Cw 25 Years Ago October,1988
CW 25 YEARS AGO OCTOBER,1988
IGNITION
NEWS
Cycle World’s 13th Annual Ten Best issue dedicated 17 pages to naming the year’s best bikes across 10 categories. We included several additional selections of 10, such as the most influential people in American motorcycling, most memorable races, best racing rivalries, greatest bikes of all time and best technical innovations. While Kawasaki’s ZX-10 claimed Best Superbike honors, my personal favorite among all listed was disc brakes. I shudder to imagine slowing that mighty Ninja using anything less.
->The lead Roundup story, “The high cost of plastic,” discussed the growing trend for plastic-wrapped bikes (remember the Honda Hurricane 600 and 1000) and the inherent repair costs following even a minor tip-over. The author speculated that "the insurance industry’s recent campaign against sportbikes was as much related to plastic body parts as to high crash rates.” Among the possible solutions suggested were sportbikes without fairings. Could they have possibly imagined an Aprilia TuonoV4 R?
-> Race Watch covered the adventures of Team Cycle World racing Down Under on the Mount Panorama circuit in Bathhurst, New South Wales. Editor Paul Dean teamed with Editorat-Large Steve Thompson aboard a Suzuki CSX-R750 forthe 81-lap Arai 500 endurance race. While Thompson crashed out while running 17th in the field of 65 bikes, the story offered a compelling account of lapping the unique street circuit and ambience surrounding the event. Sweeping the weekend’s premier classes was a young Aussie named Michael Doohan.
-Don Canet
