Letters
LETTERS
Queen of the Amazonas
As a Beemer rider, and therefore out of the motorcycling mainstream anyway, I was fascinated by your test of the Brazilian Amazonas. Far from being laughable, the big beast is a triumph of the best of Third World engineering principles: Make it out of materials at hand, make it simple, make it to last. I want one. I shall put a great big honker of a motor in her, and name her Hippolyte, Queen of the Amazons. Together, she and I will cruise life’s highways, getting our service done at Louie’s VW Hospital, and buying our parts at K-Mart. And I will take her to many BMW rallies, where the faithful will be stunned into silence by the presence of a truly unusual motorcycle. Ralph Keys Portland, Oregon With a rider to match.
The last straw
Robert Goodman’s letter (November, 1985) was the last straw. As someone who is a television news reporter for the CBS affiliate WBAL-TV in Baltimore,
I’ve had it with the media-bashing from my fellow motorcyclists. For the record, I own stock in CBS, which publishes this magazine, and I ride a Honda 750 Interceptor, wear leathers, have owned several motorcycles and am proud to be a biker. I’ve been hit by a car and a van and have broken bones to prove it. Many of the people I work with also ride and race motorcycles.
My point is that the media isn’t the stereotype that Mr. Goodman and so many others seem to assume.
I have personally, as have others, done lots of stories about motorcycle toy runs, safety issues and the like. It is not true that the media only does “negative” stories on motorcycling or hates bikes.
As for his comments about CBS— any company that gives us Dan Rather, Charles Kuralt, Bruce Springsteen and two motorcycle magazines can’t be all bad, or filled with contempt for bikers as Mr. Goodman suggests. Jim Mustard Baltimore, Maryland
Ten Best suggestion
While glancing thrugh your “Ten Best Bikes of The Year” (October, 1985) feature, it occured to me that there might be an overlooked category to consider—overlooked not by your staff, but by the Japanese manufacturers. Each of the Big Four offers a fine, full-dress device capable of transporting one along in blissfully isolated comfort, as such land yachts rightfully should. To fill the gap in their model lines, and the needs of many riders, something similar to a Moto Guzzi SP or Kseries BMW (minus the throw-away block, thanks!) would do nicely. A turn-key sport-tourer with the benefit of Japanese technology, a machine capable of whisking along interstates in a leisurely fashion, yet also able to thread its way through twisting mountain passes with aplomb. Honda’s V65 Sabre is a step in the right direction, but suffers from being grossly overweight and bulky even in bare form, as well as having decidedly unattractive form. Perhaps when Yamaha produces an FZ1100 they might transform the conservative FJ by fitting a shaft drive and an enlarged fairing—Oh, and some close-fitting luggage, and . . . well, you get the idea. Steve Choiniere Cranston, Rhode Island
Turn to page 40, and you'll see that your dream just might have come true.
Knowing right from wrong
Particularly living in this area, Steve Thompson should know that, in more ways than one, this cannot be the Wrong Coast as he states in his Moto Guzzi story (November, 1985). It is clearly the Right Coast (California being the Left Coast). Greg Cassidy Rockville, Maryland S
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