Letters

LETTERS

Kickin' and screamin'

Peter Egan’s column, “The nearly lost art of the kickstart,” (Leanings, December) couldn’t have come at a more opportune time for me. This past Sunday, the battery on my ’97 Suzuki TL1000S suddenly gave up the ghost. Not more than 15 feet away, my friend Kenny’s Vincent Rapide sat with this beautiful kickstarter lever. If there were only some way I could graft it onto my Suzuki. Why not, they’re both 1000cc V-Twins? The solution: Bump-start it, another lost art! With retro being so hot these days, bringing back kickstarters might be the next thing. John P. McKenna Lake Grove, New York

Peter Egan’s column not only made me laugh out loud, but also made me proud to own classic motorcycles. Each bike has its own personality and each has caught me in full riding gear KICKING, KICKING and KICKING more than once. But I bet Peter will agree that upon start-up, the ride seems a little more rewarding and definitely well-earned. William McAlpine Ottawa, Illinois

Peter, what were you thinking? It’s almost a guaranteed jinx to put on your riding gear before starting a vintage Britbike. Dr. Greg Tickle Narberth, Pennsylvania

W650 wonderlust

What with nostalgia/retro bike design at a fever pac Q-i.e. the soon-to-be-released Yamaha Venture (looking very Harley Electra Glide-ish), the Suzuki GZ250, the Kawasaki Drifter, the Yamaha Road Star, the entire Harley-Davidson lineup, the Polaris Victory, the rumored Triumph Bonneville, just to name a few-I think Kawasaki will be

making a big mistake by not offering the new W650 retro-Twin (Roundup, December) for sale in North America. Give me a parallel-Twin with Japanese quality control and I’m your man. (I’ll look at the new Bonneville, should it ever be built.) So, Kawasaki, why not test the market stateside? This is the first Kawasaki I’ve been excited about since I was 17 years old. It even has a kickstarter for Peter Egan! Joseph Kiess Indianapolis, Indiana

Kawasaki’s W650, with four-valve cylinder heads and ohc is every bit as good as the long-running Yamaha XS650 Twin and better than any of the British bikes of the era. Would the W650 find a market in the U.S.? The Yamaha 650 Society has nearly 3000 members here, and that bike has been out of production since 1983. Could Cycle World at least test one to determine the level of interest? Bill Boggs Oceanside, California

As a member of the Yamaha 650 Society, U.S. Norton Owners Associa-

tion and a life member of the Triumph International Owners Club, I am inviting all lovers of vertical-Twins to involve themselves in a letter-writing campaign to ask Kawasaki to import the W650 as seen in the December issue of Cycle World. The address is: Kawasaki Motors Corp., USA 9950 Jeronimo Road Irvine, CA 92618 (Phone: 949/770-0400) Steve Fillweber Maple Shade, New Jersey

Benchmark bikes

While Honda continues to produce refined yet uninspiring sportbikes (the F4 might be all-new, but it looks allold), Suzuki goes with the round, ugly look (GSX-R600, 750, new 1300, TL1000R) and Kawasaki can’t produce anything attractive or leading edge (the ZX-9R ain’t it), two companies are standing the motorcycle world on its ear: Yamaha and Ducati. Yamaha has stepped up to the plate with the YZF-R1 and R6, while everyone else just sits in the dugout, watching. Their vision sets them apart. Ducati’s 916 will go down in history as a benchmark that’s changed motorcycle design forever. The 900SS, including the new one, will always be a classic, and thus sought after. No boring design-by-committee stuff here. You know a motorcycle has something going for it when it’s not discounted at the dealer and everyone wants one. Shopped for an R1 or 916 lately? There are many competent bikes out there, but the list of those that will take a place in history is darn short. Paul Haynes Sandy, Oregon

And nary a kickstart lever between ’em! What gives?

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Mean trailer queens

Exactly two years ago, I bought a Harley-Davidson. Since then, I have been to all three of the big rallies: Sturgis, Daytona and Laconia. I’ve always enjoyed these events as a spectator, but have never really found any common ground with the mainstream participants. As a friend of mine observed, “Grown men and women who spend ungodly amounts of money on Harley-Davidson motorcycles, clothes, T-shirts, preripped pants, chaps, extremely loud pipes, tattoos, etc. and proceed to tow their bikes to these events have absolutely nothing to do with motorcycling and everything to do with Halloween.”

He may be right. I enjoy riding the bike, not polishing it like a Fabergé egg. It seems that maybe these folks should be sold dummy-Harleys that have a really loud V-Twin soundtrack and an electric motor that will do 50 or 100 miles, the average distance ridden during an event. This way, the people who really ride Harleys won’t have to wait in line for one. Joseph Brennan Plymouth, Massachusetts

Thrilla in Unadilla

Nice piece on Unadilla (“Roots,” CW, November). I was there on the day of Unadilla’s birth. There were three individuals responsible: Ward Robinson, the man with the dream; Mick Andrews, who was smooth and fast on an MX bike; and, in the forefront of American motocross, Barry Higgins.

If memory serves, that Fall day was gray and cold. Higgins and Andrews spent hours trying to out-ride each other on the lush grass and moist, rock-filled soil of New Berlin, New York. They carved out a serpentine racing line on a course that would become, in my opinion, America’s greatest natural motocross facility.

It’s a testament to the hard work of Ward Robinson and his family that his dream of a world-class motocross course continues to create memories in the minds and hearts of so many fans and riders who have lined the course or raced there. Gary Van Voorhis Daytona Beach, FL

Six strokes of confusion

I was impressed by the Roundup item, “Six Strokes of Genius,” and by Kevin Cameron’s comments on the subject in TDC (CW, December, 1998). I do, however, feel compelled to add my two cents to the discussion.

During my 10-year career in the United States Navy, where I received a degree in Marine Propulsion Engineering, I studied, repaired, ran and observed in daily operation the Fairbanks-Morse opposed-piston diesel engine. The only real difference in operating principles between Malcolm Beare’s “six-stroke” engine and the Fairbanks-Morse-aside from the fact that one is Otto and the other is diesel-is that the Fairbanks uses a vertical shaft employing bevel-driven gears to connect the two crankshafts (one on top, one on bottom), two equal-sized pistons per cylinder and 12 cylinders!

There are a few other engines that come to mind which use the same principle (i.e. the “Napier Deltic”) and a whole slew of what’s known as “free-piston” engines. Not to mention, there is a waste-oil-burning pile-driver that operates on this principle.

The only thing I’m confused with is calling Beare’s engine a “six-stroke,” whereas the aforementioned engines are all two-strokes. Ben Fye Shenandoah, VA

On the verge of Victory

I’m a bit dismayed you didn’t challenge any of the points reader Michael Weston tried to make regarding the Victory V92C (CW, November). He claims Cycle World was “somewhat premature” in naming the Victory as Best Cruiser of 1998. Polaris told the country that bikes would be for sale in the spring of ’98. How could CW know they wouldn’t keep their word?

Weston (a former Victory technician) then claims that the bikes made at least 75 horsepower before being strangled by the EPA. Polaris never heard of the EPA before they built this bike?! Sorry, Mr. Weston, but that is a lousy excuse.

I love the bike’s looks. When I saw it at the St. Fouis Motorcycle Show last year I knew I had to have one. I put down a deposit in April and waited, bikeless, all year. If someone at Victory would have had the courtesy to say, “We’re sorry for the delay,” I might have hung in there. But they just left customers and dealers hanging. Before they can fix their bikes, they better fix their attitudes. All they’ve done is snatch defeat from the jaws of Victory. Stephen Santa Ana Madison, Mississippi

According to Matt Parks of Victory Motorcycles, production of the V92C commenced last July, with approximately 1000 examples having been built to date, and total production for calendar year 1998 expected to reach 1500 units. Unfortunately, there were some delays caused by quality-control problems with a few vendor-supplied components, which resulted in the voluntary recall of approximately 60 machines to replace leaky fuel-tank gaskets and upgrade the taillight-vibration dampers. California models also were held up by that state ’s stringent emissions testing. But as Parks says, “We're reasonably happy. The most important thing the public should know is that we ’ve made a commitment not to produce crap.”