Hotshots

HOTSHOTS

Mucho Max

I hope Yamaha has seen your “Max Factor” article on custom V-Maxes. These machines are incredibly delicious! I actually drooled on the pages. What Yamaha should do next concerning the current Power Cruiser Wars is so obvious it isn’t even funny. Listen up, Yamaha: Build a new V-Max that is somewhere between these customs and the original. Make it 100 pounds lighter, give it 30 more horse-power. Do this and watch them disappear off showroom floors as quickly as they are wheeled out! Scott Nye Casper, Wyoming

Just wanted to let y’all know that I thoroughly enjoyed the piece on the Euro V-Maxes. The creativity, artistry, engineering and sheer imagination on every bike just rocks. More please.

Jay Blackburn Santa Rosa, California

I would love as much information as possible about Didier Vemiere’s fantastic supercharged V-Max. I have been dreaming of this exact build-up!

Tom Hewlett

Rochester, New York

I loved “Max Factor” in the January issue! All I can say is Wow, More and Where? Wow, I can’t stop staring at the outrageous Cannes Moto Service nitrous-injected Max. Its photo now hangs in the garage above my own 1988 V-Max.

More, in that I’d like to see more articles on hot-rod motorcycles in CW. Other magazines do nothing but modified Harleys.

Where, as in where can I get more information on Euro aftermarket companies specializing in the mighty Max? Any contact information would be appreciated. Chris Norton

Oakland Township, Michigan

Virginia-based Eurobikes deals mainly in European-sourced aftermarket equipment for sportbikes, but has imported V-Max parts in the past and would do so again if the interest were high enough. Contact them at 703/2579500; www. eurobikes, com.

The Parkhurst Legacy

I am always pleased to see Joe Parkhurst remembered in the pages of the magazine he founded some 40 years ago. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Parkhurst one sunny day at Riverside Raceway in the ’60s. I was an awestruck high-schooler at the time. Cycle World has been the one magazine I’ve read since Vol. L, No.l in January, 1962.1 still have every issue, and until the day I stop enjoying motorcycles (an unlikely prospect), I will always enjoy the magazine. I ride on-road, off-road, and I own and operate a regional roadracing team in the Pacific Northwest. Cycle World indeed docs cover it all, right down to the classic old bikes I remember as new.

Congratulations on your 40th birthday, Cycle World. I believe Mr. Parkhurst is watching, and he is proud. Ben Schenk Sumner, Washington

Surly, those cadavers

In his January “Road Warrior” riding impression, Mark Hoyer describes Yamaha’s traditional cruiser buyers as “older guys” or, worse, “cadavers” and

“unfortunate souls...ever marching toward the Great Choir.” Hoyer’s job should be to introduce new motorcycles to the market, not insult the buyers who have supported the industry for many, many years.

Cancel my subscription. I’ll read your magazine again when Hoyer’s name is removed from the editorial roster. Joe Bairian

Newport Beach, California

Real hard to please everyone, isn’t it? You guys are doing real good. Real good. Every issue is a treat.

Steve E. Snoen Surrey, British Columbia, Canada

Not down at the morgue, apparently.

Attaboy Ago!

Just a quick note to let you know how much I enjoyed Brian Catterson’s “An American ‘Ago’ in Tuscany” in the October, 2001, issue. The story reminded me so much of the excursions we used

to take when I worked at the Aermacchi factory in Varese, Italy, in the mid-1970s.

Rex Marsee Marsee Products Murrieta, California

With great nostalgia I read “An American ‘Ago’...” I’m enclosing a photo of my own 1959 MV Agusta 125 and my highschool sweetheart, whom I later married and had two kids with. We emigrated to the U.S. like a million and a half other Cubans when communism took over our lovely island. By the way, my MV was as unreliable as Brian’s. Juan J. Lleonart

Miami, Florida

Quadrophenia

Jimmy Lewis’ comparison test of the four-stroke motocrossers (“Main Event,” CW, January) was fantastic! I have never read anything like it in my 37 years of dirtbiking. The article had more relevant information and was more enjoyable to read than anything printed in the dirtonly magazines. I was so pumped I had to write and say keep up the good work.

Roy Asaro Oceanside, California

The Strange Case of the Missing FJR1300

What has the management at Yamaha been smoking? How can they possibly think the sport-touring market in the U.S. won’t support the FJR 1300? The FJR is the perfect combination of performance and tourability; ifYamaha brings it in, it’s sure to be a hit. I’m ready to buy one as soon as they are available-unless, of course, I get tired of waiting and purchase a new Honda ST1300 instead...

Dean Wahls Venice, California

I have a ’98 V-Max for cruising and an ’82 Kawasaki KZ1000 with windshield and bags for going places. I’d trade them both for one of those FJRs. Jim Reed Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Thanks for the sport-touring article on the Yamaha FJR 1300 (“Trial by Alps,” CW, December, 2001). Sounds like a bike many of us here in the USA would love to own. It may not be perfect-the low-speed fuel-injection may stumble (which should be easy to cure), and the windscreen may not be effective for everyone-but what bike is perfect for everyone? C’mon Yamaha, bring it to us!

Rick Schroeder

Neenah, Wisconsin

Mark Hoyer’s Alps story on the FJR 1300 was great. Not bringing the bike to the US. in 2002 makes no sense. Why would the second largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world not bring the best sporttourer in the world to the richest country in the world, especially when much smaller manufacturers are having few problems selling similar bikes in the U.S.? My assessment is that the FJR is coming here as a 2003 model, maybe as an early release. My deposit is in my dealer’s hands. I will wait. Thanks again for the article, and if you ever need a sportbike-riding preacher to give an honest riding impression, give me a ring! Pastor Carlton McLeod Chesapeake, Virginia

Well, you’ve gone and tested the Yamaha FJR 1300 Unobtanium Model SportTourer. Is there any word from Yamaha if it will make this available to U.S. riders as a mid-year (early 2003) model, or should I go buy a Triumph ST? Dave Bardell

Millerstown, Pennsylvania

Kawasaki ZZ-R1200? Honda ST 1300? Hmmm, my beautiful FJR, I am still waiting for you, but not for too long! If you don’t want to be a part of my life, I am going have to settle for one of your girlfriends. Antonis Deves

Albuquerque, New Mexico

I am one of the many people who have been buggin’ the hell out of Yamaha about releasing this machine in the U.S. They tell me they feel the sport-touring market is “soft” here in the States. How come Honda, Kawasaki, BMW, Triumph, Aprilia and Ducati don’t have a problem with the market? Larry Dunn

Palmdale, California >

Man, you guys are really starting to tick me off! What’s next, you gonna blackmarket an FJR1300, ride it to Nashville, pick up my girlfriend, take her on a weeklong sport-tour of my favorite roads in the Smokies, then do a few laps around my block just to rub it in? Then you’ll write a nice long article with plenty of pictures telling me how great it was!

Seriously, keep up the good work, guys, I’ll never cancel my subscription.

Steve LePard

Nashville, Tennessee

Dissention in the ranks

Having read your latest article on the much-talked-about and still unobtainable Yamaha FJR1300, I am compelled to ask, why do we want this?

Yamaha already has, by all accounts, an excellent platform for sport-touring for sale in this country: the FZ1. Fit a taller windscreen and a tailsection rigged for detachable bags, and Yamaha would have a bike more versatile and thousands of dollars cheaper than the autobahn bomber the FJR1300 was built to be.

To hell with the FJR1300! Please, Yamaha, bring on the FZ1/ST.

Tom Boese Little Canada, Minnesota

Stop & Going, Going...

Your CW Evaluation of the Stop & Go Tire Plugger really made me wonder. The best advice anyone could give is to never ride on anything but an excellent tire, and never, ever plug a tire even for a short distance since you don’t know how damaged the tire is internally. And if you want to risk your life, it should only be to the nearest phone to call for help. But your tester went on from there, doubling the recommended distance limit, at highway speeds no less!

This type of testing should be done by a machine in a lab, don’t you think? Maybe next month you can test bulletproof vests to see if their ratings can be exceeded. Steve Miller

Hilliard, Ohio

What are you, a liability lawyer in training? Don V know where you ride, Steve, but some of the places we go can be hundreds of miles from any kind of civilization, let alone an open bike shop well stocked with all manner of replacement tires. Taking your advice, it could be days before you 're back on the road, and that’s if the buzzards don't get you first. Given that it s a simple puncture, we ’ll

plug it and keep on moving. You, of course, are free to sit by the side of the road and pray for cell-phone coverage.

Your evaluation reminded me the threaded tip on my six-year-old Stop & Go tire-repair kit broke off about a year ago. I called the company to see if a new tip could be sent. Turns out the threads had been changed, so Stop & Go sent me a brand-new model free of charge. This quality of customer service needs to be passed along. Robert Romeyn

San Rafael, California

Holy error

Enjoyed Peter Egan’s December column, “Canadian Ducks,” about the Ducati Owners Club Grattan Rally, but was a little confused toward the end. He seemed to have a great time, but then contradicted himself, and I quote: “Did we have a good time? Does the Pope live in the same country where Ducatis are made?” As a Ducati owner and a Catholic, I must remind Peter that the Pope lives in Vatican City, a country unto itself, and not the same country where Ducatis are made (Italy). Shawn Matthews

Matthews, North Carolina

Fun with Dick

Great article on Dick Klamfoth (“Of Windmill-Tilters & Milwaukee Vibrators,” CW, November, 2001). He truly represents a lost era of individualism and rebellious spirit. Many thanks to Joe Scalzo for reflecting on his career.

Rod Ice Painesville, Ohio

“Of Windmill-Tilters...” was a treat to read. Dick Klamfoth has become a great friend over the years; he rides my Norton at Laconia during the Legends Race. He will also be leading the dedication at the new Daytona Monument to be unveiled this March. The monument will be a fitting tribute to the Titters and Vibrators who are the heroes of the sport.

Carl Hokanson Acushnet, Massachusetts

Thanks for the great historical article on the classic flat-track battles between Harley-Davidson and everybody else. I was more than a little surprised, though, to learn that the Harley 750s enjoyed a “25 percent” displacement advantage over the Brit 500s. Uh, maybe 50 percent? C’mon guys, can’t you get Kevin to check the math? Dave Christ

Seattle, Washington