Looking Back, Looking Forward

Hello and welcome to the November/December issue. I hope your summer was spent on two wheels and that you’re still finding warm days to get a favorite old bike out on the road before winter sets in for good.

This issue we feature two different Classic Scene event photo roundups. Way back in February, motojournalist Robert Smith headed to the Southern California desert to take in the Stagecoach Classic Motorcycle Rally. Check out all the bikes he found there, and think about attending the next one, which takes place April 26, 2024. Later in 2023 Robert also attended the International Norton Owners’ Rally in Winthrop, Washington. Be sure to check out his highlights from the event.

We’ve expanded our letters section this month. I always enjoy sharing short stories from readers, and this issue includes a couple of great ones.

Reader David Ayres takes us back in time some 50 years. There he was, with his new Kawasaki Z1, minding his own business when he somehow happened his way into a drag race … against a horse. Yep. You read that right. Be sure to check out his story.

Today Norton Commandos are classic bikes, most of which see weekend use, though some committed owners still use them for touring, or even for racing (if your stomach is strong enough and your bank account big enough). But when they were new, they were motorcycles people just used like … motorcycles. Reader Ann Pipkins shares a look back at her and her husband’s time spent traveling aboard a 1975 Commando MkIII in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Thousands of miles, weeks on the road camping in some unusual places, roadside diners, national parks and trips to Sturgis are but just a few of the highlights.