25 Years Ago April 1986

25 YEARS AGO APRIL 1986

"Sensible Sophistication," read the coverfine refer ring to the BMW K75C that shared the issue's gatefold cover with

Kawasaki's new ZL600 cruiser tucked out of view within.

Both bikes received the full road-test treatment, while

off-road readers got all the good dirt on a revamped

Honda CR25OR motocrosser and Kawasaki's checkpoint-chasing KDX200 enduro machine.

•Race Watch served up more roost with coverage of the 24 Hours of Brentagne motocross held in France. A feature titled High in The Thin, Cold Air provided icing on the cake for motominded readers, detailing the exploits of Japanese adventure rider Shinji Kazama in his second attempt at scaling Mt. Everest on a Honda TLR trials bike. Although the ever-determined Kazama failed to reach the summit of the world’s tallest mountain, his ascent to 19,700 feet proved no small feat, even for a man with such lofty goals.

•A personal nugget of nostalgia buried in the issue was a Suzuki advertisement promoting its then newly conceived roadrace contin

gency program. I gained a great deal of experi ence and have many fond memories as a participant in the inaugural Suzuki GSX-R National Cup Series. GSX-Rs were the bikes of choice

that year, and grids were full, with talent runfling deep. One of my proudest achievements in that series was earning an invite to the Road

Atlanta Cup Final.

Don Canet