25 Years Ago October, 1968

25 YEARS AGO OCTOBER, 1968

ROUNDUP

Warren Samuel’s studio photograph of Triumph’s all-new Trident 750 stood alone on this month’s cover of Cycle World. The image focused on the bike’s most important feature, its heavily finned three-cylinder powerplant. The Triple cost $1765, broke the 100-mph barrier with ease and emitted an ear-bending exhaust note from its so-called “Ray-Gun” mufflers.

• In a letter to the magazine, reader Elliot Fried wisecracked that aircrafttype ejection seats might play a role in the sport’s future. “When the rider realizes that an accident is inevitable, he presses a small button next to his dimmer switch, and is shot into the air, seat and all, by a 35mm shell. At 100 feet, his mandatory backpack parachute will open automatically and as he slowly floats back to Earth, he will have a few seconds to put his worldly affairs into order before being shredded by the freeway rush hour traffic below.”

• “A new level of honesty and accuracy was achieved when Cycle World started road testing motorcycles,” wrote then-Editor Ivan Wagar in his monthly column, in which he talked about the magazine’s acquisition of some new timing and testing gear. “Throughout Cycle World’s existence, every member of the staff has regarded the integrity of the road test as his second religion...” Twenty-five years later, that same philosophy remains intact.

Matthew Miles