In the 80s, new motorcycle sales were floundering due to a variety of factors – but this made it a buyer’s market for riders looking for used bikes. With that in mind, Bill Fowler started the Used Motorcycle Guide (UMG), a fascinating magazine I discovered while researching the Honda CD175 featured earlier this week.
Older riders speak very fondly of it – it was obviously all about used bikes but the general idea was that it would provide you with a quick synopsis of an impressive variety of used bikes. Eventually, it would also grow to include entertaining stories submitted by readers. It’s no longer around but I wish I was aware of it back when it was
For you to get an idea of the tone, here’s an excerpt from the summary of the Honda CD200:
“It does match the CD’s range of handling foibles with the usual (yawn, yawn) junk suspension, marginal drum brakes and high speed instability. The styling is the usual commuter disaster that I can’t imagine appealing to anyone with eyesight good enough to use for driving.”
Click here to peruse the first issue (but don’t say I didn’t warn you if you lose track of time!)