25 Years Ago February, 1975
25 YEARS AGO FEBRUARY, 1975
Suzuki's revolutionary rotary, the RE5, hummed its way onto this issue's cover, then squared off against BMW's R90/6 and Kawasaki's Z-1B inside. Any questions left unanswered by the epic 22-page comparison test and seven-page technical essay were no doubt addressed by Suzuki's eight-page, double-gatefold advertisement. Yet in spite of all the ink, the editors remained nonplused: "Somehow, the Rotary just misses the target," they proclaimed, helping to cement the RE5's status as a curious cult bike.
• Speaking of oddities, remember Harley-Davidson lightweights? Made in Italy by Aermacchi, the two-stroke SX250 tested in this issue was Milwaukee’s answer to Yamaha’s dual-purpose DT-1—only it arrived eight years too late. Hard to believe that one won that year’s Baja 500.
• No less baffling was Bruce Woods’ heady review of the Robert Pirsig classic, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I’ve read both the book and the review now, and I still don’t get it.
• Buried on page 108, however, was a feature that I could really relate to: a riding impression of Yamaha’s Moto-Bike. I wanted one of the trick, dual-suspension BMX bicycles bad as a kid, but I was already winning races on a hardtail. And besides, if I’d had the $130 asking price, I would have put the money toward a “real” dirtbike-which was the only reason I was racing bicycles in the first place. -Brian Catterson
