Brad Lackey holds a special place in the history of American motocross racers. He raced, and won, plenty of races in the United States and even won the 500 National Championship in 1972. However, the most important part of his career happened in Europe, where over a period of ten years Lackey raced for multiple teams trying to become the first American to win a 500 GP championship. His efforts finally paid off in 1982, when he got the job done with Suzuki. Unfortunately, after that, Suzuki closed up shop and Lackey retired on top. With four decades having elapsed since Lackey’s historic and heroic achievement, we decided it was time to check in with one of motocross’ American heroes for this edition of Where Are They Now.
Racer X: A lot of time has passed since you won the 500 world championship in 1982. Take us through your general timeline since then.
Brad Lackey: Yeah, 40 years. After that championship, Suzuki quit their racing program. My contract was only two years, and it was up anyway. It was a great year for Suzuki; they beat Honda for the first time in a while. They hadn’t even been in the 500 class for five years, and when they came in, in ’81, it was kind of a development year, and they won in ’82. Suzuki took first and second in 500 world grand prix and won the manufacturer’s championship. They were really happy. But it was a giant recession year, and everybody was broke. All the teams got really small, a rider or two, except for Honda. So, Suzuki bailed out, and I didn’t have a ride. I couldn’t really go back to Honda, I guess I could have gone back to Kawasaki, but they had no money. Nobody was doing anything really, so I retired as the champ. I think I was the first one to do that. I guess you could call it semi-retirement because I rode the Carlsbad Grand Prix in 1983 just to have the #1 plate on the bike in the U.S. and get some photos.
After ’83, I kind of just got some Harleys and started doing some Harley rallies. Then I got in the T-shirt business for the Harley rallies and did the Hollister rally for seven years as the official T-shirt, and I did the Las Vegas bike fest for ten years as the official T-shirt. I was printing so much I bought all the equipment and started Bad Co. screen printing. I did that for quite some time and sold the business five or six years ago. I kept some of my best clients, and now I’m having someone else print the shirts for me, and they get shipped straight to the clients. I don’t even touch them anymore.
That sounds amazing!
Yeah. I’ve got some good T-shirt clients I deal with, and I still do some vintage stuff on the side. I do some motorcycle events, but not a lot. I do the CZ world championship. I’m going to do the Boise Inter-Am, I do four or five events a year. I’m basically retired. This May they invited my wife and me over to France for a race there, so we’ll go there. Then in June, we’re going to Scotland for another race. It’s just show up, say hi, and sign some autographs. They’ll pay a roundtrip ticket for my wife and me to go to Europe, so how can you turn that down?
You can’t.
Right. It’s over a $10,000 gig each time. I’ll be old enough soon that I won’t want to go anywhere, but right now, I still do. We’re still having fun. I just got back from Cabo too. We’re just raising up some grandkids and doing I guess what old folks do. I’ll be 69 this July, so I’m closing in on the big seven-oh. I don’t know what happens after that. I guess you get old.
Where are you living these days? Still in Northern California?
Yeah, I live in Pleasant Hill. It’s in the Bay Area. I was born in Berkeley and haven’t left the area.
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Well other than going on these trips to Europe and floating in a pool in Mexico, what are you doing to keep yourself entertained?
I ride a little bit on the street with buddies, and I restore some bikes. I just got done with a ’68 Kawasaki 238 not too long ago, and after that, I built a “mini-me” Suzuki GP 500 bike, which is a replica of my GP bike that I won the championship on, but it’s an 80cc Suzuki full-floater with upside-down forks and stuff. It’s pretty cool. When that bike is at a show or something, I put “mini-me” alongside it, and everyone gets a kick out of it. Right now, I’m working on a ’73 Bultaco 350. It’s kind of the first Bultaco I’ve ever done, so I’m learning. I did a ’68 Montessa 360 too. I still have a collection, and I buy and sell bikes and go to the auctions and stuff like that. That takes up a good amount of time.
In November, the neighbor’s 300-year-old oak tree fell on my house and came through the sheetrock right over my bed while I was in it. I got lucky on that one. I had a giant, old-school brick barbecue in the back yard, and the tree hit that and broke it, so the full force of the tree didn’t come crashing down on my house. That woulda’ pancaked ol’ Braddy I think. It almost got me. It did over $100,000 worth of damage on the house, so that’s what I’m doing right now, working on the house.
Well, I’m glad it missed you. Do you still ride dirt bikes?
On January first, we went riding with my son up in Petaluma [California] on minibikes and cruised around in the hills with some of his friends. I have an old Harley for the Harley guys, a ’67 Norton for the British guys, and a Ducati Elephante for the Ducati guys. So, I kind of have a bike for all occasions.
How closely do you follow the professional scene these days?
I’m in fantasy supercross, Rocky Mountain Fantasy, and we have a six-man team and play every week to see who wins, and we make bets sometimes. I watch every supercross and try to go to Hangtown every year. I watch the outdoor stuff and the GPs on TV too. I wouldn’t say religiously, but I try to watch.
Does it blow your mind when you go to Hangtown, at how much the sport has grown over the years?
Well, it was bigger before. It’s gone down, actually, since the ‘70s. It’s on TV now, and everything is different. I’m from the van days; now they have to build a parking lot for the big rigs. But I think it’s good. People are making money, and everyone is having fun. The top five guys work their butts off just like the top five guys have always worked their butts off. Making money in a sport that a lot of people don’t consider a sport is a good thing.
You said you were raising up some grandkids. Are they into bikes, and are they aware of the legend of Bad Brad?
No, they’re ten and eight. They come over here, and see some pictures and trophies and stuff, but they’re not into it. My son, Logan, is called the Wheelie Pig, and he did a Harley stunt show at A3. He also races the Harley Bagger Class. He has a one-year-old son, and he gets all the toys and the motorcycles and stuff. So, he’ll be the guy I have one shot left with him. [Laughs]
That does it for the questions I have for you. I appreciate you taking the time to do this. Did we miss anything?
No, I don’t think so. I’m not political or keep up with anything that goes on in the industry. I’m just happy there are still places to ride. I hope the AMA, or whoever, figures out this electric thing because they’re going to have to and let everyone race them. You can just have two classes until there’s no difference. Then you can put them together. In Europe, they lost 70 percent of their tracks because of noise. That’s the answer to those kinds of problems. I had an Alta, which was crazy good, and this new one that’s coming out from Europe is supposed to be even better.
Sometimes I feel as though, and this includes me, motocross people can be our own worst enemies at times. Noise is a serious issue, yet there are people who push back so hard against anything electric.
When the four-stroke thing came in, it was such a big deal. Now it’s normal, and a guy who is riding the two-stroke out there, he’s the weirdo. It’s always going to change. That’s how it works. If it’s not changing, it’s dead.
Photos from the Dick Miller Archives
