Hall of fame beckons Albertans
Driving.ca’s Williams, couple to be honoured
The Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame will host its annual induction and awards gala in Edmonton this weekend and Albertans will figure prominently in this year’s event.
Starting in 2006, the Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame has each year recognized individuals who have contributed significantly to motorcycling in Canada. For 2014, Edmonton-area residents Steen and Marion Hansen will be officially inducted and Calgary motor journalist Greg Williams will receive the Barr and Heddy Hodgson Award.
Steen and Marion Hansen are the couple behind one of Canada’s largest motorcycle parts and accessories businesses, Steen Hansen Racing Products, a company that grew into a multimillion-dollar national distributor for brands such as Husqvarna motorcycles, Pirelli, Sidi, Arai and Ohlins. The CMHF will hon- our Steen and Marion Hansen for their contribution to motorcycling as “builder, contributor, competitor.”
The Hansens’ business success started humbly when the couple left Denmark and arrived in Canada in 1959 with forty-seven dollars in cash. Motocross racing in North America was still in its infancy in the 1960s and protective racing gear was non-existent. In 1968, the Hansens started importing Swedish-manufactured leather pants and boots and sold them out of their basement. The Hansens brought in 100 pairs of boots and word spread quickly in the motorcycle community these previously unobtainable boots were available.
“People were lined up at the house,” recalls Marion, “and we sold out in just one week.”
In 1968, the Hansens bought three Husqvarna motorcycles, started as a distributor for the now famous Swedish brand and eventually became major racing sponsors.
Throughout his 45 years in the industry, Steen has been a fierce off-road racer. With the Hansens preparing to downsize their residence, clearing out a life’s worth of memorabilia has begun.
While Steen’s business acu- men and racing accomplishments are widely recognized, his product and engineering savvy are less well known.
Husqvarna motorcycles had earned a legendary racing reputation for their powerful twostroke engines. But early on, Steen saw a new possibility for evolving the Swedish dirt bike and built a one-off motorcycle with a four-stroke Honda engine in a Husky chassis. Steen showed his four-stroke engine custom Husky dirt bike to Husqvarna officials and they must have liked it.
“Two year later, Husqvarna brought out a four-stroke bike,” Steen says with a wry smile.
Still fit and trim, Steen and Marion Hansen remain active in the motorcycle community. Steen continues to participate in vintage racing.
Another Albertan being recognized at this year’s award ceremony is noted motor journalist Greg Williams, a weekly contributor to Driving.ca. Williams is one of Canada’s most widely-published motorcycle journalists and is highly regarded for his knowledge of and passion for vintage motorcycles. He is a columnist for the Calgary Herald weekly driving section and is a monthly columnist for several motorcycle enthusiast and vintage publications.
Not only that, he has published significant historical works on Canadian motorcycle pioneer Bernie Nicholson, who in 1942 published the first comprehensive textbook on the operation and mechanical maintenance of motorcycles.
Williams’ insightful, entertaining and informative writing has received numerous accolades, including two Motorcycle of Excellence Awards, AJAC’s Castrol Clinthe Award for Automotive Journalism and the Julie Wilkinson Motorsports Award for Excellence in Journalism.
Williams will receive the 2014 Barr and Heddy Hodgson Award, recognizing “those who have achieved excellence and/ or made significant contributions to the well-being and advancement of motorcycling in Canada.”