25 Years Ago December 1979
25 YEARS AGO DECEMBER 1979
On the cover dressed in black and elegantly posed was a Yamaha XS Eleven Special. For three years the XS was the tuning fork flagship, and this dark horse tipped the scales at 584 pounds, 100 lubs lighter than one of its competitors, the six-cylinder Kawasaki KZ1300. Unfortunately, the cold-blooded Yamaha took a step backward in performance, thanks to tougher emissions standards put in effect that year.
• The XS wasn’t the only cool Yamaha in the issue. Inside the front cover (and on my office wall now, too!) a Yamaha ad read, "Every time we race, you win.” A picture of “King” Kenny Roberts and Bob “Hurricane” Hannah’s bikes set up nose-to-nose accompanied the text.
• In product testing, editors went nuts comparing 41 knobby tires from track to trail in a 13page rundown, rating them in six different categories. Pirelli scored top honors.
• A story titled “Honda Goes its Own Way,” told of the Honda NS500 four-stroke VFour Grand Prix bike that went down in flames on the first lap at Silverstone when rider Mick Grant crashed.
• Kenny Roberts, meanwhile, clinched his second 500cc world championship with a win at the French Grand Prix, and announced his plans to oppose the FIM with his own series the following year. Of course, he returned to win a third FIM-sanctioned title. Long live the King...
Mark Cernicky
