John Tibben
2004, Competition
The racing fever has burned inside of John since he was a youngster!
During his career, he raced in over 1,000 races and had only four
serious accidents.
At the age of 11 he acquired a Whizzer Motorbike. Sliding around
curves on Iowa's rural gravel roads improved John's skills in a hurry.
In 1955 John entered his first race on a Harley '45, and won 1st
place. Continuing in AMA flat track racing, riding a Harley KR, he
earned National #60 in 1958; a number he maintained until his
retirement in 1975.
John won many AMA Fairground and weekend Flat Track races on his
Harley KR rigid frame (with no brakes). He also ran the Dayonta
200 Road Races for nine years, finishing in the top 15 most of
the time.
At the 1964 Daytona Race John created lots of excitement. On the
32nd lap, he roared into the pits, standing up, with the seat of
his Harley on fire! The blaze whas quickly extinguished, the seat
ripped off, and John continued on to finish 15th, a remarkable
performance by anybody's standards.
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