Ron “Captain Ron” Foster, a veteran of the motorcycle and road racing industry in Southern California, died December 8 from liver failure, according to friend and former teammate Dennis Smith. Foster was 59 and living in Long Beach, California, at the time of his death.

In a message to Roadracingworld.com, Smith wrote: “Ron was originally from Poughkeepsie, New York, and moved to Southern California in 1977.

“His first job was working in sales for Del Amo Suzuki in Torrance, California. He was one of the mechanics on our race team and he also did race some, off and on, in AFM club events.

“In 1980 he helped my then business partner Terry Newby and I to start up our fledgling motorcycle retail business called Cycle Tune in Torrance, California.

“In 1981 he became partners with us and opened up Cycle Tune of North Hollywood.

“In 1983 he accepted a job offer from Vance & Hines. He worked his way up in the company and was one of 10 people that really put Vance & Hines on the map as an aftermarket exhaust system manufacturer. He was their marketing manager and helped Terry [Vance] open up seven Vance & Hines retail stores in Southern California. This was from 1983-1994.

“During his time at Vance & Hines he worked with and traveled to AMA Superbike Races with their race team and worked as a hands-on mechanic for their factory Yamaha team and then after that their Ducati Superbike effort.

“He was one of the crew members when Vance & Hines took two overall wins in 24-hour endurance races at Willow Springs in 1987 and ’88.

“He retired from Vance & Hines ‘active duty’ in 2004, I believe.

“He was an all-round good, hardworking guy who loved the racetrack atmosphere and loved winning at whatever he did in life.

“He is survived by his 59-year-old twin brother Bill Foster, another brother David Foster and his 29-year-old daughter Hailey Foster.”

There was no memorial service for Foster, as his wishes were to be cremated and have his ashes scattered at sea.