Hotshots

HOTSHOTS

Have a Blast!

Three cheers to Buell/Harley-Davidson for the Blast, aimed at attracting new participants to motorcycling. Auspicious—if not long-overdue-timing, considering that H-D’s bread-and-butter clientele consists mainly of fortysomething guys like me who aren’t getting any younger.

As far as I can see from your (excellent) articles about the new model, Harley made only one mistake, and that was the name. “Blast” is pretty lame-sounds like some new flavor of wine cooler or frozen dessert. Such a delightful and potentially significant little machine deserves better, preferably some moniker with ties to H-D heritage (taking pride in its heritage is something I have to emphasize to Harley-Davidson?). The Motor Company offered a single-cylinder “Baby Sportster” once before, and notwithstanding the derisive howls from VTwin purists coupled with H-D’s poor job of marketing it, the Aerma-

cchi/Harley-Davidson Sprint was a great little motorcycle, as well as (depending on the model and fuel tank) strikingly good-looking. Why not carry on its name in a new Harley-Davidson “Sprint 500?”

Philip Thompson Vienna, Virginia

I am giving the Buell Blast some serious thought: I like the appearance, but I do think that Buell should have thought the program through just a little further. I truly believe that the starting price should have been $3795. Make a little less profit per motorcycle, but flood the market with satisfied customers. I also believe the same model with true twoup suspension and 750cc would better satisfy the market everyone forgets-namely, people like me, who do not have the finances for a $12,000 rig, and really do not have a quest for all the flash and speed that is now offered. Charles M. Cline Klamath Falls, Oregon

I’m pleased to see Harley getting into the entry level with the Buell Blast. I think the engine looks just great, and I love the concept of this bike being pass-along durable.

Amauta Sivam

Seattle, Washington

Harley-Davidson and Erik Buell are going to find out real quick that their $4395-plus-tax-title-and-license Blast equals a $5000 novelty whose appeal will wear off quickly. Nobody’s going to pay $5K for a training vehicle with 26 horsepower and a 16-second quarter mile-a VW Beetle (the old one) could outrun it.

David Gault Orlando, Florida

Welcome Buell Blast! We need more Singles on the road. Life is short, come Thump with us. Dave Gordon Four-Stroke Singles R0. Box 1804 Hutchinson, Kansas

With a counterbalancer and a 5to 7-gallon gas tank, it would indeed be a “blast.” Without a balance shaft, though, it will be a “dud.”

J. Stouffon

Chambonsburg, Pennsylvania

I read your articles on the new Buell Blast twice. This may be the most important bike of 2000. Sharp-looking, easy to ride, $4395 and made in America. Buell is serious about getting new riders through dealers’ doors. If HarleyDavidson/Buell dealers and oldtime riders will welcome the folks the Blast will attract, Buell could build a brand-loyal customer base for the (sportbike?) future.

Does this mean Harley riders will have to wave at passing 492cc Singles?

Brian Baskin Brookhaven, Mississippi

Reality bites

Regarding the “Get Real” letter in your March, 2000, issue, complaining about the high cost of bikes, the writer would benefit from a dose of reality himself. Look at what you can buy today for not much money. How about a Honda CB750 for $5800, or maybe a Kawasaki ZR-7 for $100 less, a Ninja 500R for $5000, a Vulcan 500 for $4600? An MZ Skorpion Tour can be had for $5000! Or, best of all, how about a Suzuki SV650 for $5800?

Used examples of these and other models cost much less. All are highly capable for a variety of riding styles and should bring lots of grins.

Jim Avery Wake Forest, North Carolina

How 'bout a Buell Blast for $4395?

Bad ad

Cobra’s full-page ad in the March, 2000, issue shows a picture of the aftermath of the San Francisco earth-

quake where a double-decker freeway collapsed and many people lost their lives, then asks, “Was it the pipes?” What were Cobra’s ad people thinking?! What market were they after?

I am a firefighter/paramedic, and I have seen this devastation firsthand. I find the fact that a company would exploit a picture of death and destruction to sell motorcycle parts very offending, insensitive and cold-hearted.

Dennis Barnett Miami, Florida >

Club Titanic...we can’t sink any lower than this. That Cobra ad was beyond bad taste. Brian Murphy

Walnut Creek, California

In retrospect, the folks at Cobra agree. “Regrettably, we did not connect what was thought to be a generic earthquake-damage photo with the terrible tragedy in San Francisco,” said company president Tim McCool. “We have

permanently removed the ad from circulation and apologize for any discomfort we may have caused.”

Repli-Brit hit

Deeply appreciate your test of the Kawasaki W650. I bought one. Not many to be had. Dealers get only one or two. Thanks for giving this bike the exposure. Well done.

Bill L. Boggs Posted on America Online

Your Kawasaki W650 photos lacked only a few items: 1) a Craven luggage rack; 2) a pair of black Craven Comet panniers (saddlebags in Yank-speak); 3) a Stadium windshield (or, for rich enthusiasts, an Avon fairing); 4) chrome crashbars front and rear; 5) Mudflaps bearing the manufacturer’s motif; 6) perhaps plastic handlebar-end tassels.

Then, and only then, can you go on the Mojacar Rally, the Highland Holiday or ride to the Dragon Rally in Wales in winter. (Required clothing: Barbour waxed-cotton jacket and trousers over Lewis Leathers).

God bless you, Kawasaki.

RJ. Francis Machesney Park, Illinois

101 and counting

Here are a few additions to David Edwards’ March Up Front, “lOl Things To Do Before You Die” column: 1. Instead of the garage, make love on your motorcycle underneath the overpass of the eastbound lane of 1-80 in the Pequop Mountains of Nevada, in broad daylight. 2. Make sure that both feet of the centerstand are on the pavement. 3. Never refer to any brand of motorcycle as a “scooter.” 4. Don’t bother with Route 66, it’s gone; substitute US 50 between Carson City and Ely, Nevada. 5. Learn how to set the gap properly on all three sets of ignition points of a 1975 Triumph Trident without a feeler gauge. 6. Never try to bumpstart a motorcycle with a dead battery by pulling it with a rope wrapped around the handlebar,

then through the rear window and around the rollbar of a Saab Sonett with your buddy driving. 7. Never do an 800-mile day in the rain while wearing a K-Mart rainsuit because you’re too cheap to mail-order a Dry-Rider. 8. Don’t ask your exwife’s lawyer if his new Fat Boy is leaking oil or just marking its territory. 9. Never trust a motorcycle magazine editor who leaves riding a late-model Moto Guzzi VI1 or classic Vincent Black Shadow off his list of 101 things to do before he dies.

Theron Van Hooser Salt Lake City, Utah

This column was written irresponsibly for one reason only, suggestion No. 1: “Go for a long ride without a helmet.” If you decide to try this, you may not be around to try the next 100 things on the list. J. R. Miller

Naugatuck, Connecticut

Actually, No. 49 has the most potential for risk (see below).

In regards to Edwards’ No. 49, “Have sex with Leeann Tweeden,” I have two additions: No. 102. Wear mouth protector the next time you meet (boyfriend) Ben Bostrom. No. 103. Have dentist’s phone number handy after meeting Ben Bostrom.

Bob ’’Lefty” Nevóla Upper Nyack, New York

Sex for safe?

I would like to cancel my subscription to Cycle World and have the cost of the remaining six months refunded to me. My wife and I are offended by the increased amount of sexually provocative pictures contained in your advertisements and articles. As a long-time subscriber to CW (15 years), I regret the direction that you have taken this once fine magazine.

I am going to have to choose another publication that is staying more with a family focus, rather than one which promotes the saying, “sex sells.” I wish that you would let your writers’ abilities carry the magazine. If you decide to change your policy, please let me know. Otherwise, my money will be spent with your competition. Mark Tidwell

Fort Mill, South Carolina

Yours and Ben Bostrom ’s... □