Hotshots

HOTSHOTS

Budbudbud

Great article on Bud Ekins in the September issue. I used to ride in the same races as Bud, but I never came close to him. One of my friends has a picture of him and me just after the bomb went off for a hare-n-hound. Bud is in gear and beginning to roll while I’m at the top of my kick—meaning he was probably a hundred yards ahead of me before I got into gear.

I hope Bud continues to enjoy his motorcycling life, as he seems to be doing. He was truly great. A great rider, a great person, and a role model and inspiration for all of us who were riding dirt at the time.

Richard Siegel Brookline, Massachusetts

To Mr. Scalzo: Enjoyed your wellresearched and well-written article, “Advantage Ekins,” in September issue. Thanks for writing same.

Wm. R Webb II. Altamonte Springs, Florida

Bravo for Joe Scalzo’s article on Bud Ekins. Ekins’ life story is worthy of a book, if not a movie. Ekins was a friend to so many European racers who ventured to the USA. His home was a virtual boarding house to the famous and infamous whose common bond was motorcycle racing. Without Bud and wife Betty’s generous hospitality, life would have been much more bleak for the likes of the Rickmans, Dave Bickers, Roger De-

Coster, Joel Robert and so many more. Thanks, Bud, for all you did.

I cannot think of anyone better than Joe Scalzo to write a book on the Ekins legacy. How about it, Joe?

Peter Starr Los Angeles, California

Great to see the article about Bud Ekins, my riding hero of the ’50s! As a student/part-time racer, also on a G80 Matchless, the best I could do was eat Bud’s dirt-when he was lapping me! There were a lot of great riders in those days of Big Bear, Catalina, Crater Camp, Girard, etc., but I never saw another who could manage 350 pounds of desert sled so fast over any course while making it look like a Sunday picnic ride.

Skip Hokanson Encino, California

I first saw Bud Ekins in a Minneapolis movie theater in 1963. Of course, we all thought we were watching Steve McQueen jump those fences in The Great Escape, but at the time what that piece of film really did was ignite my lifetime passion for bikes. From my first ’65 Honda Scrambler 250, through Triumphs, Nortons, Yamahas and Harleys...I still love something about every bike I’ve owned. I remember them all. Thanks, Bud, for getting me started. Fred Keller

Edina, Minnesota

Aging (g)racefully

I’ve followed Peter Egan’s love affair with Ducatis through the pages of your magazine. His recent 996 acquisition (“Slow seduction,” Leanings, September) prompted me to share a similar romance.

In the spring of 1985, I stood in a rest-stop parking lot in the Italian Alps and heard an approaching sound that would have warmed the blood of any motorhead. The sound grew until two Ducatis pulled in and stopped. I was hooked. I promised myself, “Someday, I will have one of those.” In 1994, I fulfilled that promise with a new 900SS. That bike had soul. It also had character-some things fell off.

Then the 916 arrived. It was to die for. Traded the 900SS and rode home on the most beautiful motorcycle ever created...and, for me, the most uncomfortable. Fortunately, a well-designed bar-riser kit became available. It worked

and didn’t look like a bad plumbing job.

I have 10,000 miles on the clock and my personal odometer just turned past 65. I don’t believe there are too many guys eligible for Medicare riding 916s. As the now-defunct Ducati International Owners Club News said, “Motorcycles transport the body... Ducatis transport the soul.”

Paul Schock Center Valley, Pennsylvania

I’ve tried for so long to be sensible about my bikes (I now ride a VFR), and I’ve always relied on Egan’s columns to remind me that my (aging) body can’t tolerate what my mind thinks it can. Now look what he’s done to me!

Dan Stargatt Wilmington, Delaware

Bulletproof

Mark Hoyer’s riding impression of the 1999 Enfield Bullet (“Bullet Slow,” CW, September) wasn’t bad, but as

your reigning Britbike-defending Editor-at-Large might point out, the cure to all of the initial imperfections lies in time, attention and the simple real-

The “sedated-sloth pace” of acceleration, the “high effort churning of gears,” and the “401K-like” braking are indeed accurate descriptions of a brand-new, zero-miles Enfield Bullet. However, things dramatically improve > during the course of the recommended 1200-mile break-in. Near the end of that period, acceleration is both crisp and rewarding; the gearbox is unrecognizably low-effort, and the doubleleading shoe front brake has bite. As for the vibration issue, I suggest checking the engine mounts as mine suffers no such problem. Yes, it leaks oil, it’s British! Yes, it must be kickstarted-I believe Mr. Egan thoroughly addressed that issue in his December ’98 column. In the end, the Bullet is what it is, a 1950s British Single, and must be appreciated from that perspective.

William J. Burmeister Pella, Iowa

Never thought I’d see an article done about the Enfield India in the United States, particularly in your magazine, which seems to be dedicated to the quest of some future mach number on two wheels. The article was done extremely well, and to the point.

Thirty-six years ago, as a college student in India, my main mode of transportation was my beloved Royal Enfield, as it was called then. Mine was the “English” version; it could outperform the domestically manufactured

models quite easily. Although no flying carpet, it would reach a top speed of about 80 mph. Try that dodging cows, dogs and people. All in all, it bloody well got you where you wanted to go. Slowly, but surely. Bill Burewal

Elmwood Park, New Jersey

As a proud owner of an Enfield Bullet, I can’t let your September mini-road test go without comment. I have ridden everything from a Sportster to a 500cc desert sled in over 35 years of motorcycling, and I find the Enfield a refreshing change from the overcomplex, oversanitized and overpriced bikes on most showroom floors. The Enfield reminds me of why I started riding in the first place. A motorcycle to me has always been a way of expressing my creative talents and my mechanical ability.

If you take the same bike you tested, rejet the carburetor, bolt on a shorty muffler, bob the rear fender, change the gearbox grease for 90-weight oil and spend a little time on the sidecases with Simichrome, you’ll have a very different bike than the one you tested.

Now, if I could only get the damn thing to stop! Rich Thomas

Eric, Pennsylvania

You malign the immortal 500 Bullet by crediting it with only 13 wheezing horses when it actually cranks out a rip-snorting 23 bhp.

Christopher G. Young Hong Kong, China

Sorry, Chris, but our dyno measures bhp at the rear wheel, not the advertising manager’s desk.

Meet my Evo twin

After reading David Edwards’ column, “No mo’ Evo,” in the October ’99 issue, and throwing up repeatedly,

I felt I just had to reply.

I own a 1986 FXR. I have had it for any years. To be honest, so far the motor has held up very well (I am knocking on wood as I write). The rest of the machine has caused a serious lovehate relationship. My wife refuses to go on long trips with it anymore. Overall, it does well as my commuter and “club” bike, and it gets me to Washington, D.C., every Memorial Day. Vladimir Sovich Goshen, New York

Happy to join David Edwards for a stroll down memory lane. You see, I too took a 1984 FXST for a test ride 15 years ago and have been riding it ever since.

Yes it vibrates, and I’m not going to sit here and say, “If it don’t vibrate, it ain’t a real Harley-Davidson.” My feeling is, if the new counterbalanced Twin Cam helps keep The Motor Company alive and kicking for another 100 years, then hip, hip, hooray for the new Softail.

Old Softails will never die, though, they’ll just keep vibrating on.

Bob Briggs Port Richey, Florida

Eight’s too much

Observations regarding the recent hype about the “new” Norton’s reappearance in the bike industry with a 240-mph V-Eight sportbike: Has everyone at Norton overlooked some basic rules? Going by my Dad’s philosophy (One cylinder, small problems; two cylinders, bigger problems... and so on), I believe that if Norton could reproduce the 500 Manx Single of the early ’50s with a few basic upgrades, it would capture market share, nostalgia being at a high right now.

Ewan Robertson

Brandon, Manitoba, Canada

Find the hidden “C”

Okay, now you’ve done it. Not only did you fail to print my outstanding letter describing my tour of the Triumph factory, but Editor Edwards went and misspelled Triumph’s hometown (it’s “Hinckley” not “Hinkley”), twice in as many months.

Of course, if you had printed my letter (with the correct spelling, mind you) all would have been forgiven.

Bob Morrow Centerville, Indiana

Edwards would like to point out that at least he ’s konsistent. □