25 Years Ago February. 1972
25 YEARS AGO FEBRUARY. 1972
In typical trend-setting manner, Cycle World went disco years before the Bee Gees with a strobe-lit photograph of HarleyDavidson's new 1000cc Sportster on the cover. The editors dubbed the bike "the most likely to be ripped off in 1972," and said that it "hauled ass" through the quartermile. Not satisfied with the Sporty's 13.38-second pass, the editors replaced the stock mufflers with straight pipes, fattened up the jetting and, shazam, it ran a 12.76!
• The Sportster's performance paled in comparison to the pair of Japanese two-strokes in this issue, however. Editor Ivan J. Wagar test-rode Kawasaki's new H2-R roadracer in Japan, and found the 750cc Triple to have a "big, fat power curve." And Yama ha chose the Tokyo Motor Show to debut its GL750 streetbike, which featured a four-cylinder TZ750 roadrace engine and "the first dual-disc front brake ever fitted as standard for a mass-production motorcycle." Except the GL never made it into production...
• Off-road, the Mexican 1000 (forerunner to the Baja 1000) was a losing proposition for motorcycles. Why? Blame it on darkness and pavement. The bikes were lacking in the lighting department and in top speed, which hurt them on the 250 miles of pavement included in the 850-mile course. Malcolm Smith teamed with Gunnar Nilsson on an eight-speed Husqvarna 400 to win the bike category with a time of 16 hours and 51 minutes. Unfortunately, the Ford truck of Par nelli Jones covered the distance 30 minutes quicker.
Jimmy Lewis
