Letters
LETTERS
Yamaha’s Euro-bikes
I keep reading articles on motorcycles like the Diversion 900 and the XJR 1200 (see, “Yamahas You Can’t Buy,” CW, April), but I’m sick of the bikes I have longed for, hoped for, and have the money to pay for, being tagged as bikes I can’t buy. Do you know why the neo-standard market isn’t reaping good sales? Because the really excellent bikes in the field are only available in Europe and Japan.
Prentiss Patrick America Online
Please pass on to Yamaha that I would really like to see the XJR 1200 imported to the U.S. Please!!!
Daniel Gulick Corning, New York
I would buy the XJR 1200 in a second. I just bought a used FZR1000 to hold me over until the XJR is released here.
John DL America Online
Congratulations, Yamaha, you finally figured it out. The TRX850 (see “Yamaha’s Winning Twin?” CW, June) is an RD400 for grown-ups-a light, relatively simple Twin with good street performance. I’ve been waiting for a Twin that’s somewhere between farm machinery and unobtanium; I hope the TRX is it. Aaron Pearson Carson City, Nevada
The TRX850? Call it a Ya-cati. Call it a Desmo-ha. Call it an 850SS. Call it whatever-but call it a U.S. model!
Allen Crosby Mesquite, Texas
After the April issue, Yamaha received about 50 letters from CW readers about the Diversion and the XJR, the majority in favor of bringing the bikes to the U.S. Still, a Yamaha official says the chance of either model making it to these shores is “kind of bleak." Better news on the TRX850 front, though. While nothing is certain as of presstime, there’s a very good possibility the sportTwin will be on sale here in 1996 as an early-release '97 model.
Cover-ups
I thought the picture of the girl in the swimsuit on the May cover was extremely cheesy and un-Cycle Worldlike. What’s going on? Doug Kim Walnut Creek, California
About your May cover. Please don’t do that again. Roger Sargent
Albion, Pennsylvania
I have subscribed to your magazine for over 10 years. As a woman, I have felt under-represented in Cycle World, but never insulted-until I saw the May, 1995, cover.
Somehow, I don’t think wearing a bathing suit and high heels hunched over a motorcycle is an image of the female motorcyclist I want to see portrayed. Valerie Merges Kearns, Utah
Could I attend your next photo shoot? Pete Swanson Ramona, California
The Kiwi Caper
Peter Egan’s insightful and evocative account of his New Zealand sojourn (see “In the Land of the Long, White Cloud,” CW, May) was undoubtedly the finest touring story I have ever read. All others, by comparison, could put Nytol into bankruptcy. For those of us who are, er, monetarily challenged, his writing may be as close as we’ll ever come to riding in this utopian setting. Thanks, Peter, it was damn close. Cecil Golden Montgomery, Alabama
Being a young father with four kids, happily married and working to pay a mortgage doesn’t leave much time or money to do things like tour New Zealand on motorcycles. But every month, for the price of a subscription,
I can indulge myself. Thanks for the fine writing. Tim Smidt Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
Where does Egan get this stuff? His writing is so vivid and enjoyable thaï it elevates a good article to greatness inviting several re-reads. I’m looking forward to many continued contributions from your Editor-at-Large.
William Backer Torrance, California
Jawa death watch
Jawa, a bastion of the motorcycle industry, is falling to pieces before our eyes. I am writing to you as a longtime owner, rider and enthusiast of these Czech machines, which have served so many people worldwide as sturdy, reliable transportation. The untimely death of this over-60-year producer of fine machines would be a sad blow to the industry. Don Schumann Lafayette, Colorado
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Euro Editor Alan Cathcart confirms that Jawa is in serious financial trouble. “Since the collapse of the Socialist state seven years ago, the company has failed in a bid to convert its operation to market economy, and is now up for sale at an asking price of $1 million,” reports Cathcart. “However, this figure brings with it significant accumulated debt. With no significant new products under development (its projected four-stroke range needs substantial investment to make it viable), Jawa has only its name to offer any interested purchasers—this and its large factory site outside Prague filled with antiquated equipment-making the million-dollar asking price a joke.”
Interestingly, fellow Czech bikemaker CZ has fared much better under capitalism, and is now majority-owned by Italy’s Cagiva Group, which plans to use CZ as a springboard to the booming markets of Eastern Europe.
Ugly American?
In response to a very honest inquiry in the April issue from British Columbia reader Wayne Ransom about the lack of kickstarters on modern bikes, CW's Letters reply was, “Why is it not surprising that a guy who lives in a place with ‘British’ in its name longs for a kickstarter. Can we interest you in oil leaks and crappy electrics, too?”
I ride a 1967 Triumph Trophy and was appalled by this bigoted reply by an ugly American. Your Letters editor should be stripped of his column.
Stan Levin Tucson, Arizona
Cool yer jets, there, Stanley. The Letters editor is, in fact, the Editor-inChief—who may be ugly, but is not American. Edwards was born in England, owns several British bikes and takes great pride in starting his 1954 BSA Gold Star on the first kick-which means almost never. Sorry if his usual razor-sharp wit and biting sarcasm escaped you....
