Carl Cranke

Carl Cranke was an American professional motorcycle enduro competitor and one of the most accomplished American enduro riders of his era. Raised near Sacramento in Northern California, he began racing a 50cc Suzuki at sixteen, turned professional in dirt track racing at eighteen, and later moved to hare scrambles, hare and hound races and motocross. After beating the Swedish rider Lars Larsson at a Trans-AMA event in Gilroy he was contracted to the Penton racing team. He represented the United States in ten International Six Days Trials, starting in 1972 in Czechoslovakia, and earned seven gold medals and two silver medals, riding Penton, KTM and Yamaha machines. He was also known for tuning two stroke engines and for helping develop Penton motorcycles, and he was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2000.