25 Years Ago April, 1978
25 YEARS AGO APRIL, 1978
This issue hit newsstands at the height of the disco era. I was a high-school sophomore and the proud holder of a newly minted California driver’s license. Only two things-make that three-stood between me and the stunning Honda CBX that graced the cover: two concerned parents and my minimum-wage job. Being full of youthful exuberance, I would have put my driving privileges on the line quicker than you can sing
“Stayin’ Alive” for a date with the big air-cooled Six. Unfortunately, at least for me, the CBX was the fastest bike CW had ever tested, having boogied through the quartermile in 11.64 seconds and clocked a top speed of 134 mph in a short half-mile sprint. Thanks guys, with numbers like those, what persuasive song ’n’ dance could possibly have worked with my folks?
• Maybe I should have plied my parents with the old saw that there’s more to motorcycling than pure performance. This issue’s eight-article touring “bonus feature,” which included such stories as “Rigging for the Road,” “Planning for the Long Haul” and “CW Goes Cycle Kamping,” might have counteracted the image of motor mayhem racing through my mother’s mind.
• Elsewhere in the issue, a profile on long-time racer Don Vesco served up just the sort of rolemodel material needed to inspire any youth peering down the fast track of greatness. Even though Vesco is no longer with us, his achievements will live forever in the annals of motorcycling.
-Don Canet
