It is with great sadness that we bring news of the passing of Motorcycle Hall of Famer Gary Nixon. Nixon died today at the age of 70 in Baltimore Maryland due to complications from a recent heart attack. His accomplishments included back-to-back AMA Grand National titles in 1967 and 1968 and the U.S. National Road Racing Championship on a Kawasaki in 1973. He also competed in the Formula 750 championship, where he was denied the championship due to a point deduction and the ensuing politics. He was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998 and the Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2003.

I personally had the pleasure of hanging out with Gary during my time at Kawasaki, and he was always the joker and forever a 20-year old. I have more than a few tales that can’t be told in mixed company, but they would put you to tears with laughter if you were there at the time. Even when he was in his mid-sixties, he was showing me the fast lines around the race track and suckered me into diving too deep into a corner more than once.

The motorcycle world was lucky to have him as long as we did. Godspeed, Gary you will be sorely missed.