Cw 25 Years Ago August, 1966

CW 25 YEARS AGO August, 1966

ROUNDUP

BAD NEWS GREETED READERS IN this issue. Cycle World's Isle of Man TT effort, which would have been the first modern U.S. roadracing team to go to Europe, had to be scrubbed. A strike by British seamen meant that ferries to the island weren't operating and the 1966 TT had to be cancelled. Team mem bers Buddy Parriott, Don Vesco and Ron Grant would have ridden Ya mahaTl)-l 250s. modern

Racing was an impor tant topic for I 960s mo torcyclists. as evidenced by the amount of competition cover age in the magazine. This issue con tained reports of the Luxembourg 250cc motocross GP~ the French and German road racing GP~. where Mike Hailwood won the 250 and 350cc classes at both events: and the AMA roadrace national at Carlsbad,

California, where Cal Ra\'born won, hut Mert Lawwill scored style points for the niost impressive showings at `~Wheelie I liii.'' Both I lailwood and Ra~'horn are dead now, hut Lawwill is still active in the sport. and was seen at this year's Laguna Seca (JP turning wrenches for the l)oug Chandler team. Tested in this issue was a Kawasaki 65() W 1, the company's oftenforgotten four-stroke Twin patterned after the BSA AlO. The fIrmthen called Kawasaki Aircraft Co.-ran ads reminding readers that "Fun People Go Kawasaki" and that the W I was "Japan's biggest. fastest, most powerful motorcycle." Twenty-five years later, as ev idenced by this issue's test ZXI I, it's clear that Kawasaki hasn't forgotten how to fly.

David Edwards