Cw 25 Years Ago
CW 25 YEARS AGO
IGNITION
NEWS
JUNE 1990
This issue was packed with great stories, highlighted by ourtest of the new ST1100 V-4, which appeared on our cover long before any police agencies got their hands on this Honda. Even though the ST had what we called “comparatively lazy frame geometry,” we quickly fell in love with the pricey ($8,998) sport-tourer and concluded ourtest with this statement: "Think of the ST1100 as the arrival, at last, of the Japanese sport-tourer.”
-> In what may have been our last test at Riverside International Raceway, we
compared four seriously potent 750cc sportbikes: the Honda RC30, Kawasaki ZX-7, Suzuki GSX-R, and the Yamaha OW01 (which belonged to baseball legend Reggie Jackson). Picking a winner, as you can imagine, was tough. The RC30 was quickest around RIR, but a tall first gear made it the slowest bike in the quarter mile. Test completed, we said the $15,000 RC30 was the best bike forthose with deep pockets, while the $6,449 ZX-7 was the wise choice for anybody juggling mortgages, car payments, and braces for the kids.
-> Lastly, in his Leanings column, Contributing Editor Peter Egan mused about attending a classic motorcycle auction with Allan Cirdler, David Edwards, and pal John Jaeger. They didn’t buyaTriumphTripleora Vincent Rapide that day, and Egan left with the concern that “more and more older bikes were coming to represent static wealth more than kinetic pleasure.” On the way home, he was hit by a sudden desire to ride, maybe “an old dual-purpose bike of no particular value, just to keep a little perspective.” Amen.
-Andrew Bornhop
