25 Years Ago August, 1972

25 YEARS AGO AUGUST, 1972

The 1970s are often referred to as The Golden Age of Motorcycling. The decade deserves this moniker, too, considering the huge number of motorcycles that were imported into the U.S. from Japan. As such, it’s no surprise that this month’s cover featured a Honda-the then-new CB350 Four, to be specific. Labeled an “exciting new mini-multi,” the 347cc machine was the smallest production Four to date, and Soichiro Honda himself reportedly called the bike “the finest, smoothest Honda ever built.” And while CW's editors agreed the preproduction prototype they sampled was smooth, they predicted that the Four’s high price—$1100, compared to the under-$800 CB350 Twin— made it “unlikely that the Four will supplant the Twin.”

• Also tested in this issue was BMW’s R60/5, a smaller version of the acclaimed R75/5. Headlines claimed the 600cc Boxer Twin was “a beautifully engineered (if not exactly beautiful) traveling man’s machine,” and road testers praised its comfort and refinement. True to the times, the test contained the following fashion warning: “If you are inclined to (wearing) bells or flares, beware. It’s easy to catch the fuel tickler with the cuff and flood the bowls.”

• A photo essay depicted the cream of the proverbial crop at the 1972 Cycle World Show. Raked-out Harley-Davidsons, pristinely restored Indians and an assortment of chrome-coated components comprised six pages of color and blackand-white photos. The Golden Age of Motorcycling, most definitely.

Wendy F. Black