Cw 25 Years Ago
CW 25 YEARS AGO
IGnITIOn
nEWS
APRIL 1989
Yeow! An eyescorching neon pink Cycle World logo and cover blurb hinted (not so subtly) of the "Wild Things!!!" residing within this no-fooling April issue.
Our "Futurebikes" cover story featured a half-dozen conceptual drawings by imaginative designer Stuart Imai. An accompanying piece had marketing and design chiefs from the Big Four, BMW, and HarleyDavidson each peering into the crystal ball. "We'll see much more sophisticated motor cycles, with things like speed-sensitive suspen sions, variable ride height, traction control for both acceleration and deceleration," offered Honda's pro phetic designer Martin Manchester. "HarleyDavidson's motto for the future could easily be Evolution not revolution," stated H-D Director of Styling Louie Netz. Our bike's components have that certain Harley-Davidson signature' and even though those parts will change in the future, they'll still be recogniz able as Harley-Davidson parts." Amen!
Bringing readers back to present-day 1989 was a full road test of the Honda [B-i stan dard and a track riding impression of I<awa saki's new ZX-7. While the former served as an early pioneer to our current-day sport stan dards, that particular generation of Ninja possessed a signature performance feature of its time: flex-hose ram-air ducts routed through the top of the fuel tank.
And let us not for get Grand Prix court jester Randy Mamola, captured in Slipstream hamming it up for race fans by donning an oversize Mamola replica Arai and looking every bit a life-size bobblehead doll.
Don Canet
