25 Years Ago July, 1977

25 YEARS AGO JULY, 1977

ROUNDUP

remember Can-Am? If not, perusing this issue LwiIl bring you up to speed on the now-defunct Canadian brand. On test were not one, not two, but three different versions of parent company Bombardier's Rotax-powered 175cc two-stroke dirtbikes. Much ink was spent explaining how engineers turned one engine and two frames into three models, all of which worked very well. • Representing the Can-Am 175 Qualifier's competition was the new monoshock-equipped Yamaha IT175D. The editors found the blue-and-yellow Japanese enduro better than its Canadian counterpart in tight woods, but not in the vast desert. • We all like to think of motorcycling as pleasurable, but it can have its downsides, too, as detailed in two feature stories in this issue. The first, "Encounter in Santa Paula" by then-new CW staffer Tony Swan, recounted the author's collision with Betty Brainfade's Toyota, and offers advice that's still valid today: Always assume they don't see you. The second, "Easter Break" by contributor Frosty Wooldridge, chronicled the author's hellish ride from Colorado to Florida and back, and likely had an adverse effect on touring-bike sales. After 4000 miles of cold, rain, flat tires and tire-iron-wielding truckers, the author returned to his day job as a schoolteacher, only to break his ankle on the playground. The moral? Your guess is as good as mine. -Brian Catterson