Cycle News

I n the early 1970s, long before the motorcycling world realized that women would make up nearly one- fourth of the market, women were mostly just an adver - tising element in the indus- try. There were miniskirted vixens in go-go boots on Nortons, bikini-clad babes on BSAs, and mod girls crawling like king snakes on Honda 90s. They were called "attention grabbers," pawing and clawing at the reader, with slogans like "Go far faster." About as subtle as a punch in the mouth. Then there was a 1974 Kawasaki magazine ad. While other companies were using bullhorns that blared "sex," Kawasaki suggested that to capture someone's attention, you didn't need to say a word. With just one winsome gaze from the backseat of a '56 Chevy, a pretty-in-pink blond woman made strong men weak, helping move Kawasaki triples out of the showroom fast - er than if Yvon Duhamel himself were on board. What the hero on his Kawasaki H2 does not know is that the sweet lass probably isn't even focused on him. The girl in the ad is a lifelong rider, a former desert racer, and she is likely thinking more about redlining that mas - sive two-stroke triple than about cuddling up on it as a passenger. Her name is Linda Adent, and Cycle News readers already knew her from the cover of the March 26 issue of 1974. "My brother Mark had just completed a race at Indian Dunes," she remembers. "A photographer just walked up and asked us to hug. We did, and he shot the photo. Mark was almost 20 at that time, so I would've been just 17 years old." That shot, taken by Jeb Wilcox, not only became one of Cycle News' most recognizable covers of all time, but it also helped Linda launch a career as a model in the sports industry, where she would pose for ads fea - turing automobiles, motor- cycles and even water skis. It was a life that would begin in the desert, where the Adent family was spending their weekends. "I grew up in Calabasas, Califor- nia, and my brother, my mom and dad and I lived on something like a farm in Calabasas. It's where the Kardashians now live, but back then, it was so much smaller. We would see maybe one car drive by, and now there are hundreds every minute. We had chickens and ducks, and we rode horses. Mark surfed, and I would boogie board at the beach. It was a great family life, just a magical upbringing." "In 1968, we received a Yamaha 80 for Christmas. Later, Mark got a Honda 90, which he rode when he started racing. But before all of that, we were just a family that CNIIARCHIVES P146 BY KENT TAYLOR FAMOUS PHOTOS Meet Linda Adent, who was featured on one of Cycle News' most memorable covers. Linda Adent holds up the issue of Cycle News that featured her on the cover alongside her brother, Mark, who was the subject of an interview CN did with the up-and- coming desert racer.

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