Cycle News

VOL. 53 ISSUE 46 NOVEMBER 22, 2016 P121 didn't, and CW became America's first modern-era motorcycle magazine, burying its feeble competi- tion. Give thanks to Joe Parkhurst, who started it all. Others might have done it, but Joe did. Parkhurst's vision ultimately proved to being wildly successful. Within a year of its launch, Cycle World became the most-read motorcycling publi- cation in the world. Parkhurst's financial risk also paid off handsomely when, in 1973, media giant CBS purchased Cycle World, making Parkhurst a wealthy man. Years later Cycle World editor David Edwards shared a conversation he once had with Parkhurst. "I asked Parky if when he hocked his possessions and borrowed from friends to get things going back then, had he dared envision Cycle World growing from a shaky proposition into the world's largest- selling motorcycle magazine. Parkhurst replied, "Oh God, no. Truth is I was just a dirt bike bum who loved riding in the boon- docks. I knew we could put out a better book than what was on the market, but CW's success was helped immensely by timing—the Japanese-led 1960s bike boom was about to hit—and by the good business sense of (first wife) Betty Jean." Parkhurst liked to put it to the competition as well, and sometimes in a fun way. Former CW staffer D. Randy Riggs said Parkhurst walked by his office when Riggs was booking his first flight traveling for the magazine. "Joe overheard that I was trying to be frugal with company money and trying to book the most economical flight, and he reached his head into my office and told me to book a first-class ticket. I asked why and he said, 'Because a lot of times the Cycle guys are on the same flight and I always love it when we're in first class and they're in coach!'" In addition to publishing, Parkhurst was also a major contributor in other areas of motorcycling. Under his direction, Cycle World sponsored one of the first international motocross races in the United States and backed the first U.S. round of the World Trials Championship. Parkhurst inau- gurated the annual Cycle World Shows, at the time the largest consumer motorcycle shows in America. A dedicated race fan, Parkhurst helped send Steve McQueen and Bud Ekins to the Inter- national Six Days Trial, and spearheaded a three- bike team bound for the road races at his beloved Isle of Man. He also was co-founder of Saddle- back Park, one of the first motorcycle-dedicated off-road riding areas. Parkhurst's interests seemed limitless. He enjoyed playing and listening to jazz, was a sail- ing enthusiast, one of the country's first SCUBA instructors, a world traveler and lover of history. Well-known British motorsports photographer B.R. Nicholls remembered an incident with Parkhurst that left him impressed. "I recall taking Joe with Dan Gurney to a British motocross meeting and on the trip we passed the historic site of Stonehenge. It was Joe who was able to tell Dan the history of the place far better than I could have done. Joe's enthusiasm for life, that ready smile and sudden 'Oh my God' in appreciation of a competitor's riding skill—or a good malt whisky—is something I will always remember." Parkhurst stayed with the Cycle World as edi- tor, then publisher, until 1977. In his later years, Parkhurst never slowed. He published Motor- cycle Business Newsletter, an industry biweekly, and founded GreyWolf Gear, an off-road clothing company. Parkhurst died from complications of lung can- cer on December 5, 2000. He was 74. Joe was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2001. CN MOTORCYCLE MAGAZINES Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives

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