Cole inducted into AMA Hall of Fame

Jeff Cole, a resident of Fallbrook since 1976, was inducted into the American Motorcyclist Association Hall of Fame last year in ceremonies held in Orlando, Fla.

"It was a big deal," said Cole. "It was a big thrill to even think I was being considered for it."

The thrill for Cole could be considered payback for the thrills riders using C&J Racing Frames had when they won championships, including 20 AMA Grand National Championship honors over a 22-year period.

Cole sold C&J Racing Frames in 2004 and is now semi-retired, although he continues to be involved in motorcycle design. When the American Motorcyclist Association announced Cole's selection to the AMA Hall of Fame, Cole said he was "really flattered."

"I knew I would be considered for it," Cole said. "To actually get it, that excited me a lot."

The induction was part of the American International Motorcycle Exposition in Orlando. "It was really a nice three or four day deal that they did," Cole said. "The overall thing was really nice."

Cole was aware that he would be inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame, and he prepared an acceptance speech. What he didn't know was that he would be asked to autograph a motorcycle he designed which will be an exhibit at a motorcycle museum in Indiana.

"I wasn't expecting that at all," Cole said. "That was just an extra special little thing."

The chief executive officer of Indian Motorcycle had asked Cole if he would design a vehicle for flat-track racing. Indian sent four engineers to Fallbrook to work with Cole.

"They just took everything that I did and basically built it the way I talked about it," Cole said. "It was a big thrill for me to have that happen."

Indian then applied the motorcycles with Cole's design input to flat-track competition.

"Now they're dominating the racing world with it," said Cole. "The Indian motorcycle's making a big comeback, and it's kind of fun to be part of it."

Cole was asked to autograph the fuel tank of the prototype of that motorcycle. "That was just quite an honor," Cole said.

Cole's autograph is the only one on the motorcycle. "That was a big deal," he said.

He grew up in Santa Ana and attended Menlo College. Cole, who turned 76 in February, has been building race vehicles for 50 years. He started building for his cousin, Don Edmunds.

Edmunds was the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year in 1957. His racing career began with dry lakes competition in 1949 and in San Diego County he raced at Balboa Stadium and Cajon Speedway. Edmunds gravitated into building open-wheel racecars. "I had no background in that at all," Cole said.

Cole often accompanied Edmunds to the Indianapolis 500, where their roles included providing hand signals or signs to the competitors.

"We didn't have radios then with the drivers," said Cole. "I just got sold on that kind of racing."

Working with Edmunds inspired Cole to design vehicles. "I wanted to go into business on my own but I didn't want to compete with him," Cole said.

Edmunds did not build a motorcycle until Evel Knievel asked Edmunds to design Knievel's Skycycle used to jump Snake River Canyon.

Cole and Steve Jentages founded C&J Racing Frames in 1970. They were both Indy car builders and were working for two different companies, and they had been roommates in Newport Beach before Jeff and Jill Cole were married.

C&J Racing Frames built flat-track, road racing, motocross, and off-road motorcycles. On three occasions one of the motorcycles finished first overall in the Baja 1000. Cole also worked with Bruce Brown on the 1971 motorcycle racing documentary "On Any Sunday".

Cole did not build street motorcycles. "They were all competition," he said.

The partnership between Cole and Jentages ended when Cole moved to Fallbrook. "We had to run it in two different places," he said.

The move to Fallbrook allowed his children, who are now in their 40s, to be raised in the Friendly Village. Cole's wife taught school in Fallbrook for 30 years.

Cole coached his children's soccer teams even though he had minimal knowledge about the sport. "You could do that in those days," said Cole, who also coached youth basketball.

Cole also has a home in Mexico, which allows him to partake in fishing. But semi-retirement hasn't taken Cole completely out of the motorcycle design business.

"I get calls all the time," Cole said. "I still build stuff all the time when I'm in Fallbrook."