Cw 25 Years Ago November 1989
CW 25 YEARS AGO NOVEMBER 1989
Proving that vintage revivals are nothing new, we got Kenny Roberts and Bob Hannah aboard classic bikes. The King rode a ’59 Norton Manx, and Hurricane blew through some berms on a '64 Rickman Triumph. “God, I dread riding this bike,” Roberts said before saddling up. He later praised the famed Featherbed frame: “This bike just doesn’t wobble.” Hannah’s thoughts on the Rickman? “It handles better in a slide than it does going straight.”
“Blue Chip Bikes” offered five examples of “Motorcycles You Should Have Bought” and their then-current value: Brough Superior 5S100 ($50,000 and up); Vincent Black Shadow ($25,000 and up); Norton Manx ($25,000); AJS 7R/Matchless C50 ($25,000); BSA Cold Star ($10,000). Current values? Well, you might not be able to find an SS100 engine for $50K today. There were also five bikes “You Should Be Buying:” a 1970-and-earlier Triumph
Bonneville; Moto Cuzzi Lemans Mk 1; BSA/Triumph Triples;
Norton Commando; BMW R60; and R60/2. These ranged in value from $800 for a rough triple to $3,000 Commandos to the charttopping BMW at “$5,000 and up” for a very nice example.
“New for1990” offered a Honda RC30 forthe US, after Big Red sold the bike in many other parts of the world the year previous.
-Mark Hoyer
