25 Years Ago December, 1969
25 YEARS AGO DECEMBER, 1969
Touring today is pretty easy: Just load up the Gold Wing, pop in a cassette tape and enjoy good roads. It was considerably more challenging 75 years ago. This issue included a story by Frank Mussetter, telling of his cross-country ride in 1919.
• Mussetter, then 17, and his slightly older sister, Margaret, rode Harleys from Iowa to California on the Santa Fe Trail, not seeing paved roads until they reached Southern California. Current roads and motorcycles would probably boggle the mind of the 1919 rider, but some things haven’t changed. “If we had known what we were getting into, we never would have tried it, but adventure is in the spirit of the young,” wrote Mussetter.
• The adventurous CW staffers tested a Norton Commando Production Racer. With a top speed of 131 mph, it was the fastest production motorcycle we had sampled. The 745cc engine made 66 horsepower, 6 more than the standard Commando, thanks to several performance parts and a boost in compression. Brakes, alas, received only minor upgrades and “grabbed mercilessly and proceeded to fade.” Handling was “rock steady.”
• Less steady was Jim Rice’s BSA flat-tracker, which he raced in the Sacramento Mile. “Rice’s BSA Three would drag its left side case in the turns, causing young Jim to age prematurely,” we said. After a race-long, “heart-stopping” battle, Rice finished third, behind Chuck Palmgren and Gene Romero. Adventure, surely, was in their spirits.
-Robert Hough
