R.I.P. Dick Mann

RIP. Always loved to see him at the vintage races with my dad.

A good man. RIP.

My favorite motorcycle racer of all time. I've always had an appreciation for riders that cross disciplines and Bugsy did it all at the absolute highest level. Fond memories of him lining up at Sandhill with his booming 4-stroke and doing some moto a while back.

RIP and Godspeed Dick. Thanks for the inspiration.

RIP, Dick. Arguably the greatest all around motorcycle racer ever (along with Steve Wise).

I was racing amateur in the 80’s and watched him race Old Timer Expert. He was as fast as the 500 experts riding his own Dick Mann framed TT500 with 10” travel on the roughest E street sand tracks. RIP.

I remember as a very young kid watching him at the San Jose
Mile, then when old enough to race, he would be at the local tracks tearing it up on his big four stroke in a frame of his own design. Had a poster of him riding a BSA pitched sideways, really was influential to me as a young racer. He was the racer who rode all the diciplines and did them all well.
Ryan Sipes reminds me of a modern version, riding many disciplines.
RIP

RIP Bugsy. He also helped developed that Yankee/Ossa twin.

Legend....
RIP Dick Bugsy Mann one of the most versatile Motorcycle Racers ever!

RIP. Anyone know the story of how he got the name Bugsy ? I googled it, lots of info about him but nothing about why Bugsy. Just curious, anyone know ?

So sad, a Great man.

I'd only just ordered Ed Youngbloods biography of Dick Mann this morning.

Bought the book just after it came out close to 20 years ago.
Got it out to read again.o

A couple paragraphs taken from a nice read. Bryan Kenney - American Moto Pioneer racing against Dick Mann, Torsten Hallman, Malcolm Smith circa 1966.

The Wilseyville Hare Scramble, started in 1949 and run annually ever since, is a tough and prestigious race in any given year, sending riders through six 12-mile laps of rugged, mountainous terrain. Wilseyville 1966, however, was something special because it was the American debut of World Champion Torsten Hallman, who had come to the United States to demonstrate his fluid, acrobatic European motocross style aboard his world-beating Husqvarna. Bryan Kenney was there as well, aboard his Manx Norton scrambler, as were Dick Mann on a BSA and Malcolm Smith aboard a 250cc Husqvarna.

Hallman and Mann set the pace, with Mann dropping back after the third lap and finally dropping out with a failed gearbox. Kenney, who had been ranked as a B rider because he was new to the area, ran third throughout the race, then moved into second, before having to re-rail a stretched drive chain. Smith battled with Kenney and took top honors in the small-bore class. Wilseyville '66, a muddy and rain-swept ordeal, was historic not only for the stunning performance of Torsten Hallman, but because three riders—Mann, Smith, and Kenney—had proven they could compete at a world-class level.



Inter-Am race in Ohio. Check out that entry list.
1968 Inter-Am Program New Philadelphia, Ohio

Rest peacefully Bugsy ..

You kids would never believe how smooth and fast a bike with crappy suspension could be ridden. One of the all time greats of our sport. Period.

Chatted with him at Honda Hills in the 1980’s. What a Mann he was. Brilliant .

RIP.

That top photo of Dick with Gunnar Lindstrom is from the first-ever AMA-sanctioned motocross race, in 1960 at a race called Ohio-X that took place in Croton, Ohio (also known as Hartford). At the time Edison Dye's Inter-Am series was not sanctioned. It was a three-foot format and Mann and Lindstrom traded off wins, with Mann getting two of there three and the overall. At the time he was already 31 years old. Godspeed.

DC
Racer X

Absolute legend.

I remember him from the On Any Sunday movie. Raced flat track with a broken leg or foot if i remember correctly.

RIP

RIP Dick Mann

A true legend.

Think abut his skills: mile, 1/2 mile, short track, TT, road racing, motocross, ISDT.

Who does this in today's world?

Photo is from 2007 vintage race at The Farm in Chehalis, WA

As a kid there were two home town heroes where I grew up: Bugs and Brad Lackey. Across all disciplines one of the greatest American motorcycle racers ever, if not the greatest.

Yeah, he's been in Nevada for a little while, but Mann cast the largest of shadows in Nor Cal.

RIP, Bugsy.

I think Jody Weisel was referring to Mann when he wrote about a vet race at Glen Helen once. It may have been a Jody's Box or something... anyway, the riders in practice were worried about some guy who was fast. One of them, a +40 rider, said, "I hope he's not in my class!" The answer? "Don't worry; he's in the over 60 class!"

Late 70's and early 80's he and his wife would race out at Sandhill Ranch (Diablo MX now). He was always always extremely friendly and loved to talk anything motorcycles. He and his wife were always on a Dick Mann framed bike and he rode the open? intermediate class and was near or at the front most of the time (remember there was no Vet class no +25,+30,+35 just Novice, intermediate,expert/pro ) , no long travel, no single shock which at the time was state of the art stuff. He was amazing to watch, to go so fast on a heavy under powered, under suspended bike compared to what he was racing against but he always came off the track and was happy to talk with you.

Look up "LEGEND" in the dictionary and Dick Mann's picture takes up the whole page. RIP
..

Friend of mine gave me this book 20 years ago, I have read it twice...much respect to Dick Mann, tough as nails. If I remember correctly, the first MX races were not sanctioned and the AMA in all their wisdom forbid the flat track racers to race MX. Mann & a few others saw the future and raced MX anyway... said he wished he was born later so he could have raced more MX at a younger age.

An Absolute legend and under appreciated by the modern moto community. His list of accomplishments are epic, Daytona, Grand Slam, ISDE, 2X Grand National Champion, and a life spent racing motorcycles. But as a guy who loves the technical side of motorcycles as much as riding them, I've always admired that he accomplished all this on motorcycles he built himself! Imagine if Eli was re-valving his own suspension, or trying different cam grinds, or pressing in offset races mid week. That was the level Dick Mann was at in this sport. We will never see another like him. Godspeed Dick Mann!! Motorcycling LEGEND!!

Kaplan did a piece on an OSSA DMR Dick Mann Replica last year. Talks about Mann's career and spends a considerable amount of time discussing Mann's prowess on the technical side (design, fabrication, frame/tank building, etc.).

As talented as today’s riders are it is hard to rank them above men like Dick Mann. Someone who had talent to win on any kind of bike. He, Malcolm, Kenny Robert’s etc are the true hero’s n my eyes. Glad he lived a long life. RIP Bugsy