HALL OF FAME
Bill Nilsson
The First Champion
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wo-time Motocross World champion Bill Nilsson was a rider who took no prisoners in a career that saw him win the first official Motocross World championship way back in 1957. Despite measuring a relatively diminutive 5 feet 7 inches the Swedish legend brushed aside the might of the British BSA riders in an era which saw the European motocross scene rise from the farmer type events to true World Championship caliber. Nilsson didn’t hold back on the track, and still talked of his like for putting fear into his rivals long after he had retired. For Nilsson the sport he loved gave him not only success, but sadly also major disappointment and heartache. Nilsson had two sons, one of whom would go on to win the Enduro World Championship on two occasions, and the other would die tragically in a motocross accident, it was a blow that the famous father would never fully recovered from. If Motocross was fought inside the four corners of a boxing ring you can bet Bill Nilsson would still be punching away when the bell rang to end the final round, in fact the first ever Motocross World Champion didn’t need a boxing ring to vent his anger.
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Nilsson was one of the toughest, roughest riders in the world back in the 1950’s but then again most of the AJS and BSA riders in that era rode on sheer guts, fighting their machines into corners, and never accepting defeat. “I was young when I first came into Motorcycle racing, I think it was 1950 and I was 18-yearsold, I was interested and I had a talent. I was very young when I began, just doing Speedway, then I didn’t get a ride in Speedway so I tried Motocross. After two years I was in the national motocross team, I rode the Motocross of Nations in 1952 and then I got a factory ride with AMC in London. Then I rode BSA, Husqvarna, a lot of bikes, I was also a World Champion on AJS in 1957, I was only 25-yearsold then.” “Back then you didn’t start riding until you were 18-years-old. I was a professional at a very early age for that time. I rode with guys like Sten Lundin, Rene Baeten, Leslie Archer, Jeff Smith, those guys were tough, factory riders for BSA and I spent many years on BSA.” “I got sacked by BSA because I was too dirty, I wasn’t the cleanest rider. They sacked me, and they thought they could cut my wings, but then I went to AJS and won the World championship.” “In 1960 I went to Husqvarna, it was so