FLASHBACK FRIDAY: HAKAN ANDERSSON'S FIRST MONOSHOCK

 

 

 

Here’s a look at the bike that Hakan Andersson took to the 1973 250cc World Championship, as it sits today. It belongs to motocross historian Terry Good, and it a perfectly preserved piece of motocross history. It was the first Monoshock. The concept was the brainchild of Lucien Tilkins, who originally tried to sell the Monoshock concept to Suzuki. Roger DeCoster wanted it, but the Suzuki engineers were skeptical. Tilkins then went to Yamaha. Andersson debuted the bike on the third round of the 1973 250cc GP at Wuustwezel, Belgium. Hakan dominated that race as well as the whole 1973 season. It was soon apparent that the bike’s true advantage was its  suspension travel, and by the end of 1973, virtually all the factory motocross bikes had jumped on the long-travel bandwagon and motocross would never be the same. You can check out the story and other nuggets of MX history at www.mxworksbike.com