1969 Cycle World Show
1969 CYCLE WORLD SHOW
IT WAS FANTASTIC. On the first night of the 1969 CYCLE WORLD SHOW’s four-day run, attendance was almost double that of 1968. Enthusiasts jammed the aisles to see the raft of fabulous new machines that have been introduced this past year—Threes from BSA, Triumph and Kawasaki, the Honda Four, the Moto-Guzzi V7, the Norton Commando 750S, and scramblers from Greeves, Ossa, Bultaco, AJS, Montesa, Maico, Sachs, Rickman, and Jawa-CZ. Not to mention the racers, customs and classics.
Three countries, Italy, Germany and Great Britain, had official trade exhibits. Super-Jumper Evel Knievel drew an SRO crowd to the West Concourse each time he flew precariously from ramp to ramp on his roaring American Eagle, inches from a high wire fence and a 50-foot drop to basement level.
When it was all over, 132,000 people had paid to see the biggest motorcycle show in the world, a truly international event.
Sweepstakes winner in the trophy competition was the beautifully customized four-pipe 1939 Indian Four of Mike Fitzgerald. Vern Heinrich’s reverse-barrel Triumph fantasy won the Show-Bike category. The Three-Wheeler class entry was split evenly between custom and racing machines with the decision finally going to Bob Bakker’s road racing sidecar—a sleek blend of function, mechanical order and attractiveness. Joe Hurst’s rigid frame Harley won the Street-Show trophy. The deceptively simple, but immaculate BSA Gold Star of motocross rider Chuck “Feets” Minert was the Competition class winner. Another racer, of yesteryears, won the Classic Trophy—Bob Morrison’s Vincent Black Lightning. Randy Smith parked his H-D in a palm tree motif for Best Display. Ron Hagest did a subtle job on a pair of near-identical Triumphs, a T120R and a T100R, for which he won best Street-Custom honors. The Street-Custom class traditionally has drawn the largest number of entries, and its main criterion is that the bikes are street-legal. To give these competitors a more representative crack at the trophies, borderline machines, such as those without a front brake hub, were reclassified as Street-Show customs.
The CW Show was filled out with big representations from the Classic and Antique Motorcycle Association, the Vincent Owners Club and Bob Stark’s gigantic collection of Indian machines and memorabilia. Clyde Earl’s projectors ran continuously with motorcycling movies, and even a bit of W.C. Fields. Every major brand of motorcycle sold in the United States was represented, and the CW Show is the only one that can make that claim. It was a fully rounded spectacle offering a true look at the whole world of motorcycling.
