25 Years Ago September, 1983
25 YEARS AGO SEPTEMBER, 1983
A pair of sporting Suzukis-the GS550ES and GS1100ESgraced the cover, and each proved to be the go-fast leader in its respective class. “Staggering performance is available from the GS550ES,” proclaimed the test of the smaller Suzook, “but only if the engine is revved high.” It’s a bike “made for riding, and riding hard,” was the test’s conclusion. The GS1100ES, meanwhile, was the first Cycle World testbike ever to dip into the tens in the quartermile, posting a 10.99-second run at 120.80 mph.
• The staff also tested two 600cc Singles: the Yamaha TT600 dirtbike, which disappointed the editors in several ways, and the Honda XL600 dual-purpose machine, which impressed them. • Feature stories abounded in this issue. In “Heartfelt Highways,” Feature Editor Wade Roberts spun an engaging, colorful tale of his ride through the Old South on an H-D FXRT. Roberts also delivered a brief history of the famed Henderson Four in “Gentlemen, Today We Stop.” Peter Egan told us of his visit to the hallowed ground of the last Norton factory in “Wolverhampton Detour.”
• On the technical side, CW’s always-tinkering Test Editor, the late Ron Griewe, came up with numerous tips and fixes for improving Honda’s XR500 and XR350, while Exec Ed John Ulrich eliminated a carburation problem in the magazine’s hopped-up Yamaha Seca 650 by installing milder Yoshimura camshafts.
Paul Dean
