Letters
LETTERS
Bandit bandwagon
I received the August issue of Cycle World yesterday, and to my surprise the motorcycle I have been waiting to purchase is on the cover! The Suzuki Bandit 1200’s power characteristics, looks and handling are exactly what I expect in a bike. Please use your contacts and resources to help Suzuki make the decision to import this motorcycle. I’d be the first in line to purchase one.
Douglas Bowman Shoreview, Minnesota
I don’t know if American Suzuki’s product planners will bring in the Bandit 1200S, but your August test should help them make their decision. I really go for this type of bike-a sport-standard with competent suspension, good brakes, fat rubber and 1156cc of grunt. Combine that with a comfortable ergonomic layout, an integrated quarter-fairing and plenty of ground clearance, all under 500 pounds, and you’ve got a winner in my book.
Pete Landon Rio Del Mar, California
I’m psyched about Suzuki’s Bandit 1200 and hope American Suzuki brings it in. It’s got it all: V-Max-league acceleration without the usual big-standard weight penalty; loads of low-tomidrange power where a streetbike should have it; comfy ergos; and not so much bodywork as to hide the motor, complicate service and drive insurance rates up. It even has great brakes, and handles with no “pretty-good-for-astandard” excuses. I’m sold!
Larry Henry II Mesa, Arizona
Toward the end of your article on the Suzuki Bandit 1200S, you posed the question as to whether this latest standard might not suffer the same lack of success in the U.S. as the Kawasaki ZR1100 and Honda CB1000. I think your rhetorical question fails to recognize that the Suzuki is a much better motorcycle than either of its predecessors in several significant ways, and should succeed where others have failed.
The Kawasaki and Honda were overly heavy lumps, which weighed 60 to 70 pounds more than the Suzuki. Not surprisingly, they were a lot slower in quarter-mile acceleration. They also lacked fairings, and the Honda was butt-ugly to boot. They failed, not because the market wasn’t right (a common excuse), but because they were inferior. I think the Suzuki Bandit 1200S would succeed in the U.S. because it has eliminated the shortcomings of previous standards that have failed here.
Michael B. de Estrada Fort Worth, Texas
Regarding your test of the Suzuki Bandit 1200S in your August issue, I would like to say, “Finally. What took so long?” I think one line in your story (“...the Bandit 1200S is not a blast from the past.”) captured it all. Maybe we will finally get the UJM we’ve been waiting for? Toby Poland
El Paso, Texas
Smokin’!
Like all tools, motorcycles can be misused, as the new Bandit is on page 35 of your August issue. How many tire-smoking burnouts did it take your rider to “write” CW on the pavement, and how many fools do you think will imitate it? To me the CW stands for complete waste. Please don’t promote deliberate and mindless sophomoric pollution. Howard Beatle
Sterling, New York
Actually, CW stands for “cool wheelies,’’ something else the Bandit does exceedingly well.
I’m sure CW is going to receive hate letters from politically correct types in reference to the smoky burnout pictured on page 35. For the record, I would like to say this is the most original picture I’ve seen from an American publication and hope to see more like it in the future!
Scott Loos Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Why ask why?
Why are you devoting seven fullcolor pages to a test of a motorcycle (the Suzuki Bandit 1200) that cannot be purchased in the United States? That makes no sense. Robert Erck Lombard, Illinois
Read between the lines, Erck. The big Bandit is on its way to the USA. Be> sides, it does bitchin ' wheelies and smoky burnoutsin a deliberately mindless and sophomoric way, of course.
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AEMBER MOTORCYCLE INDUSTRY COUNCIL, INC.
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Road prose
LAMENT OF THE LIGHTNING COWBOY
I rode my Buell the other day Right down the old highway,
Fastest Harley ever made Right in the USA;
The seat is small and it is hard And it makes me kind of sore,
But not as much as those Harley guys Who don 't wave at me no more.
The Beemer guys may nod a bit, They ’re dignified and cool;
Gold Wingers use a big thumbs-up While grinnin ’ like a fool; Rice-rockets flash a victory sign, Ducatis jump and shout,
But gettin ’ waves from Yankee iron Is what I’m all about.
Milwaukee makes my engine And Racine makes my frame;
My forks are Dutch, the carb is Jap, Wheels bear Italian names;
But my heart is pure, I’m Yankee-born And I don’t want to be a bore,
But those Harley> guys on their shiny rides Don’t wave at me no more.
Peter A. Denzer Hedgesville, West Virginia
Missing Concours
I enjoyed the “Built for Comfort, Built for Speed” sport-touring comparison in the July CW, but why is it when cycle magazines do such articles, they leave out an obvious choice of bike, the Kawasaki Concours?
The Concours has it all over the ST 1100. It is faster, has more lowend torque, a lower center of gravity, a six-speed transmission, has a bigger gas tank, a better windshield, a more comfortable saddle and roomier saddlebags-just to name a few features. I suppose it is a little embarrassing to get your $1 1,600 Honda ST1100’s ass kicked by an $8400 Kawasaki Concours. Jack Werts
Sandy, Utah
We didn 't leave the Concours out, Jack, Kawasaki did. Check your 1996 model lineups: There is no Concours this year. Rumor has it that Kawasaki has a revised sport-tourer in the pipeline for ’97. □
