P116
50 Years Ago October 27, 1966
One of our top news stories 50 years ago was the upcoming attempt by two,
two-rider teams to break the time record for riding from one end of Baja to the
other. The two BSA-mounted teams hoped to complete the ride in about 36
hours, which would break the current record by three hours… And speaking
of Baja, speed freaks were excited about discovering a "new" dry-lake bed in
Baja to test their bike's high-speed capabilities. The lake? Laguna Salada Dry
Lake… Gary Nixon became the first American to
win a major road race in Japan, when he topped
the Japanese Grand Prix on a Yamaha.
40 Years Ago October 26, 1976
Mike Bast was pictured on the cover celebrating the 1976 National Speedway
Champion, which he secured at Costa Mesa, California… We had coverage
of round four of the Trans-AMA MX Series at RedBud in Buchanan, Michigan.
Roger DeCoster won again, but we were excited about motos wins by
Americans Tommy Croft and Marty Smith. Danny LaPorte won the support
race… Marland Whatley won the NATC Championship Trials round in
Norden, California… We featured an interview with new GNC Champion Jay
Springsteen.
20 Years Ago October 23, 1996
We featured Honda's all-new CR250R on the cover, which featured an aluminum
frame, the first for a production motocrosser... Scott Parker was also pictured
on the cover for wrapping up the GNC title at Del Mar. Kevin Atherton got the
win but Parker took the title… We featured all the hot bikes from the Cologne
Show… The final round of the AMA Hare & Hound Champion played out in the
Nevada desert near Reno. Greg Zitterkopf won the race and 1996 title.
Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives
30 Years Ago October 29, 1986
We featured Mark Hyde (leading Fritz Kadlec) on the cover 30 years ago
for locking up the 1986 AMA Hare Scrambles Championship… We also had
a photo of Suzuki's premier touring bike, the Cavalcade, on the cover to
accompany our first look at Suzuki's 1987 line… Elmer Trett took the Top
Fuel win in Palmdale, California. He set a new
track record along the way… Kevin Magee and
Michael Dowson won the Australian 6-Hour, with
Americans John Kocinski and Jimmy Felice
finishing sixth.
LOOKING BACK
