25 Years Ago July, 1970
25 YEARS AGO JULY, 1970
Scenes from the annual Cycle World Show graced the cover. A forerunner to our current-day Cycle World Readers' Collection, the show included a broad spectrum of classics, customs and performance bikes displayed alongside the latest offeringsform manufactures
The season-opener at Southern California's Ascot Park was the lead topic in the Racing Review section. Adjacent to a photo of the Expert main winner, Harley-Davidsonmounted Mert Lawwill, was a kid pttching sideways on a Suzuki 250 Twin, the caption reading, "Keep your eye on this first-year Novice-Kenny Roberts...he's coming on very strong." These days, sadly, Ascot is gone, but Roberts continues to forge h~s name into racing history.
• Mike Gibbon of Grant's Pass. Oregon, made hi$Iclimbing history by topping Utah's infamous Wid owmaker. In the event's seven-year existence, no man had reached the toii of the lona steeD incline.
• Road tests of the Honda's dohc CB450 and Kawasaki's Samurai Al SS street-scrambler played heav fly on the fact that both models had been restyled for the 1970 model year. The 250cc Samurai's facelift was well received by the editors, a~ was the bike's $715 purchase price-an increase of only $20 sincE the rotary-valve two-stroke's intro duction in 1967. Priced at $1049, the restyled CB450 (you'll remem ber that the original models had du biously shaped fuel tanks and were nicknamed "Black Bombers") also scored styling points. "The ugly duckling has blossomed into a beauty," said the staff.
Don Canet
