Motorcycle racing legend Eddie “Fast Eddie” Mulder, whose career included winning the prestigious Big Bear Run at just 16, five AMA Grand National victories, and a successful career as a Hollywood stuntman, has passed away at age 83.
One of Southern California’s most colorful motorcycle personalities, Mulder was equally at home racing across the desert, sliding a Triumph around a dirt track or performing dangerous stunts for the movie cameras.
Born September 20, 1943, in Bellflower, California, Mulder grew up in Lancaster, where his father operated a motorcycle dealership. He began riding at 8 and racing at 11, quickly becoming one of the region’s most promising young competitors.
His breakthrough came in 1960 when, aboard a 500cc Royal Enfield Fury, he won the legendary Big Bear Run against approximately 765 other riders. The 16-year-old nearly missed the start, then battled through the field despite breaking a footpeg and damaging his motorcycle. His victory over many of the country’s best desert racers made him an overnight sensation.
Mulder later described that victory as one of the defining moments of his career, saying it opened doors that might otherwise have remained closed.
He subsequently turned his attention to professional flat track racing, where he became one of the leading TT specialists of the 1960s. Riding Triumph motorcycles primarily, Mulder earned his first AMA Grand National victory at the Peoria TT in 1965.
The following year proved his finest. Mulder became the first rider to sweep all three major AMA TT Nationals in a single season, winning at Ascot Park, Castle Rock and Peoria. The achievement helped him finish fourth in the 1966 AMA Grand National Championship standings, his best championship result.
He won his fifth and final Grand National at the Santa Fe TT in 1970. Along the way, he also collected numerous AMA District 37 championships and became a familiar attraction at Southern California’s legendary Ascot Park.
As his professional racing career wound down in the 1970s, Mulder found another outlet for his riding talents in Hollywood. He performed motorcycle stunts in numerous movies and television productions, including the Clint Eastwood film Magnum Force, in which he made a spectacular motorcycle jump between aircraft carriers.
Mulder never completely retired from competition. He became a successful vintage racer, earning multiple victories at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, and founded the West Coast Vintage Dirt Track Series, helping preserve the sport’s history and providing opportunities for vintage racers.
He was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999 and later received recognition from the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America and the Hot Shoe Hall of Fame. He was also a longtime member of the Trailblazers Motorcycle Club and, in 2021, was honored with the club’s highest accolade, the Dick Hammer Award.
One of his most fitting honors came in 2024 when Royal Enfield introduced the Bear 650, a scrambler inspired by his historic Big Bear victory. Its special Two Four Nine edition featured Mulder’s original racing number, 249. Mulder attended the motorcycle’s California introduction, more than six decades after the victory that helped launch his career.
From the desert to the dirt tracks and Hollywood, Eddie Mulder lived a life few motorcyclists could imagine. His speed, personality and lifelong enthusiasm for motorcycles made him one of the sport’s unforgettable characters.CN
