Recently and thanks to our colleagues at MCN, we have learned of the death of a true reference in the British motorcycle world, Ron Williams. Founder of the company Maxton Suspensiones, Williams dedicated himself body and soul, throughout his life, to the development and construction of suspension and chassis equipment for both competition and street motorcycles.
On the company’s social networks it issued a statement a few hours ago, where it gave the terrible news: “It is with great sadness that we have to announce that our founder and father Ron Williams passed away on Saturday night. He was surrounded by his family and slipped away peacefully. We are all heartbroken, but grateful that he was a part of our lives. He was a pioneer of our industry; “All of us at Maxton are grateful to have been given the opportunity to learn from him.”
Ron Williams, a life dedicated to motorcycles
It was in 1971 when Ron Williams founded Maxton Suspensionsafter having sold his own car to be able to raise the necessary funds with which to start the business. That was only the beginning of an idyll between Williams and the world of motorcycles, as it expanded its radius of activity to the world of competition. In this field he helped develop countless high-performance chassis.
He soon specialized in the subject and became a reference in racks for Yamaha TZ. I am also part of the triumph of Mick Grant in the 1975 Isle of Man Senior TT, helping him, in the paddock itself, to modify and adjust the chassis of his Kawasaki KR750 with which he competed in the test. About this, Ron Williams himself explained in an interview in 2020:
“They had raised the bike to turn it and I suspected that the engine was now too low at the rear, so the chain travel was not correct, it was not symmetrical. I unsoldered the lugs holding the motor to the back of the frame and repositioned it. Obviously I didn’t have a fixture so I just used the motor to align it. Mick took the bike and won the Senior. “It was a fairy tale.”
Another of the milestones that will remain forever in Ron Williams’ personal history is having had the honor of being invited by Honda to the presentation of the NR500 GP in 1981. He was then asked to help Takeo Fukui himself, later named CEO and president of Honda worldwide, to develop and manufacture a specific chassis for that motorcycle.
In short, Williams became a benchmark within his field and today, more than ever, all those lovers of the technique that surrounds the world of motorcycles mourn his death.
From our editorial team we can only offer our condolences to his entire family and hope that Ron can continue enjoying this passion wherever he is now.
