Hotshots
HOTSHOTS
Superbikes!
What’s with you guys? Same articles for June and July, rehashing the same bikes with the same information? I find your magazine very boring, featuring the same bikes over and over again. I’m really sick of hearing about the Ducati 1198 S and now the BMW S1000RR. The other two bike magazines have you beat. The only reason I keep my subscription is because Cycle World is cheap and I need something to start the fire in my wood stove.
Frank Mohr
Blue Bell, Pennsylvania
With all due respect, John Burns needs to find a better word than “boring” to describe the Honda CBR1000RR. Boring is a beige Corolla you rent at an airport. A 155-horsepower motorcycle with a top speed of 180 mph that will run the quarter in under 10 seconds simply cannot be called boring. It appears you meant that the CBR is so refined, polished and obedient that you don’t need to think about the bike and can concentrate on the ride. Please find a way to convey that thought rather than using the lazy crutch “boring.”
Dennis Young
Sedona, Arizona
Burns fell asleep reading your letter, but we woke him up and he said, “Dennis, could you have a word with Frank about what s boring and not boring? Superbikes are not boring, not even in two completely different evaluations of their performance...”
Interesting rankings in the article, but if you eliminate the most fuzzy of subjective ratings, a completely different perspective emerges. Drop the “Editors’ Choice” and “Riding Excitement” blubbering, and look what happens: The Due moves up to first with 322 points. The Honda vaults to a very close second with 321 points (dare we say, a tie?!), the Yamaha is a distant third with 308 points, the KTM and BMW tie at 307 points, and I think there’s one left... Oh yeah, the Aprilia is dead-last at 306 points!
As for #1 rankings in the different categories, the Ducati and the Honda tie at 6 each, with the Aprilia, BMW and KTM tied at a lowly two each.
I guess this proves once again how emotions color perception, even among hard-bitten motojournalists. The Ducati rocks, as only it can, while the Honda quietly goes about being the amazing motorcycle it is... clearly, its lineage shows through from that king of all Hondas, the mighty Blackbird (owning a ’Bird for the last 9 years did not color my perception in the least in this regard!).
Gary Ware
Toronto, Canada
Color Commentator Commentary
In the “Alternative Energy” article in the July issue, I take offense to the comment about Jonathan Green in regard to the Aprilia RSV4 being too stiff. I have not missed a single MotoGP, AMA or WSBK race in the past few years, and I find Jonathan Green to be the most entertaining of all the commentators. You can’t knock a guy’s high enthusiasm for motorcycle racing by calling him a “screaming idiot.” I have never heard him say anything that would make me question his knowledge of motorcycles. Now, if you are going to crack on a moto commentator, it should be someone deserving of it, such as that moron Ralph Sheheen.
Andrew Holdbrooks
Boaz, Alabama
Honestly, Andrew, no reason to take a cheap shot...
Sometimes the obvious must be stated. Jonathan Green is a “screaming idiot,” and I’m betting that like me, most WSBK fans are forced to miss the sounds from the engines as we mute out this shrill banshee. Thanks, Mr. Hoyer, for allowing a rare journalistic shot to be printed.
William Stuart
St Augustine, Florida
Foreigners
Great piece on the Honda CB 1100 in the July issue. Yes, the articles that start “you can’t get this here” are in a way unnecessary, but these retros are a special case. Hey, I got it! How about a new spinoff mag just for bikes not sold in the U.S. titled, “You’re Shyte Out of Luck.” I don’t get it. Why does Japan ship us cruisers when we’ve already got Harley-Davidson? Sell us something we don’t have, like a CB or a KZ,
you know, the reason Japanese bikes sold in the first place. Scott Gilbert
Scott Gilbert
Santa Barbara, California
Am I taking crazy pills? First the DN01, then the Fury, now the Sabre? All these cruisers, and Honda won’t give us the CB1000R or the CB1100 naked bikes? Memo to American Honda: Fire your market research company! Cruisers are sooo tired....
Norm Ely
Grass Valley, California
Fellas, you will be interested to know that we recently stumbled across a random survey Honda was running on its website, asking some very specific questions about the CB1100, and we quote: “What’syour interest level in purchasing the CB1100 if it were available in the U.S. market?’’ Then the survey went on to ask what we thought of an $11,999 suggested retail price and finally got down to $10,999. So, if you want one, call American Honda customer service at 866/784-1870 and tell ’em CW sent you.
I am writing in regard to your July, 2010, article on the Yamaha XT1200Z. Why do you tempt us with bikes not offered in the U.S.? This bike sounds similar to the Ducati Multistrada 1200 S. I would, however, buy the Yamaha over the Ducati because you do not have to adjust the valves every 15K miles. If Yamaha would bring the XT1200Z to this side of The Pond, I would buy one.
I~r~ton
Jones, Oklahoma
Matt, we’ve gone ahead and forwarded your information, including credit-card number, on to Yamaha. The company thanks you!
Icon Ad Again...
I’m bothered by your dismissive and derisive response to James Shaw’s thoughtful letter regarding the Icon ad in your magazine. I think the ad is tasteless on many levels: class, violence, sexism, morality. It is selling something, the same way “Grand Theft Auto” is selling something. The corporate product might escape my grumpy old man eyes, but the corporal one is plain to see. It may be true that MTV exports more of this poisonous attitude daily than CW does monthly, but in the words of another young man who died in violence:
Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.— Robert F. Kennedy
They say that those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. I guess those who remember the past are just Grumpy OF Men?
r Spinale
St. Paul, Minnesota
It’s All in the Risk
I am annoyed that the “Risk Management” editorial in your July, 2010, issue was even deemed necessary. There are two types of people in the world: those who think for themselves and try to do the right thing, and those who try to think for everyone and seek to inflict their personal preferences upon others. At no time did you advocate that all riders wear jeans, yet Mr. Grattan sees fit to demand that you and all riders wear the protective clothing he deems appropriate. No doubt he feels justified in inflicting his whim upon the populace, but he needs to realize that absolutely none of us care about his opinion. He may cloak his opinion in concern for “safety,” but his goal is simply to inflict his preference upon others. His opinion is not a valid topic for consideration, let alone a twopage editorial.
Douglas Daniels
El Paso, Texas
Mark Hoyer’s “Risk Management” follows the conventional argument that wearing motorcycle safety gear is a matter of personal choice. Historically, collective poor choices—loud pipes, reckless riding, etc.—result in the general public’s low regard for motorcyclists. Trial lawyers representing motorcyclists commonly report that insurance companies lower payouts on claims, and juries grant reduced injury awards.
People who choose imprudent riding habits and suffer injuries create enormous public costs. Everyone eventually foots the bill in the form of higher health insurance premiums and escalating taxes to fund uncompensated care, Medicaid, etc.
Our personal choices do, in fact, affect other people. National statistics abound that safety equipment reduces injuries and saves lives and dollars. Informed choices are infinitely better than those determined by tossing the dice. Paul Forbes
pa TFo~bes
Destrehan, Louisiana
As an overseas subscriber, I read with interest the different viewpoints in Mark Hoyer’s column, especially the old, “it is irresponsible to show riders in jeans” cherry.
I ride 12 months of the year and, in England, that means riding in a wide range of weather conditions.
The worst months of winter, I wear fully waterproof synthetic trousers with armor at the knees and shins, padded sections, etc. For the other months, I wear jeans or even trousers in the hottest weather. And my legs are perfectly safe. Why? Because I wear Kevlar-lined jeans and trousers. My K7 jeans and H2 trousers are made by an English company called Hood, but there are plenty of other outfitters that stock Kevlarlined kit. Kevlar can stop a bullet, but it also has phenomenal abrasion resistance—exactly what you need after a lowside and slide along the road.
You can dress for the conditions without breaking the bank... and you can wear jeans on a bike and still be protected.
Bob Pickett
Ilford, Essex, United Kingdom
Exit line
I’ll be allowing my subscription to run out. You’ll never publish this.
William D. Hiller Jacksonville, Florida
