Dal Smilie

Dal Smilie was one of the most dedicated advocates of motorcycling during the 1980s to the early 2000s. He worked tirelessly to promote the American Motorcyclist Association and its efforts to protect the rights of all motorcyclists. Smilie’s commitment and enthusiasm resulted in signing up over 12,000 members to the AMA. He was elected to the AMA Board of Trustees (now the Board of Directors) in 1982 and was one of the youngest ever to serve on the Board. He continued serving in that capacity when inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2004, making him the longest-serving elected member of the Board. In addition to his political activities, Smilie was also an avid rider and racer. He earned mileage awards from the BMW Owners of America and won four national vintage motocross awards after the age of 50.

Smilie was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1948. He grew up in the small farming community of Paris, Illinois. Motorcycling was at times an evil word in the Smilie family. His grandfather had crashed a motorcycle many years earlier. Young Dal was not deterred, however. He first became enthralled with bikes when he was taken to a flat-track race as a child. The Japanese motorcycle invasion was in full force in the early 1960s and Smilie, like many kids of the era, was swept up in the motorcycling craze. A buddy had a Lambretta that his friends would ride two, three and even four up. Smilie began riding friends’ bikes and eventually bought a Honda Scrambler without his parents’ knowledge.

"They found out that I had it when they got a call from the hospital after a crash to get permission to work on a minor," Smile remembered. "I grabbed the phone to make it sound better than it really was."

In spite of the temporary setback with his folks, Smilie continued riding and took up amateur motocross, hare scrambles, and lime runs while in high school, and trail riding while attending college.

Governmental regulations began taking a toll on motorcycling in the 1970s and Smilie started getting involved on the local level to protect the rights of motorcyclists.

"At first a lot of what we did was ineffective protests that were sort of a product of the 1960s," Smilie admitted. "I realized early on that motorcycling was a really neat thing and that there were people who wanted to put a stop to the fun. I couldn’t just stand by and let that happen."

By the mid-1970s, Smilie had moved to Montana was named an AMA Field Rep (then called Road Rep). He volunteered to work at all sorts of AMA events across the country. It was during this time that Smile began signing up new members to the AMA, something he would continue to do for years to come.

"I never thought of myself as much of a joiner," Smilie claimed. "I knew, though, that the AMA was doing a good job in government relations and I figured the more members, the more influence the Association would have."

In 1982, Smilie, then only 33, was elected to the AMA Board. His diverse interest in motorcycling served him well as a Board member. Smilie counted hundreds of motorcycle riders of all areas of the sport as his friends.

"It was a sickness," Smilie joked. "I loved all forms of racing, attended so many rallies and anything to do with motorcycling, it seemed that everywhere I went I kept running into people I knew. When I became a Board member, I felt it was really important to keep in touch with motorcyclists at the grassroots level and find out what they’re thinking. It wasn’t difficult, because that’s the way I’d always been."

Smilie was heavily involved in the formation of the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum (initially called the Motorcycle Heritage Museum). He made the motion to start the AMHF at his third board meeting, and then became chairman of Museum Board for 14 years. Smilie was particularly proud of the 1994 "History on Wheels" conference for motorcycle museums and collectors to position the AMA’s museum as a leader cooperatively working with other museums to raise the quality of all.

Among his other motorcycle activities, Smilie was selected by four Montana governors to sit on Montana Motorcycle Safety Advisory Committee and was selected as its chairman by the members. He received the Motorcycle Safety Foundation’s "Award of Excellence" in 1995, that organization's highest national honor. Smilie was also a charter member of the Motorcycle Riders Foundation, head of ABATE Montana's Legislative Committee and ex officio board member of the Montana Trail Vehicle Riders Association.

In spite of all his activities in motorcycling advocacy, Smilie also found time to rack up mileage on his road bikes. When inducted into the Hall of Fame, Smilie had ridden over a half-million miles on his motorcycles. He twice won BMWMOA's annual high mileage contest, logging more than 50,000 miles in a six-month period.

Naturally, one of Smilie’s major hobbies includes something to do with motorcycling. He is a collector of motorcycle touring and adventure books and motorcycling memorabilia.

In 2004, Smilie became a Charter Founder of the Motorcycle Hall of Fame by contributing more than $50,000 to the Museum. Smilie's support, which began in the 1980s, included financial contributions as well as in-kind donations, such as rare motorcycling post cards, AMA Gypsy Tour memorabilia, and other literature, art, and collectibles.

In private life, Smilie has a master's degree in American History and a law degree. He is chief legal counsel of a major state agency and chief of the Montana Consumer Protection Office.