The following is from John Hately…
C.R. Axtell, an innovator, designer and manufacturer of high-performance motorcycle and race car components that led to many championship successes, died on August 29 at the age of 82 after a brief illness.
Axtell’s early success started in the late 1940s with hot rods at the dry lakes and with roadsters on the tracks. His involvement continued with motorcycles in the late ’50s with BSA, Triumph, Norton, Harley Davidson and Yamaha components that won many races at all levels.
Axtell contributed to the winning success of many top national motorcycle racers from the ’60’s, ’70s, and ’80s. From the late ’80s to the present, he had success with his race car cams and cylinder heads. In the late ’50s he pioneered and built his own air flow bench for improving cylinder head performance. Axtell also had the most trusted measuring stick on the west coast – a dyno he referred to as “Big Red.”
Only the people fortunate enough to know him or work with him know the talent Axtell was capable of. God speed, Ax.
