Billy Griggs

tose of a similar name

Luther William Grigs (b. September 16, 1968 from Anaheim, California U. S.) is an American "Old School/Mid School" former professional Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1985 to 1996. His nickname was "Mr. Bill" which was a play on his name and an allusion to a late 1970s Saturday Night Live skit called "The Mr. Bill Show." Billy Griggs had a more successful career than most, winning two World Championships during his amateur days, but did not quite make it to the top in pro although he would consistently make the mains.

Note: Professional first are at the national level unless otherwise indicated. Milestone Event DetailsStarted racing: January 21, 1981 at 12 years old. Sanctioning body: American Bicycle Association (ABA)Home sanctioning body districts): ABA California 14 (CA 14) 1982 1985First race bike: First race result: Third in 12 Beginner class. First win (local): First sponsor: BS Bikes in Santa Ana, California. First national win: Turned Professional: February 1987 at 18 years old. First Professional race result: Fourth place in "A" pro on Saturday, February 14 at the 1987 American Bicycle Association (ABA) Winter Nationals in Scottsdale, Arizona. He won USD$135. First Professional win: At the 1987 ABA Winter Nationals in "A" pro on Sunday, February 15. He won US$640. He won US$140. First Senior Pro win: In "AA" pro at the ABA Lumberjack Nationals in Eugene, Oregon On July 25, 1987. He also won Pro Open, doubling and he doubled again the next day. No purse break down given. Height and weight at height of his career: (1991) Ht:5'10" Wt:175 lbs. Retired: Griggs retired from full time AA pro racing in July 1995 after he took a Research and Development position at GT Bicycles. He would race occasionally in "AA" pro until his last "AA" equivalent pro race at the UCI World Championships in Cordoba, Argentina on the weekend of July 29, 2000. *In the NBL it is "B" Pro/Superclass/"AA" pro depending on the era; In the ABA it is "AA" pro. **In the NBL "A" Pro/Elite Men; in the ABA it is "AA" pro.

Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time a racer could have numerous ever changing co sponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by BMX press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question.

BS (Brian Scura) Bikes: 1981 1982. Basset Racing 1982. CW (Custom Works) Racing: May 1982 December 1983. "CW", regarding the bicycle manufacturing firm, never stood for "Coast Wheels" as it is widely thought. Coast Wheels was a bike shop that Roger Worsham owned. Custom Works was a completely different and independent company. This is in contrast with JMC (Jim Melton Cyclery) which did start out as a bicycle shop and then began manufacturing its own BMX components including entire bicycles. Schwinn Bicycle Company: January 1984 Mid June 1984. Schwinn dropped Billy Griggs because Griggs was not using Schwinn equipment. As Griggs explained in an interview in the February 1985 issue of Super BMX & Freestyle:SBMX: So you're saying you had no bicycle to race?Billy Griggs: "I had a bike to race but it wasn't what I would consider a race bike. It would be fine for a novice or a beginner. I was riding a fully short stock frame. I tried to ride a Sting for a while but I just didn't like it. They understood that and they let me try a different frame they made. But you know I prefer Flight cranks any day over one piece cranks, and the other frame they made was too wide in the rear section for Flights, they just hit the frame, and so I didn't want to ride that bike. It was also too short in the front end by three inches easy, it was really a small bike. "SBMX: Yet you won quite a few races on Schwinn bicycles. B. G.: No I didn't, the bike I had was made by Voris Dixon. SBMX: It said Schwinn. B. G.: That's just it, it said Schwinn, but that's as far as it went. I had to put Schwinn stickers on it because I had to fool everyone with it. SBMX: Were you fooling the people at Schwinn?B. G.: For a while. At first they didn't mind it but then when the Schwinn dealers started asking for that bike and they couldn't supply it, then the problem started. "SBMX: So did Schwinn leave you or did you leave Schwinn?B. G.: They called me up and gave me a choice: Either put a Sting together or a bike we make and stay on the team, or don't do it and I wouldn't be on the team anymore. He opted to leave the team in part because it would have taken too long to adjust to a bike with a Schwinn manufactured frame. Haro Designs/Cycles: December 21, 1990.

Note: Listed are District, State/Provincial/Department, Regional, National, and International titles in italics. "Defunct" refers to the fact of that sanctioning body in question no longer existing at the start of the racer's career or at that stage of his/her career. Depending on point totals of individual racers, winners of Grand Nationals do not necessarily win National titles. Series and one off Championships are also listed in block.

Named the Sixth of the 25 Hottest amateurs in BMX racing by a 1984 survey conducted by BMX Plus! for the opinions of four prominent figures in BMX: Two racers, Brent Patterson and Mike Poulson; and two team officials: Dr. Gary Scofield of GT, Howard Wharthon of Diamond Back. Named one of eight top amateurs deemed top "Pros of the Future" by Super BMX & Freestyle magazine along with Eric Carter, Mike King, Doug Davis, Matt Hadan Brent Romero, Darwin Griffin and Brad Birdwell. Named one of the new BMX Action's "Terrible Ten" top amateurs and future professionals for 1986.

Suffered a separated shoulder during a practice run before the pre race at the 1985 ABA Land of Lincoln Nationals in Springfield, Illinois on April 27, 1985. Laid up for approximately seven weeks until the NBL/IBMXF Murry World Cup race in Nashville, Tennessee in mid June. In 2008 Griggs had surgery to repair a valve in his heart. Apparently his heart had been pumping less than normal volume of blood for all his life including his BMX career. On the BMX Action Online discussion site he discusses his repair with a poster:

In 2013 Griggs was inducted into the prestigious National BMX Hall of Fame. Griggs was responsible for developing the Ultra Box Series frame design, alongside Gary Turner, and has welded up plenty of custom frames for top Pros including the GT frames ridden by Mike Day and Jill Kintner in the 2008 Olympics.

"Griggs & CW" BMX Action December 1983 Vol.8 No.12 pg.68
"NBL National Number 1's" Bicycles Today January 1985 Vol.7 No.1 pg.15 Short biographical blurb in sanctioning body newspaper for becoming NBL national no.1 15 Cruiser in 1984. "Mr. Bill" Super BMX & Freestyle February 1985 Vol.12 No.2
"Charlie & Billy" BMX Action August 1987 Vol.12 No.8 pg.58 A joint interview with Charles Townsend. "On the Cover Billy Griggs" BMX Action March 1988 Vol.13 No.3 pg.59
"Billy's Birthday Bash: The Coming of Age" Freestylin'/BMX Action January 1990 Vol.1 Iss.3 pg.41
"Trading Places: Mikey King and Billy Griggs tell all! "BMX Plus! June 1991 Vol.14 No.6 pg.62 A joint interview with Mike King. "billy griggs interview" Snap BMX Magazine May 1998 Vol.5 Iss. No.22 pg.92