AMA Motorbike Corridor of Famer T.C. Christenson Passes Away
PICKERINGTON, Ohio — The AMA Motorbike Corridor of Fame affords its heartfelt condolences to the household and buddies of 2005 Corridor of Fame inductee T.C. Christenson, who handed away [at the age of 80] on Monday, Sept. 25.
A local of Kenosha, Wis., Christenson entered the world of motorcycling when he was 15 years previous, buying a rundown Whizzer bike — which he had restored in the course of the spring of 1959. Not lengthy after, Christenson discovered his area of interest in drag racing.
Christenson’s love affair with drag racing started as a leisure pursuit, as he began out competing in opposition to buddies on empty rural roads for bragging rights and money. By 1963, Christenson delved into regulated racing on the native Union Grove Drag Strip, successful his very first sanctioned race.
From there, Christenson began racing aboard Nortons and commenced to work at Sundown Motors, a Norton dealership owned by John Gregory. Christenson and Gregory fashioned a dynamic duo with the Nortons, and Christenson emerged as among the best drag racers within the Midwest in the course of the mid-Sixties. On the similar time, Christenson additionally competed in street racing for Ducati.
In 1969, Christenson bought the bike dealership from Gregory, and the pairing continued to chase championships collectively by constructing 750cc drag racing bikes. From 1970-72, Christenson and Gregory developed a trio of twin-engine Nortons dubbed the Hogslayer, named for its means to upset the dominant Harley-Davidson drag racers of the time.
The Hogslayer gained worldwide fame following its development, and Christenson and Gregory traveled to the UK on quite a few events to reveal the bike on nationwide tv. The Hogslayer is now housed within the British Nationwide Motorbike Museum in Bickenhill, England. In 2004, the Hogslayer was a part of the NHRA’s “Golden 50” show on the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.
Aboard the Hogslayer, Christenson grew into one of many quickest drag racers on Earth, incomes the NHRA U.S. Nationals title in the course of the 1972 season — the primary marketing campaign that included Gasoline Bikes in this system. One 12 months later, Christenson set the then-A/Gasoline Bike elapsed time file with a 7.83-second run, which propelled him to the win on the NHRA Nationwide Motorbike Document Championships.
Regardless of Norton ceasing manufacturing in 1975, Christenson claimed the official NHRA Gasoline Bike Nationwide Championship in 1976. Though Christenson was capable of subsidize his racing bills by way of his bike dealership for a number of years after Norton’s closing, his racing profession slowed down from that time ahead with the emergence of supercharged single-engine Japanese bikes taking up the drag racing scene.
After his racing profession, Christenson continued to run the Sundown Motors Dealership in Kenosha.
Concerning the American Motorcyclist Affiliation
Based in 1924, the AMA is a not-for-profit member-based affiliation whose mission is to advertise the bike life-style and defend the way forward for motorcycling. Because the world’s largest motorcycling rights and occasion sanctioning group, the AMA advocates for riders’ pursuits in any respect ranges of presidency and sanctions 1000’s of competitors and leisure occasions yearly. In addition to providing members money-saving reductions on services and products, the AMA additionally publishes American Motorcyclist, a lately revitalized and month-to-month full-color journal (and digital model of similar) that covers present occasions and bike historical past with sensible pictures and compelling writing. American Motorcyclist can also be North America’s largest-circulation journal. By means of the AMA Motorbike Corridor of Fame in Pickerington, Ohio, the AMA honors the heroes and heritage of motorcycling. For extra data, go to americanmotorcyclist.com.
Not a member? Be a part of the AMA in the present day: americanmotorcyclist.com.
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