilities at Renton Motorcycles. That would save us a bunch of money and was very happily accepted. The Lanphere's are very good people. Luckily Mick Kelly's restaurant, owned by some very nice Irish people, is upstairs and will cater the food. And it's easy to find with tons of free parking.
President
Shawn McDonald
Shawn started racing in November 1971 at the Monroe MX track at age 15 and parked next to Jim Pomeroy, by accident. After accidentally entering the 125A class he then reentered the 125C class and finished the three 20 minute motos in 27th, 17th and in 7th place on a stock Suzuki TS 125 with a 21" front wheel. He was given the nickname of "SOLO" from Chuck Akin one of the gang at Lowe's Yamaha in Bellevue because Shawn rode a Suzuki, and a commercial that year was "Ride SOLO on a Suzuki." I guess better than the other nicknames of Pounder, Tanglefoot, Froglips, Motor from the shop. Solo was just fine. That was the height of his MX fame for the next few years. Turned to Road Racing in the early 1980's to see if he could do better, but sadly found that they were also really good. Then in 1990 he was selected as part of Team America as chief water boy for Bruce Lind, Mike Sullivan, Steve Dahlstrom and Canadian Troy Burstyk in a four week trip to compete in the New Zealand National Championships. At the fifth and final race the team let Shawn ride around the track on a scooter where he was attacked by a herd of nasty giant Weta bugs. He fell and a huge Weta bug hit the back of his helmet and broke his neck at C 7/8. Upon return to work at Boeing six months later he started five consecutive Safety Races at Pacific Raceways that raised $80,000 for spinal cord foundations and raised awareness for track safety. Shawn while also at Boeing was put in charge of the then called Boeing Employee Good Neighbor Fund that raised money for the United Way. During the year a record $19.5 million was raised. Shawn has also counseled patients at Harborview Hospital and coached Quad Rugby team, also known as Murder Ball, for ten years as well as played on the practice team (fingers work too well to qualify for the quadriplegic team). After the accident Shawn once again vainly tried racing again a year after falling down. This time in a four wheel Baja car to do short course racing. After humiliating himself over the years of never finishing a race he tried Super Kart racing on the long course race tracks like Pacific Raceways. To his delight he crashed it at the time in the worse crash they had seen in 40 years at the track. That was now his ultimate achievement so he could finally retire. Then he got to blather on about racing and his supposed friends in a magazine called Bench Racer which really is about telling lies about your racing. A perfect fit for Shawn. They say that ineptitude rises to it's highest level and that is why you see him now as Chairman. Whatever is happening to this world of ours?
1988 WMRRA Crasher of the Year
1990 Rotorua Downhill Concrete Luge Champion
1991 Queenstown Grand Prix Champion (Suzuki 50cc Step-Through Scooters)
Shawn started racing in November 1971 at the Monroe MX track at age 15 and parked next to Jim Pomeroy, by accident. After accidentally entering the 125A class he then reentered the 125C class and finished the three 20 minute motos in 27th, 17th and in 7th place on a stock Suzuki TS 125 with a 21" front wheel. He was given the nickname of "SOLO" from Chuck Akin one of the gang at Lowe's Yamaha in Bellevue because Shawn rode a Suzuki, and a commercial that year was "Ride SOLO on a Suzuki." I guess better than the other nicknames of Pounder, Tanglefoot, Froglips, Motor from the shop. Solo was just fine. That was the height of his MX fame for the next few years. Turned to Road Racing in the early 1980's to see if he could do better, but sadly found that they were also really good. Then in 1990 he was selected as part of Team America as chief water boy for Bruce Lind, Mike Sullivan, Steve Dahlstrom and Canadian Troy Burstyk in a four week trip to compete in the New Zealand National Championships. At the fifth and final race the team let Shawn ride around the track on a scooter where he was attacked by a herd of nasty giant Weta bugs. He fell and a huge Weta bug hit the back of his helmet and broke his neck at C 7/8. Upon return to work at Boeing six months later he started five consecutive Safety Races at Pacific Raceways that raised $80,000 for spinal cord foundations and raised awareness for track safety. Shawn while also at Boeing was put in charge of the then called Boeing Employee Good Neighbor Fund that raised money for the United Way. During the year a record $19.5 million was raised. Shawn has also counseled patients at Harborview Hospital and coached Quad Rugby team, also known as Murder Ball, for ten years as well as played on the practice team (fingers work too well to qualify for the quadriplegic team). After the accident Shawn once again vainly tried racing again a year after falling down. This time in a four wheel Baja car to do short course racing. After humiliating himself over the years of never finishing a race he tried Super Kart racing on the long course race tracks like Pacific Raceways. To his delight he crashed it at the time in the worse crash they had seen in 40 years at the track. That was now his ultimate achievement so he could finally retire. Then he got to blather on about racing and his supposed friends in a magazine called Bench Racer which really is about telling lies about your racing. A perfect fit for Shawn. They say that ineptitude rises to it's highest level and that is why you see him now as Chairman. Whatever is happening to this world of ours?
1988 WMRRA Crasher of the Year
1990 Rotorua Downhill Concrete Luge Champion
1991 Queenstown Grand Prix Champion (Suzuki 50cc Step-Through Scooters)
Vice President
Ron Orr
Owner Hinshaw's Motorcycle Store
Board Member of Washington State Motorsports Dealer Association
Owner Hinshaw's Motorcycle Store
Board Member of Washington State Motorsports Dealer Association
Secretary - Buck Murphy
See under interviews to get the real scoop on the one and only Mr. Murphy
