Martin Conway is the driving force behind SouthBay MotoGP. Martin is from the Monterey Bay area (up north) and got his start riding Motocross on an old 1973 Honda SL100. By 1975, he was racing around the hills surrounding Laguna Seca Raceway and Ft. Ord, which used to be a real hotbed of Nor-Cal Motocross in the mid 1970’s.
Back then, in order to ride MX, you had to work on MX bikes, as the bike were all junk, and broke all the time. Martin quickly learned the importance of turning wrenches and was helping out his buddies already. Martin raced Motocross all over California throughout the 1970’s and early 80’s. He eventually settled in Southern California in 1987. In 1986, tired of chasing small purses, Martin attened MMI and got a formal education in wrenching on bikes – though not that he needed it! Upon graduation, he went to work for Steve Dyer at one of his Vance and Hines shops, and Dyer Racing.
By the mid 1980’s, Martin was introduced to Rodney Fee and YSR 50 racing, and this begin his fascination and passion for small roadracers. Martin loved these bikes, as they reminded him of the Motocross bikes he grew up on, but without the mess and the dirt.
By 1989, Martin had met and befriended Kenny Roberts Junior, who was a young up and coming racer. He was racing a FZR400, and Martin went on the road with his team.
By 1991, Martin had found his way to Japan, where he worked with Autoshop Fukui, and the legendary tech “Sagie”, who was known for building some crazy Ducati and Bimota specials, as well as some sick 2 stroke GP bikes.
Upon returning from Japan, Martin hit the road with Rodney Fee, and won the 125 National Championship, while also fielding Rodney on a 250. Other riders at that time who were competing against Martin and Rodney included Colin Edwards and a very young Hayden family. By the mid 90’s, Martin had attened the Aprilia training program, earning his certificantion to work on the famed Italian sportbikes, including both the Mille and their 250 2 stroke racers
Throughout it all, Martin has stayed true to his roots, helping people out in a quite and unassuming fashion, while possessing a deep pool of knowledge about racing and building a race bike for a rider.
After 20+ years of professional experience, he opened South Bay MotoGP on January 1st, 2008.
Most recently, Martin has been working with Tyler Odom, a young 16 year old racer from Torrance. Martin started working with the Odom family in 2004 when Tyler was racing on a YSR 50. Tyler and Martin won their very first professional race at Daytona in March 2009, which was a major accomplishment, and took place in the face of some stiff competition.
Martin continues to hone his skills and build top quality bikes with every passing day, and opening his own shop in January of 2008 was a highlight in his life. He continues to this day building bikes and enabling the future superstars of road racing.
