The Trailblazers M.C. has named the third of its Hall of Fame inductees to be honored at its 68th annual banquet to be held in Carson, CA. on April 14, 2012. Joining the two previously named inductees—Jim McMurren and Eddie Lawson—Bob Sirkegian Sr. will be one of the two Posthumous awards in the next Hall of Fame class.
Sirkegian was born May 19, 1898 in Fresno, CA. He began riding in 1912 and was soon racing dirt track and board track racing. He also eventually became an Indian Motocycle dealer in Fresno. He was initially one of eleven board trackers riding for Indian, and later also rode for Harley-Davidson, Super X and many other factories. His AMA Life Member number was 31.
In 1921 he moved to San Diego to open another Indian dealership, while continuing his racing on board tracks and dirt oval tracks throughout the USA until 1929. He also became the first USA distributor for J.A.P. Speedway Motorcycles and began promoting weekly Class A Speedway races at Balboa Stadium in San Diego. In 1924 he took on Guy Urquhart as his partner at the motorcycle dealership.
In 1938 he sold his half of the partnership to Urquhart, married and moved to Nutley, NJ. At the request of the Indian factory he opened the largest Indian dealership on the east coast. Still a J.A.P. distributor he was now promoting Speedway racing 3 times a week on the east coast. This led to the creation of a West Coast-East Coast Match Race Series, which included legendary Speedway star Sprouts Elder, one of Bob’s friends from his hometown of Fresno.
In 1946, Sirkegian sold his east coast motorcycle dealership and moved back to the Los Angeles area where he and his younger brother Al opened up another Indian dealership known as Sirkegian Bros. They sold Indian, Mustang, Cushman and Evinrude Outboards, and later added Triumph and Ariel Motorcycles.
Upon Bob’s return to the west coast he became reacquainted with A.F. Van Order, Floyd Clymer and others in the Trailblazers and began attending the annual banquets, as well as providing some financial support when asked in order the keep banquets going.
In 1948 Bob built a a TT track called Sirkegian Stadium and promoted races there, as well as at another track called Mint Canyon which was located on another of his brothers’ property. In 1950 Sirkegian began promoting motorcycle road races and drag races at the Santa Ana Blimp Base
In 1951 and ’54, Sirkegian Bros. was the second highest selling dealer for Triumph and Ariel motorcycles in the Western USA. In 1952 and ’53, they were the highest selling Triumph and Ariel dealer in the Western USA. In ’53, Bob bought out his brother Al and became sole owner of the dealership. He also bought out Hollywood Motors, which sold BSA,
In 1955 Bob started selling BMW, NSU and BSA in his Los Angeles store after closing the Hollywood store. Then in 1957 he moved the business to Monrovia selling BMW, NSU, BSA and Harley-Davidson.
Bob Sirkegian Sr passed away at home on May 31, 1960, leaving his wife Ruby and two sons, Bob Junior and Douglas.
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