25 Years Ago October, 1979
25 YEARS AGO OCTOBER. 1979
Detail photos of the Ten Best Bikes of 1979 on this issue's cover offered clues to which machines earned top honors within. If the fanned-out cooling fins of Maico's Magnum 450 Open-class moto crosser didn't get readers hot, then surely instrument-cluster close-ups of Honda's CB750F, CX500 and the lightweight Hawk would rev up readers.
• A story on “performance touring” across six European countries aboard a Yamaha XS11 -forefather of today’s wellmuscled Ten Best-winning FJR1300-made for a very entertaining read. Executive Editor John Ulrich’s 2170-mile adventure was titled, “On the Third Day I Wore My Racing Leathers...and Blended Right In.” Having personally shared a few eventful press-function rides through foreign lands with Mr. Ulrich in more recent times, I must say that a single detail doesn’t escape the man’s writings.
• Another thorough work, “Mike The Bike’s Last Ride,” painted a vivid picture of author Pete Lyons’ eyewitness account of Mike Hailwood coming out of retirement to win the Senior TT at the Isle of Man. If readers didn’t gain great respect for all who have threaded the stone walls and countless roadside hazards of the 37 3/4-mile course, then they must have been numb to all that is extraordinary in this world. Long live the TT and the memory of the legendary Mike the Bike!
Don Canet
