Gary Bailey's How to Win Motocross
Motocross Racing Vintage Motorsports Motorcycle Technology Sports Coaching Reference & Maintenance 1970s Nostalgia Extreme & Action Sports
Gary Bailey’s 1974 first-edition paperback “How to Win Motocross” is the vintage bible that 1970s riders once stuffed into their gear bags and that today’s collectors display next to their restored Elsinores. Written by the six-time AMA National Champion and off-road legend Gary Bailey with moto-journalist Carl Shipman, this compact 190-page reference delivers the same hard-earned race craft that put Bailey on podiums from Carlsbad to Daytona. Unlike modern coffee-table glossies, the book is pure function: detailed diagrams of line selection, suspension tuning charts, carb-jet cheat-sheets, and step-by-step photo sequences showing how to scrub speed, scrub jumps, and scrub seconds off lap times. Every page echoes the era when privateers could still out-ride factory stars on backyard-built bikes.
What makes this copy special is its authenticity: a true 1974 HP Books first printing, the same spine you would have seen at the trackside trailer in ’75. Yes, the cover carries the honorable scuffs of a garage workshop and page 1 has the classic “chipped edge” that proves it was thumbed through between motos, but the internal pages are clean, bright, and tightly bound—ready for another fifty years of reference. Dog-eared corners mark the sections on starts and whoop technique, turning previous owners’ battle scars into instant research tabs for the next rider.
For vintage motocross restorers, AHRMA racers, or parents mentoring a young ripper on a YZ85, owning an original Bailey guide is like having a private lesson from the American motocross boom. Search terms such as “1974 motocross manual,” “Gary Bailey first edition,” or “vintage motocross tuning book” all lead here, and demand keeps rising as 1970s dirt bikes become collectible art. Snag this copy now and you’ll hold the same handbook that launched a thousand holeshots—before the remaining first printings disappear into permanent private collections.
Refer to our eBay listing for a full condition report and many more high-quality pictures of this item.
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