Cycle Round Up
CYCLE ROUND UP
JOE PARKHURST
ACCORDING TO THE GALLAGHER Report, a "confidential" newsletter published for people in the advertising, marketing and management fields, motorcycles are the newest recreation boom. To quote the report: "Only 45,000 sold in 1960. Total sales will reach 298,000 this year, 433,000 next year, 744,000 by 1967. Compared to 151,680 in 1963, with that year's share of the market going to: Honda (65.9%), Berliner Motor Corp. (Norton, Matchless, Ducati)(7.3%), Yamaha (7.1%), Sears Roebuck and Co. (6.9%), Triumph Ltd. (4.6%), Harley-Davidson (including Aermacchi)(3.7%), BSA (3.3%), others -(1.2%). Undisputed leader is Honda; they sold 100,000 units in 1963, are expected to exceed 200,000 ($67 million) this year. Suzuki sales will reach 15,000 this year, with a $200,000 advertising budget, will increase to $500,000 next year."
Berliner Motor Corp. will show a considerable increase when figures for 1964 are tabulated. They are expanding their advertising budget to around $500,000 to include many general interest magazines as well as trade publications and of course, the leader of the motorcycle enthusiasts’ magazines, CYCLE WORLD.
The Cloverleaves, a publication of the Cloverdale Junior High School in Montgomery, Alabama, in a type of column familiar to most of us entitled “The Ideal Senior Boy,” included the following poem: “He’ll be like Jim Helms, who keeps the girls in a constant ponda, Over which to love, Jim or his Honda.” Talk about motorcycles being “IN” on campuses!
While on the subject of the growth of motorcycling and related things, several members of the CYCLE WORLD staff recently met with Mike G. Ervin, District Representative for D-A Lubricant Co., Inc., of Indianapolis, and Jack L. Martin, Manager of D-A’s Racing Division, along with Ed Kretz at his beautiful new headquarters, to discuss the plans for expansion of D-A in the motorcycle field.
Kretz, and Ed Kretz Jr., are distributors for D-A in the motorcycle field; they are pioneering an advertising and promotional program with CYCLE WORLD as the foundation. We are by all means happy and flattered to be chosen as the publication for D-A, who are extremely influential in motor racing and should make a deep impression on the motorcycle field.
SUZUKI ADJUSTMENTS
It would seem that CYCLE WORLD is out to make things uncomfortable for the U.S. Suzuki Corp., since we called the newly announced T-20 250cc twin cylinder a single in our Tokyo Motor Show report, then turned right around and implied that Suzuki was building a Honda in our News From Japan column last month. What we meant to say was that Honda will build their new iron cylinder, overhead cam model 90 at their SUZUKA plant, not at the ultra-modern Suzuki plant as the column states. Oooooooohboy!
While on the subject of the Suzuki T-20, it will be available in the middle of 1965 and will be called the X-6. I had the pleasure of taking part in one of U.S. Suzuki’s many testing sessions with the X-6 a short time ago and spent a couple of hours riding around the back country of Southern California. I have pledged not to say very much about the machine until it is fully developed and we receive one for road testing, at which time we will be announcing its availability in this country. I can, and will say, though, that it is a handsome, fast, and extremely nice 250cc TWIN, with the liveliest six-speed gear box I have ever ridden. For the rest of the story you will just have to wait a while, and when we test the machine we will give a thorough rundown on Suzuki’s development of the X-6, a fascinating story within itself.
CYCLE WORLD 2ND ANNUAL MOTORCYCLE SHOW
Things are really buzzing around the CYCLE WORLD offices these days, leading subject being the second running of the CYCLE WORLD National Motorcycle Show, scheduled at the beautiful Los Angeles Sports Arena. Dates are April 29th and 30th, and May 1st and 2nd, a four-day event this year. Reason for lengthening the show is simply that we need more time to accommodate the overflow crowds of last year’s show. We will again have all of the machines available in the U.S. on display in the commercial section, along with a fabulous display of customs, racing, antique, Bonneville, and other special types of machines. Also, Clyde Earl will again be the impresario of the CYCLE WORLD Theatre, showing continuous motorcycle movies.
Almost 70,000 people attended the 1964 three-day show; we expect well over 80,000 for the four-day event. Several special attractions have been planned. Among those of special interest to members of the motorcycle industry will be a private show day for dealers and trade people only. We will open the Arena at 10 AM Thursday, until 5 PM, for our special Dealer and Press day. The Arena will open to the public at 7 PM that evening, and again on Friday the 30th at 7 PM, and all day Saturday and Sunday, May 1st and 2nd, opening at 11 AM.
CYCLE WORLD’S staff is already hard at work collecting bikes of special interest, such as the world’s fastest motorcycle, the Dudek/Johnson Triumph streamliner, Honda four, Gilera four, the Editor’s Metisse and CR series Honda, and many more. There will be several motorcycles given away, both as door prizes and at some of the commercial booths. We will be dispensing more information as time goes by. We hope all of our readers will plan on being in Los Angeles for what I think will be the greatest showing of motorcycles and allied vehicles ever seen under one roof. I can assure one and all, this is what we are trying to present.
AMERICAN MOTOR SCOOTER ASSOCIATION SETS CONVENTION
Motor scooters, safety, the industry “image” and legislation affecting two-wheeled vehicles will be in the spotlight at the fifth annual convention of the American Motor Scooter Association, according to Andrew Rocco, Association President. The convention will be held at the San Francisco Hilton Hotel on January 18th and 19th and should be one of the real highlights of the motorcycle industry year. Rocco said “the meetings will be geared to promoting a collective understanding of the industry potential and progress.”
Principal speakers will include Dr. Robert Montgomery, Jr., Executive Director, Uniform Traffic Laws and Ordinances Association, Washington, D.C., whose topic will be “Power Cycle Equipment and the Uniform Vehicle Code,” and Donald C. Lhotka of the National Safety Council, discussing “Powered Cycle Accidents—What Are The Facts?”
Other major speakers at the two-day meeting will be Douglas K. Bonn of the National Highway Users Conference, who will discuss “Future Development of Controlled Access Highways.” and Tom C. Carell, California State Assemblyman, who will speak on “Future Development of Motor Vehicle Legislation." Many members of the motorcycle trade and scooter manufacturers, importers, suppliers and organization spokesmen have made reservations, indicating the convention will be the largest in AMSA history.
(Continued on page 6)
Everyone in the motor scooter and motorcycle industry is invited to attend, and I personally urge every member of the motorcycle and allied industries to go to San Francisco and hear these most important speakers. The AMSA is by far the most active national association dealing with the problems of two wheelers, and though we in the industry differentiate between motorcycles and motor scooters, legislators and other officials who decide and regulate these things do not! Our future is often at stake on matters ranging from being restricted from off-the-road areas, to raising and lowering of minimum driving ages, traffic and safety legislations, and even to being ruled off of the roads such as the case pending today in the State of New Jersey.
I know of no other subject more important to every member -of the industry than that of legislation. At present we have absolutely no protection from large pressure groups and City, State and Federal officials, who with one swipe of their hands could do almost irreparable damage to our sport and industry. The solution lies in a
SIDECARS FROM JAPAN
A long awaited announcement for many enthusiasts is the news fr.om the U.S. Marusho Corp.. 8588 West Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, that they now have a line of Japanese built sidecars available in very handsome, all metal models. Version currently in stock fits the Marusho ST-500 (of course), plus 250 Hondas and Yamahas. and soon a model will arrive made to fit any and all machines. Retail price will be “around" $400.00. The photograph shows a prototype attached to the 500cc Marusho.
subject I have spoken a great deal on, both in the magazine and privately, that of the growing need for an effective national motorcycle association, made up of ALL members of the trade, not just a select few, and devoted solely to the industry's problems, not promoting racing. I quite honestly feel that in the AMSA we have just such an organization and that with some persuasion, and a simple name change, we could have the powerful body we so desperately need. Before I am shot at dawn for suggesting such a thing, let me state plainly and emphatically that the idea is my own and I'm not starting a rumor.
L.A. MAYOR SALUTES HONDA
A salute to the burgeoning motorcycle industry, and to the company most re-
sponsible for its growth has been given by Mayor Samuel Yorty of Los Angeles. Mayor Yorty congratulated K. Kawashima, American Honda Vice President and General Manager K. Okumoto for the tremendous success experienced b.y the company since its formation five years ago.
(Continued on page 8)
Honda, which pioneered the introduction of lightweight, economical motorcycles on the American market in 1959, surpassed its all-time motorcycle sales records in 1964.
TRIUMPH PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS
Triumph Baltimore’s annual photo contest winners for 1964 have been announced, and here are the two top photos, in the opinion of the judges:
HONDA 4 IN FORD MUSEUM
A special presentation was made as part of the 14th Annual Old Car Festival at Greenfield Village, Henry Ford’s city-sized museum in Dearborn, Michigan. The museum was presented with a four-cylinder Honda RC-161 motorcycle as a gift of the Honda Motor Co., Ltd. of Toyko and American Honda Motor Co., Los Angeles. The RC-161 Grand Prix racing machine, which won several world road racing honors, will become an important addition to the museum's vast collection of transportation milestones.
(Continued on page 10)
Prime forerunner of modern racing and commercial motorcycles, it was the RC161 which first brought Japan to world prominence in the design and manufacture of motorcycles. The 250cc four-cylinder, sixteen-valve engine produced 74 bhp @ 14,000 rpm and finished the 1961 road racing season with a perfect score of 48 points — a feat never since equalled. It is the only motorcycle displayed in the Ford museum.
NEW TRIUMPH BROCHURES
Though I saw them some time ago, and even had a scoop preview on the full color work to use in our offices, I am just now getting around to mentioning the truly gorgeous full-color sales brochure issued by Johnson Motors, Triumph Distributors in the 19 Western States, for use in their dealers' showrooms. Most of the photography was done in England and it includes some very handsome engineering drawings as well. The use of the extremely expensive four-color process is one of the better sales tools available, but of course restrictive due to the high costs. Constant readers of CYCLE WORLD may remember that we were the first ever with full-color covers, right from our very first issue, CYCLE WORLD also nationally introduced a full-color centerspread in our January issue; we hope to be able to repeat it often.
HONDA SONG HIT
"It’s not a hig motor cycle, it’s a groovy little motor hike.” So go the lyrics to “Little Honda,” a popular song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, which is climbing rapidly to the top of disc jockey popularity lists.
Already three major record companies have recorded the hit, and Honda is reaping the sales that the windfall publicity has added.
RUMOR SQUELCHED
There is no truth to the rumor that Rex Motorcycles are planning to add an “Oedipus” model to their line. G
