Life In America
1968– The average family income is $8,630. It’s been a tumultuous year, the Viet Cong launched their Tet Offensive in January. Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy have been assassinated. Lyndon Johnson has announced that won’t run for re-election. Our worries are off-set somewhat by Rowan and Martin’s new comedy program, Laugh In. Steppenwolf’s Born To Be Wild, debuts. The Pontiac GTO is car of the year and will set you back $3,101. A gallon of gas is $.34. The newly introduced Egli Vincent Shadow costs $2,000 in Switzerland.
| Number One Motorcycle Trend For 1968: |
| European motorcycles dominate the off-road category as evidenced by the number reviewed, but the Japanese are quickly catching on, if not up. |
European Brands
Moto-Guzzi V7. BSA 650 Lightning. Moto Beta XC100 Scrambler. MV Agusta 600/4 America. Ossa 230 Trialer. Bultaco 360 Bandito, El Tigre 360 Street Scrambler. Benelli Buzzer Mini-bike, Barracuda 250. Vespa 150 Sprint. Jawa 90 Cross. Maico 360 X4 Motocross. Husqvarna Commando 250T. Montesa 360 Cappra GP Motocross, Scorpion 250. Sachs 80/S. Egli Vincent Shadow Touring Model. BMW R60 US. Cotton Trials 250. Norton 750 Commando. Triumph 750 Trident. Ossa 230 Plonker.
Asian Brands
Honda CL90, CB and CL 450, CL175, Trail Z50A. Yamaha DT-1, 350 YR-2 and YR2-C Scrambler. Suzuki TM250, 305 Raider, KT120 Trail. Hodaka Ace 100. Kawasaki 120 C2TR Trail Bike and 120 C2SS Road Runner. Bridgestone 100 Trail.
American Brands
Harley-Davidson XLH Sportster 883, Sprint SS350. American Eagle 750. Montgomery Ward Mojave 360. Sears SR250.
Racing
Gary Nixon is Grand National Champ beating Freddie Nix at Ascot by a few points in the last race of the season.
AMA proposed 350cc rule – scrapped.
Daytona attracts twice as many factory teams as IOM. FIM riders permitted to compete. 17,000 fans pay $5 for tickets. Roger Reiman sets new record on Harley at 149.080 mph. Mounted on a 350 Yamaha, Mike Duff breaks previous 350 record by 7 seconds. Cal Rayborn wins race on HD at a record 101.29
Other Issues
Honda produces 10-millionth motorcycle.
Honda 750/4 breaks cover.
CV carbs make appearance on Honda and Suzuki models.
Aftermarket broadening scope of product, helmets, trailers, chrome bolt-ons, tires, are starting to edge out hard mechanical parts.
Rumors of Kawasaki 500cc triple surface.
Cycle World now 132 pages, still $.50.
Rising accident rates have caught the attention of government at all levels. Proposed laws include, licensing for motorcycles, mandatory helmet use, lights on, turn signals, brake lights actuated by front brake, left-side shift, and eye protection. What seems to raise most ire, are helmet laws.
When was it that rear suspension travel was increased, first by privateers welding laid down shocks and then by Maico. I think that was a really big event. about 72?
And thanks a lot for the memory reloads.
I had a brand new 1968 Triumph Bonneville back then. It cost $1440. The article listed a Triumph 750 Trident but I don’t think they came out until 1970 or at least I didn’t see one in Orlando until 1970.
They were ntroduced the simmer of ’68, and ruled the road until Honda’s CB750 hit the market a few weeks later.
I am really enjoying this series! Thank you, Competition Accessories. It really brings back the memories. I learned to ride in 1969 on my brother’s BSA441 Victor. My first bike was bought in 1970- a new CB35o Honda in candy red and white.
I was a junior in high school, riding a Honda 350 Scrambler, and was thought of as kind of a rebel. Most of the guys had cars, some nice muscle cars (they were really hot), and were dating lots of girls. The girls liked my bike, but it was kinda hard to go on a date on a motorcycle, so I invariably double-dated with my friend who had a very nice ’63 Chevy Impala SS.
I remember scraping together all our pocket change to buy gas ( .27 cents/gal) and riding around all night on about a bucks worth. The neat thing was that I could ride my Honda to school all week for a dollar, and still have enough to race off-road on Saturdays.
Viet Nam was only on TV for us then. But my draft number assured me I would be there in the Army soon enough, so I joined the Marine Corps instead and got fast-tracked to all the action. No more motorcycles for a couple years, although I couldn’t wait to get one again in 1972: a Triumph 750 Bonny.
What a time it was. I was a senior in highschool, a little worried about Vietnam but headed for college which would give me a 48 month reprieve. I was drafted in September of 1972, finished MSU in December, was in Basic training in San Antonio in Jan 1973. Had a Kawasaki 120 Roadrunner.
What did the government expect to gain by mandating left side shift? Did the hodge podge of control placement that was common back in the 60′s really play a role in accident statistics? Everything else in the mandates seemed to make sense but the shift location struck me as both odd and interesting.
It was mostly driven by the feeling (I haven’t seen any studies on the subject) that controls should be standardized as they were on a car, I think the brakes ended up on the right simply because that’s where the front brake had been located. As far as patterns are concerned, I have seen a very experienced moto-journalist forget that the bike he was riding (an Eddie Lawson Replica), had a different shift pattern than Eddie’s race bike (which he had just ridden) and ended up shifting down when he meant to shift up locking the rear wheel and crashing the bike. But as you point out, for most folks they’re not going to ride two bikes with different shift patterns back to back.
The best thing to happen in the last 50 years is that hardly anyone paid much attention to Joan Claybrook and her report on safety. I remember there was a lot of initial whoopty-doo about it, but most people just turned their backs to her.
Good choice.