American Motorcyclist Association old featured stories Goodbye, Malcolm

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    Jermaine Bean February 9, 2025

    😪😪😪

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    SSG (Ret) Gregory Todd May 19, 2025

    I recently came across this issue and realized I hadn’t read it yet. Saw Malcom on the cover and immediately dove into the issue. Not sure when I first heard about Malcolm Smith, but I’ve been into motorcycles since the late 60s. In Nov 1986, the Army was sending me to Korea. On my way, I spent a few days with my parents in SoCal. Since Riverside was only 45 minutes away, and I had wanted to meet Malcolm for years, I decided to go down there and see if I could meet him. Mission accomplished. He treated me like an old friend. I brought some pictures of when he had ridden at Fort Hood (a two-qualifier that had been hosted by the Fort Hood Dirt Riders Club). He remembered competed there a few times, as well as the time the Texas rocks broke his Husqvarna. I handed him a set of the photos and asked him if he would autograph my copy, which he gladly did. He then proceeded to take me back into the warehouse area. He gave me a few goodies for me and my then 22-month-old son. Afterwards, we went back up front. They were about to do a shoot for there 1987 catalog. He then introduced me to Fritz Kadlec (a top enduro racer that was going to be part of the shoot). Before I left, he told me to send him my APO address for Korea and he’d send me a copy of the new catalog. Fast-forward about 15 years later. I was attending a conference in Fort Worth, when they announced that Malcolm Smith was doing an autograph signing (along with James Stewart and a few other racers). He remembered meeting me back in 1986. What a great man. He will definitely be missed.

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