Dave Johnson
Dave Johnson was a great technician to many top riders during his long and successful career, and a good friend to many more. From grand prix to the road circuits, Dave plied his trade and always carried a ready smile, right up to the end of his life – cut short far too early, at his home in Austria. With many projects still on the go it’s fair to say that Dave would be upset to leave them unfinished. Rest in peace my friend and if you are looking down I hope this short tribute from Steve Parrish, which he insisted on adding, will make you smile. Malc Wheeler
Dave Johnson, aka ‘Mushroom’ (he loved being called it – kept in the dark and fed bullshit!) I first met Dave when he was working for Tom Herron in 1979, which tragically was after Tom’s early departure at the NW200, an event that really knocked Dave for six. Mushroom joined me at Mitsui Yamaha around 1983 and boy did he work – machining, welding, whatever was needed, all intermingled with lots of fun and laughter. Dave’s finest moment was building my RD 500 V4 race bike. Mitsui sent us a new road bike and along with Harris performance stripped it and built a frame around the engine, heavily modified with 125cc Motox cylinders and pistons, and it kind of worked. Dave was responsible for the SLUG, as he’d named it. The old OW53 reverse cylinder Yamaha was well out of date but DJ squeezed the best out of it! I will never forget and will always appreciate the talent of this larger-than-life genius and especially that huge daft smile. RIP Mushroom. Steve Parrish