| November 24, 2023
Cycle News Archives
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Let’s go shopping in the 1970s
By Kent Taylor
Still looking for that perfect gift for the motorcyclist in your life (or maybe the one in the mirror) but don’t want to battle the rabid crowds on Black Friday? Cycle News has you covered! Fire up Mr. Peabody’s Wayback Machine and get your shopping done early—and when we say “early,” we’re not ja-ja-ja-jive talkin’! Set the dial to 50 years back, and let’s go shopping in the 1970s, thanks to Cycle News’ annual Christmas Buyer’s Guide!
Speaking of time, take a look at this amazing AccuSplit Electronic Digital Stop Watch! Just $199.50, this handy timing unit will give you all the timing features found on your clunky smartphone, minus all the annoying notifications and group text messages. Be sure to add the handy carrying case for another $12.50!
There was once a time when fielding a competitive racing motorcycle meant replacing the entire frame and swingarm, and one of the top aftermarket frame manufacturers was Red Line Engineering. Their shiny, nickel-plated 4130 chrome-moly frames were made for nearly every bike. Tell Santa you are serious about racing (road, dirt track or motocross) and demand a Red Line frame under your tree.
Ah, the glory days of energy drinks: less taste equals better performance! In 1976, something called “Wet Energy” was available in powdered packets to be mixed with one quart of water. “Two natural sugars” were strategically used to make up this drink that CN flatly stated, “does not taste good.” Wet Energy was available from legends like Torsten Hallman, Malcolm Smith and Rolf Tibblin, the latter of which used to train for MX by running in the snowy forests of Sweden, while wearing heavy boots and sporting a backpack full of logs (which he had undoubtedly chopped with a dull axe)! It is easy to believe that as part of his motocross training regimen of vigorous self-flagellation, Rolf also enjoyed the putrid aftertaste of Wet Energy.
If you dislike the tedious task of tightening those many nuts and bolts on your motorcycle, head back to 1976 and pick up a pack of Disk Lock washers. CN stated that these wonder washers “actually tighten up under vibration.” Who needs a ratchet and a collection of 10mm sockets when you can just sit back, rev it past redline, and watch those little nuts tighten themselves—likely adhering to manufacturers’ torque specs!
She sells sexy shocks by the seashore. A day at the beach wouldn’t be complete without a set of Motorsports Specialties gas shocks. And it wouldn’t be the 1970s if an MC accessories advertisement didn’t include a bikini-clad model as their product spokesperson. Sexual innuendo ran rampant through these ads, but the shocks were still a good stocking stuffer. Six inches of travel for only $129.95.
Don’t forget the little ones on your list. The Space Platform, available from Cosmopolitan Motors, can reach a breakneck speed of six mph, thanks to the compact 12-volt car battery hidden inside the front compartment. Just $199 (and like all toys of the ’70s, battery not included, of course).
Why wait for some coding nerd who dreams in Java to develop a cool motorcycle racing game? Hyper-transport yourself back to 1978 and snag the “Baja Bike Scrambler.” The battery-operated game, with its movable handlebars, gives your youngster a chance to practice their riding skills across four different types of terrain. Under $20 at toy stores everywhere.
While you are hanging out in the ’70s, why not head out to the most famous motorcycle-riding park ever? Saddleback Park was Mecca for the off-road enthusiast, and for just $150, you can pick up a year’s riding pass. Worked out to just $2.75 per week, according to the arithmetic whiz kids at Cycle News. When you come back to the 21st century, maybe there will be a worldwide social media site where you can paste up photographs of yourself sailing down Banzai Hill!
Finally, why would you pay for something that you can now get for free? Because it is still the 1970s and if you wanted to know what was going on in the world of motorcycling, you knew that $11.50 was a cheap price to pay for weekly race results…not monthly history! Ancient forms of currency called checks and money orders would get 50 issues of Cycle News delivered right to your mailbox. Don’t delay; offer expires January 10, 1976!CN
