25 Years Ago October, 1978

25 YEARS AGO OCTOBER, 1978

This issue's cover was a

carefully choreographed

quiz. Ten photographs, each

depicting a telltale detail of one of this year’s Ten Best Bikes winners, put readers’ two-wheel knowledge to the test. To minimize eyestrain, here’s a hint regarding the editors’ choice for Best Superbike: Think early ancestor to the current-day, category-conquering Suzuki GSXR1000. Anyone? The correct answer, of course, is the GS1000. Man, sportbikes certainly have evolved over the past 25 years.

• Less so cruisers, it would appear. For instance, a great family resemblance still exists between the Harley-Davidson FLH80 tested in this issue and the contemporary Electra Glide. “Harley-Davidson is not one of those factories that rushes into innovation,” read the opening line of the FL road test. The Milwaukee bike-maker’s current sales success certainly suggests that company higherups know something about upholding tradition.

• On the racing front, Americans Mike Baldwin and Wes Cooley won the prestigious Suzuka 8-Hour endurance race aboard a Yoshimuraprepped GS1000. The Stars and Stripes were well represented on the podium as another young American, David Emde, teamed up with Japan’s Isyo Sugimoto to snatch the runner-up spot on a privateer Yamaha TZ750. If race results are any indication, CW was right on the money with its choice for Best Superbike that year. Who knows, with GSX-R1000s contesting this year’s 8-Hour, history could repeat itself. Don Canet