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Better known as Sonny DeFeo
By Kent Taylor
If the old saying “history is written by the victors” is true, then there is an American motocross story that needs to be told to every MX fan in the country. There are the books of Eli, Jeremy, Ricky and Bob—surnames are superfluous here because these men of motocross are well-known to all. To this list of legends, let us also add the name “Salvatore Joseph,” better known as “Sonny.” And for this purpose, the inclusion of the last name “DeFeo” will be added, but henceforth unnecessary, for all should know this story, as it is a tale of a victor whose record will stand for all time.
On April 15, 1972, a motocross race was held at Flowery Branch, Georgia. What is known is that there were classes for 250cc and 500cc riders, the winner received the Bel-Ray Oil Trophy, and it was very dusty, with Cycle News penning that “riders looked like vague shadows moving through a cloud.” But what Cycle News didn’t know, or at least did not report, was that this race was the very first official 250cc AMA National Championship event. The sport had a recognized 500cc National Champion (Mark Blackwell) from 1971, but the 250cc class was late to the championship game. It would be two more years before a 125cc class title was added.
There were three motos for both classes on this day, and while the CZ-mounted DeFeo didn’t win any of them, the 19-year-old New Yorker was a steady and consistent runner-up in each leg. DeFeo’s 2-2-2 topped Swedish transplant Gunnar Lindstrom’s 5-1-1. “DeFeo,” wrote CN, “is a talented rider, and it showed.”
Flip through the results of AMA MX events and the name DeFeo pops up early and often, sometimes “Sonny” and sometimes “Sal,” but they are both referring to the same skinny kid who learned how to ride and wrench on bikes while growing up behind the counter at Ghost Cycles in Port Washington, New York. Ghost Cycles was the realized dream of Sonny’s father, also Salvatore, who was born to Italian immigrants and even fought in WWII. After the war ended, the U.S. Army wanted to keep him in uniform, but “Dad,” recalls Sonny, “wanted to come home and start selling motorcycles.
“The name of the shop actually came from the cops. Dad was a street racer. He raced around on the street on an old white ’48 Harley-Davidson panhead. And he could ride, too! He would chirp that old Harley in every gear. The cops couldn’t catch him, so they nicknamed him “the ghost.”
Ghost Cycles opened for business in 1951 and over the years imported European brands like BMW, BSA, Ducati, Moto Guzzi, Maico, NSU and Norton. “People came from everywhere in the country for parts,” remembers Sonny. “On Saturday, there would be a line out the door. If my dad didn’t have the part they needed, he would take it off a new bike.”
Two years after Ghost Cycles was born, Salvatore Jr came along. “I’m called ‘junior’ but my dad didn’t have my middle name of Joseph, so I guess I’m not really junior.” Sonny learned to walk amid the rows of handsome European machines and eventually began assembling new bikes, fixing old ones, and “doing whatever was needed to help out.” Unlike his pop, he headed to the racetrack (scrambles at that time) to show off his speed.
“My first race was at age 10. I was riding a Suzuki 100 and hit a pothole. That bike had no suspension, so the bars came right out of my hands. I crashed, but I was half a lap ahead, so I got up and won. The shop guys saw that I was pretty fast, so they built me a Ducati 100 race bike. After that, I moved to a 250 Ducati.”
Sonny was one of a group of American motocross prodigies who were taken in by the CZ factory and sent to Czechoslovakia in 1970. Along with John DeSoto, Brad Lackey and 14-year-old Marty Tripes, DeFeo learned the art of motocross from Czech star Vlastimil Valek. “We lived in a hotel, right next to the factory. We would train in the gym, then head to the track, which was just a couple of miles away, so we would ride our CZs.
“It was fun, but it was also hard. They would take the seats off our bikes during training. The language was different, and even the food was crazy. One morning, at the hotel, John DeSoto asked for ham and eggs. Well, the eggs were barely cooked, and the ham still had the hog’s hair and skin on it! He wouldn’t eat it. I think he even went home not too long after that.”
DeFeo continued to race locally, battling New York hot shots like Barry Higgins and Jim Weinert. After winning the first AMA 250 National in Atlanta, he followed it up with another win at round two in Olive Branch, Mississippi. After that, the series moved west to California, where, due to a lack of traveling funds, DeFeo’s winning streak was snapped.
“At that time, there was no money to send us out that far,” he said. “Both Barry [Higgins] and I had won the first two races, and we probably could’ve both won championships for CZ. It was a big mistake.”
DeFeo continued to ride the National championship circuit for the next few years, going from his CZ to Maico. In 1974, Harley-Davidson brought him on board to help them design their new motocross bike. DeFeo was well-paid but frustrated with the American company’s stubbornness.
“They had put telescopic forks on the rear of the bike, replacing the shocks, and it just wasn’t working. I would tell them that the angle was wrong and all sorts of issues were going on, but they wouldn’t listen to me. I finally said, ‘Why are you paying me all of this money, but you won’t do what I tell you to do?’” The Harley ride ended and DeFeo went back to a Maico. A couple of years later, his pro career came to an end after a crash left him with a badly injured shoulder.
“By that time, my dad was having some financial issues at the shop, so I went home to work with him. I raced a few times and even did some road racing on a Moto Guzzi.”
Today, Sonny DeFeo is still a skinny fellow, 72 years old and still working on motorcycles. Ghost Cycles is long gone, but Sonny keeps himself occupied with an eBay shop and a repair business. Fifty-three years have passed since 1972, and there have been many winners of the 250cc AMA Nationals. There are strings of titles and even undefeated seasons. Many have won, but only one is the first winner. Just as the Port Washington cops could not chase down his father, no racer will ever pass Sonny DeFeo. CN
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