Mike Bell???

G-man
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G-man 1/25/2021 5:05am
1/25/2021 5:05am
RIP Mike.....Sad
DonnieS
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DonnieS 1/25/2021 5:11am
1/25/2021 5:11am
One of my first autographs too...

R.I.P. Too Tall Sad
DA498
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DA498 1/25/2021 5:19am
1/25/2021 5:19am
RIP Too Tall. Sad news.
mb60
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mb60 1/25/2021 5:53am
1/25/2021 5:53am
God speed brother.

The Shop

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JOHN CHOATE
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JOHN CHOATE 1/25/2021 5:59am
1/25/2021 5:59am
Mike Bell gave me my first pair of Oakley sunglasses around ‘86 or so. Such a nice guy and an awesome Mx racer. RIP Too Tall
davistld01
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davistld01 1/25/2021 6:09am
1/25/2021 6:09am Edited Date/Time 1/25/2021 6:16am


Here's a pic of Mike, former multi-genre Champion & Pastor Steve Wise, and Ricky Linn at the 2019 Houston SX.

R.I.P. Mike.


6
Forty
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Forty 1/25/2021 6:12am
1/25/2021 6:12am
RIP
wavslide1
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wavslide1 1/25/2021 6:22am
1/25/2021 6:22am
Sorry to hear it and God bless his family.
ShawdowGlen
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ShawdowGlen 1/25/2021 7:07am
1/25/2021 7:07am
First Supercross race I ever saw and it was what got me hooked on the sport.... Mike Bell battling Chuck Sun.

Rest in Peace Mike. Thank you for the memories.

Prayers for his family.
chuckie108
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chuckie108 1/25/2021 7:09am
1/25/2021 7:09am
Horrible news. My first MX hero. Got a chance to MTB with him about 10 years ago. Probably the most genuine and humble person ever. I was trying to play it cool, and the whole time I was just flipping out inside. LOL. One of the most underrated hero’s of our sport too. Had a short career because of his knee issues, but was a contender in every series. At his retirement, he held the record for most SX wins in 1 season, which wasn’t broke until ‘92. I also believe he also had the most second places finishes in a series, as he was close to being champion many times. A bit of weird record- but still showed how fast he was. What a loss. Prayers for his family. Godspeed TOO TALL!!
4
RR61114
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RR61114 1/25/2021 7:41am
1/25/2021 7:41am
Cancerman wrote:
I want to find out what happened? Mike was always super fit. in the early 90's I race a mountain bike race in the Whitter hills...
I want to find out what happened? Mike was always super fit. in the early 90's I race a mountain bike race in the Whitter hills area and Mike blew past me on a steep downhill. I was shocked at how fast he went. He went to Lakewood High school, I went to Gahr. We both lived in and grew up in Lakewood.He was a year ahead in school. The high school mx series was coming to an end. Liability and such. I was riding beaters, he always had real race bikes. I remembering at one night race seeing him haul ass, I was riding my old Kawi 238 green streak in the 250 class. The clutch let go. I think it was at OCR. Mike was a good guy, very friendly. Scary that he's gone. R.I.P. brother.
Small world. I had the pleasure of working with Mike on several projects while I was working at Oakley from 01-10. He was a legend. Aside from his successful racing career he was a incredibly smart dude and was heavily involved with product creation at Oakley. I actually grew up in Long Beach and went to Lakewood high myself (20 years after Mike). I remember talking with him about good ole LKWD.

Rest In Peace legend.
1
Ted722
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Ted722 1/25/2021 8:08am
1/25/2021 8:08am
sandman768 wrote:
Total bummer.... I had a great battle with Mike at a Vintage ACR event at Southwick years ago... we came off the track & he was...
Total bummer.... I had a great battle with Mike at a Vintage ACR event at Southwick years ago... we came off the track & he was laughing and gave me high fives all the way back to the pits..... just a super cool dude....RIP Mx brother...
Something similar. 2000 or 2001, I was up at Mammoth. Mike Bell and Marty Moates put on a hell of a show ( (I believe it was 40 Masters). They raced each other hard, but it was laughs and smiles come awards time.

Condolences to family and friends. Godspeed TOO TALL!!
1
Dimblewambie
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Dimblewambie 1/25/2021 8:54am
1/25/2021 8:54am
Was really saddened to read this last night, Too Tall was before my time but I’ve got tons of stories of what a great guy Mike was from my manager, who was a childhood friend and riding buddy of Mike and the Bell family. RIP to Mike and my sincere condolences to all his family and friends.

Here’s a pic my manager sent me of the crew riding up in big bear, Circa 1980

7
B Lenny
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B Lenny 1/25/2021 9:23am
1/25/2021 9:23am
Bluelion wrote:
Isn't t [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2021/01/25/474817/s1200_gObELLmARTYcap.jpg[/img] his an eerie photo of two greats in American motocross... Such a loss..RIP Mike Bell.
Isn't t
his an eerie photo of two greats in American motocross... Such a loss..RIP Mike Bell.
RIP Mike Bell...Sad
hamncheeze
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hamncheeze 1/25/2021 9:26am
1/25/2021 9:26am
RIP Too Tall. Much too soon....

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HuskyEd
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HuskyEd 1/25/2021 9:38am
1/25/2021 9:38am
Bummed to wake up to this news. I was lucky enough to have seen him race at the Coliseum, Anaheim and Carlsbad. That tall, gangly body of his was easy to tell who was on the bike.

RIP Mike Bell
Motoman79
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Motoman79 1/25/2021 1:19pm
1/25/2021 1:19pm
So sad RIP
bultokid
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bultokid 1/25/2021 1:26pm
1/25/2021 1:26pm
Godspeed Moto Brother.....Smitty and Too Tall were/are Moto Gods to me. When had pleasure to meet them later in life was incredible just how cool those dudes really were.
Alex.434
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Alex.434 1/25/2021 2:07pm
1/25/2021 2:07pm
Damn. What awful news. Guy was in great shape and really bums you out to hear that. I only had the pleasure of meeting Mike a few times, thru mutual friends. When I'd first moved to California (2010) I was living in Mission Viejo (near Oakley building) and turns out Mike lived a few neighborhoods over. Randy Mamola and Bradley Smith were in town and staying at Mike's place so they invited me over for a dinner and got to meet Mike and his whole family. Super nice guy and a standout moment in my early CA life.

He was very well liked and respected. We should all be so lucky and learn something from his example. RIP Mike.
3
Bigfoot
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Bigfoot 1/25/2021 3:40pm
1/25/2021 3:40pm
SUICIDE MOUNTAIN

In his last AMA National at his home track, Saddleback, 1983


Overall
1
Bob Hannah
Whittier, CA
Honda
2
Rick Johnson
El Cajon, CA
Yamaha
3
David Bailey
Sugar Tree, VA
Honda
4
Scott Burnworth
Jamul, CA
Suzuki
5
Mike Bell
Lakewood, CA
Yamaha


15
Graybeard 1/25/2021 3:43pm
1/25/2021 3:43pm
So sad to wake up this morning to a text from a high school buddy with the news. We all grew up in the same neighborhood in Lakewood, went to school together, and Mike was our hero, as he was one of the best high school motocross racers in So Cal (even though a few years ahead of us in grade).

RIP Mike, you are one of the nicest people I have ever met in the industry, and you will be missed more than ever. God added a real good one to the moto team upstairs.
2
GuyB
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GuyB 1/25/2021 3:44pm
1/25/2021 3:44pm
Such sad news. Besides being really fast BITD, Mike was a seriously cool human. RIP.
5
Nighttrain
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Nighttrain 1/25/2021 3:53pm
1/25/2021 3:53pm
Mike Bell was one of my favorite riders. From the stories on this thread it’s easy to tell that he was a genuinely good dude.
3
Hamster 75 1/25/2021 4:49pm
1/25/2021 4:49pm
Sad to hear this another one of our moto hero`s gone too soon, RIP Mike Bell
Ted722
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Ted722 1/25/2021 5:29pm
1/25/2021 5:29pm
Such an ambassador for the sport on and off the track and post professional moto career.

Matthes interviewed Mike Bell 6 years ago. He lived a great life, cut way too short.

Apple:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-steve-matthes-show-classics-vol…

Matthes website:
http://www.pulpmx.com/sites/default/files/podcasts/141223_bell.mp3
1
Ozy
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Ozy 1/25/2021 8:27pm
1/25/2021 8:27pm
Mike Bell had incredible skill on a Motocross bike. I remember a Trans Cal race in the late 70's (can't remember the track but close to Norcal) This one straight was supper muddy with ruts so deep you couldn't get out of 2nd gear. The side of the track had a ledge on it to put the fencing back from the track. Bell had his front tire up on the ledge and his back tire down in the muck and he was full wide open pinned and smoking everybody. No other rider used his line the entire day.

Gone way too young. RIP
2
7446pats
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7446pats 1/26/2021 1:01am
1/26/2021 1:01am
Edit I made. Rest in Peace Mike 😞
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