Moto Retro Illustrated #3 is out!

Moto Retro Illustrated, America’s glossiest and most comprehensive vintage motorcycle magazine, has released its third issue.

Within its oversized pages are a wide variety of feature stories, from early-’80s Superbike racing to late-’60s Inter-AM motocross; Tecumseh-engined minibikes to 1970s works motocrossers; long-distance, flat-four tourers to 4-cylinder two-stroke roadracers – and much more.

The issue begins with an amazing snapshot of the roots of professional motocross in America – Edison’s Dye’s late-1960s Inter-AM series. We discovered a cache of very special photographs from the Westlake Village, CA, event from the fall of 1968, and we invited some of the men who were there – Roger DeCoster, Lars Larsson, Mike Runyard and Barry Higgins – to help us bring that event to life through personal interviews. The photos are amazing, the stories of the riders and the day even more so, and any fan or American motocross is bound to find the feature quite fascinating.

The issue also features a story on AMA Superbike racer Mike Baldwin and the 1025cc, inline-four Honda Superbike he rode to a runner-up spot behind Eddie Lawson in 1982’s AMA Superbike series. Filled with dramatic action, static and pit/garage shots from the ’82 season and superb color photography of the bike as it exists today, the story chronicles that final season of big-bore Superbike racing – the End of an Era, really – as the following year Superbikes would morph to 750s and the sportbike world would begin its dramatic transformation with the introduction of Honda’s liquid-cooled Interceptors and, later, other high-tech models.

There’s more, including an in-depth look at Yamaha’s legendary TZ750, arguably the world’s most notorious road racing motorcycle. The issue also chronicles the amazing Carlsbad USGP of 1980, in which Yamaha-mounted privateer Marty Moates became the first American to win the prestigious So Cal event with dramatic 1/1 moto finishes. Rupp’s venerable Roadster/2 is also featured, along with Honda’s 1975 GL1000, Suzuki’s world-beating RH72 works motocrosser, and a host of smaller retro features, including Back In The Day photos and stories from readers, a piece on Honda’s first-generation CB750, and much more.

Moto Retro Illustrated is much more than a streetbikes- or dirtbikes-only look at the glory days of American motorcycling. The magazine covers the entire culture of those wonderfully powerful decades, from dirtbikes to streetbikes to minibikes, and does it with a commitment and depth rare in motojournalism. And because Moto Retro is written and photographed by folks with decades of riding, racing and editorial experience from the very decades we cover, you can bet each issue packed to the sidepanels with powerful Back In The Day stories.

Moto Retro Illustrated is printed on thick, glossy and oversized stock, and is available on a quarterly basis from motoretroillustrated.com. Copies can also be purchased from select motorcycle dealers and specialty bike shops. Yearly subscriptions are $39.95; single copies are $10.95.