| Eugene (Gene) Walker | |
|---|---|
| Born | 7 June 1893 Birmingham, Alabama |
| Died | 21 June 1924 (aged 31) Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania |
| Occupation | Motorcyclist |
| Children | 2 |
In 1910, Walker obtained his first motorcycle, an Excelsior. At 17 he worked as a postal delivery person in Birmingham using an Indian motorcycle for delivering mail. Walker entered his first motorcycle race at the 1912 Alabama State Fair and won the five-mile final. In the same year he left his job at the Post Office to go to work for a Birmingham Indian dealer named Bob Stubbs.
In 1914 Walker turned professional and worked in the testing room at the Indian headquarters in Springfield, Massachusetts. Walker won 19 national championships in his 10 years of professional racing before he died in 1924. On June 7, while practicing alone on a track in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, Walker crashed. He died in Rosenkrans Hospital in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, on June 21.[1]
Walker was inducted to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998.[1]
| Year | Location | Achievement |
|---|---|---|
| 1915, July 10 | FAM meeting Saratoga, New York | 1st Five Mile Championship and new record |
| 1919 | USA | Won 6 out of 13 national championship races and set 3 track records |
| 1920, April 14 | Daytona Beach, Florida | Set new motorcycle world speed record[2] |
| 1920 | USA | Named Champion of Champions by Motorcycle and Bicycle Illustrated |
| 1924, February 17 | Los Angeles, California | 1st Five Mile Championship |
1914 Indian team: 18, Gene Walker; 16, Dave Kinney; 15, Don Johns; 19, Specs Warner; 20, Marty Graves; 17, Red Armstrong. Dave Kinney Collection