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70's Cycle Worlds

Rob S.

Rob S.

Forum Guru
Past Site Supporter
Anyone have any Cycle Worlds or Cycle magazines from the 1970s they'd like to sell?
 
Interesting. I'll definitely have a look. But I'll still pay for any hard copies.
 
The online issues are not as good as the real thing but provide excellent reading. You can google a model you remember, "1974 Kawasaki 900 Z1 Cycle World test" and the issue will come up.
I just read about it (it was groundbreaking at the time) and also the Kawasaki 750 H2 which did a 12.89 1/4 mile. As a man from the '80's I read through these all the time. Ah the '80's! The Best of Times. I hope this helps.
 
My older brother subscribed to Cycle, Cycle World, and Motorcyclist for about 15 years. We all (including another brother) read them cover to cover, including the ads. It was a scramble to get to the issues when they arrived. You'd think we'd defer to the one paying, but naaaah!
 
Laker said:
The online issues are not as good as the real thing but provide excellent reading. You can google a model you remember, "1974 Kawasaki 900 Z1 Cycle World test" and the issue will come up.
I just read about it (it was groundbreaking at the time) and also the Kawasaki 750 H2 which did a 12.89 1/4 mile. As a man from the '80's I read through these all the time. Ah the '80's! The Best of Times. I hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Corrections: it was the 1973 Z1 (which sold for $1973) that was groundbreaking, and the '70s were the best of times.
And genuflect when you say, "Cycle World." :triumphant:
 
$1973? That's a good deal! Just today I saw the handwritten invoice from February 1982 for a Yamaha XZ550 Vision I bought from H&S Yamaha. It was $3543.00
I was in Grade 12 and worked at the KFC. That was a lot of KFC dollars! The 550 Vision was groundbreaking until March when the Kawasaki GPZ550 came out and blew me away!
Ah the '80's!
 
Laker said:
$1973? That's a good deal! Just today I saw the handwritten invoice from February 1982 for a Yamaha XZ550 Vision I bought from H&S Yamaha. It was $3543.00
I was in Grade 12 and worked at the KFC. That was a lot of KFC dollars! The 550 Vision was groundbreaking until March when the Kawasaki GPZ550 came out and blew me away!
Ah the '80's!
Click to expand...

I also bought a brand new 1982 Vision. During the "left over" days, maybe 1984? Can't remember. The price was good, though. Several hundred off. I rode that bike for 22,000 miles, commuting to college. It was no beauty, but the water cooled engine was a gem. 1/2 of a V-max. Smooth and torquey.
 
ED, I never owned but one Yammy and know little about them... Did the air cooled Yammys have overheating problems?? you seem to think water cooling worked better... Best I can remember was their transmissions had 2nd gear problems.
 
I had really high hopes for the 550 Vision. I was crushed by a Chrysler Newport on my 1980 Yamaha RD400G and was able to buy anything to replace it. The Vision was $1000 more then the 550 Seca and $1500 more then the new RD350LC, which I did buy and still have.. The RD350LC was way faster and handled way better then the Vision. The Vision could have been a nice machine but the first year had some issues. But I was young and thought it would attract the Ladies. Ah the '80's!
 
Laker said:
I had really high hopes for the 550 Vision. I was crushed by a Chrysler Newport on my 1980 Yamaha RD400G and was able to buy anything to replace it. The Vision was $1000 more then the 550 Seca and $1500 more then the new RD350LC, which I did buy and still have.. The RD350LC was way faster and handled way better then the Vision. The Vision could have been a nice machine but the first year had some issues. But I was young and thought it would attract the Ladies. Ah the '80's!
Click to expand...

At the time I bought my Vision, after discount, it was cheaper than the Seca by a couple hundred dollars at that time. I wanted the Seca, but couldn't justify the price difference. The RD350LS wasn't imported into the US, until later, when they called it the RZ350.

I was mildly disappointed in the Vision handling. I lived close by the Angles Crest Highway, and rode there often. In high speed sweepers, the Vision slowly wallowed in those corners. I bought an expensive shock, and it made no difference. Sold the Vision after graduating from college, and bought a 500 Interceptor. That bike was stable as a rock. I remember thinking that the bike is laughing at me, and my speed, which was way too low to even test the chassis.

Back in those days, we didn't have the internet. Magazines were my door into the world of different motorcycles, and what they were about. I read every Cycle and Cycle World I could get my hands on until the covers fell off...then I kept pouring over them regardless. Some years back, when buying a used bike from a guy, he gave me a healthy collection of magazines from this era. I went back through them, remembering many of the articles from when I read them previously.

It's curious that Rob started this thread, asking for magazines. I sent him a box packed to the max with those magazines mentioned above a few weeks back. I figured he would want them, and he did. I guess he's a fast reader, or maybe he just wants older magazines from the 1970's now?
 
Nessism said:
It's curious that Rob started this thread, asking for magazines. I sent him a box packed to the max with those magazines mentioned above a few weeks back. I figured he would want them, and he did. I guess he's a fast reader, or maybe he just wants older magazines from the 1970's now?
Click to expand...

Read everyone at least twice already. Even made some repairs with scotch tape!
 
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oldGSfan said:
Not me, but they publish their archives ,which is nice.
Click to expand...

I'm currently reading the February 1972 Cycle World road test of the newly enlarged Sportster on line.

But there are no pictures! Also missing is the graphic ('data panel') that's at the end of every (print) road test showing the specs and performance. :(

I even get a kick out of the old ads (LOTS of cigarettes!).

Twelve years ago, I sent a few bucks to Cycle World and they sent me the issue with their road test of the '82 GS1100E. Anyone know if they still provide that service?
 
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rphillips said:
ED, I never owned but one Yammy and know little about them... Did the air cooled Yammys have overheating problems?? you seem to think water cooling worked better... Best I can remember was their transmissions had 2nd gear problems.
Click to expand...

Water cooling is superior to air cooling from the technical perspective. More consistent temperatures. It's not that "air cooled Yammys" had a problem, all air cooled motorcycles struggle with the same situation. Regarding Yamaha and their 2nd gear problems, that didn't typically affect the smaller bikes, maybe because they didn't make enough power to destroy the dogs in the gears?
 
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