Gary Nixon & Bob's brotherHere is the story :
My neighbor here in Maryland is Bob Myers who owned Freestate Cycles. He was the DC area Triumph dealer for about 35 years. Gary first raced Triumphs for Freestate (flattrack and roadrace). Bob has a ton of stories, photos and memorablia on Gary. He was an AMA photographer and has 1,000's of racing photos archived by year/track. I snapped pictures of these from his collection with my camera phone. I keep telling him this stuff needs to be in a museum vs his basement...
Bob’s father, George Myers, his uncle, Ed Smith and friend Henry Jenkins, sold Ariels, Triumphs and Rudges out of his grandfather’s house in Hyattsville, MD, from 1937 until the war broke out in 1942. After the war, the three went in different directions.
Bob first rode on an AJS when he was 14, but his first bike was an Indian Chief with a sidecar.
Bob built an Ariel Square 4 for drag racing. « I raced the Ariel over 50 times and was finally beaten by a Triumph. I won so many times that the Richmond Harley-Davidson dealer send a factory rider o race me, but i beat him too » Bob said with a smile…
Click on the Pictures for the rest of the story.
One of Gary's roadracing Triumphs is in his collection along with a set of the white leathers (Bob says he started the white color leathers)
I sure would like to speak w/ Bob M. as he is partly responsible for my involvement w/ motorcycling over the past 47 years. I must have purchased 10 bikes from Bob who was real super guy and enthusiast of the sport. I still stay in contact w/ HS & College buddies who of which I spent many hours riding with and cutting classes. In fact, I am restoring older bikes to include a Honda 305 Scrambler ('65), Vespa '64, and a '69 Bonneville. I haven't lived in MD for many years.....harry.ohe@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteI will never forget the "Good old Days" of Freestate Cycle, where I purchased my first real motorcycle, a 1965 BULTACO, from Bob Meyers! I enjoyed going to VISTA RACEWAY, and watching Earl Meyers, Hal Burton, Gary Nixon, and George Montgomery, among others, hard at work! I still have, and ride the last bike I purchased fom Bob Meyers, my 1994 Honda Goldwing SE, which now has over 100,000 miles, but still runs great, 19 years later!(I bought it in 1993)-I hope that Bob Meyers and family are OK and doing well.-Bob Curry, 301-439-3873, Adelphi, Md.
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