Trail Rider Magazine

January 2026 37 the 1975 season-opener Daytona Supercross took him out of compe on. As a result, Can-Am bought out his contract, leaving Gary on the sidelines. Having some resources on hand from his racing success to that point, as well as the Can-Am buyout money, Gary and his father considered entering the motorcycle business. Given their success in devel- oping Yamaha motocross bikes and their extensive R&D skills, the Jones boys set out to produce and market their own motorcycle. As described by Gary Jones himself, his father and Frank Cooper were "old drinking buddies" from way back, and Don knew full well how Frank's efforts with his Cooper motorcycles had turned out. Confident in their ability to improve on what Frank Cooper had ini ated, Don and Gary bought Frank out and began upda ng the Cooper pla orm to address the exis ng bikes' shortcomings and align them with the mid-70s explosive increase in MX bike performance. Focused once again on the 250 class, and a Moto- cross model exclusively, the Joneses improved upon virtually every aspect of the exis ng Cooper motorcy- cles, plus incorporated more power, updated suspen- sion, and applied the very best quality components possible. During ini al tes ng of the early bikes, Gary broke just about everything possible on them. However, this simply demonstrated to him and his father specifically what areas required a en on, and to what degree. There was, in fact, some solid engi- neering built into the original Cooper design, and as a result, Don and Gary did retain some of the orig- inal layout. Case in point: the tried-and-true Maico chassis setup was kept, along with the Yamaha-based top end, chain primary drive, inside/outside kicker/ shi er sha s, and other proven components. They did, however, switch from points igni on to CDI, and applied some very prac cal ideas, such as a toolless airbox access and a thread-on paper air filter. The end result was a quite capable machine, which debuted for the '76 Motocross season. Gary himself competed in the 250 Na onals on one, as well as in the Open Class on a one-off big bore version. Ini ally marketed under the brand name Jones-Islo, Don and Gary eventually se led on the name "Ammex". The bikes were striking in appearance too, and available in three colors – red, yellow, and blue. Despite hav- ing been out of racing for an en re year due to his Daytona injury, and as a result having done virtually no training, Gary nonetheless put in some impressive rides during the '76 season, proving quite well the performance poten al of Ammex motorcycles. On a side note, during this same me, none other than eventual Na onal & World Road Racing Champion Eddie Lawson was racing dirt track on an Ammex – his very first sponsored ride. Sales were impressive as well, especially given that these were brand-new, virtually unknown, and un- proven bikes. Gary reports produc on figures ran to about 1500 machines. Unfortunately, late in 1976, the Mexican Peso sharply depreciated, making it no longer economically viable for the Jones boys to produce their bikes. Exis ng stock enabled them to con nue selling bikes into 1977, but in the end, the circumstances were financially disastrous for Gary in par cular, leaving him with virtually nothing to show for all their efforts. In the end, Frank Cooper's and the Jones's efforts to produce and successfully market Cooper/Am- mex motorcycles, demonstrate just how difficult it can be to enter into, and remain in, the motorcycle manufacturing business. Market changes can be dras c, customer appeal can be fickle, and as with any company, compe on is vicious. Today, both Cooper and Ammex motorcycles are but a foot- note, albeit a significant one, in the big picture of motorcycle produc on and marke ng. If this informa on s rs some interest in these unique bikes for you, do some checking. They're out there. Some are pris ne, some are survivors, and some are strictly project bikes. Check 'em out. It might be one for your personal vintage bike col- lec on.

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