Rob Morrison: Trailblazers 2015 Hall of Fame

Well, the excitement is building as we approach the 71st annual Trailblazers banquet on Saturday, April 11th at the Carson Center in Carson. Tickets sold out quickly for the second year in a row, but for the 700+ who did order early enough, a great event awaits you. As we have been doing these past few months, here’s a look at another of our 2015 honorees, Rob Morrison.

Rob Morrison was born in 1952 and grew up in Fontana, California. He started riding motorcycles at 16. Then one day in the late 1960’s Rob accompanied his father to Perris Raceway to watch the TT Scrambles races. Rob was hooked and was soon racing himself.

By 1971 Rob was a rising star racing in the District 37 Expert class, riding for shops like K&N and Ontario Cycle. In 1972 Rob moved up to an AMA Pro Novice license. Riding a Pete Pistone tuned Bultaco; he won the 1972 California State Championship. He moved up to the Junior class in 1973 and started riding a Norton built by “Big Bill” Rychlik and Harold Allison. He did well enough on the Norton to be promoted to Expert in 1974.

Rob’s rookie Expert season started out on a Dick Kelm Yamaha which he raced at the San Jose Mile. This was the first mile Morrison had ever ridden; he made the main and finished with a respectable 10th place, finishing ahead of such riders as Mark Brelsford, Hank Scott, Jim Odom, Terry Dorsch, and Chuck Palmgren. Rob’s riding style and tenacity got the attention of Ron Wood. Wood offered Ron the ride on his Nortons at Ascot and that season, Rob Morrison on Ron Wood’s Norton became a winning combo that would win the 1974 Ascot Championship.

Next, Rob signed on with the Norton factory team to race the 1975 season in the AMA Camel Pro Series. It was a season of high points and low points. Signing to a factory dirt track team was every racer’s dream. But the factory Norton’s weren’t competitive with the Harley-Davidson XR750’s of the time. Plus, Norton was in a steep financial decline and shut down the program in mid-season. Without a sponsored ride for dirt track racing, Rob moved to the Speedway racing. He raced five nights a week all through the 1976 and 1977 seasons. He did well enough to make a good living in Speedway and became a member of the L.A. Sprockets Speedway Team.

Rob retired from full-time racing in 1978, but never stopped riding motorcycles. Today he is a successful self-employed businessman. He still enjoys going to the races and has been an active member of the TrailBlazers for many years. Most weekends you can still find Rob riding his motorcycle along the coast of southern California.

The TrailBlazers proudly welcome Rob Morrison to the 2015 Hall of Fame.