Letters

LETTERS

Making the retro-grade

I was very pleased with Brian Catterson's Roundup article in the August issue, "Japan Waxes Nostalgic." The latest retro bikes from Japan seem to be sweeping the globe, though it appears all the really cool ones are going everywhere but here.

I was instantly drawn to the Suzuki Tempter. The machine has traditional British good looks with Japanese relia bility. With a 399cc engine, it would make a great commuter bike as well as a short-distance tourer. The Tempter is a bike that I must have. This one really hit me hard. Jeff Shipman Birmingham, Alabama

In your discussion of the retro-nostalgic cycles, you assert that the new Suzuki Tempter was styled in a manner reminiscent of a 1950s Velocette. As the owner of a 1956 Velocette Venom, which I resurrected from a pile (a pile is an order of magnitude worse than a basketcase), I must take issue with your opinion.

When the Suzuki stylists have properly copied the famous fishtail muffler and made its sound a healthy “thump” instead of a flatulent blather of escaping exhaust gas, they may have a start on the job of copying a Velo. If they can make the carburetor drip together in harmony with the primary chain case, kickstarter shaft and pushrod tube dribbles, they may be well on their way to a Velo. If they can make it vibrate so that your vision blurs at idle and certain other speeds, they are almost there. When they have the lights to a feeble Miller Electric glow, then they may have it.

It is okay, however, that Kawasaki’s Estrella Gold Star-lookalike be described as such, the muffler does look like a Goldie’s and since BSA was a

fierce competitor of Velocette, you may of course malign the BSA (Bastard Seized Again) marque with impunity.

Enough of the tongue-in-cheek. I’m pleased that someone actually remembers, even if imperfectly, what a Velo looked like. Roger Seitz

Jackson, New Jersey

The “new-old” Honda CB400 Four is the bike I have always wanted! Fifty-three horses, 4-into-4 exhaust, twin shocks, wire spokes! Tell me it has white-faced gauges! I know little 400s don’t get attention, but think 600cc with, say, 72 bhp.

Please send this letter on to Honda with the bags of other letters you got on this bike. Sam Marcionette

Branford, Connecticut

Down on Dingo

I have just received the August, 1997, issue of Cycle World. I am very disappointed in the “Dingo Photo” article. I don’t subscribe to CW to get a girlie magazine insert as an added bonus. If I was inclined to buy a girlie

magazine, then I would subscribe to one! One of the models even has a seethrough top! I want real motorcycle info: tests, specs, honest evaluations, etc. I don’t want a magazine that uses sex to sell itself. Then, on page 10, in David Edwards’ Up Front column, he refers to a Ducati 916 as “sweaty sex on wheels.” Good grief! Larry Ogle Wake Forest, North Carolina

Ogle this, Larry: The wording was “nasty, sweaty sex on wheels.” There is a difference, ya know.

Up with Dingo

I loved the photos by Dingo! The man does see things very differently, but I appreciate his slightly skewed view. Maybe you can provide us with more of Dingo’s work in the future, and the hell with being PC. On the whole, the world is just too damn sensitive and needs to develop a broader sense of humor. Eric Mortenson

Merrimack, New Hampshire

Ahhh, you devils! You have left me thirsty for more! Mmmmmm, the redhead in fishnet...or the roadside Valkyrie repair girl... Greg Grolemund San Diego, California

Then again, Mr. Ogle may have a point...

KR korrection

I enjoyed Jim Miller’s article on the legendary Harley KR750 (“Unlikely Champion,” August). Today, at many vintage meets across the country, ageless George Roeder still fights for the lead with his equally ageless KR. It makes me wish I could have been there in the Sixties when HarleyDavidson was successfully hanging on with their old battle horse.

Reader Information

Editorial offices are located at 1499 Monrovia Ave., Newport Beach, CA 92663. Editorial contributions are welcomed, but must be guaranteed exclusive to Cycle World.

We are not responsible for the return of unsolicited material unless accompanied with a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

Letters cannot all be answered, nor can all Service inquiries be answered. We appreciate correspondence sent to the editorial offices and will use the most interesting and appropriate letters in the magazine.

One year subscription rates (12 issues) for U.S. and possessions $19.94, Canada/ Foreign $27.94. (Please remit by money order or draft on a U.S. bank, payable in U.S. funds.)

Subscription service: RO. form 3579 and all subscription correspondence should be addressed to Cycle World, P.O. Box 51222, Boulder, CO 80321-1222. Please allow six to eight weeks for a change of address to become effective. Include both your old and new address, and if possible, a mailing label from a recent issue. For faster service, call 303/604-1464 or fax 303/ 604-7455.

Back issues are available for $5.95 each ($7.25 Canada; $12.25 other foreign) in U.S. funds. Please add $2.00 for the Buyer’s Guide. Send a check or money order to: ISI¡Cycle World, 30 Montgomery Street, Jersey City, NJ 07302, or call (201) 451-9420. Advertising: See SRDS. Circulation auditing by Audit Bureau of Circulation.

A small error: 1955 was not the first KR win at Daytona. Paul Goldsmith, now living in Munster, Indiana, obtained one of the first production KRs and used it to win the 1953 Daytona 200-miler. But 1955 was the first of Brad Andres’ three wins at Daytona.

John Mishanec Schenectady, New York

Four fathers

Nice piece, David Edwards’ “FourRunners,” in the August CW, but in the interest of historical accuracy, the first inline, four-cylinder engine for motorcycles was built in 1903 by Charles Binks of Nottingham, England; it displaced (probably) 385cc, and could be mounted longitudinally or transversely, depending on the rider’s druthers. Clement Salvadori Atascadero, California

The key phrase, Clem, was “world ’s first production Four,’’ which, as reported, was Belgium ’s FN.

Re: “Four-Runners,” August, 1997. I realize this was meant as a thumbnail sketch, but when you make absolute statements, you ask for it from nitpickers like me. You wrote, “Gone with the Windhoff, it would be 51 years and the BMW K100 before Germany once again had a four-cylinder streetbike in production-well, except for crazy old Friedl Munch and his handful of car-motored mammoths.”

Not only do you give short shrift to Munch, who by 1979 had made 478 motorcycles, but Zundapp made a 797cc sidevalve opposed-Four from 1933 through at least 1936.

Yours in obsolescence.

David Roper

Team Obsolete Brooklyn, New York

In regard to your “Four-Runners” article: Right on! I recently renewed my subscription to you guys, and I’m so glad I did. My dad and I would talk for hours about his days riding an Ace Indian Four and his numerous Hendersons. My ol’ man gave me the love for motorcycles-he’s gone now, but thanks for bringing all those great memories of conversations with him back.

Rick Gervais Brooklyn, Connecticut

Good thing he didn’t ride a 797cc Zundapp sidevalve opposed-Four... □