Our visit to Kawasaki’s Heritage Hall elsewhere in this issue featured some historic motorcycles and even a Jet Ski, but there’s another piece of Big K’s history that’s beyond historic. It’s downright cool. We’re talking about Mr. Refer, the adopted name of Team Green’s shop refrigerator, truly a must for any race team to maintain its sanity. And like many race shops (even yours!) this fridge is decorated with some colorful, even historic, racing-related decals and stickers, all proudly connected with meaningful wins and painful DNFs.
As the story goes, the shop ‘fridge joined the party in 1973 when then-race team manager Tim Smith showed up with a rather well-worn refrigerator that his wife said “had to go!” So Tim did what any red blooded racer might do. He found a home for it in the Kawasaki race team’s shop, doing so with this note attached: “Keep it stocked for after-hour activities.” So the crew opened a bank account for Mr. Refer. The bank account was generally funded by post-race sales of used racing tires that managed to survive a weekend of brutal racing. Heritage Hall’s curator, Norm Bigelow, remembers that “keeper of the account” was road race team manager Randy Hall.
Mr. Refer became a celebrity in its own right associated with a list of famous racers who answered Mr. Refer’s siren call: “This Bud’s for you!” Here’s a sampling of those famous racers: Brad Lackey, Malcolm Smith, Jim Pomeroy, Gary Nixon, Yvon Duhamel, Barry Higgins, John DeSoto, Al Baker, even Grand Prix and Indy Car driver, Dan Gurney, whose race shop was across town. And many more.
Another “Mr. Refer Episode” features Tom Cook of Kawasaki’s R&D department who drafted Mr. Refer to help raise additional “after-hour funds,” this time doing so when the 1984 Summer Olympics were held in Southern California, staging the bicycle road races on the streets of Mission Viejo, a bedroom community near Kawasaki’s U.S. headquarters. The temptation was too much for Cook, who placed Mr. Refer curbside along the temporary course that was lined with thirsty spectators. After stocking the old fridge with ice-cold refreshments, Cook plugged in a long extension cord, then opened for business. By day’s end and in the hearts and minds of the Kawasaki contingent, Cook deserved a gold medal for his efforts.
By the turn of the century, Bigelow and MX team manager Roy Turner were promoted as keeper of the keys. About then, the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum was rounding up various motocross-related items for the upcoming Motocross America exhibit in 2005. When exhibition curator Ed Youngblood heard about, and later saw firsthand, Mr. Refer, he told museum director Mark Mederski, who was guiding the project (and who is now editor of this magazine), about the shop refrigerator. They promptly formed a plan to transport the storied fridge to Ohio. Mr. Refer’s collage of stickers was just too, too inviting; it warranted a place in the AMA Motocross America exhibit!
Tom White of White Brothers fame and Mederski then worked with the San Diego Automobile Museum to transport to California and reinstall the Motocross America exhibit there. And once again, Mr. Refer helped steal that show.
Now retired, Mr. Refer peacefully resides in Kawasaki Heritage Hall, its many stickers gracefully aging while basking in the glory days when Kawasaki racers claimed many race wins and championships. Those race winners might have celebrated in Victory Circle fashion, spraying champagne onto the crowd in Victory Circle, but you can only wonder: Is Mr. Refer chilling his own “Champagne of Bottled Beer” for one more round?
