Letters
LETTERS
SAY IT THEN ALREADY
When writing advertisers in your magazine, I always say, “I saw it in CYCLE WORLD.” Sure wish I could say the same about this letter.
GEORGE MC CLUSKEY Millinocket, Maine
NARROW MINDED
I am in a bit of a huff over a letter in the September CW; it is from a Mr. A. J. Farmer. The last name, incidentally, is very appropriate.
This man evidently has a mind so narrow it could fit under a nylon fishing line in a rain storm and never even feel damp. Does he think that the people of that country are under Communist rule by choice? Also, I suppose he thinks they did not manufacture the machine before being dominated.
Let me advise him to get a history book and do a little reading before he gets the urge to write anyone again. I think he would be surprised at the number of articles he has in his home that had indirect contributions from countries under Communist domination.
Incidentally, did he watch the pictures on TV of the twin cosmonauts? The Russian news agency definitely received a handsome sum for these. Thank you very much for a fine, uncontroversial and democratic magazine.
CLARENCE E. WOOD Pfc, U.S. Army APO 71, San Francisco
THE NEW WAVE
As you are West Coast people you may not be aware of what is happening back east in the world of motorcycling; it is such an interesting phenomenon I thought I’d report the scene from my own experience which may be typical.
Ten years ago, seeking some sort of mechanical adventure, I became a sports car fan (I know, that word) and found a great deal of pleasure in racing, a “respectable” pastime. Five years ago a friend put me on his Triumph Tiger Cub and, trustingly, showed very little apprehension as I wobbled about the streets of Manhattan. I think the phrase had been “Never get me on one of those things.”
I bought the Triumph from him a month later and smiled when friends told me I was crazy and asked to see my leather jacket with the stars on the shoulder* I wasn’t a motorcycle man and didn’t want to be — I just liked to motor to and from my work and zip around at night seeing the city and the people when wanderlust set in.
Now I have a Honda Super Hawk and live in a community long known for its unwritten law: no motorcycles. In an effort to keep peace I always try to dress reasonably well and to cool it when going through town. (Legal speed in a car is often “speeding” on a bike.)
To my very great surprise there has been a most pleasant reaction; policemen come up, not to criticize but to inquire about the machine. Staid citizens are equally curious and in riding about New York in a business suit I get smiles from the girls, knowledgeable questions from passers-by, and incredibly, nods from the Harley riders. Our local dealer handles Honda and Harley; we all get together on Saturday afternoon and compare machinery. They don’t like flat bars or skinny bikes; I don’t like raccoon tails on 700-pound “chubbys.” But we all get along and respect the other guy’s point of view.
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More and more people I know are buying bikes; we’re still considered new boys and looked down on by a few, but what counts most is the easing of friction between all of us, the law and the public. Your magazine reflects this point of view and we are all grateful. Best of luck.
HAYWARD ANDERSON
Bronxville, N.Y.
CYCLE WORLD’S HONESTY
I enjoyed your test of the HarleyDavidson XLCH but there are several facts, both pro and con, that were not mentioned in your story.
First, to emphasize Harley’s superiority in dependability, I ride my ’62 CH in Los Angeles traffic as a funeral escort, and the bike has fulfilled my greatest expectations, both for performance and handling quality.
You did not mention its starting characteristics. Other road tests of yours had some comment, like; Easy ( 1 or 2 kicks), hard (7 or 8), very hard (had to be pushed). Personal experience leads me to believe the CH rates between average and hard. In the morning mine usually starts on the 4th or 5th kick, counting 2 kicks full choke for priming, and then starts easily the rest of the day. Due to its compression and starter gear ratios it does require a very positive and vigorous thrust. Any indecision at this point results in a terrific kick back. The Harley engineering department should consider an automatic ignition advance.
The CH can be started in gear, and this comes in handy when parked on a hill, using first gear for an emergency brake. When you’re ready, you don’t fish for neutral, just pull in the clutch and kick. The slack in the throttle cable of your test machine was not true of all CH’s; I rode your test bike after you returned it to Rich Budelier, and a simple linkage adjustment would have corrected this lash. It bothered me, too.
I should confess that I am a suspicious individual. When Dick Hutchins of that agency gave me the opportunity to ride the same bike CYCLE WORLD tested I jumped at the chance just to see if the factory sent you a super special as a standard motorcycle. I’m glad I did — it restored my faith in people. There was little difference in the two machines. My own CH would not rev quite as high due to the fact that it is not completely broken in. Previous experience had taught me the Harley-Davidson engines will not reach a maximum until after 6,000 or 7,000 miles.
Your test bike was not stock in the true sense of the word. It felt like it had a 2-P intake camshaft which is not standard original equipment or wasn’t at the time I bought my bike last May. The cam (part #25485-58-R, list price $16.70) is designed to increase output from around 4,000 rpm upwards. Everyone I know who has used one has been very pleased and suffered no serious side effects.
The last item is power flow. I have ridden most of the popular makes of cycles, and it is amazing that a bike with this kind of power is so smooth and virtually vibration free. This, plus the fact that there is no oil dripping on my garage floor, is almost more than I can stand. When you get the time, I would like to see your tests on other members of the H-D line, Sprint, FL & FL 74.
DAVID A. COOK Torrance, Calif.
EDITOR: Our February 1962 issue contains a test of the H-D Sprint and we will shortly publish a test on the new Sprint H.
THE NEW SCENE Though I am a comparatively new enthusiast, already I am “gung ho” for motorcycling of the highest, cleanest and most respectable caliber. Any organization striving for the betterment of our wonderful sport, be it among those who straddle an engine or in the realm of literature published for and about the sport, has my whole-hearted support.
Last month, I discovered your fabulous publication at the recommedation of a fellow enthusiast. You have my unfailing support and thanks. I understand that your magazine hasn’t been on the motorcycle scene too long either, a fact that many seasoned riders no doubt regret. However, those of us who have missed some of your earlier works, like myself, are relieved to know that we can get our eager hands on back issues.
RUSSELL HALL Newark, N.J.
MORE FROM THE LADIES
I want to say that my husband and I enjoy reading CYCLE WORLD very much. The pictures are not mid-Victorian, and the writing is not cut and dry.
In the letters department Connie McKenzie was wondering about girls riding. I ride a 1947 H-D 74 and I have a few girl friends who ride. When I was going to JC I had a friend who rode me to school on his bike and after a while nobody noticed me. In fact, a lot of girls asked for rides around the block. My mother belonged to the Oakland MC many years ago and would be riding now if it were not for bad health.
I personally am sold on bikes and when our baby gets older we will have him on one. Also, you can get fitted at most leather stores for pants and shirts (and really look sharp in them).
PAMELA VAN DRIELEN Oakland, Calif.
ENGINEERING PRAISE
CYCLE WORLD not only stands out as the finest cycle magazine that I have seen, but also as one of the finest publications
covering any hobby or sport. Having had an engineering education I am quite impressed with Mr. Jenning’s ability to present technical material which is most readable and yet not watered down to nothing.
Your magazine can be read by both layman and “pro” without snowing the former or boring the latter. Although I have been a cycle enthusiast since my high school days, the plunge had to wait until after college. Like many who are (or think they are) affected by that nasty word, “status”, I could not help but be concerned over what reactions the purchase of a two-wheeled motorized vehicle might bring. But I find that the parishioners of St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church have taken the sight of a BSA parked in the organist-choirmaster’s slot rather well.
THOMAS WOOD
Indianapolis, Ind.
PERTINENT OBSERVATIONS
Having just recently subscribed to your remarkably good magazine I am highly gratified with the shrewdness of that investment. The introduction of CYCLE WORLD is one facet of the recent recrudescence (with whatever that may imply) of motorcycling, which includes such other factors as the hot and incalescent performance of modern lightweight machines, and the scintillating engineering and phenomenal sales of the new Oriental motorcycles. Both the image and scope of the motorcycle sport appears to be in a period of rapid transition, typically due to the dynamic and progressive forces of such as CYCLE WORLD. If hidebound elements in the sport, be they manufacturers, dealers, motorcyclist per se, or what have you, persist in smug stagnation, then bad cess to them.
Certainly your road tests are outstanding; this is largely due to their factual content and lack of equivocation. May I suggest in this respect that a certain degree of tendentiousness is not only tolerable but desirable when applied to salient product characteristics, particularly limitations, but urge that sententious involvement in sciamachies such as the accuracy of performance charts would better be replaced by factual reporting, e.g., to supplement your speed and acceleration tests would not many of your readers welcr me chassis dynanometer tests of the useful engine output, revealing the shape of the power and all-important bmep curves?
Consumer Reports and, closer to home, certain of the automobile testers have demonstrated that manufacturers are not fundamentally perturbed by straight and concise product testing provided all products are handled with the same scrupulous fairness. From your readers’ viewpoint, I’m sure most of us would rather be presented with more factual information than we can use, than less than we want.
J. G. KROL
Bellflower, Calif.
EDITOR: You have provoked thought,
and the Technical Editor. Sciamachies indeed! Although we must thank you for your brilliantly conceived words, gra ciouslv received comments and the excellent suggestion concerning the use of a dyna mometer, we must point out that power and torque curves are quite useful when discussing an engine alone, but we are evaluating the entire machine. Our data panels are as accurate as the width of a ruling pen will render, and the informa tiom. portrayed is painstakingly tabulated as accurately as possible and reflects the performance of one whole motorcycle,, not the potentials of an engine. You are quite right though, it would make most interest ing reading. Had we the time and equip ment to make such excursions into the never-never realms of obtaining accurate and consistent dyno figures we would no doubt do so. And, thank you for your multiloquence, verbosity, garrulity, prolix ity and loquacity. •
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