Letters

LETTERS

Words to live by

In regard to your Editorial in the February, 1985, issue entitled: "I Have Seen The Enemy,” I would like to share with you and your readers an applicable quote from Beccarias’ essay On Crimes and Punishments:

“False is the idea of utility that would sacrifice a thousand real advantages for one imaginary or trifling inconvenience, that would take fire from men because it burns, and water because one may drown in it, that has no remedy for evils, except destruction.”

I, too, have saved myself with a quick burst of horsepower from my finely tuned 1973 Honda 750.

Kevin P. McDonnell Cleveland, Ohio

Paul Dean says that he eouldn 7 have said it better himself. Matter of fact, he didn 7.

Helmet dissention

I am writing in response to a letter you answered in the March, ’85, Letters column from F. Edward James. You people at Cycle World would make good Communists. If someone doesn’t agree with you, then outlaw it or call them “ignorant.” Wearing a helmet should be the rider’s choice. You choose to wear a helmet because you think it’s safer, but there are people who would agrue that point. As long as there are cycle riders who aren’t afraid to stand up for their rights and tell narrow-minded people like you that what I do is none of your business as long as I don’t hurt anybody else, there will be a fight.

I urge Mr. James to buy a different cycle book each month, because I will not renew my subscription. Any book that calls their readership “ignorant” is only good for starting a fire in the wood stove on a cold northern night.

R.C. Keesler Brighton, Michigan

There are a few holes in your platform. For one, we never called people who don't wear helmets "ignorant"; Mr. James implied that we had done so in a response to a letter in our November, 1984, issue, but that's not true. Second, why is it democratic for you to disagree with us, but Communistic for us to disagree with you? And third, if you think that no one but you is hurt in any way if you fall down and scramble your brains because you weren't wearing a helmet, then I suggest that it is you, sir, who is narrow-minded. In some way, shape or form, every motorcyclist pays for that. If you wish to ride without a helmet, this magazine will not actively attempt to violate your right to do so; but the facts are a matter of record, and they have proven that it is far safer to ride with a helmet than without one.

The voice of experience

This letter is in reply to Mr. F. Edward James’ letter that appeared in your March, 1985, issue about the elite group of non-helmet wearers. I enjoy every issue of Cycle World, and I work for a very respectable paramedic service. We at work enjoyed the way you told him (Mr. James) what the opposite of smart is. We have quite a few motorcycle riders in our area, and when we see a helmetless individual we have a little name that we call them. It is unobtrusive and to the point. We call them “organ donors.”

Brad Mason Shawnee, Kansas

The logical Vulcan

Harley has been sitting on the idea for too long, fearing a loss of their “traditionalists.” Yamaha has come close several times but has burdened the design with shaft drive and “boulevard” styling. Honda has a working model, but who wants a bike the factory will stop making after a few years? Suzuki could do it, but I’d worry about what it would look like. Ducati did it, but I couldn’t live with it.

continued on page 17

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MIMSIR

continued from page 12

So come on, Kawasaki. Take the Vulcan, get rid of the shaft, pump in some ponies, alter the styling, keep it light, and give us sport riders the V-Twin we’ve been waiting for.

Paul E. Turek Costa Mesa, California

And sign us up for one while you're at it.

Light is not light enough

I appreciate the article “Changing the Rules” (March, 1985). It’s about time the Japanese discovered that a lighter bike is a better bike. The British motorcycle industry knew this for years. As I scan the pages of my 1973 Triumph Tiger owner’s manual, it states an unladen weight of 395 pounds. Now, remember, this is a 750cc dinosaur, but it weighs a mere seven pounds more than Suzuki’s “techno-marvel.” And one needs only to look at past specifications to see that this is no miracle. Petersen’s Motorcycle Buyer’s Guide for 1974 lists Norton Commandos weighing in at 385 pounds dry. That’s an 850 that weighs three pounds less than the GSX-R.

You may argue that these numbers are inaccurate, but even being off by 10 pounds would keep them in the ballpark. You may also argue, as stated in the article, that Japanese bikes are heavy because of the powerful engines they carry. I don’t buy that. When I look at the auto industry I see engine and overall weight going down while engine horsepower is going up. This was seemingly unheard of in Japanese weight programs, at least in street bikes, until now. Mr. Yokouchi and his fellow engineers have done some wonderful things when it comes to getting more power out of motorcycle engines. I wish they would have put more time and effort into making them lighter. Meantime, I will keep my money in the bank until the Japanese can produce a bike that it doesn’t take two men and a boy to move around the garage.

Ken Kozol Schererville, Indiana

Well, you could alwa ys get the same two men and a boy who have been helping you roll your 1973 Triumph around the garage to do the same with the GSX-R750, which weighs seven pounds less even though it makes almost twice as much power. Still, if you 'll tell us which cars make twice as much power as their counterparts did 10 or 15 years ago yet are also considerably lighter; we'll admit that you are right. But not until then.

Tariffs, Canadian-style

I’d like to make some comments in reference to the letter by Mr. Makishak (“Canadian inflation”) in your October Letters section. Motorcycle magazines seem to be receiving an increasing number of letters from Canadians lamenting the high cost of motorcycles and accessories in Canada. But have Canadian cyclists given any thought to the rea Sons underlying this state of affairs? After all, it doesn't cost any more to ship a bike from Japan to, say, Vancouver, B.C., than it does to Seattle, and I doubt that Canadian dealers are making significantly higher profits than their U.S. counterparts. So where are those thousands of additional dollars be ing paid for each bike going? The answer is pretty simple. For quite some time now, Canadians have chosen an approach to life that places heavy emphasis on social wel fare and government subsidies to inefficient industries, and somebody has to pay for it. Guess who? You're not spending that money in the name of motorcycling, Mr. Makishak, you're spending it in the name of socialism.

There is no free lunch, as the saying goes. When American con sumers can buy subsidized Canadian products at favorable prices, for in stance, it is because Canadian tax payers pay part of the bill. And that is why, among other things, a Maxim 650 costs 70 percent more in Canada than it does here. But allis not lost. The results of the recent Canadian elections seem to indicate that maybe you Canucks have fi nally seen the light of day. Keep going. and one day you too will keep more of your earnings than you give to the bureaucrats.

K. Mesterton Everett, Washington

In the minority—and loving it

I read with amusement the two letters published in your February issue written by female riders. I say amusement because although I have experienced the same things those two ladies have, I adopt a different philosophy in dealing with them. Motorcycling is a highly male-domi nated sport and, cultural condition ing being what it is, it is likely to remain so for some time. Bitching about this will not garner good re sults. However, being a minority within a minority will attract atten tion, so I put it to good use. I can exercise privileges traditionally ac corded to women-e.g., the right to change one's mind or to make a decision based on aesthetics. Traffic cops are generally more sympa thetic, and non-riding males are al ways fascinated. Most male riders will make an effort to be chivalrous. This could be construed as being condescending, but I enjoy the equivalent of having doors held open for me or being helped on with my coat. And as for the truly condescending, when I see them nudge each other and smile indul gently at me, I just dimple sweetly and smile indulgently back at them, secure in the knowledge that I will blow the doors off their stupid sports cars should I ever see one of them at a stoplight.

Carol S. Hawes Honolulu, Hawaii

Quite a Kidder

In response to Ms. Pamela K. Kidder's letter ("No talking down, please") in your February issue, let me, on behalf of the motorcycling public at large, offer an apology to Ms. Kidder for all the "condescend ing" comments she has had to en dure over the past two years of her cycling career. Really! To have to put up with some patronizing chump who has the nerve to tell her to be careful. Oh, the pain and humiliation of it all.

Ms. Kidder's admonishment should be well heeded. I, for one, will be eternally grateful to her, be cause now I won't be making any more social blunders by ending a conversation with another rider with such a crass and uncaring statement as "be careful," or "ride safe," phrases I previously would use to close any correspondence with an other motorcyclist. Thank you, Ms. Kidder: no more faux pas for me. I guess I'll just start telling all my riding friends that I hope they run head-on into a Buick, or get forced off the road by a drunk driving an 18-wheeler. I'm glad the late Mi chael Conrad (Sgt. Esterhaus on Hill Street Blues) wasn't a motorcyclist. Imagine how many riders he could have offended with his daily "let's be careful out there" advice.

Tim Burke Vero Beach, Florida

High-compression KTM

In the test specifications of the `85 KTM 250 MX (January, 1985) you state that it has a compression ratio of 150:1. All I want to know is where you plan to get gasoline to run this thing. Or is it a diesel? Does this bike have any kind of com pression release? You never said what it was like to get started, or was this too painful of a subject?

Rob Freeman Keeline, Wyoming

A problem of buoyancy, actually: Our calculator's floating decimal sank.