Hotshots
HOTSHOTS
Roy’s toys
Your article about Roy Rogers in the July issue brought back fond memories. Back in 1958, I think, when I was 12, Joe Leonard and Roy Rogers were at the Wisconsin State Fair. Leonard was racing and Roy rode a bike around the track during intermission. What a thrill!
Motorcycles continue to excite me, just as they did then. That is why I continue to ride, for the thrills and memories. Happy trails, Roy.
Mike Cook Blacksburg, California
Roy Rogers was a perfect hero. He seemed to understand and respect his role in the lives of children, particularly boys whose fathers were fighting in World War II, as was mine. His son Dusty is quoted in your article to that effect. But what made his father even more sensitive was recognizing his continuing role for those of us whose fathers didn’t return. He carried that responsibility with quiet humility and poise, love and humor all through his life, and he never let us down, not once.
Thanks for letting us in on his love of motorcycles. Until we meet again, compadre. Peter J. Merkel Encino, California
Wendy Black’s article on Roy Rogers was super! I just wish he was here to have seen it. I’m sure it would have been special to him. Rick Hahn Charlotte, North Carolina
I loved your article on Roy Roger’s fondness for two-wheeled wonders. I would add one thought: Under the caption, “Roy’s first ride was a 1922 Harley, which he rode ’til the cows came home.” Those cows weren’t from Wisconsin; they were from the Springfield, Massachusetts, dairy. Great article, though. Richard Ostrander Sacramento, California
The “1922 Harley” pictured with Roy Rogers astride looks more like an Indian of about the same vintage, betrayed by the leaf spring and leading link suspension of the front wheel. Robert Klein Menasha, Wisconsin
Car and Whiner
Ah, the sweet irony of it all! In his April column for Car and Driver magazine, Patrick Bedard decries motorcycle noise, yet further on in the very same issue, page 64 to be exact, in the Mustang Cobra test, I quote, “Keep the Ford mill in its sweet band, and you’re rewarded
with...one of the least inhibited exhaust notes in the business.”
So, is it okay for a car to have a sweet exhaust note and not a bike, Harley or otherwise? Come on. Car guys are motorheads as are bikers, and we all respond to the sound of a well-tuned, powerful engine.
Furthermore, have you ever pulled up next to any diesel pickup? I’ve literally had them drown out my Harley. That coffee-can-full-of-rocks racket is offensive, yet I don’t hear Bedard railing against it. Kent Cheme Lakewood, Colorado
Real gone guru
Thanks for elevating me to the level of “guru.” This status was conferred upon me in the June, 1999, issue of your magazine in a story about the Excelsior-Henderson Super X. Before your comments were published, I was a mere consultant. Also this month, the trade magazine Motorcycle Industry called me an “icon.” Wow! Talk about getting a swelled head.
Now that I’m an “official” guru and icon, can I charge more for my consulting services? Or does this mean I’m a religious figure and must swear a vow to poverty? Will my writing improve? Will I be able to take corners faster on my new Buell? Will a prestigious magazine (like Cycle World) want to interview me?
As a guru, I must answer my own questions. The answers are: No, no, no, no and, finally, no. John Wyckoff JW Consulting Service Corrales, New Mexico
Kawa-Bonnie?
What is it going to take to get Kawasaki to import the W650 retro-Twin? Judging by the letters sent, there’s obviously interest. Even if no one but crusty old baby boomers (not 26year-old kids like myself) buy them, the market is vast and rich and buying bikes like never before.
I’ve never seen a company with potential customers begging for a product ignore the market and make assumptions like, “The Drifter and W650 are in the same market, and if the Drifter succeeds we’ll consider the W.” What? A 700-pound pseudo ’48 Indian is in the same niche as a 450pound pseudo ’68 Triumph? This logic totally evades me. Jon Lind Posted on American Online
Kawasaki ’s reluctance to bring in the W650 may be a direct result of Triumph developing its own retro-Twin. What would you rather have, a KawaBonneville or a real (okay, redone) Triumph Bonneville?
Rejection slip
I must write to voice my disappointment with your “Triple Baggers” story in the June issue. Cycle World has always been known for objective road tests under fair and consistent rules. However, allowing Harley-Davidson to submit a non-stock bike for testing against a stock Yamaha Venture and Honda Valkyrie Interstate is hardly fair. It also sets an undesirable president (sic). How are we, the readers, to know when manufacturers are being honest about what is tested and what is sold? I’ve always trusted CW to keep the playing field level in this regard.
The Harley should have been rejected and I feel you owe your loyal readers an apology for this lapse in objectivity.
Steve Raymond Mankato, Minnesota
Stevarino, take some deep breaths before you blow a gasket, son! First off, we invited Harley to submit its 1550cc Electra Glide for the comparison under the reasoning that the factory big-bore kit is readily available and doesn 't void the warranty when dealerinstalled, all of which is detailed in the test. And in case you didn't notice, the Yamaha won the comparison! (By the way, our pick for a really undesirable president would be Grover Cleveland.)
Razzle-dazzle
Regarding Scott Russell’s bar fight in Daytona Beach: I thought that guys on Harleys never got beat up.
Kenny Rosen
Tarzana, California
Tha's what friends are for
Tell Mark Norris (“Monster Gone Bad,” CW, July) to ship that Ducati out here to Wisconsin if he needs someone to wear the nubs off the tires.
Authur L Ranney Platteville, Wisconsin
On the Fritz
It sounds as though quite a few of you may be prospective BMW “Oilheads.” I particularly enjoyed your recent “LongTerm Wrap-Up” on the R1100S. You guys really liked it!
I also enjoyed the excellent article by Peter Egan on the 1923 R32. The photos by Brian Blades that accompanied the article were truly superb-some of the best you’ve ever had. I was somewhat surprised, however, to see the name of designer Max Friz consistently spelled “Fritz.” Is that an alternate spelling of his name? Just wondering.
Steve Coburn Charlottesville, Virginia
It is now.
What’s that smell?
I recently finished reading the July issue, which was good as always.
Near the end of Editor Edwards’ editorial, though, appeared the words “no-bullsh_t guy.” I run a construction crew and probably use that word everyday in the work atmosphere. I never use it at home. I’m sure you think I’m being a hypocrite, yet you need to reflect on many things going on in our country today: President Clinton’s exploits, the school shootings, etc., are the results of the erosion of standards.
There was a time when your magazine would not have used this word in print. Cycle World is a class act, done by classy people who care about motorcycles and our country. Please don’t let CW start down the “slippery slope” of “anything goes.”
Greg Grace
Kalispelt, Montana
We apologize, Greg, for the following tasteless letter.
What about Bob?
Please tell ol’ “Gooey” of Mountain View, California, (“Hotshots,” July) that I’m sorry his girlfriend has been watching too much Ken Starr. However, he can still redeem himself if he will explain to her that (unfortunately for all of us) what she refers to as a “bob-job” is now simply a “Bill.”
Ron Flory Elgin, Texas >
Rockin’ Rokon
It was great to finally see a Rokon test in Cycle World. Perhaps this will help to change the typical response of “What’s a Rokon?” when I inform someone that I own three. Mine are the twostroke variety, known as the Trail-Breaker (1972, ’73 and ’96 models). Twostroke or four-stroke, old or new, the family resemblance is very strong, as is the bike’s ability to turn heads.
Your article did not say much about the colorful history of this unique machine. The original inventor was a Charles Fehn, an interesting character who once owned the largest turkey ranch in Southern California, an airport and a gold mine. He also invented other items such as the Pistolite Cylinder (a sort of predecessor to today’s laser sight for guns). Fehn is named as the sole inventor on the patent for his unique motorcycle (U.S. Patent 3,268,025: “Motorcycle Having Two Driven Wheels”). It was first produced by
Nethercutt Industrial Corp. and later by Rokon.
An up-to-date history, as well as tons of useful information, is provided by Bob Gallagher on the web at www.rokonworld.com. Robert Galbraith Rochester, Minnesota
As a longtime Rokon fan and general survival/Y2K/disaster du jour paranoid, I just can’t tell you what a treat it was to see a Rokon Ranger gracing the pages of your July issue. And what art direction! The low-rent Mossberg 180-series bolt-action 20-gauge
shotgun, the disregard for fashion (mixing three camouflage patterns). Such attention to post-apocalyptic detail is what ensures that, like the Rokon, Cycle World shall survive long after its competition succumbs. All of us waiting for the collapse of society with a Remington shotgun and an old Honda XL in the garage salute you! Mark Lindemann Heart of Darkness, California
You failed to mention what great wheelies the Rokon Ranger can do. What kind of an example are you setting?
The Lone Ranger
Richland Center, Wisconsin
Hey, what do we know? We had your good pal Roy Rogers riding a Harley and not an Indian (apologies to Tonto). □
