THE DESERT SLED
To say that Southern California’s Big Bear Run was a popular race in the 1950s is an understatement.
In 1958, there were 851 entries for the offroad, mostly desert race, despite the fact that it was a really tough trip. Only 145 riders finished, with Bud Ekins taking the win. Ekins, the other top five finishers, and the majority of the other riders on the track were aboard Triumphs. The model chosen by most competitors was a single carburetor 649cc twin with high pipes and an easily detachable headlight — a Triumph TR6. Racers called it The Desert Sled.
“Over a period of several years, Scott has put together a collection of all four of the 1967 Triumph 650s.”
No one quite knows how a bike set up for racing in the arid bad-lands became known as a Desert Sled, but the name stuck. Single carburetor 650cc Triumphs rocked and rolled Southwestern desert racing through the 1950s and 1960s. If you wanted to compete in the Catalina Grand Prix, the Greenhorn Enduro, the Barstow to Vegas run, and the hare and hound racing that was sponsored by several of the local clubs, you went out and bought a TR6, with the high pipes. Prominent racers Ed Kretz, Jr. and Eddie Mulder, and racer turned movie
