Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128306
From Humble Beginnings... hose who weren't the re to se e it mig ht no t know th at the "first issue " of Cycle News was n't really call e d Cycle News. On September 2 1, 1965, motorcycle ed ito r and enthusiast Charles Clayton and his wife, Sharon , purchased the Californiabased weekly paper MotorcycleJournol from printer Geo rge Holiday, Inc., of Huntington Beach, Californ ia. ':A.t the time , Motorcycle Journal was just fo ur pages, and the previous owner had tro uble filling that, " Sharon Clayton said. "When he had room left over, he wo uld just fill it up with Bible verses. There was a to tal of 400 circulation, and only abou t 35 of that was paid - it was that bad. The ow ner had lost it to the printe r. I re mem ber that when Chuck told me he wanted to buy it, I told him that I tho ught he was crazy. But we made a dea l with the printer to take it over. We had a Matchless motorcycle that we sold to use as the down payment, and we too k o ut a note for the rest, which we promised to pay back within a year: ' What the Claytons lacked in budget, they made up for with enthus iasm and dedication, not to me ntion expe rience, as Chuck Clayton had made the rounds as an editor for se minal cycle magazines Cycle, Cycle Action and Cycle World. With Motorcycle Journal, he now had the vehicle with which to share his vision of producing an influent ial weekly motorcycle publication that wou ld earn a reputation as "T he Voice of California" and far more. Op erations we re moved to the Clayton home in Long Beach, the city that would remain as the news- T pape r 's home until it was moved to Costa Mesa in 1997. "We put all the furniture in our house into t he bed roo m and moved the paper into the living roo m," recalls Sharon Clayto n. "Then we bought a Varityper and moved that into the kitchen , and we hired someone to typeset all day. I already had a full-t ime job , but I wo uld come home and type all night. O n weekends, Chuck and I would cover races. That's how we got started: ' T he historic first issue - which was actually volume number two, issue #28 of Motorcycle Journa l featured a fro nt-page st ory exp laining the ownership change, in w hich the C layt ons pledged to increas e the page count fro m four pages to 12, and circulation to 10,000. Ther e The paper imme diately established itself as a leading source of motorcycle racing information , containing a photo feature of Mert Laww ill's victory at the Sacramento Mile . There was industry news as well: Among the items was a report that Gilera USA was moving its importer headquarters from Long Beach to South Gate , and t hat the Los Angeles Trade Technical Co llege was considering t he addition of a mot orcycle mechanics' class to its curriculum. lightweights. There was also a free Want Ads section and a motorcycle club directory. Under the Claytons' owne rship, a tot al of three issues of Motorcycle Journol were published, but in issue #30, the announceme nt was made that a winner had been cho sen in the name contest, and starting with issue # 3 1, the paper was to be called Cycle News, a mo niker coined by 26-year-old Frank Newman of Covina, California. "Within a year and a half, ou r circulation was up to 10,000," Sharon Clayton said. "We we re so happy to get to 10,000 because we knew that was the magic number. After that it just started to mushroom ." Cycle News flourished , and it continues to do so today. Through good times and bad, it has continued as the quintessential news source in the motorcycle industry. Charles Clayton was active with t he publication until his deat h in February of 1992, and as president of Cycle News , lnc., Sharon Clayton is still a primary influence, with much of her effort being directed at the Clayton Memorial Foundation, which benefits injured motorcycle racers . Even in its new format , the or iginal vision of Charles and Sharon Clayton was also an item announcing that a con- test had been announced to give the paper a new name. Right from t he start, the C1aytons we re not above having fun with the readership when the 'remains. announcement was made. "Two cash awards will Chuck Clayton Advertising was sparse at fi rst , but it be given - $1000 to the was evident that the C1aytons had the supauthor of the one millionth suggestion and an port of the motorcycle industry. Triumph undete rmined but equally round amount to the author of the name we fi nally choose," and Harley-Davidson placed racing victo ry ads, while Montesa placed a product ad to the contest rules stated . pump up its range of two-stroke www.cy clenews.com "Chuck always had a true vision for the pape r," Sharon Clayton said. ':A.t fi rst we just wanted to support ourselves , but we were surprised when we saw how well it we nt over. If he were alive to see it today, I think eN that he would be pleased ." CYCLE NEWS • JAN UARY 14,2004 117