On Cycle World And Involvement...For You
ON CYCLE WORLD AND INVOLVEMENT...FOR YOU
UP FRONT
NO DOUBT you’ve already thumbed through the issue and are wondering just what’s happened to CYCLE WORLD Magazine. Scene has vanished on a monthly basis. Round Up is completely different. Foreign reports such as Japan, Italy and Continental are nowhere to be found. And, just what’s this Up Front column, anyway?
First things first. Up Front is the editor’s column and it’s new because I’m new in the position of editor. This month I’m going to speak out on CYCLE WORLD because you, the reader, have a right to know just what goes on here, right down to our basic philosophy. But don’t expect blurbs on the magazine in the future. My intent on this page is to write editorials either for or against laws or associations affecting our sport. I should mention now that the opinions expressed here in the future, while closely related to the thought patterns of CYCLE WORLD, are mine and mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the position of this company.
As for the rest of the magazine, let’s deal directly with the facts. CYCLE WORLD has been modified to realign itself with you, the reader, and in case you haven’t noticed, you’re considerably different than you were ten, even five years ago.
How do we know? Well, we have a marketing department now that is under the direction of Dan Hunt; the same Dan Hunt that was the last Senior Editor at CYCLE WORLD. He knows bikes. He knows the people that ride them. And what he doesn’t know, he has an insatiable desire to find out!
So, we’ve taken these facts and statistics that Dan has supplied and have built a new CYCLE WORLD around them. For starters, the foreign reports have slipped on the readership polls, even though some individuals still find them useful. So, we’ve condensed them, weeded out all the trivia, and incorporated them into Joe Parkhurst’s new Round Up column. In addition, Joe will comment on anything from new products to out and out rumors. You can also expect him to take a stand on people and places that plague us.
Racing Review has also been changed around somewhat. To start with, it has a new title, Competition Etcetera, and will be on a 2-page spread every month so we can run some photos that will blow your mind (ours, too). And the column is now written by D. Randy Riggs, our senior editor. He’ll inject his own thoughts as well as provide facts on those who ride On Any Sunday and on professionals in virtually every facet of two-wheeled sport.
Service Department isn’t with us this month, but it hasn’t been dropped. We are simply regrouping. Jody Nicholas, our technical wizard and professional racer, is being given more space to not only answer your questions, but also to illustrate photographically and describe projects of our own...projects aimed at helping you go faster and safer, both on and off-road.
New Models & Products will also remain in the book, but again will be given a little more space to deal with fewer products. We’re going to deal with a smaller number of innovations, if you will, so we can evaluate them and pass on that information to you.
Letters and Feedback are a tradition to CYCLE WORLD, especially Feedback. Dan Hunt had the original idea of letting readers speak out on anything, and we’ve had fantastic response. So, speak out guys, on anything from trials, to speedway, to motocross, to street...all the way to whatever ails ya.
If you like speaking out and need some ammunition for a rebuttal, read Scene when it appears now and again. Scene, as always, will be written by Ivan Wagar, now Director of Public and Governmental Relations for CYCLE WORLD. But now it will be expanded to feature length and should include some interesting discussion from Washington. Ivan serves on several committies in D.C. and works very hard on behalf of every motorcyclist in this country!
Now for CYCLE WORLD’S bread and buttei^R^fc Tests! Road Tests are a Joe Parkhurst invention and they^) way back to 1962. We got a lot of static back then because a couple of 250s actually went faster than some big bore four-strokes and that just can’t happen. Right?
To our way of thinking, proper evaluation means and requires the following things. First of all, we categorize the motorcycles we test. For example, we compare motocross bikesYo bikes of similar intent during our evaluation. We do it so we can find out where the bike stands in relation to the competition.
Once we’ve done that, we ride the bike according to its intent...trials bikes in trials sections, dual-purpose bikes on both street and trail, enduro bikes in enduro competition, motocrossers on race tracks, street bikes on the highway, etc.
All bikes are ridden under these “normal conditions” so we can determine if they are being marketed properly; if they are safe, convenient, what have you. But this is just a starting point for us because you deserve to know more. Next, we rent a racing facility appropriate to the bike at hand, and ride it to the very limit, sometimes beyond. We ride it anywhere from one day (for street bikes) to tl^P days (on three different tracks for motocrossers) flat out to see how they hold up and to evaluate handling and maximum speed.
Then, any vehicle capable of being licensed is run at a drag strip, usually Orange County International Raceway, for acceleration, and we again run them all day if necessary.
Last, but certainly not least, we will dyno test in ’74 every machine that you, the public, buy for competition or consider a performance oriented vehicle!
Most important, even more important than the time we spend with each bike, is the fact that everyone involved with testing at CYCLE WORLD rides every machine. That’s right. All of us. Every machine. Joe Parkhurst. D. Randy Riggs. Jody Nicholas. Bob Atkinson. And we rap about it afterward to ensure that you get the truth no matter who ends up putting the words on paper!
As far as I’m concerned, all this means involvement... involvement by those who care about you and about motorcycling...involvement for you, dear reader.
