Upgrade to enjoy this feature!
Vital MX fantasy is free to play, but paid users have great benefits. Paid member benefits:
- View and download rider stats
- Pick trends
- Create a private league
- And more!
Only $10 for all 2024 SX, MX, and SMX series (regularly $30).
You don't know how fast you can go until you crash!
The Shop
This thread it is headed to the same place Danny belongs, the HOF.
the stories are friggin awesome! thanks!
im just a nobody from ireland, but magoo was my boy hood hero, thats how far the legend of danny magoo chandler reached even before the internet was even heard of.
ever since seeing the photo of him racing with no footpeg and bars bent to shit when i was a kid, thats who i wanted to be like. when i crashed my brains out, got up, even if the bike was a tangled mess i tried to continue lol, and that attitude has stood me in good stead even in everyday life.
so for that magoo, sir i thank you.
I'll prop it up with a stick if I have too.
Besides Kamimaze still hasnt responed to my last question.....? Yo "Good time Jimmy" or was it " Dumb Shit " do you read me are you out there man..? Over..
At the time you dont realize how special these moments are. The first time I saw Danny was at Sandhill ranch riding a montessa 100 in the early seventies.
Again It was an honor Danny Thank you for everything
I'm from Northern Ca and I used to practice in some of the same areas that Danny did. We never rode together but we did meet in 2001.
I walked into Danny's apartment which was located in in Auburn, Ca. there was a kid in his early 20s there taking care of him. I suspected the kid (I thought it was his nephew but I'm not sure) was baked because I could smell pot smoke, and the kid's eyes were blazed. Danny looked depressed sitting there in front of the televison.
The apartment was dark (and kind of dank) and messy. I couldn't believe that Danny was living like that, and that nobody seemed to know or care that a true MX hero was living in poverty.
We made small talk for a while and chatted a bit about MX, but Danny seemed like he wanted to take a nap. His assistant helped him move onto the couch and I took the hint that Danny was going to chill out and take a nap After my visit of about 20 minutes, we shook hands and I left...sad and concerned. But we were not friends and it wasn't my place to "do" something about what I saw. I supposed I could have asked if I could do anything for him but I felt a little awkward. It's tough to see somebody you regard as superman sitting in a wheelchair watching Maury. I never went back to check in on him and I felt ashamed that our sport would basically ditch somebody that had given us so much.
He was an amazing spirit and we should try to keep his memory alive and never let the future individuals of our sport become ignorant about who Danny was and the type of rider and person that he was.
The Hangtown National should be renamed the "The Danny Magoo Chandler Hangtown Motocross National."
You are really onto something there man!
I can appreciate what your saying. Danny's life was filled with real highs and real lows. As much as I can appreciate what some people in the industry were doing for him at the time of his death. I can also sit back and wonder where the hell were they 20 years ago. But this isnt really the time or place for that........... And you are right Danny was an amazing spirit.
We need to help people like Ernesto Fonseca, Doug Henry and others.
1st time I saw someone ride pinned from start to finish, corner to corner with a smile on his face the whole time !?!
LEGEND!
Pit Row
Hall of Fame motorcycle racer “Magoo” Chandler dead at 50
By Gus Thomson, Journal Staff Writer
Danny "Magoo" Chandler
Foresthill Divide motocross racer Danny “Magoo” Chandler, whose star shone brightest on the international stage in the 1980s until a crash left him a quadriplegic, died late Tuesday. He was 50.
Longtime friend and fan Brett Freed confirmed Wednesday that Chandler died at his home in Colfax.
Chandler, an American Motorcycle Hall of Famer, was known during his short racing career as a no-holds-barred competitor who would risk life and limb to best the competition. His aggressive riding techniques included flying over other racers on jumps instead of passing around them.
Freed said Chandler knew his end was near and talked to him about his wishes in the last few months.
“He didn’t want a funeral – he wanted a race in his name,” Freed said.
News traveled fast within the tight-knit motorcycle community and Freed had already heard from an Arizona auto dealership owner who was willing to pay for whatever Chandler had wished in terms of funeral arrangements.
Chandler had a magnetic personality burnished by his successes, daring and bad boy reputation, Freed said.
One time, after a conflict with race officials, he finished a race backward on his bike, he said.
“Danny said that bad publicity wasn’t always bad publicity,” Freed said.
Chandler gained the nickname “Magoo” after the 1960s TV cartoon “Mr. Magoo” because of his propensity to crash into things and it stuck, with fans in the U.S. and Europe chanting his name at events.
Chandler’s list of victories included the prestigious U.S. 500 cc Motorcross Grand Prix. In 1982, he won both races in the Motorcross des Nations and the Trophee des Nations. The European wins in both events were a first for a rider.
Chandler’s career ended in late 1985 when he let go of his handlebars during a jump and landed off-balance during the Paris Supercross.
Paralyzed, Chandler returned to Foresthill after earning millions on the motocross circuit and from endorsements.
Over the final 20 years of his life, Chandler would lead a full life promoting races, safety and ways others with spinal chord injuries could get involved with motor sports.
Fred Sumrall, co-owner of Foresthill Valero and a chaplain with the Cross Country Racing motorcycle group, said Wednesday that he saw Chandler struggle with his limitations.
“Talk about a free spirit,” Sumrall said. “He just never could get over it. But he was an exceptional man. He loved motorcycling more than he loved life itself.”
Rob:
Thank you for the email with Magoo photos. I remember back in the late 70's when I was racing local 125 pro class in Southern California, my friends and I would occassionally travel up to Northern California to go race because the promoters up there always paid better prize money. I had gone up enough to know most of the fast guys, and I'd often heard them talk about some wild kid named "Magoo". Supposedly, he was this tiny, red-headed kid that rode really crazy and would crash his brains out, but was super fast! I remember being on the line at some race and I saw him on a KTM. I was starting next to Paul Turner, who would later become Steve Wise's factory Honda mechanic and also start Rock Shox with Steve Simons. I leaned over to Paul and asked him:"Is that the "Magoo" kid? The one that crashes all the time?" and Paul replied:"yeah, he eats shit BIG!....but he does the coolest looking cross ups I've ever seen!". I remember that he crashed out of the first moto and broke his bike. I remember later seeing a picture of him in Cycle News riding a YZ125 monoshock with the triangular part of the swingarm taped up solid with silver duct tape! I don't know what that was about! I also later saw some unreal picture of him completely sideways off a big jump, looking in control, but I thought there's no way he could have landed that!! The next year, 1978, I was working for KYB at the 125 national at Escape Country in Southern California, and I saw Magoo lead the first moto in front of Broc Glover for a while on an RM125. Racing a production bike against works bikes back then was huge disadvantage, but he was going for it! Something I remember about him was that unlike alot of racers at the time, he would always show up on different displacement bikes: one week a 125, then the next on a 500! I saw him at a Golden State Series race at Indian Dunes on a 400 Maico riding on the walls on the side of the track, holding it wide open criss-crossing all the deep mud ruts. I could see that he was fast and crazy, but the one thing that really impressed me was a story I heard from Danny LaPorte, while he was a factory rider for Suzuki. Danny and I were talking, and Magoo's name came up, and Danny's eyes got all wide! He said that Magoo was SUPER FAST, and if he could stop crashing, no one could beat him. These were strong words coming from Danny, who was easily one of the fastest riders in the US at the time. Hide Sezaki was the team coordinator at the time, and Danny said:"Hide! Do you remember the first moto at (I don't remember what national it was)? I had crashed in the first turn, and I got up and came back to 2nd place. I remember I picked my bike up in a panic and started riding as fast and crazy as I could, taking incredible chances every where trying to make up time. Well, while I was coming through the pack, that Magoo kid passed me twice!! He had crashed with me in the first turn, got up behind me, and just zapped me down a hill and pulled away! Then I came around a corner, and he was running down the track to his bike that was upside down about 50 feet away! Then about 5 laps later, he zapped me again!! He pulled away from me again, and I saw him a little while later on the side of the track furiously kicking his bike with no visor on his helmet! I ended up catching up to second, but Magoo was smoking me!".
Ross....
Post a reply to: Magoo update... and My 2 cents.