Motor Man: Karl Krohn

Karl Krohn is one of the unsung heroes of motorcycling. While he was a racer and member of the infamous Checkers MC, his major contribution to the community comes from his work as a tuner. While the Checkers were known as the winningest club around for their skills, his engines are what powered each of them to countless victories. Over the decades, Krohn built engines for such legendary figures as Eddie Mulder, Bob Ewing, Jack Hateley, and scores of others. He is considered a master tuner, and specializes in British engines from the 50s, 60s, and 70s.

Krohn got started as a tuner building and racing drag cars. He was a passionate drag racer, but knew that in order to do better, his car’s engine had to have the juice that no other car had. So he started tuning his engine, and he started blowing competitors off the drag strip. After a while though, Krohn got burnt out working on cars and started looking for something else. Which is when he discovered motorcycles.

Krohn found that he loved working on motorcycles, and still does to this day.

Krohn then got a job working for legendary rider Bob Ewing at his Mission Hills Motorcycles shop. Ewing was a member of the notorious Checkers MC, and had Krohn tune his engines. Ewing was so impressed that he introduced Krohn to the Checkers, where he soon became a full-fledged member. Krohn then started racing with the best of them and building engines for some of their major members.

Which is how Krohn met Eddie Mulder, who would become a lifelong friend. Krohn and Mulder first met at Ewing’s shop, where Mulder was a regular. Mulder was also a member of the Checkers, and the two of them immediately hit it off. Mulder asked Krohn if he wouldn’t mind tuning his engine for him for an upcoming desert race. Krohn did, and it ran so well that ever since then Mulder has had all of his competition engines built by Krohn.

“Ol’ Ed is something else. He’s a piece of work; he’ll take you down a dirt road for sure and will laugh at you. If you ever have the chance to meet him, just try to hold on.”

In the 50s and 60s, the Checkers only ran British bikes, Triumphs specifically.

Ewing eventually sold his shop while Krohn started coming into his own as a tuner. Which is when legendary rider Jack Hateley, who owed the iconic Triumph of Burbank, called Krohn and asked him to start working at Jack Hateley’s Enterprises. Krohn agreed, and continued to build winning engines while making a living working as a service tech at Triumph of Burbank (or the T o’ B, as it was known then). Years later after Hateley passed away, Krohn took over and ran the shop for nearly twenty years.

In the 90s, Krohn started building engines capable of taking on the revered Pikes Peak International Hillclimb. His son David Krohn was the first racer he built a PPIHC-caliber engine for, who actually won back to back in 1996 and 1997 racing sidecars. In 1998, Mulder and his friend Ted Hubbard (who played hooky from chemotherapy to go race and got in on a doctor’s note forged by Mulder) entered into the vintage motorcycle class, both on engines built by Krohn. Hubbard rode a ‘77 Yamaha TT 540, and Mulder started his staggering PPIHC winning streak astride a ‘67 Triumph 750. Since 1998, Mulder has won the vintage motorcycle class a terrifying eight times aboard his Eddie Mulder Specials, each powered by a Krohn motor. Mulder, for the record, is 71 as of 2016.

Krohn, now 76, is considered a master engine builder, and has has passed his skills down to both his son and his grandson so that this important part of motorcycle heritage won’t be lost.

Krohn’s son David is a successful flat tracker, accomplished sidecar racer, and master hot rod builder. David deftly won the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb Sidecar Division race back to back in 1996 and 1997, when large parts of that twisting road were still unpaved. He also fabricates some of the most impressive hot rods in the scene from scratch. “Whenever Eddie [Mulder] or I are in trouble,” Krohn said, “We always go to David.”

His grandson is an avid flat tracker, dirt racer, and Triumph man, and is working to carry the torch forward by learning how to tune and build engines. Specifically, the same engines used by the legends before him: the classic Triumphs of the 50s, 60s, and 70s.

Krohn fondly recalls his last ride. “It was about two years ago. Someone wanted to buy my personal bike, the last one I owned, and I decided to sell it to him. But before I gave it to him, I got my old leathers on and took it out to the desert for one last ride. I rode it as long as I could, and I really felt the old thrill of being out there on two wheels. But when I got back to the garage, I couldn’t get off the bike: I couldn’t swing my leg back over it. I had to call my wife to come and help me off the thing.

“When the guy came to pick up the bike, I told him to be careful with it. I told him I built it and tuned it and if he wasn’t careful that bike would bite him good and throw him off. At first he laughed. Then about a week later I got a call from him, and he told me he was out in the desert riding around, and he pulled a little too hard on the throttle and sure enough the bike bit him and threw him off and he laid her down pretty hard.

“Motorcycles, boy. You’ve really got to respect them.”