Marty Smith won the first AMA 125cc Motocross Championship instituted in 1974. He won again in ’75 on his beautiful red factory Hondas. Smith was maybe the first super star in motocross. His riding style was always photogenic and Marty was the very definition of “California Cool” in the mid-1970s. Bob Hannah and Smith went on to have some classic battles. It was Hannah who stopped the seemingly unstoppable Smith to win the 125cc title in ’76. Smith came back and defeated Hannah in the 1977 AMA 500cc Motocross Championship.

Marty Smith racing the Honda RC125 in 1975. This was the dream bike of every young motocross racer of the mid-1970s. (Photo by Paul Webb/1976 AMA Media Kit)