You could pick virtually any Top-10 or Hall of Fame-worthy category in motorcycling, and Bud Ekins would be worthy of argument for inclusion.
Ekins was one of the true pioneers of motorcycle racing in America, and he went on to even bigger fame as a Hollywood stuntman. He is perhaps best known for his legendary jump over a barbed wire fence in the film “The Great Escape,” which starred longtime friend and fellow motorcycle racer Steve McQueen.
Why Ekins is worthy of being on this list is because in addition to being a Grand Prix-level motocross racer as well as a winning desert and off-road racer, but he also earned gold medals in ISDT competition. In 1964, Ekins, his brother Dave, Cliff Coleman and Steve McQueen contested the German ISDE and actually led the event before McQueen crashed out and Ekins suffered a broken leg in a separate incident. Nevertheless, Ekins won four gold medals and one silver medal while competing in ISDTs in the 1960s. Racing became less of a priority when he began doing stunt work for the major motion picture companies near his Hollywood, California, shop in 1962. Ekins eventually retired in the 1980s, but he continued to maintain his shop almost right up to the day he passed way in 2007.
Ekins was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.
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