Letters
LETTERS
COMPUTERIZED MOTORCYCLING
Having been an avid motorcycle enthusiast for 15 years, I would like to congratulate you on your magazine. Your concisely written tests, unbiased opinions, and entertaining articles are well appreciated.
In your February, 1979 issue, “Computer Motorcycle Testing” article, please remember in this computerized world that few computers own or ride motorcycles. Don’t lose the human touch. The “seat-of-the-pants” feelings are still important.
Reading more and more about the antics in Washington on car and motorcycle legislation. I feel it is time to take action. Would you please inform me as to how I might join the AMA?
In June of 1978 1 purchased a new Honda CX500. In 5000 miles of riding this seems to have been an excellent choice. The timing chain tensioner and a problem w ith the valves were taken care of immediately by the dealer. Hats off to the good folks at Harrison Honda-Kawasaki. Harrison, Arkansas.
Neil Gardner Berryville, Ark.
You can contact the AMA by writing: American Motorcycle Association, P.O. Box 141, Westerville, Ohio 43081.
HATS OFF TO HONDA
This proud owner of a Triumph Bonneville would like to express his sincere appreciation to Honda Motor Co. for taking positive steps against the high cost of motorcycle insurance premiums. Though Honda will try to help Honda riders, other makers should sensibly follow this lead and do something for their patrons.
Louisiana requires liability insurance on cars and bikes; no insurance, no riding or driving. This leads to the next problem, that being how much say-so the individual rider has in determining how high his rates should be. We already know that an insurance agent could care less if you wear a helmet, drive with the lights on. wear*' leathers, etc. You pay your bucks and you don't hear from the clown again until his next demand for your hard-earned cash.
The relative lack of rider participation in setting insurance rates brought back memories of my Contracts class at Tulane Law School. In that class we dealt with all aspects of contracts, including unconscionability. which may void a contract if terms are too oppressive. One type of contract which varies in degree of unconscionability is the “adhesion contract.” This contract is an agreement in which the parties occupy substantially unequal bar-^ gaining positions and where, in order to obtain some necessary commodity (like insurance in Louisiana) or service, the party in the inferior bargaining position (yes fellow riders, that’s us!) is forced to “adhere” to the terms dictated by the other (you guessed it, the insurance company)
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. . . This is the situation the individual rider is faced with at the present time. While the insurance companies might scoff at the honest gripes of a single rider, I don’t suspect they would treat an internation corporate giant like Honda in such a fashion. The bottom line seems clear. Honda sells a hell of a lot of bikes w hich’ generate an astronomical amount of insurance premiums. If Honda can protect its customers cheaper than someone else, all those bucks spent on insurance will be pouring in to Honda and not to those lovely people who hit you for $500 and give you 5/10/5 coverage. How much good" does that do wTen a little old lady in some four-wheeled tank decorates her bumper with your bike and your body? How far do the insurance bucks go when you're hospitalized?
Richard M. Martin
New Orleans. La.
MORE ON HONDA
I just wanted to let you know how impressed I am with your treatment of the new insurance program we are administering for American Honda’s dealers. As you mentioned in your “Roundup” editorial, an effort of this magnitude can get terribly complicated, but I really think^your treatment of this matter was extremely lucid and to the heart of the matter. Thornton Cooke, President First American Insurance Company
“60 MINUTES”
First, we here in New' England wish Mr. Louis McKey all the luck with his suit against New' West magazine.
However, just as serious as the Barstow/ Vegas affair was the Feb. 18 CBS TV program, “60 Minutes.”
Enclosed are copies of our regional association's answer to the CBS News program.
Robert Sheron. Treasurer Pathfinders, Inc. >
'he following are exerpts from a letter rom the New England Trail Rider association:
I am writing to express our strong objections to your coverage of off-highway vehicle use in the California desert, on the “60 Minutes” program of February 18, 1979. The California situation is a complex one and your broadcast admitted as much. As such, it is not susceptible to simplistic analysis or presentation. Yet this is precisely the manner in which you and your staff chose to treat it. . . . To the extent that “60 Minutes” chose to present the problem in terms of two extremes, with no discussion of the ways the conflicts are being mediated and resolved, you are responsible for exacerbating the problems, and perpetuating conflicts damaging to all parties and to the lands involved as well. . . . The basic issue seems to us to be one of journalistic responsibility. Whether “60 Minutes” cares to address this kind of issue is impossible to say; it is hard to be optimistic.
In at least this one case there seems to have been a conscious choice made to emphasize sensationalism at the expense of responsible, analytical reporting. Such policies serve no one’s interest.
David W. Sanderson, Executive Director NETRA
KAWASAKI MUSCLE CAR?
Do you think Kawasaki might start building cars? Imagine dropping a KZ1300 engine into something like an old Fiat 850 convertible. It might remind you of a muscle car from the '60s for use in the 1980s and get over 30 mpg.
Pete Susi Wayne, N.J>
TWINSTAR FAN
I thought I would comment on Helen Whalen’s experience in getting started riding (April. 1979 Letters). I did a very similar thing. My husband won a Puch moped in a radio contest and I used it for a while. But having previously taken a motorcycle riding class, I found the moped unstable in comparison.
I immediately went to riding a 1978 Honda Twinstar 185cc. I love it also and have taken it on the Harley-Davidson sponsored California 1000 tour. It performed super for a small bike.
I just got back from the SCMA sponsored 750 tour. Again the Twinstar performed perfectly.
People are surprised at the fact that I’m never very far behind. I average very good mpg and 60-65 mph. The bike handles marvelously in turns (smallness helps). I get vibration though, which is also due to the small size.
Now I am waiting to get enough money to move up to the Honda CM400T. I’m fairly short and these motorcycles seem to fit me perfectly. I have been riding only nine months and look forward to taking many more tours and motorcycle camping trips.
Nancy Rice Chino, Calif.
ALL HE CAN STAND
I’ve heard all I can stand from, about and to Joan Claybrook, National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator! She does one thing but says another. I conclude that: She has forked tongue, has more than one face, she'll always be opposed to motorcyclists, her efforts will make things worse, she is misguided and uninformed on total motor vehicle safety. Motorcycles are a smaller part of the total death and injury scene and Ms. Claybrook’s repeated attacks indicate that she thinks small.
Her espousal is ridiculous that schools should not teach motorcycle safety with auto safety programs. She says this would encourage more youngsters to try motorcycles thus increasing cycle injuries and deaths. What idiotic philosophy! How about those who start without cycle education? Should we let them die because this is only a small number? Or, if they wear helmets, it’s okay for them to die without education?
The thought we must share for future action is: no motorcyclist should vote for Carter’s re-election while Joan Claybrook stays in her present job. Even if bikers aren’t going to vote for Carter, they should use this reason and pass it on to a potential 5.5 million motorcycle voters. Down with Carter and Claybrook!
George Smith San Diego. Calif.:
SAVAGE REWARDS
After reading your Long Range Test of the Yamaha IT 250/400. I’d like to tell of my experiences along this line with a slightly different motorcycle.
In 1972 I bought a Suzuki 250 Savage. You know', the green one w ith the funnyshaped headlight. After seven years of abuse, you probably won’t believe what I’m going to tell you. My 250 was thrashed almost every summer weekend for three or four years, was driven flat-out on the highway for several thousand miles total over a year's time, was drag-raced literally hundreds of times, was logged through endless sandhills in 100° eat for hours and hours at a time. With my Suzuki I have endured drenching rain, desert heat, and 0° winter cold.
Wanna know' my maintenance? Exactly two sparkplugs for 25.000 mi., one rear tire, one new' chain and new' sprockets and one top-end overhaul. Period.
Fringe benefits: It still has the original well-worn front tire. The shocks still damp. The fork seals do not leak at all. The magic box ignition has never faltered. It hasn’t had a battery for five years. All control cables still work perfectly. I’ve never broken a spoke.
I may have lucked into a particularly durable Suzuki Savage. But I doubt it. 1 may have been unbelievably lucky, period. But I doubt that as well . . .
1 paid attention to my Suzuki and it has rewarded me by being by far the most trouble-free motorcycle I’ve ever owned. Kirby Rowan Portales. N.M.
PRAISE FOR EGAN
Just picked up a copy of your April issue. Very good indeed! Especially like the touring features and bike evaluations.
“The French Quarter Connection’’ was great also. Peter Egan’s ability to convey his observations is excellent. He took me on a mental tour dowm the roads that I too have traveled before. Keep up the good work Cycle World\
Mike Beckham Marissa. 111.
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CYCLE NEWS EAST
Up until a year or so ago I enjoyed a weekly motorcycle paper, Cycle News, I think it was called. My subscription lapsed, I received no renewal notice and I gave my last copies to a Boy Scout paper drive.
In the January, 1979 issue you referred to Cycle News in the Up Front column. Would you please put me in touch with Cycle News so that I could re-subscribe?
Donald Hetherington Mystic, Conn.
You can write to Cycle News East, P.O. Box 805, 4190 First Ave., Tucker, Ga. 30084.
ASCOT’S BAD BOY
What an article by Joe Scalzo on Gunter (May, 1979). Great! I think you have a hit with the article. I would like to see more of them, maybe one in each issue. I am sure they would create a lot of interest.
F.A. Neighbours Chester, Calif.
Just had to drop you a letter regarding Joe Scalzo’s excellent article on “Ascot’s Bad Boy,” AÍ Gunter. “Prince Albert” was one of my favorites in the ’50 and ’60s ... I cannot recall Al ever winning a national T.T. at Peoria. Are you confusing him with George Everett, another fine BSA rider who won at Peo’ria?
I would like to see Joe Scalzo do a piece on Velo rider Tex Luce, another thorne in H.D.’s side. Every Friday at Ascot he would be torn down because he dusted Andres, Leonard and the rest of the boys, only to be found legal.
Keep up the good writing Mr. Scalzo.
Bill Clark Bethell Park, Pa.
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FORCED OFF THE ROAD?
Could you please tell me why a very fuel efficient vehicle will be almost forced off the roads of America due to the proposed fuel regulations?
The vehicle I speak of is the motorcycle! I ride one because it is a very fuel efficient vehicle and can be operated very cheaply. Yet if the proposed regulations go into effect. I will be FORCED to buy a car that gets less than half the mileage that I receive now. I get over 50 mpg. With the new regulations I would not receive enough gasoline to get back and forth to work.
Why not reward the people that are truly trying to conserve gasoline instead of making them revert to a more costly—in fuel and price—form of transportation.
I propose that the allotment level be raised for motorcycles to that of a small car. This would save a great deal of gasoline.
What would happen to those people who do not own automobiles yet do own gas-powered vehicles? As I understand it. the rationing would be based on the number of automobiles registered to you. Well I don’t own an automobile. So you tell me how much gasoline I would get. Kim Barnum N. Hollywood. Calif.
CREDITS "LADY LUCK"
In your May issue you summarized the findings of the National Highway Safety Administration on motorcycle accidents. Among other disturbing statistics you re-4 ported that “improper evasive action was taken by 65 percent of the cyclists” involved in accidents.
I have ridden 10 years without an accident, but most of the credit for that has to go to “Lady Luck.” If “45 percent of all the motorcycle accidents were due to cars* turning left in front of motorcycles,” then I have been lucky because I wouldn’t know what to do if it happened to me.
Proper evasive action under various traffic and road conditions would be a noble subject for you to tackle in an upcoming issue of your magazine. Steve Kottemann, MD Lincoln. Neb. [QJ
