9 minute read
UNCHARTED PEAK
In a racing discipline measured by seconds, 31 years is an eternity. For more than three decades, hillclimbers have dashed up Midwestern hills in hopes of shaving off seconds and tallying titles to eclipse AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Earl Bowlby’s then-record 10 AMA Pro Hillclimb titles.
While many tried, it wouldn’t be until four years after Bowlby’s 1990 retirement that the rider equipped to topple the record would even be born. John Koester, a 27-year-old hillclimber from Hornell, N.Y., reached legendary status in October when he claimed his record-setting 11th AMA Pro Hillclimb national title — placing him on hillclimb’s summit.
To accomplish the feat, Koester stared up at Devil’s Staircase in Oregonia, Ohio — about a two-hour drive from where Bowlby was born — with an opportunity no other rider in the history of AMA Pro Hillclimb had seen before: a chance to win an 11th title. Koester understood the magnitude of what he could accomplish, but he remained calm and seized the opportunity.
“At the top of the hill I didn’t know it was the winning ride,” Koester said. “When I got back down, the first person I saw was my dad, and he just gave me a big hug and said, ‘You did it!’ and we both kind of broke down. All these years just came crashing into a 7-second ride, and everything
Uncharted Peak John Koester hit legendary status with his record-breaking 11th AMA Pro Hillclimb title BY KEATON MAISANO PHOTOS: INDIAN MOTORCYCLE
we’d worked for was right in front of us.”
Koester’s hillclimbing journey started at Poags Hole Hillclimb in New York, about 15 minutes from where he grew up. Koester’s exposure to the sport came by observing his father and current crew chief Gordy Koester dragging riders off the hill when they didn’t make it over.
Years later at that same hill, 16-year-old Koester tried out his new professional license aboard a Suzuki RM-Z450 and got hooked on hillclimb.
“It’s the sudden rush,” Koester said on what attracted him to the sport. “Our rides are anywhere from 7 seconds to 20 seconds at the longest hill, and while that doesn’t sound like much, it’s pretty exhilarating on a bike that makes 300 horsepower and you’re doing everything you can just to hang on.” Koester added that the camaraderie and friendships of the sport also fueled his desire to keep racing.
According to Rob Redmann, series manager for AMA Pro Hillclimb, Koester’s greatness and impact on professional hillclimb go beyond his collection of No. 1 plates. “John is just an all-around good guy,” Redmann said. “He’s not afraid to help somebody set their motorcycle
up if he sees them struggling, so he’s a champion in all aspects. He’s also mentally strong; if he has a bad ride, he regroups and changes the bike if he has to. All the horsepower in the world doesn’t matter if you can’t make the bike work.”
The New York native said Bowlby’s record was never really a focus until later in his career, and specifically the 2018 season, when the hillclimb stars aligned and he became the first rider to claim all three AMA Pro Hillclimb titles — 450 Pro, Extreme and Unlimited — in a single season. The unprecedented season gave him eight championships, tying him with Tiger Strank, and within two titles of Bowlby’s 10 championships.
Still, Koester said that new proximity to Bowlby’s record negatively impacted his mindset.
“I knew Bowlby’s record was in reach with just three more [titles] to get to 11,” Koester said. “And then, a little bit of pressure set in. It played with my head a little bit, and I just had to go out and try to win and not think about trying to beat his record.”
Despite entering the 2021 slate with a refreshed mindset, the season did not come easy to Koester. A rough start in the 450 Pro and Twins classes made the Premier class his only route to the 11th title in the 2021 season.
John Koester at a local motocross track in Cohocton, N.Y., in 2006. A younger Koester (left) with his father, Gordy, at the same track in the early 2000s. AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Earl Bowlby (upper left), whose record of 10 titles Koester broke, is shown shredding a hill back in his heyday.
The ability to compete in multiple classes was not an option when Bowlby was blistering up hills. Only for the past decade or so have riders had the opportunity to earn multiple AMA Pro Hillclimb titles in the same year — an opportunity Koester seized in 2018.
While the rule change led to Bowlby’s record being broken sooner, it also created a newfound appreciation for what Bowlby did during his era of racing. “[Bowlby] was an innovator,” Redmann said, “and his legend will live on forever even though his record has now been beaten.”
Bowlby was born in Hocking County, Ohio, in 1933, and he could
be seen delivering papers on a Whizzer motorbike in the 1940s. Starting in drag racing in the late ’50s, Bowlby didn’t earn his professional license in hillclimb until 1966 at the age of 32.
While it may have taken Bowlby twice as long as Koester to begin racing professionally, the Ohioan wasted none of his 25-year career, stating he had two focuses going into each race: have fun and win.
On the back of his modified BSA hillclimbers, his career ended with more than 80 AMA national hillclimb wins, 10 AMA Pro Hillclimb titles and six national titles in Canada. Ending his career in 1990 with another title, Bowlby — like Koester for most of his career — said setting a record was not on the front of his mind while he raced. “I really wasn’t looking at records until maybe the last year,” Bowlby told American Motorcyclist.
Bowlby remained a fan of hillclimb after his retirement and said that his record — like all records — was made to be broken. Although he admitted he wished his record would have been broken by 11 titles won in a single class, Bowlby was quick to point out the impressive feat Koester had accomplished.
“Any way you can get more than 10 titles is impressive,” Bowlby said. “[Koester] had to have a lot of success to do that. I’d like to shake his hand one day.”
Despite Koester’s record-breaking career, his 11 titles are not as safe as Bowlby’s 10 were back in the ’90s. With the evolved speed, competition and rules, Redmann said several riders could potentially catch Koester.
“John will always be a legend, but
John Koester’s Indian FTR750 hillclimber takes shape at S&S Cycle in 2020. The long-wheelbase racer had its custom exhaust system fabricated from scratch and was dyno-tuned at S&S, as well.
I think in the next couple of years he’s going to have his hands full with these young guys,” Redmann said. “That’s just history. That’s progression.”
A wide variety of machinery is used successfully in Pro Hillclimb, and Koester had a hand in resurrecting a dormant-but-once-great brand in the hillclimb community in 2020 – Indian Motorcycle, which had been gone from the sport for more than 80 years. “Indian reached out to me in 2020 and I [gave] them three names,” Redmann said, “and John was selected.”
In 2021, Koester competed in the Twins class on Indian’s FTR750 — a street-going flat track replica of sorts. And while some sort of partnership with Indian could continue going forward, Koester will likey ride a Yamaha/Honda hybrid in the Twins class for 2022 – a combination of a Yamaha MT-07 engine and Honda frame. He’ll also ride a CBR600powered ’climber in the Premier class.
Koester says he and his father do most of the work building the bikes he competes on these days, and his crew members — Tom “Pickles” McMichael and Paul “Dumpy” Kennedy — handle most of the raceday adjustments and maintenance.
Fine-tuning his hillclimbing
From left to right: Paul Langley (thenPresident of S&S Cycle), Dean Young (S&S Race Team Manager), Gordy Koester (John’s father), John Koester, Gary Gray (Vice President of Racing Technology at Indian) and Paul Kennedy (Koester’s team mechanic).
machines to help him win and break records — all while having fun — Koester has accomplished a lot in his career. While he dashes up hills by himself, Koester credits his team, family and girlfriend, Brittany, for his success.
“Having that support system at every race means the world to me,” he said. “If I have a bad day, they pick me up and say, ‘We’ll get them next time.’ I’m lucky to have that support.”
Despite his accomplishments, there’s still more racing in 27-yearold Koester’s future. “I kind of take it year by year now,” Koester said. “I’m gonna do it as long as I’m still having fun, and same thing with my team. I can’t do it on my own, so if they decide they’re done, I’ll either have to find someone else or just be done. But I don’t see them doing that, so it’s up to me. As long as I’m having fun, I’m going to keep racing.”
And that means going for No. 12 in 2022. AMA
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