A Blast from the Past

[GaryAK]

Hey All,

Because things are so quiet on this forum, and we are all counting the days till riding season, I thought I would share an old m/c magazine ad from the early '70s.

I recently had an opportunity to clean out the attic of our childhood home and scored a treasured time capsule - hundreds of '71-'76 motorcycle magazines from our misspent youth. Mostly dirt bike, motocross, and cycle world type magazines.

While thumbing through motorcycling history and all the tasty ride reports and ads, I came across this ad that I remembered well - and the furor within the motorcycling/racing community it created:


This ad was obviously a big flop for Wheels of Man m/c clothing company (which was actually a subsidiary of the Parker Pen Company). In the pre-internet and computer days, unprecedented scores of readers called and wrote letters promising to cancel subscriptions. The subsequent editions of m/c mags carrying these ads quickly distanced themselves from Wheels of Man clothing, promising to never carry such demeaning advertisements again. Apparently, the Wheels of Man clothing company made a bad impression on its target audience and no one bought their gear and they went by way of the Dodo bird.

I remember my brother and I were quite pissed about this ad because we barely could afford a ratty bike and a helmet, let alone fancy equipment. We had used Hodaka Super Rats at the time and often showed up for motocross races (O'Malley, Ice Palace, Knik, Turnagain Mud Flats) wearing jeans and combat boots. We saw this ad as making fun of us - so even if we had the money, we would not have bought anything from them.

Anyway - thought I would share this blast from the past...

Gary

[nuttynu]

That is....old school . Awesome !!

And we have about 14 weeks till April. That's when in hoping to start 2013 riding season !

[High Country Herb]

I like the guy's motorcycle trailer, too. (seriously)

[Brendon@TMS]

The dude on the Husqvarna knows what's up. That man has his priorities, and rad boots.

[Fighter]

Bugs..... is that your Pa in the green and white????
Striking resemblance.
Fite

[Beezer]

got a couple guys wearing logging corks... how is that different

[Brendon@TMS]

Na, he's in the background shouting at everyone because they're "all a bunch of fucking idiot shit heads that don't know how to ride"

[AKDuc]

Originally Posted by Brendon@TMS

Na, he's in the background shouting at everyone because they're "all a bunch of fucking idiot shit heads that don't know how to ride"

TOO funny! I can't believe you even said that!

But yeah, it's prolly true 'cept at me. He likes me. He even let me take his new R100RS out for a spin from the shop one day!

That, and he mighta seen me take a 1st at the 'ol Ice Palace on my Maico 400 square barrel.

Mad Moto Marko

[AKTommyBiker]

Nice ramp set up! I had one just like it until it broke under load with my bike on it!
Hey Mark, I bet you still have some of those wheels of man duds in the closet don't ya?

[Gezerbike]

I noticed that even way back then, duct tape had its' multiple, practical applications

[AKTommyBiker]

He definitly shows skill and expertise while carefully operating that crescent wrench!

[Tom S]

Originally Posted by Brendon@TMS

Na, he's in the background shouting at everyone because they're "all a bunch of fucking idiot shit heads that don't know how to ride"

Gee, Brendon, I only got to go riding with your dad 2 or 3 times & we never heard anything like that from him.
Maybe he was just yelling at you.