The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame has announced the 17 nominees for the Hall of Fame Class of 2025, and voting is now open to select the members of the class. Among the 17 are 2000 and 2002 World Superbike Champion Colin Edwards and legendary AMA and World Superbike Championship-winning team owner/crew chief Eraldo Ferracci.
“The nominees for the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Class of 2025 are an outstanding group of people who have made a lifelong commitment to motorcycling and the motorcycle community,” AMA President and CEO Rob Dingman said. “These individuals have played an instrumental role in the growth of motorcycling in a variety of ways, including excellence in racing, supporting champions as tuners, innovating new motorcycle designs and advocating for motorcyclists’ rights. This is an extraordinary group of motorcyclists, and we are proud to recognize them as nominees for the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame.”
The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame selection committee has put forward 17 nominees from areas of influence: Ambassadors & Industry, Design and Engineering, Dirt Track, Leadership & Rights, Motocross & Supercross, Off-Road, Road Racing, and Specialty Competition.
Voting ends Monday, June 16, at 11:59 p.m., and eligible voters include previous Hall of Fame inductees, members of the AMA and AMHF Board of Directors, and members of the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Category Selection Committees. AMA Life Members are also eligible to vote, and should make sure their contact information is updated in order to receive the latest updates and announcements pertaining to the voting process.
Those eligible to vote may do so at AmericanMotorcyclist.com/hall-of-fame/hall-of-fame-members/current-class-and-voting/.
Voting results will be announced shortly after voting ends, and the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held on Thursday, Oct. 23, in Pickerington, Ohio.
Competition
Bill Ballance — Off-Road
Widely regarded as one of the greatest cross-country ATV racers of all time, Bill Ballance’s outstanding racing career is one for the history books. During his outstanding run, Ballance claimed nine GNCC ATV XC1 championships, all in row, from 2000 to 2008, breaking a record set by AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Barry Hawk. In addition to his championship-winning pedigree, Ballance secured 67 national event wins, making him one of the most accomplished ATV racers ever.
Colin Edwards — Road Racing
Colin Edwards, aka the “Texas Tornado,” is an American road racing icon celebrated for his technical prowess and versatility. After dominating the club and WERA ranks, he turned pro in 1992 and captured that year’s AMA 250cc Grand Prix Championship. He went on to win the 2000 and 2002 World Superbike titles for Honda, notching a total of 31 victories in WSBK. Edwards also triumphed three times at the Suzuka 8-Hour Endurance Race, and garnered 12 podium finishes in MotoGP. Retiring from racing in 2014, he now runs the Texas Tornado Boot camp.
Jerry Griffith — Dirt Track
Jerry Griffith created the motorcycles that powered American Honda’s massive success in American flat track racing during the 1980s. His final design — the legendary Honda RS750 — claimed five AMA Grand National Championships, and 81 AMA Grand National victories, from 1983 to 1998. As the late American Honda flat track team manager and AMA Hall of Famer Gene Romero said, “Jerry Griffith was the Honda dirt track program, period.” If Griffith had not been hired by American Honda, it is very likely that the legendary RS750 would never have been born.
Billy Hamill — Specialty Competition
Nicknamed “The Bullet,” Billy Hamill began racing junior speedway in 1983, and turned professional in 1986. Just 10 years after turning pro, Hamill became the fourth American to claim the FIM Speedway World Championship with his win in 1996. Two years later, Hamill raced alongside AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Greg Hancock to win the 1998 World Speedway Team Cup Championship for the U.S. In 1999, Hamill claimed the AMA Speedway National Championship, which he went on to win five times. During this impressive run, Hamill also collected four U.S. National Speedway titles. Hamill was named the 2012 AMA Sportsman of the Year.
Joe Kopp — Dirt Track
Joe Kopp reached the pinnacle of American Flat Track competition by winning the 2000 AMA Grand National Championship. He also dominated the AMA Supertracker National Championship, taking home the 1999 and 2000 titles. His impressive record in AMA Grand National events includes 21 career wins, placing him 17th among the all-time greats, and 81 career Grand National podium finishes, ninth all-time. Kopp is also one of 15 riders to complete the prestigious Dirt Track Grand Slam, winning at least one race in each of the four dirt track disciplines: Short Track, TT, Half-Mile and Mile.
Carl Patrick — Dirt Track
Carl Patrick stands out as one of the most accomplished engine builders and chassis tuners in the history of AMA Grand National racing. From 1974 to 2010, Patrick’s engines powered riders to an impressive 20 AMA Grand National Championship victories. After competing as an AMA expert in the late ’60s and early ’70s, Patrick moved to engine building and chassis tuning for successful riders such as AMA Hall of Famer Hank Scott and, later, Joe Kopp.
Chad Reed — Motocross/Supercross
Australian-born Chad Reed left a significant mark on the AMA Supercross and Pro Motocross scenes for nearly two decades beginning in the early 2000s. Focusing on the U.S. scene starting in 2002, Reed began racking up wins, and by retirement had tallied 61 AMA Supercross and Pro Motocross victories on the way to capturing AMA 125SX East (’02), AMA Supercross (’04 and ’08) and 450 Pro Motocross championships. In 2009, Reed was awarded AMA Athlete of the Year honors, and holds the record for most AMA Supercross Main Event starts (265) and podium finishes (132). In 2011, Reed was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia, an honor awarded to Australians who have demonstrated exceptional achievement.
Non-Competition
Dana Bell — Leadership & Rights
A decade after joining the motorcycling community, Dana Bell worked her way to being a nationally ranked enduro competitor. From 1992 to 1999, Bell shifted her focus to rights issues, and worked as the Western States Representative for the AMA’s Government Relations Department. She also worked as a state partner for the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council (NOHVCC). For her role as a key voice for motorcyclists’ rights, the AMA Board of Directors presented Bell with the AMA Motorcycling Advocate Award, an honor recognizing those who have led the fight for the rights of motorcyclists. Bell was just the third person to receive the award.
Chris Carter — Ambassadors & Industry
Chris Carter is the founder and president of Motion Pro Inc., a company on the leading edge of specialty-tool design with 30-some patents to its credit. Over the years, Carter has also served as an ambassador of the sport and industry, with Motion Pro holding more than 100 annual sponsorships of racers, teams, organizations, and events. Carter and Motion Pro also support many charitable and non-profit organizations, including motorcycle trail preservation and ensuring that access is available to all. Carter is also a motorcycle historian and published author, and earned an International Six Day Trials gold medal for the U.S. in Austria in 1976.
Selvaraj Narayana — Ambassadors & Industry
As a man who wore many hats throughout his long career in the motorcycle industry, Selvaraj Narayana — affectionately known as Sel — is one of the motorcycling world’s most accomplished and recognizable figures. After establishing himself as a key figure at Germany’s Maico firm, especially in its racing department, Narayana joined KTM in the early 1990s and helped develop the Austrian company’s rise to prominence in AMA Supercross and grow the brand into a worldwide powerhouse. Narayana is currently an executive director and he longest-tenured executive management team member at KTM. For his efforts within the motorcycle industry, Narayana was awarded the AMA’s prestigious Dud Perkins Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.
Donald Rich — Design & Engineering
Donald Rich is an innovator in the Harley-Davidson world, an aftermarket specialist who has made a lasting impact on the brand’s presence since his entry into the industry in the early 1970s, when he repaired engines out of a small California shop. Just seven years later, Rich opened his own facility, where he designed and sold Harley parts and accessories, and eventually his signature Thunderheader exhaust system, which for Harley-Davidson motorcycles is renowned for its sound and performance.
John Taylor — Design & Engineering
As the eastern states’ Bultaco and Ossa distributor (Cemoto), creator of the Full Bore accessory line, an ISDT competitor and founder of Yankee Motors, which produced the rare and unique Yankee 500Z motorcycle, John Taylor achieved quite a lot in the motorcycle industry beginning in the 1960s. His formation of Yankee Motors and the production of the twin-cylinder two-stroke 500Z in the early 1970s is perhaps his biggest calling card. And while the primarily off-road machine was overbuilt and too heavy to be an effective dirt bike, the 500Z remains quite memorable and is absolutely collectible.
Well-Qualified
Michael Czysz — Design & Engineering
Architect and amateur roadracer Michael Czysz launched himself into motorcycling prominence when he designed and built a MotoGP racebike featuring a unique V-4 engine, though it was his electric-bike racing exploits at the Isle of Man that cemented his legacy as a pioneer in motorcycle design and engineering. Czysz machines won all the 2010-2013 Isle of Man electric races, and his EV innovations live on today through licensing agreements.
Eraldo Ferracci — Road Racing
Born in 1938, Eraldo Ferracci spent decades going fast and building record-setting machinery. Ferracci founded Team Fast by Ferracci Ducati, which not only roared to two FIM World Superbike Championships (1991, 1992, with AMA Hall of Famer Doug Polen aboard) and two AMA Superbike Championships (1993 Polen, 1994 Troy Corser), it put Ducati back on the international racing map at the highest levels. Ferracci is a member of the FIM World Superbike Hall of Fame, as well as a founding member of Ducati North America Hall of Fame.
Richard Gross — Dirt Track
Richard Gross was a master tuner for the Indian Wrecking Crew that dominated dirt track racing in the 1950s. Gross-tuned bikes won 20 national championship races in the late 1940s and 1950s, six of those in 1952. He developed a camshaft that provided a lobe for each valve, increasing power, and was a pioneer in using aluminum components to lighten bikes by as much as 45 pounds.
Charles Umbenhauer — Leadership & Rights
Charles Umbenhauer has devoted more than 30 years of his life to motorcyclist advocacy in the state of Pennsylvania, working with ABATE and the AMA to safeguard funding for rider education, ensure voluntary adult helmet use, reduce tolls for motorcycles and secure motorcycle parking at state-owned facilities. He is also the recipient of the 2015 AMA Dud Perkins Lifetime Achievement Award.
Ryan Young — Specialty Competition
With a record-breaking six consecutive AMA/NATC Championships from 1988 to 1993, Ryan Young left an indelible stamp on the trials world. Young won the top class for the first time at age 21, and his success earned him a spot on eight consecutive USA Trial des Nations teams. Beyond competition, Young impacted the sport through his company Ryan Young Products, and by utilizing his knowledge to educate those learning the sport.
