Letters
LETTERS
Hey, Big Four
I am a member of a large segment of American motorcycling, one which seems somehow forgotten. Our members have been riding for many years. We have a burning desire for speed with good handling, but are too old for repli-racers (they hurt our backs on long rides). We love standard-style motorcycles, but do not want to have our butts kicked by some kid on a Ninja.
So far, Honda has come the closest with the good-handling, great-looking, but underpowered CB1000. Come on, all you high-tech manufacturers, make one for the old gippers like me, who remember fondly when superbikes were really standards on steroids. I’m still riding my 14-year-old CBX Six; I love it, but what I really want is a totally modern, lightweight standard with superb handling and a killer motor capable of warp nine on command.
Now, who will be the first to build us one? Jim Stucker
Humble, Texas
Recent issues featuring the BMW R1100RS, the Ducati Supermono and the Buell Thunderbolt were great. I hope I speak for the majority of readers when I thank you for providing indepth coverage of these bikes, which have significance out of proportion to their production numbers.
By the way, if any of the four Japanese manufacturers read the Letters section, I have a quiz. What do these three bikes have in common? Answer: They all have less than three cylinders, and they all are beautiful bikes devoid of punk-surfer paint jobs. When are you guys going to build one of these? Honda, how long do we have to wait for a 1000GT Superhawk?
Brian Mellstrom New York, New York
Editor-in-Chief David Edwards says that one reason for the current retrobikes’ lack of sales success is that the manufacturers are charging “today’s prices for yesterday’s motorcycles.” He has missed the point entirely.
Harley-Davidson has had great success selling its Heritage models at tomorrow s prices. The difference is that the Big Four don’t understand what a retro-bike is. The 750 Nighthawk from Honda might look like a ’69 CB750 on the spec sheet, but put them side by side, and it’s clear that the Nighthawk is from the mid-’80s. Where are the spoke wheels and the chrome fenders?
I would buy a true retro CB750 or Yamaha XS650-or any one of a number of successful cycles of the past-in a second at any price, and I’m not alone. My advice to bike-makers looking for a real retro-bike: Ride around on a prototype for a few days; if the kid at the gas station says, “Wow, great restoration,” you’ve got it right.
Tom Hilbert Dunbarton, South Carolina
Triumphs rule
Peter Egan’s December column about the book Triumph Motorcycles in America echoed my feelings about Triumphs-there was never a sporting motorcycle used so successfully so many ways.
It was (and still is) a standard, cruiser, chopper, custom, sport-tourer, touring bike, drag racer, hillclimber, Pike’s Peak racer, desert sled, cowtrailer, scrambler, trials bike, flattracker, roadracer, police bike, ramp jumper and social icon. It raced on every type of surface and on six continents. It won the ISDE, set speed records at Bonneville and sailed over barbed wire with Nazis in pursuit in The Great Escape.
Most of what the press calls standards today aren’t. Triumphs are. Take off the tank, seat, handlebar, lights, sprockets and pegs; put on different stuff to suit your purpose or taste or just to be different. That is a standard. Tally ho! S.D. Young
Tyler, Texas
Tour tip
In the December Letters section, reader Doug Leithauser takes exception to Cycle World's choice of the Honda ST 1100 as 1993’s Best Touring Bike, going on to explain that a real touring bike should carry lots of luggage, pull a trailer and “have features like stereos, intercoms, cruise controls and a backrest to keep your wife from tumbling off the back when she falls asleep.”
I feel it is my duty to explain to Mr. Leithauser what a touring bike is: any bike on which you feel comfortable touring. What he described isn’t a motorcycle, it’s a car. I bet riding on a motorcycle isn’t the only time his wife falls asleep. Joel Widman
Chicago, Illinois
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Dream on
In a recent issue, you requested that people write in with comments on various motorcycles for use in the long-terms tests that Cycle World is currently conducting. Among the six bikes was a Harley-Davidson Dyna Wide Glide and a BMW R1100RS Boxer. Unfortunately at this time I don’t own either one, but if you would be so kind as to send me one (your choice, I’m not picky), I would be more than happy to ride it for as long as you want me to, then let you know the results.
Of course, I would be doing this to help out Cycle World, not for purely selfish reasons. No, really!
David Breece Phoenix, Arizona
Weird science
Somehow, I never expected to read an erudite discussion of engines and alternate propulsion systems in Cycle World, but Technical Editor Kevin Cameron’s “Another 100 Years?” column in the December issue was not only accurate, but explained engine “facts of life” in a thoroughly readable and understandable way. I agree that a hybrid is the most likely propulsion system for future bikes, cars, busses, etc. I also think that turbine-electric systems offer the most promise, and that the turbine fuel will be coal or a derivative thereof.
It’s good to know that there are other motorcyclists who understand the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
E. Gerald Meyer, Ph.D University of Wyoming Laramie, Wyoming
MTV rides
First you guys let Beavis and ButtHead pick the Kawasaki ZX-6 over the Honda CBR600F2 as 1993’s Best 600cc Streetbike, then you let them choose a troublesome, overheating Kawasaki KLX650R over a durable, proven Honda XR600R for Off-Road Editor Jimmy Lewis to ride in the Acerbis Nevada Rally (see “A Rally of Errors,” Race Watch, CW, December, 1993). What is going on here?
Scott Antonides Putnam, Ontario, Canada
Actually, Kevin Cameron chooses our bikes; Beavis and Butt-Head are the magazine’s experts on Thermodynamics. Cool, huh?
