Vol.41, No.1

Vol.41, No.1

UP FRONT

David Edwards

JOE PARKHURST, BLESS HIS MERRY OLD soul, would have been happy. I was in Death Valley on Max Bubeck’s yearly ride for pre-1964 motorcycles. At a rest stop, I spied a noted author and historian. Elderly gent who’s had some health problems of late, so I went over to re-introduce myself.

“Oh, yes, Cycle World...” the man began. Pleasantries apparently done with, he informed me, “You know, your magazine doesn’t do enough stories for us old-bike guys.”

Never mind that I had just sauntered over from my 1948 Indian Chiefmaking me at least an old-bike guy in training. Anyway, I reminded Mr. History that we had just published six pages of previously unseen photographs in celebration of Indian’s 100th anniversary-exactly six more pages than any other monthly American glossy had done to commemorate the milestone.

“Must have missed that,” he said.

Uh-huh. Hopefully, he’ll take in this issue’s articles on the world’s fastest Indian lOl Scout, a neat Velocette special, a high-roller R90S Beemer and a ground-breaking (literally and figuratively) 1976 Yama-Thumper.

Reminds me of the Gold Wing rider who accosted me last winter. “How come you never do anything on touring bikes,” he wanted to know.

Never mind that I’ve got a Yamaha Venture in the garage. Never mind that at last count I’d toured through 38 of the 50 states and some 20 foreign countries, including Mongolia, which you can read about in this issue. Never mind the previous month’s “One Lap of America” cover story on Honda’s new GL1800, wherein each staffer logged 1000 miles per day in a non-stop circuit of the Lower 48, a feat that took 12 days and a total of 22 different one-way airline tickets, blowing that month’s travel & expense budget to smithereens.

“Well, yeah, that was neat, but what about a trailer-towing shootout, fuelmileage tips, maybe something on those three-wheel conversions?”

Uh, no.

And Jimmy Lewis gets this all the time: “You guys cover dirtbikes?”

Never mind that the real question should be, “Is there any other magazine with an Off-Road Editor who has won his class in the grueling Paris-Dakar Rally, taken home four gold medals from the International Six Days Enduro or qualified for an AMA outdoor national?”

This month, Jimmy has pulled off a four-stroke MX comparo that I’ll stack up against anybody else’s anywhere in the world. Hard on the trail of whys and wherefores, the man actually disassembled the three bikes right down to their last nut and bolt-well, actually, we had one or two left over afterward...

But, of course, the truth is that we don’t do enough articles for classic-bike loonies. Or dedicated touring riders. Or off-road only guys. And never will.

When Joe Parkhurst hocked his life’s possessions to start this magazine exactly 40 years ago this month, his mission statement laid it out pretty clearly. “Cycle World is dedicated to the motorcycle enthusiast, no matter what he rides...Cycle World's first love is motorcycles, and always will be, whether they are on the highways, tracks, tearing across some unsettled expanse or being used for everyday transportation,” he told readers in Vol.l, No. I.

Twenty-six years later, I was handed the keys to the Editor-in-Chief’s office, but there was no owner’s manual. Seeking words of wisdom, I visited with Joe, who left the magazine in 1976 but remained close, attending Cycle World events and contributing stories right up until his death last December. Over several glasses of his beloved Rob Roys, he told me, “Use a shotgun instead of a rifle. Fan out. As long as it has two wheels, cover it. Cycle World was always meant to be a magazine devoted to all motorcycles, with no restrictions. Communicate that devotion to the reader. Be honest, thorough and objective, and never be afraid to be critical. Be sophisticated, but remember that you have to have fun.”

Used to be, all motorcycle magazines followed that approach. An enthusiast was an enthusiast, dirt or street, racing or road test, Harley or Honda, scooter or superbike, didn’t matter. The niche rider had not been invented yet, nor the niche magazine. Today, CW is the only bike book in America and one of the few in the world that remains true to Joe’s “as long as it has two wheels” principle.

It’s working. Four decades and 480 issues after Parky’s leap of faith, Cycle World is the largest-selling motorcycle magazine in the world. In the U.S., where most bike mags struggle to reach 100,000 in monthly circulation, Cycle World sells 320,000 issues, some 60,000 up on our nearest competitor, a street-only publication that recently dropped its regular competition coverage, too.

About a third of CW's circulation comes from newsstand sales, and 2001 saw our highest single-issue number in 15 years. A big www.upyours.com, then, to our friends on the Internet (well, the few who haven’t gone to web heaven) who insisted so earnestly and so often that print was dead.

In putting this anniversary issue together, we’ve made a few tweaks. First off, no, our older, thinner-haired brothers have not taken over writing the columns. It’s just that artist Dennis Brown has done his usual spectacular work, updating our illustrations for 2002. You’ll also note that Paul Dean has expanded our popular Service department, adding more useful features.

We also kicked around the idea of doing a special section looking back at the past 40 years of Cycle World. Instead, we decided to can the retrospective and simply put out the best damn motorcycle magazine we could. Just like Joe would have wanted.