AL GUNTER

A Texan, born in Houston in 1933 Al Gunter was not only a top rider who kept the Gold Star winning short track events into the 1960's. He was also a skilled tuner who was able, according to BSA development engineer Roland Pike, to get more power out of a Gold Star than BSA could.

As an individual he was more complicated, perhaps even contradictory. Described by Dick Mann as "... a great mechanic and one of the smartest and shrewdest riders he ever knew" he was also described by Neil Keen as "...handsome to a fault, as charming as a bird, and as eccentric as the March Hare."  Yet he could also be very abrasive and would deliberately unsettle other riders by adjusting his gloves, goggles and bike position to delay the start of a race.

Although starting with a Triumph dealer in Oakland, and sometimes rode Harleys, Gunter moved to BSA and made his name on that marque.

In 1952 he was the first person to win a National on a BSA, riding a 500cc Star Twin at Shreveport.

1952 was his first Daytona finishing 5th, In 1953 he didn't finish,

Although he came 4th at Daytona in 1954 he won at Sturgis later that year. On the trip there he was accompanied by a young amateur he had taken under his wing, Dick Mann.

1957 not provided Gunter with his best result there but also one of the legendary Daytona stories.

During pre-race testing with Dick Mann they stopped for plug checks. Relations with the police at Daytona were not always good and on this occasion the sheriff turned-up and decided to arrest both for speeding, excessive noise and riding their bikes without lights or license plates. In response, Gunter took off!  Pushing Mann into his car the sheriff took off in hot pursuit and called an APB for Gunter.

With many police now mobilised Gunter was finally tracked-down and arrested in his motel room where he was calmly watching television. Since the back road and the motel were in different counties, the BSA boss Ted Hodgson had to post bond and bail both out of two different county jails in time to compete next day.

The race itself was also a legend. A duel had been shaping-up between Gunter and Leonard during the time trials where Gunter recorded a speed of 116.12 mph and Leonard 115.38.  So when the race started, it was Gunter and Leonard who took off at a cracking pace and ran away from the rest of the field.

Leonard took the lead in lap 15 when Gunter got stuck behind some other riders coming out of the North turn. Leonard was then given a gift by Gunter’s pit crew.  After a pit stop for fuel, Gunter’s crew push-started his bike then turned back for the pits – but didn’t realise Gunter’s bike had stalled! 

By the time Gunter started 30 seconds later it was beyond the skill of any rider to make-up the difference. While Gunter tried harder with each corner, Leonard rode confidently all the way to the finish with Gunter in second place. 

Such was the ferocity of this duel that both riders finished almost 2 minutes ahead of the next.  In addition, a new record of 98.52 mph had been set with the first 3 riders all breaking the old Brad Andres record.

Gunter was king at his home track at Ascot Park in Los Angeles and won there for nearly 10 years. Ironically it was there that his career ended in the late 1960's when he crashed into a fence, leaving him paraplegic.

No longer able to race bikes, he suffered a year of depression and in despair took his own life.

Note. I am greatly indebted to David Hagen and Carl Edeburn who provided much (if not most!) of the background information on Gunter's personality and character.