Story on Malcolm Smith

We all knew Malcolm was the ultimate dirt biker because McQueen knew he was. When a total badass admires someone....you'd better take notice. Time for someone to post up that iconic picture of Malcolm ripping across that dry lake bed at warp speed.

That's the one....except it's not a dry lake bed....Alzheimer's I reckon. Thanks man.

Looks like a 400 enduro. 1970 maybe. A low end, tractor pulling, torque monster.
I'd love to see a dyno chart on that bike and a new 450 4 stroke.
Best results on those, even the 250s, were to shift early, which was on right, brake being on left.
Look at that pipe on Malcoms bike. That's a stock pipe, no silencer. Very little "belly", almost a straight tube,
with a short stinger thick as a silver dollar. Loud as fuck. a bottom end stump puller.

Here's a vintage, rehabbed one, kinda built for today's times.
Note the big thing is the long silencer. Would think it gives 2 things. For sure quiet that thing down a bit, and even
the power out a tad. Might move some of the hit from low end to mid range.
Those were points and condenser bikes, the new one, some kind of motoplat cdi ignition would probably be a given.
Concessions to the present day, unlike the beast Malcom was on, which gave none.

Awesome, Malcom reminds me so much of my dad when he was up in age. I'd love to shake this man's hand and just tell him thank you for being Malcom Smith.

That dude is cool!
I was working for Bel-Ray some time ago and called on his dealership to try and sell some product. (They already had a full display.)
Malcolm saw me in my Bel-Ray shirt and walked right up to start a conversation. He admitted that they didn't sell a lot of BR, but he always pushed the product because of how they had sponsored him in the past. That's loyalty!

I figure everybody who rides an off-road motorcycle owes Malcolm a debt of gratitude.

I worked for Malcolm from mid-78 (when I graduated high school) through mid-80 (when I went to work at BMX Action). He's a cool cat.

Back then I was picking orders to send to shops around the country. We had shopping carts with handlebars zip-tied to them, and skateboards, so you could scoot around the warehouse pretty quickly.

Malcolm and Bud Feldkamp were doing some off-road races together, and one of the buggies was housed in the warehouse. I can think of at least one occasion where Bud would come to the office, and sling his truck around on the dirt road behind the warehouse. Larry Roseler was a sales rep, and this was also around the time when Mike Bell was riding in Malcolm's gear. Good times.

You guys should read his biography. I can’t belive the stuff that guy has survived over the years.

When I was 12, back in 1972 we went into his tiny shop in Riverside to trade my Yamaha 90MX in on a Penton 125. Malcolm himself came out to test ride the 90...he hoped on it with no helmet and blasted up and down the public streets on that thing for 5 minutes. I’m just standing there with my mouth hanging wide open....Malcolm just rode my bike! He gave us $190 for it. A few months later we did a big trip down to Baja on our bikes and a chase truck to watch the Baja 1000. We ride the course backwards and watched the race come through at the halfway point. Got to see Malcolm again that day at full speed. Probably the most amazing all around rider of all time. Kenny Roberts, Dick Mann, Malcolm. Hard to chose between those guys. Not to mention he is one of the kindest humans you will ever talk to