30 Day Countdown to A1: #16 Mike Bell
Thursday, December 20, 2012 | 11:30 AM
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PrintWe're nearly halfway through our Monster Energy 30-day countdown to Anaheim 1 where we here at Racer X are naming the 30 best supercross racers ever. It's pretty fitting that today's rider slots so close into the middle of the countdown, because he occupies a particular spot right in the middle of supercross history.
When Bob "Hurricane" Hannah's three-year reign of supercross terror ended (in a waterskiing accident that left him with a broken leg) the 1980 AMA Supercross Championship was up for grabs. And Mike "Too Tall" Bell went out a grabbed it, putting together a great season. He swept the opening weekend double header in Seattle to establish himself, then poured on more wins to bring his season total to seven. He won the title by an impressive 49 points over Suzuki's Ken Howerton. It also extended the dominance of the mono-shocked Yamaha YZ250, which Hannah had ridden to the previous three titles.
Bell first breakthrough came in 1978 by winning the Superbowl of Motocross at the L.A. Coliseum over Bob Hannah. It was a great race where both of them raged through the pack and battled for the lead all the way to the last lap.
Mike Bell won 11 supercross races during his career.
Racer X Archives photo
Bell is known as "Too Tall" because (obviously) at six-foot-4-inches he was one of the taller riders out there. His height helped him in some of the gnarlier whoop sections. And by 1980, supercross tracks were beginning to evolve into more technical affairs, and Bell handled that well. Unfortunately, a series of knee injuries would slow him. He didn't win any races in 1981, but still finished second in the championship to Mark Barnett. He won a few more rounds in 1982 and 1983 before the knee problems put an end to his days up front.
Unfortunately, Bell won within a strange time in the sport. The 1970s were remember for the Hurricane and the 1980s became known as the "super training era" with incredible competition from the likes of Jeff Ward, Ricky Johnson, David Bailey, Johnny O'Mara, Mark Barnett, Broc Glover and the like. Bikes were also changing rapidly during this time. Bell won right in between those eras, so his 1980 crown doesn't always seem to stand out. But, the bottom line is, he won 11 career races (same as Ryan Dungey, for example) and his seven wins in 1980 was a single-season record at the time. That's good stuff. Good enough to put him right toward the middle of our 30 rider countdown.
Check out all of Mike Bell's career races in The Vault, brought to you by Kawasaki.
In 1980 Bell won seven races, a single-season record at the time.
Racer X Archive photo
The 30 Best Supercross Racers of All Time Tracker:
#17 Jeff Emig
#18 Johnny O’Mara
#19 Doug Henry
#20 Jimmy Ellis
#21 Mike LaRocco
#22 Ezra Lusk
#23 Broc Glover
#24 Ron Lechien
#25 Jimmy Weinert
#26 David Vuillemin
#27 Donnie Hansen
#28 Larry Ward
#29 Mike Kiedrowski
#30 Marty Tripes
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Man those were the days..........
For the record, Bell's bikes were the full on OW works machines night and day different than the YZs of the time. Hannah won some races on production bikes in 77 and 78 but he was the only team rider that I recall ever to do so during that time. About the only thing those bikes had in common was the YELLOW color and the general look! And Lord have mercy they were trick!
I think Bell is riding a YZ60 in that first picture....
I got his autograph at the 1979 model Yamaha dealer introduction in Las Vegas in Feb 1979. I was dissapointed at the time because Hannah wasn't there . There was about 5 years and 16" of height difference at the time w/ he and I.
Cool to see Mike Bell at #16. In 1979 or 1980 I was around 10 years old and had been riding motorcycles, going to places like Ocotillo and California City, since the age of 4. I lived in Lakewood and when I found out Mike "Too Tall" Bell had just moved into the house just down the street, next door to my best friend I was pretty excited and made sure to properly introduce myself. He signed a nice big poster which I framed and hangs on the wall of my garage to this day.
I saw a History of Oakley video and I hadn't realized he was one of the early employees at Oakley and was with part of the crazy global growth that Oakley has become. So not only did he kill it in Supercross I'm sure he did as well in business.
Snowden Ave & Charlwood if you read this Mike :-)
UTBMXCruiser
RJ rode a production based 250 in the early eighties.
JimM
Pala374
WHOOP MASTER
I got to watch Mike win at Houston on Friday night, then take second on Saturday night in the Houston Astrodome in 1980.. Went back and looked at some pics I have of the evening, track had a huge man made hill in it with a small preload jump just at the foot of it. Mike was one of the only guys to use the little jump to clear the hill and land the back side, he was the man!!!....Also, unless my pics got mixed up, The Wheelie King was there doing his thing which was truly amazing..On Sunday, they let the amateurs out on the track, with a few minor changes...I had three of my friends race on Sunday, Baker the rider I sponsored got to mix it up with Wyman Priddy in the expert class for a few laps before he went down...Ok I will shut up now ..Good Times!!!
1980 was a great year I remember all the double day venues it would be nice to see that again. No such luck . LOL!
Come on Weigandt......get it together! "He won the title by an impressive 49 points over Suzuki's Ken Howerton."
His name is "KENT" Howerton. Not "Ken."
MrMx.. Glad to hear you have the surgeries behind you and your getting back to normal..2012 was a rough year for you!! Enjoy the upcoming Christmas season and I hope the New Year treats you and yours much better.
Last year I met Bucky at Spring Creek, I have plans to return for 2013, be nice if we could meet up there...Maybe MX Bob, BillC and a few others could all show up and have a Conversation Convention. The only thing that could surpass all the talent on the track, would be all the bench racing done off the track...
My first replica jersey was a Mike Bell MSR jersey. I wore it while riding my XR 75!
True I guess I should have been more specific on the time frame. I was specifically talking of Bell, who was done I believe before the end of 83. 83 being the last year that Yamaha used their works bikes in the US. RJ was a busted front wheel away from the 82 250 National title against Hanson riding that absolute tank of an 82 YZ 250. They actually at one time offered him an 82 works bike but for whatever reason he stuck with the YZ. RJ with the full factory ride in 83 didn't seem to match his earlier successes of 82 on the 83 works bike ended up blowing up right in front of me as I watched at Colorado dislocating his hip! That was a sad day for us Yamaha fans! Then Yamaha drops the works machines for 84 production YZs and still the guy came back and won the 250 title. Then off to Honda for him in 85 while Glover stuck it out on the Yamaha production bikes. 86 being the first year that all the manufacturers had to run production bikes.
utbmxcruiser you bring back nice memories of the mecca of mx in the early 80s, good stuff but RJ rode a white yz 250 in 85 to inconsistent results and suspension problems and left for honda for 86 instead of going to kawi because kawi chose to sing lechien....mike bell was great but no way is he ahead of emig and omara.
B787tech
You're right. I'm losing sleep over this. I don't know how to fix this problem--I'm the editor and the writer here so if i make a mistake I'm stuck with it.
WHY DID I LEAVE OUT THE T IN KENT???
No clue. Trust me I know it's Kent, not Ken. Have the Saddleback Massacre DVD. Remember the old posters they used to sell in the back of MXA and Dirt Bike, including the classic Hannah with his feet off the pegs shot from Unadilla, another that said "Chuck Sun on the rocks" and another that said, simply ""Clark" Kent Howerton."
I know it's Kent, not Ken. I made a typo. I really wish I had a better explanation.
@BD25 - I probably won't make it to Spring Creek this year, but maybe the Phoenix SX or Lake Elsinore. I don't know if you lived in OK at the time, but I made it to the ISDE qualifier in 2006 (2005?), Memorial Day weekend. I tend to BS with anyone that will listen when I'm at the races. Might have saw you there.
The tank is a dead give-away that its an OW, not a YZ. Yes, I remember the works designations; Suz RH, Honda RC, Kawasaki ???
MXBob Bucky and I were looking for you this past year at Spring Creek...along with Ripdown... I looked at your web page, read some of your stories, very interesting...maybe I will get some of my stuff up on a page one day as i have lots of stories too...Yes I have lived in Oklahoma all my life, still live on the same farm that my grandparents raised me on..let me know if your ever back down this way...
@ MX Bob the old Kaw works bikes were { SR }
Hey Jason,
It takes a real jack ass like b787 to point out something so irrelevant. I, along with thousands of others, absolutely enjoy these articles your writting about supercross racers. If it really irritates someone that you accidentally left the letter "T" off a word, they obviously should stop at looking at their own sentence structure. Read b787's paragraph, I can count at least 3 mistakes in it.. I make mistakes myself all the time typing on this stupid iphone because I would assume people are smart enough to look past it knowing we dont proof read. This is not english class.. We all do it, such as life.. It's the content that counts.
Keep up the good work and don't sweat the small stuff.
BD25.. That would be EPIC!!!
Typos and all, love me some Weege....just sayin. But, now that some other a-hole brought it up, what kind of dirt DO you have on DC that compels him to keep a loser like you around, eh? Heehee. Merry Christmas, one and all.