25 Years Ago October 1987
25 YEARS AGO OCTOBER 1987
ROUND UP
Two and a half decades ago to the month, we celebrated the Ten Best Bikes of the year, just as we have in the issue you are holding. In contrast to our current crop of top picks, plastic-wrapped sportbikes represented five of the 10 categories. Honda's Hurricane 1000 and 600 blew away the contenders in the Open and 600cc Streetbike categories, while the venerable Kawasaki EX500 and Ninja 750 cashed in with Under 500cc and 750cc Streetbike honors. Best Superbike went to the amazing Yamaha FZR1000, one of the first production bikes with a twin-spar aluminum frame.
• Elsewhere, a full road test of the Cagiva/Ducati Paso evaluated the sporting Twin, perhaps most memorable for its opaque fiberglass windscreen and full wrap bodywork. Despite its effort to become the pride of Italy, the Paso lacked refinement. Aprilia and Ducati have long since shored up the reputation of bikes from the boot country.
`Clipboard, the news section of Race Watch, had an interesting piece titled, "Covering Your Carcass." Team .~ Roberts! Lucky Strike was the first to use tire warmers ("an electric blanket that wraps around the slicks"), an innovative concept that was first used in Formula One. Apparently, the warmers initially drew some snide comments, to which Kenny Roberts replied, "If we didn't use it, somebody else would have." Nowadays, the use of tire warmers has trickled down to even the casual track-day rider.
Don Canet
