25 Years Ago December, 1968
25 YEARS AGO DECEMBER, 1968
It was down-and-dirty for this issue of Cycle World, which contained a special section called The Ultimates. This was an accumulation of the best dirtbikes of the day, including the Penton 125, the Maico 360, the Husky 360, a pair of Ossa Stilettos, an Ossa Plonker, a Greeves Ranger and a Sachs 125. Interesting that of all those names, just Husqvarna survives, and at that only after having been transplanted from its native Sweden to the warmer climes of northern Italy.
• This issue contained other interesting markers of those more innocent days. One of those was a report on the Italian GR Giacomo Agostini won the 350cc and 500cc races (as well he’d better, in front of the infamous Italian fans), while Phil Read won the 250 race.
• How crazy were we in 1968? Hungarian transplant Tibor Sarossy showed us by making the New York-Los Angeles transit aboard his BMW R69S in 45 hours, 41 minutes. How is this possible? Sarossy boogied, is how. Also, he carried 16.5 gallons of fuel(!) aboard his Beemer, minimizing time lost at fuel stops. He stopped just four times, and averaged 42 mpg.
• The future beamed out at us all from page 96 of this issue. There can be found the first report on the motorcycle that effectively changed motorcycling-Honda’s CB750. This first shot was a quiet one. Little did we know how much ink, and how much attention, this bike eventually would capture. -Jon F. Thompson
