Letters
LETTERS
Letters to the editor are welcomed and should be addressed to: Cycle World Editor, 1499 Monrovia Ave., Newport Beach, Cal:f~ 92663. All letters are subject to editing and cannot be returned.
The Great Shadow Debate
Honda knows best
The sun must have cooked your brains. Your objection is that it looks like something other than a Honda, i.e., a Harley. A V-Twin is pretty hard to make look like anything else.
I am insulted by insinuations from you that the Shadow is a Japanese Harley. Harley-Davidson hasn’t the technology to build it, although they should have built it years ago . . .
Dennis Locke Indianapolis, Ind.
Yes, Honda listened, and came up with what at least some of the buying public including myself, really wants: a Harley with Honda engineering and execution. A Harley with Honda dealership service and warranty. A Harley with Honda reliability. A Harley with Honda price. A Harley feel and sound without the bike falling apart around you.
It’s sad that a 750 Sportster has to be called a Shadow, but when better Harleys are made, Honda will build them. Sad but true, but not because of Honda.
R. W. Williamson
Ft. Devons, Mass.
I have always felt that if the Japanese could make a cheaper Harley-Davidson look-and-sound alike replica, they would. They did.
Tom Jones Pleasant Grove, Ala.
I’m a Shadow 750 owner and I love my new bike. I’ve had it, ridden it, for almost 2 months and I think it is a superior piece of craftsmanship, both technically and aesthetically. Sure, People may say it’s a copy of a Harley, so what! Is Harley styling all that bad? Not to me, it isn’t. I think Honda should be complimented for putting together, in my view at least, the best of both worlds.
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Honda eats quiche
I just finished your article on the Honda Shadow and I think I’m going to puke. I haven’t seen anything that disgusting since I woke up with a hangover next to my old girlfriend. It’s like someone trying to make Liberace look like one of the Hell’s Angels. It just doesn’t make it.
And all this maintenancefree, self-cancelling garbage just makes it worse. A little Saturday afternoon tinkering never hurt anyone. First we had the Eddie Lawson Replica, and now we have the Willie G. Davidson rep-
lica. Does it have a separate compartment for quiche?
David Collins Pittsburgh, Pa.
If Honda thinks they can gain new customers this way, they are sadly mistaken. As a Vincent owner I resent their stealing the Shadow name, and as a former Harley owner, I find their insolence in copying the Harley style extremely arrogant.
Vaughn Greene
San Bruno, Calif.
I am a firm, established rider of the Harley-Davidson, a 1976 Bicentennial Super Glide. At first, I wanted to be mad about Honda doing what Harley should have done. Now, I think about it, it’s all right.
This copy will shadow the legacy of Harley-Davidson, and only those people who can’t afford the patience to get a Harley will purchase this imitation.
Rodney Diehl Tucson, Ariz.
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James Kritek Northfield, 111.
Just because Honda’s Shadow looks a great deal like a Certain American Bike doesn’t mean that they have run out of new and different engineering and design ideas for motorcycles. I think it means that Honda feels they can produce a motorcycle very similar to a Certain American Bike except maybe better, and certainly for thousands of dollars less.
David Remus Glen Elder, Kansas
The March 1983 issue of Cycle World is just too much of a bad thing. The comments of Allan Girdler concerning the Honda VT750C Shadow are in extremely poor taste after the tests on the latest Harley-Davidson junkyard dog, the XR1000.
As for my preference I’ll keep my $4000 1982 Gold Wing and spend the rest for gasoline and a dirt bike . ..
James Stein Altoona, Pa.
Back in 1979 I purchased a new Low Rider because I fell in love with the style of the motorcycle. I soon found out the vibration was unbearable at highway speeds and it was plagued with electronic ignition and other electrical problems. So after spending around $5000, I had a motorcycle that looked good but you couldn't depend on it.
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The Japanese manufacturers with the ultimate in design, having the market cornered, still realize they have missed the boat. Your illustration on page 95 in the March issue ties it all together.
Even with detailed copying and exotic gimmicks, they still cast furtive looks over their shoulder, indicating complete insecurity of their position.
Jim Fennell Kokomo, 111.
I began to wonder if Honda isn’t misjudging the whole American market. First they insult every serious American motorcyclist by selling the CB1100R everywhere except the U.S.; then they develop a superb 105 bhp motor, but dress it up to resemble an Electra Glide. While Harley-Davidson struggles desperately to hang on to a tiny fraction of the market, bootlegged CB1 lOOR’s fetch as much as $10,000 from American enthusiasts.
It’s time Honda understood that we have outgrown our chopper, hog and impressive noises phase. We’re every bit as sophisticated as the rest of the world when it comes to appreciating fine sporting motorcycles.
Until they do, I’ll stick with my Katana.
Andy Akermanis Agoura, Calif.
What’s gotten into Honda anyway? Do you see what they’re trying to sell us now? Even what is probably the best bike they’ve ever made (the 1100 V-Four) comes with ugly, fakeHarley styling. Why can’t we have a Sabre 1100?
Nick Danger
Las Vegas, Nev.
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continued from page 17
Well, Honda has done several things right. They came out with a good looking custom motorcycle that has dependability, workmanship, quality and it’s at a price less than half that of a Harley.
James Lee Temple, Ga.
Harley lost their customers because of their small selection of sizes, etc. The Shadow, the motorcycle in question, has a top speed of 109 mph and cost $3000. The Harley XR1000 is considered a street racer, yet has a top speed of 112 mph and costs (!) $7000. Given the choice between the two, which would you choose?
Speed Freak Louisville, Ky.
1 have always wanted to own a Harley but could not justify the cost in both purchase price and upkeep cost. I would still be money ahead to buy the Honda. At least I feel the Honda would hold together longer and if it should breakdown, there are repair shops and parts in just about every town.
Bob Johnson Mukilteo, Wash.
Hooray for the Honda VT750 Shadow. Honda, with its new V-Twin configuration, did in one year what Harley couldn't do in its long history. They call it tradition. Tradition should be revised to read: The failure to modernize or improve.
William Proctor, Jr.
Crystal Lake, 111.
It can be argued that Honda engineering is so far above the rest of motorcycling that they do not need to clone either styling or engineering. But, in the meantime, Japanese sport bikes continue to try to look Italian, while their custom bikes try to look like Triumphs or Harleys.
Lindsay Brooke Wayne, Pa.
I don't think we should be too hard on Honda, or the other Japanese manufacturers who play to the Custom/Special audience here in America. Look at the Ascot Honda did it themselves and they’ve got warehouses full of unsold ones. The Japanese companies have created a monster. The way I look at it, though, the Shadow makes possible something as fabulous as the Interceptor, surely a 100 percent original motorcycle.
About Mr. Honda’s retirement. I'm glad that this creative and courageous man was able to get out with his memories of shrieking, all-conquering Honda Fours unblemished by the tawdriness of the Shadow.
Bruce Finlayson Grand Rapids, Mich.
While my XL500 has plastic sidecovers and fenders, and isn’t in any elitist financial realm, it’s still my idea of an honest motorcycle. It doesn't try to project some phoney racer image it hasn't earned. The Shadow is an abomination and Honda should be ashamed.
John Stanford Pocatello, Idaho
Why does an innovative and dynamic company capable of producing the first Elsinores, Gold Wings, CBXs, etc., along with a long list of creative ideas, some good, some not so good, regress to produce a motorcycle that looks like an outdated design?
While 1 was checking out the 83 models at our local Honda-Harley dealer (talk about an enemy within the ranks) I commented to the salesman that it was too bad Honda didn’t make the Shadow and the V65 Magna look like real motorcycles (read non-custom). He replied that they did, they look just like Harleys.
Florin Owens Cheyenne, Wyo.
Too bad Mr. Girdler didn’t say anything about the Honda Shadow 500 advertisement on pages 116-117 of the same issue. The ad states: One look shows you that this bike was born of tradition.
Indeed. Someone else’s.
Ray Brennan Philadelphia, Pa.
Honda's ads are always saying, Follow The Leader. After seeing the new Shadow 750, I guess the leader is Harley-Davidson.
Gerald Blakey Rhinebeck, N.Y.
CARB
I’ve been riding for 10 years now and if I have to see the day those carbon boxes are mounted to a bike, I quit buying new bikes. I'll also tell Mary Nichols one thing . . . I'll be damned if 1 attempt to stop a motorcyclist while on patrol to see if he/she has a catalytic converter attached. As a matter of fact, I’ll have more important things to watch for . . . such as Mary Nichols’ driving habits! P.P.P.
(Pissed Off Patrol Person)
Guardian of the Freeways
How much longer are we going to let our lives be regulated and our freedom obliterated by bureaucracy? Referencing Roundup in your February issue, California is proposing clean air regulation that will soon force me out of my favorite sport . . . motorcycling. They're forcing me to ride in danger. Danger from burning when gas ignites on my government-imposed catalytic converter and danger when some government-licensed idiot turns in front of me on my new government-designed 750 lb. 25 horsepower, safety approved motorcycle.
What ever happened to the land of the free?
Richard Gasque Atlanta, Ga.
This issue is well beyond proposed. The standards are in force, and some bikes are expected to arrive in California next year with catalytic converters. Charcoal-filled emission canisters will be found on many California motorcycles in 1984.
After reading the 22-page staff report from the California Air Resources Board, I could only wonder where reality ended and fantasy began with regard to clean air in this state.
It seems, however, that CARB has missed a major California polluter. How about catalytic converters on our chain saws and lawn mowers, too? It’s just as realistic as converters on our bikes!
Wayne Medley Sacramento, Calif.
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
After reading your January editorial I must say I agree with you 100 percent. I have also designed my dream motorcycle (many times).
I strongly feel the Big Four have gone completely off the deep end, both in their multiplicity of models and in their complexity of design. I know from personal experience that parts-stocking for so many models is an impossibility, making for irate customers and frustrated parts and service personnel. Worse, the complexity of some models are far beyond the capabilities of even the best mechanics.
My superior dream design is probably a 60 in. V-Twin with a two-throw crank, a 750, liquid cooling, single carburetor, enclosed chain drive, gear primary and semi-unit construction. Good disc brakes fore and aft, and fully adjustable suspension, handlebars and foot pegs. There would be an optional anatomically correct solo saddle or a comfortable dual seat. The winning combination in summary is economy of production, low cost to the consumer, reliability (and fixability), plus good parts supply and service.
Fm a motorcycle enthusiast of long standing, having purchased my first bike in 1930. I loved that bike so much that I still have it. Fm now 71, but I still love motorcycles.
Emmett Moore Florida, N.Y.
Your idea about interchangable parts is real good, but there just isn’t a model like I want. See, we just do away with all 200 models of motorcycles and fill the showrooms with all them interchangable parts. Then we could go in and pick and choose and put together just the bike we want . . . like a Honda CBX crankcase with six cylinders and pistons from that Harley-Davidson FXRS and a cylinder head off a Cummins KTA 400 (they have real big valves but at a yard and a half it doesn’t look very racey).
I am just waiting for Honda to come up with an extra two cylinders on that V65 to bump it up to a V97'/2.
Bruce Rayl
Salt Lake City, Utah
MORE TECH
I liked In Search of the Free Lunch, the intake and exhaust tuning article in the January 1983 issue. The more tech articles, the better.
John Amiden
Grand Rapids, Mich. S
