""Mick Walker"" is acknowledged as one of the world's leading motorcycle authorities. He is a British former motorcycle dealer and racer with a particular interest in Italian motorcycles. He played an important role in popularizing the Ducati marque in Britain, but is an expert on many other types of motorcycle dating from the 1950s to the present. He is the writer of over 130 published books, most of them motorcycle marque histories.
Born 30 November 1942 in Wretton, Norfolk, Michael John Gilbert Walker was educated at Downham Market Secondary Modern. Leaving school at 15, he joined the Royal Air Force in 1958, serving in the UK, Aden and Cyprus. Mick Walker first rode a Lambretta scooter in 1960 and bought his first motorcycle (a Ducati 250 Daytona) in 1961. He began racing competitively in 1963 while still in the RAF and continued racing in club and international events until 1972 with considerable success at circuits such as Snetterton, Cadwell Park and Silverstone. He was a personal friend of many motorcycle stars of the era, including Barry Sheene and Mike Hailwood. Later, when a motorcycle dealer, Walker sponsored other riders. After leaving the RAF in 1968, Walker had a short period of employment in factories in Cambridgeshire before starting his own business, Mick Walker Motorcycles, dealing in Ducati spares and repairs, initially from a garden shed. Based in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, the business expanded steadily and became the official importer for Ducati spares in the mid-1970s. With greatly enlarged premises, it went on to retail Ducati, Moto Guzzi, Harley-Davidson (Cagiva), Benelli, Garelli, Testi, MV Agusta, Russian motorcycles, Jawa/CZ and Derbi, and was the UK importer for several marques. The Mick Walker Group became a victim of the recession of the early 1980s and ceased to trade at the start of 1982. Mick Walker continued to provide Ducati parts and servicing with his brother Rick (as Rick & Mick Walker) until 2005. Following the closure of his dealership, Mick Walker became assistant editor of Motorcycle Enthusiast. His first book Ducati Singles[1] was published in 1985 and he went on to become one of the most prolific motorcycle writers in Britain, with a reputation for detail and meticulous research. Mick Walker retained strong links with the Italian motorcycle industry, and in 1998 was one of the 50 VIPs invited to celebrate Ducati’s half-century in production.
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edit- ^ Osprey Collector's Library: Ducati Singles: All Two- and Four-Stroke Single-Cylinder Motorcycles, including Mototrans - 1945 Onwards, 1985, ISBN 0850456053