Hotshots
HOTSHOTS
Beemer's screamer
With the new K1200S (CW, July) BMW has reached a new milestone in its 80-year history. I always thought the way to greater market share for BMW was not to be found in emulating Japan, but in looking to its own automotive division. Long ago, BMW decided to pull out all the stops and simply create some of the best cars in the world-in short, no-excuses manufacturing and no crybabies allowed. BMW Mottorrad now seems to finally be loosening their kidney belts, letting down their hair and grooving to an ever-popular world beat that was very foreign to them in the early '90s. Overall, the influence of style boss David Robb and his team has been very positive. The new K1200S and
R1200GS are the start of something really big at BMW. Beemers of the past had all the sex appeal of a scrag gy-looking college professor wearing a corduroy jacket with elbow patches and smoking a pipe. I am glad that BMW is finally tapping into some new sex appeal. The next few years prom ise to be truly exciting. `Bout time. Shahram Shiva New York, New York What's up with the BMW and the number 1200? First it was the R1200GS and now it's the KI200S. Both are def initely causing me big-time lust! Regarding the new K-bike: Fabulous article by Brian Catterson, great photos, and I'm going to
be knocking on my dealer’s front door from now until he finally gets one.
Michael McCowan
Dulles, Virginia
Wow! What a coup! Great story and great bike. Kudos! Roger W. Wiles Blairsville, Georgia
Good thing there's no BMW dealer in town, or come the fall I'd lose S20 grand I don’t have on a new K1200S. (Why isn't there a BMW dealer in town?)
Paul Muhi Santa Barbara, California
Enjoyed the exclusive on the new BMW. They should build a naked bike with that front end so the world could see its beauty. Hoyt Staat)
Seattle, Washington
I drooled as I read the article about the new K1200S. I was completely blown away by it! Alan Stanton
Iowa Falls, Iowa
Thanks a lot! After reading the newest CW, I now have a new reason not to go on vacation this year: the 2005 K1200S. Put me on the list for one (blue, please). Oh, and include the nav system and the bags. Danke, danke, danke.
Stefan Mannsbart
Suwanee, Georgia
Yo, BMW, good work! The K1200S has to be the baddest-looking ride since the Kawi Z-l. Now, about that selling price... Tom Lee
Locust Grove, Virginia
Beemer demeanors
This guy Edgar Heinrich who penned the K1200, does he have a pet dog by any chance? If so, I know some Ducati people that would love to take it out for a little walk! Okay, but seriously, you can tell him to put the headlight back in his Volvo 240.
Ted Lewandowski Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Enjoyed reading about the K1200S. The only bummer is that I could buy a Hay abusa and a ZX-12R for nearly the same money as one Beemer. The Germans are very proud of their products, I guess. Jason Greenfield
Smithville, Missouri
Not only does BMW design a bike that would have been cutting edge 10 years ago, but they have the cajones to ask $ 17 to $20 grand for it, and they want to be
competitive? Sorry BMW, but it seems every time you guys come up with a bike that I would really like to own, you price it out of my range. Meanwhile, I’ll wait for the nextgen 'Busa or CBR-XX, pay half as much and get just as nice a bike. Goes to show you that BMW will never be one of the Big Four.
Martin Tynan Cincinnati, Ohio
I find it very amusing that BMW, with great fanfare, will now produce the same transverse-four-cylinder engine that
both they and their loyal enthusiasts have spent the last 25 years making fun of. Frank Rico Seattle, Washington
Ten Best Bikes
I second CW's choice for Best Superbike. After 2000 kilometers and a little finetuning, 1 just love my Kawasaki ZX10R. It has its nervous moments, but other than that, it’s one fast little partner. Hats off to Kawasaki for a long-awaited return to the top. Steven Whitehouse Guesnel, Canada
As a 20-plus-year BMW rider, I’m happy to see both the R1200GS and K1200LT models included in your Ten Best Bikes of 2004. However, I think the cost of maintaining an LT is a serious detriment to owning one. A major service (every 12,000 miles) costs almost $1000 at my local dealer, and that only covers the standard parts, not extras like tires, brake pads and such. A damn car doesn’t cost that much! I’m gonna stay with my ’94 RI 100RS with 82K miles and save a few bucks. Perhaps if all you moto-scribes had to pay for your own bike maintenance, you’d consider this when selecting the winners.
Hans Amador Santa Rosa, California
I am the sales manager at Victorville Harley-Davidson, but 1 own two Ducatis and two Moto Guzzis. I love all bikes,
but the Rune as Best Cruiser? Did you check with Honda dealers on how well the Rune is selling? Have you looked on eBay and cycletrader.com to see all the Runes going nowhere? What favor do you owe Honda?
Look, I hope you enjoyed your Ten Best dinner and drank to your hearts’ content, but something like this makes you all look foolish! Might as well create a new category called “Cruisers That Don’t Sell And Don’t Hold Their Value.”
Dennis Shields Victorville, California
The Rune?! How could you pick a bike that is way too expensive for the average Joe ($28,000 before TTL) as Best Cruiser? The styling is, shall we say, “unique.” Why not pick another high-dollar custom like a Jesse James or OCC bike that only rock stars and celebrities can afford?
Kevin McKenna Flower Mound, Texas
I find it hard to believe, considering how many of your staff like adventure-tour ing bikes, that you don't have a category for them in your Ten Best Bikes list. Could it be their seat heights are too high for clear thinking? Is oxygen deprivation setting in? Are you guys that out of it?
Mike Mosiman Fort Collins, Colorado
Once again, you have made a perfect pick for Best Standard in Suzuki’s SV650. I’ve owned and ridden a lot of different motorcycles and ATVs over the last 30 years. Though I enjoyed them all, not one of them has been as infectious as the SV650. When it comes to producing big grins and soul-stirring soundtracks, this machine delivers every time you throw a leg over it! Gordon Greninger Jr.
Joplin, Missouri
Springer
Just received the July issue of CW. Always a great read, but Allan Girdler’s article on my favorite guy, Jay Springsteen, was the best write-up on Springer I have read in any magazine. Thanks for the terrific article! Marcia Stout
Sacramento, California
What a great article on Springer. I’ve had the privilege of meeting Jay a few times, starting all the way back when I was a kid, when he took the time to answer a 10-year-old’s dumb questions. Later, 1 got to meet him again at the Peoria TT’s 50th anniversary party. Jay may not always win the race, but on and off the track he truly is a winner. 1 will be a fan of his for the rest of my life.
Steven Kelsheimer Madison Heights, Michigan
Knock, knock...
My compliments on Kevin Cameron’s AJS 7R3 “Triple Knocker"’ article in the March issue. The facts were mainly correct; however, there appears to be some confusion regarding the years of the two versions of the 7R3.
The machine featured in the article is a 1952-53 machine restored by Team Obsolete and now owned by the National Motorcycle Museum in England. These bikes first appeared for the 1952 Isle of Man TT. They had the “tall” chassis with a conventional fuel tank, and a rear mudguard that moved up and down with the swingarm. These same basic machines were raced throughout the 1952 and ’53 Grand Prix seasons.
For the 1954 season, new race shop manager Jack Williams revised the chassis by lowering the frame, shortening the
suspension, stretching out the riding position and adding the distinctive pannier fuel tank. The new tank lowered the center of gravity and provided a measure of streamlining.
Rod Coleman rode the new lowered machine to victory in the 1954 Junior TT, unquestionably the 7R3’s finest hour. This machine (see photo) is now owned by Team Obsolete, along with several of its brethren. Rob lannucci
Team Obsolete New York, New York
Higher math
Let me start off by saying great magazine, but your proofreader was out to lunch for the July issue. In the BMW K1200LT “Quick Ride,” David Edwards lists the 1999 Honda GL1500 as a four-cylinder.
The Gold Wing has had a six-pack in the engine bay since the 1988 intro of the new-generation GL. Bradley Nelson
Killeen, Texas
I’m not a Wingnut, but I know enough about Honda’s luxury-touring rigs to be sure they’ve had six cylinders since the GL1500 was introduced in 1988. Oops perhaps, Mr. Edwards? Kirk Feyerabend Pleasanton, California
There’s a reason the Editor’s garage is populated with Nortons, Triumphs, Ducatis and Harleys. Cylinder counts higher than two tax his math skills.
Er, have a nice day?
The Slipstream picture and caption in the June issue of Cycle World was very offensive and disgusting to anyone with morals, much less to the Christian community, of which I am one. “Smoke Crack...Worship Satan?” Is Editor-inChief Edwards now promoting devil worship and drug abuse? Why promote more evil than we already have and call it “Good Old Midwestern Values?” These, sir, are not values held by rightthinking people in the Midwest.
I'm sending back the page because this picture does not belong in anyone’s home, especially where kids can see it and think all bikers espouse immorality and Satan worship. The rest of the magazine is going into the landfill, where trash like this belongs.
Did I mention to cancel my subscription? And return any unused monies.
Jerry Palma Montezuma, Indiana
Edwards promote drugs and Satan? Heck, the man has a hard time counting past two...
The Unknown Bleeper
Just want to let you know how much I hate you, your magazine and all your bull-bleep. Edwards, you are the fattestbleeped s.o.b., with all your bull-bleep, whiny, candy-bleeped stories about piece-of-bleep Britbikes. Why in the bleep do you even try? No one wants to read any of your stupid bleep.
Egan, I am so god-bleeped tired of your dumb-bleep old stories talking about bleep from the Sixties-hello, it’s 2004 you dumb-bleepl
Cameron, you think you are so godbleeped smart and everyone else is stupid. And yet, all the bleep you talk is book knowledge, none of it comes from experience.
You are all a bunch of old bleepbleeps who waste a bleep-load of paper every month. Go bleep yourselves! Do us all a favor and quit. Name withheld
Hey, wasn't that your BMW in Slipstream a couple of months ago? □
