Letters

LETTERS

Keep on truckin'

I take exception to Steve Thompson’s insulting stereotype of a trucker (“I looked into his bloodshot, rodentlike eyes”) in his At Large column of May '87. I am a trucker. I ride a BMW K75S. I wear sandals to work in hot weather. I listen to jazz all day. I smoke a pipe. I never violate anyone’s right of way, especially a motorcyclist’s. Come to think of it, I guess I’m not your average trucker. John Spencer Monrovia, California

Your point is well-taken—whatever it is.

A gray matter

It was perfect timing to print in the same issue (June ’87) Bill Seymour’s letter to the editor castigating Harley-Davidson motorcycles as “unsophisticated, overweight, twowheeled paint mixers,” and your staff’s educated opinion of six big Twin cruisers (two Harleys and four Japanese) in the cover article, “The Best V-Twin In America Is . . . Harley-Davidson's Softail. Nothing else emits the same kind of pure motorcycle feelings.”

Obviously, what we have here is the classic conflict of the right and left brains . . . the analyzer versus the experiencer. Gordon Messner Glendale, California

Gee, and all along we thought it was just a simple difference of opinion.

Knowing your audience

In regards to the latest HarleyDavidson ad, “Would you sell an unreliable motorcycle to these guys?” Nothing like promoting a good public image. AÍ Padgett Chicago Heights, Illinois

You 're right: That 's nothing like promoting a good public image.

Malcolm for prez

Just a note of thanks for the fine article on Malcolm Forbes. After over 40 years of riding a motorcycle and fighting the negative image that usually accompanies it, it’s refreshing to read about someone of Mr. Forbes’ stature who is also an avid motorcyclist. His participation in the sport of motorcycling can only enhance it.

If he should ever throw his hat in the ring (or his helmet, as the case may be) of the political arena and take a run for the presidency, he would certainly receive my vote regardless of which party he chose to run with. As a person who is obviously living life to its fullest, however, he wouldn't need that headache. Dan Spencer Ojai, California

Demand without supply

In the summer of '85, I finally and reluctantly realized that I needed to retire my aging eightvalve CB750. I had been looking around, but didn’t see much I liked in the new stuff. I don’t care for the pseudo-roadracer style (I already know what my shirtsleeves look like, and I don't bend in the middle too well), and the Gold Wing class is out of my price range. To my mind, that didn't leave too much, so I wound up buying a leftover, a new, out-of-the-crate'81 CB750 16valve. It does several things adequately but nothing supremely well, which is great, and it fits my riding style. I commute a considerable distance daily on it, take trips, and occasionally do a little canyon-blasting. It even runs errands. How many new machines will do that? At the moment, I don’t see anything on the market that I would willingly give up my CB750 to get. Marvin Davisson Phoenix, Arizona

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