Rider, designer, tuner, safety pioneer

Few have advanced the sport in as many ways as Keen, a member of the original “BSA Wrecking Crew.” A legend in West Coast dirt-track races, in 1961, he took more than half the main events of the 29-race Ascot season. Keen did so well in Southern California that he didn’t chase Grand National events; he won only one. Later, he helped develop the modern dirt-track frame, helped ignite the two-stroke revolution, and consulted on the Yamaha program that netted Kenny Roberts’ 1973 and ‘74 Grand National titles. In 1967, Keen and Ray Hensley began to develop their trailblazing Trackmaster frames. Simultaneously, Keen worked with Bultaco dealer John Lund to optimize two-stroke engines for dirt-track use. Soon thereafter, Yamaha hired him to consult on chassis and engines. On the safety front, Keen, Albert Gunter and Dick Mann proposed a package of rules to the AMA Competition Committee in 1962, including reducing engine displacement for novices to 250cc. Lives were saved. Keen was inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame in 2000.