Max Bubeck
2003, Competition
Max Bubeck proves the saying, "You don't stop riding because you get
old, you get old because you stop riding." A fierce enduro
competitor from 1937 to 1979, Max's motorcycling spirit had him
riding transcontinental runs while in his 80's!
A loyal Indian rider, Max rode the all-time fastest unstreamlined
Indian, hitting 135.58 mph doing speed trials on his Chief. He also
raced in thirty-two Greenhorn enduro races, finishing in twentry-
four of them, winning twice, with four second place finishes, and
eighteen below tenth place. From 1969 to 1972, when many riders
younger than his 50-odd years had already retired, he was ranked the
number one trail biker in California's district 17 enduros.
Max purchased a new Indian Four in 1939 and personally made extensive
modifications - drilling the crankshaft with extra oil passages,
installing an oil cooler and filter, trimming down the flywheel etc.
- modifications proven over 56 years and 168,000 miles on his 1939.
Today many classic Indian Four owners make the same modifications to
allow their Fours to tolerate today's highway speeds. In it's prime,
the Four's top speed was 108.43 in 1941. His '39 Indian Four has
made three trips from coast to coast, the last a 9000-mile trek in
1989 to Massachusetts, where Max was introduced into the Indian
Motorcycle Hall of Fame.
Max Bubeck has ridden well over 600,000 miles in his lifetime with
at least 50,000 miles of it on enduro courses in over 300 events
spanning four decades. As max said in an article several years ago,
"The world was our playground and we would never grow old." Let us
all hope motorcycling's version of Peter Pan lives forever...
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