Hot Shots

HOT SHOTS

Concours concurs

If you take Highway 14 west out of Fort Collins, Colorado, you come to the town of Walden, population 633, elevation 8099 feet. I pulled into what appeared to be the lone gas station for some much-needed petrol and body liquids, my first stop in a while along the great divide that had people present: a couple of young girls running the quick-mart/gas station, a guy on a couple-of-years-old BMW GS and a dude on a new Triumph Tiger. I was on my 2009 Kawasaki C14 for a month-long trip out of middle Tennessee. As we ate our sandwiches and drank our coffee, we walked around together and looked at each others’ filthy bikes and farkles, and discussed the merits of each. The BMW guy was from Toronto and the other fella from Austin, Texas. “Where you going?” The triplicate answer was identical: “Not sure.” I think we were all taken aback a bit as we looked at each other in our road-worn, dirty existence and realized that this chance trio of late40s/early-50s riders was unique; to borrow a Seventies term, it was kinda cos-

mic. Walden is as much in the middle of no place as you can get.

Those 15 minutes in a tiny town made me realize that I was not unique as I had thought. For Christmas, a friend bought me a 12-month subscription for your magazine, which I had not read in years. The “High Speed, Low Altitude” article on sport-touring bikes (CW, February) made my heart skip a beat and brought back the aforementioned memory. Ride our western states before you put it off too long, take your time and be sure to ride Colorado 14. It’s cosmic.

Gary Maddox Smyrna, Tennessee

Sport vs. touring

I just read Paul Dean’s comparison and would like to say, nice job. As the owner of a 2010 Connie 14,1 thought the evaluations you had were right on. But if anyone wants the other hand of God to be pushing them along, here’s a tip:

I just had my local dealer install some goodies at their recommendation—an Area P No Limits complete exhaust system (22-pound weight reduction), a Power Commander V (programmed by Area P), a map switch (tranny thinks it’s in fifth gear) that allows full-throttle response in all gears, and a K&N air filter. The difference in performance is incredible. Thanks for the great research you provide to the riding community. CWs write-up on the Connie was the deciding factor in my purchase. Bob RegilZZOni

Palmetto, Florida

Paul Dean opened his excellent “High Speed, Low Altitude” sport-touring comparison with what I believe is a common misunderstanding—that “sport-touring” is a contradiction in terms. Sport-touring is only an oxymoron if you’re looking at the issue in an oversimplified, singleparameter way. It’s better to understand the various categories of motorcycling via a two-axis model. One axis is “distance,” how far you ride the bike. The other axis can be called “aggression,” defined as what you’re seeking: speed and exhilaration vs. comfort and relaxation. This gives us a graph in the form of a crosshairs in the middle of a square. One comer of the graph is short distance and high aggression, the home of the sportbike. The diagonally opposite comer is long distance and low aggression, the turf of Gold Wings and Ultra Classics. The short distance/low aggression comer is owned by the cruiser. Obviously, the final comer— long distance and high aggression—is the rightful home of the sport-tourer. Poof, the apparent contradiction neatly disappears in a little puff of logic.

If you want to complicate things, turn our little 2D graph into 3D with a vertical axis called “on/off pavement.” Then you can start placing things like a big GS, a KTM Adventure, a KLR or a motocrosser. And if you do that, you clearly have too much time on your hands. Or you’re Kevin Cameron. Steven Taylor Beck Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Uh, well, Steven, that certainly cleared up the matter simply and easily. We sure wouldn’t want to “complicate things.”

Style counselor

Perusing the February issue in my library, I found myself very surprised by some new styling twists, most notably the new Ninja 1000. It seems Kawi is finally getting the message. The nekkid 1000 was butt-ugly (IMHO), but the new model blends “sporty” with upright (meaning the handgrips are higher than the top triple-clamp), exactly what I’ve been hoping Japan would head back toward. As to why anyone would want to clothe “such a great naked bike,” Burns says, “...Kawasaki’s research and experience tell it that’s what American riders want.” Yeah, duhhh. Tried to tell them that a long time ago.. .no one in Japan would pick up the phone. Now, let’s see if the footpegs are low enough to let us sit on the thing for more than an hour. Also in the issue: Triumph’s Tiger 800. Not bad styling! Squarish, linear, utilitarian. Nice. Normally, adventure-tourers leave me yawning, but the Hinckley guys must have an actual human somewhere in their design department. “Bandit88”

Posted on forums.cycleworld.com

He's cracked

Kudos to Mark Hoyer's Up Front column, "The `Last' Rebuild" (CW, February), giving us a glimpse into the woes of his 1954 Velocette MSS owner ship. Damn, five pistons, two rods, three barrels and four mag gears. And that's without mentioning the other stuffi That would be enough to make most throw up their hands and cry uncle! Like Kevin Cameron said, "It's an important part of your mechanical education." Probably not such soothing words when you are sitting at the side of a freeway in L.A. wondering just what broke this time! Glen Thomson

Redding, California

Sweet lemons

"Touching Nothing Real" (CW, January) was Kevin Cameron's most poignant non-tech editorial I have read. And, yes, by definition, that means I have found many of his tech-specific editorials to be poignant.

When the time came for me to choose a "new" motorcycle, many factors were in play-price, price and finally price. Having the ability to work on the bike myself fit firmly into the second of these factors. I chose a Katana because it was in my price range, but also because it used that venerable post-UJM engine from the first-gen GSX-R750. A little research told me what I needed to know: simple carbs, simple ignition, threaded valve adjusters.

I always thought the something that separated motorcyclists from the other people on the road was that we could tear our bikes apart and reassemble them with only a toolbox and some gasket sealer. I fear that's changing, and when it reaches the tipping point, mechanics who once could turn a box of parts into a running Norton will barely be able to change the oil on a new bike. When it all goes screwy and there's no place to plug in your laptop, that fancy Power Commander-equipped bike isn't going anywhere. Magnetos and carburetors will save us. Spending an hour or two with an 8nmi wrench and a cup of coffee puts not just my valves right, but my head, too. Being able to synch my carbs fast enough that I just need full bowls to get it done is as real as bedrock. To paraphrase JFK: We do these things not because they are hard, but because they are real. Peter Spinale

St. Paul, Minnesota

Sick Transit Gloria

Enjoyed your take on the Ford Transit van. I, too, was hoping for a bettermileage bike hauler, but the thing's a joke-no floor space! So I bought an `89 Mitsubishi "van"-almost eight feet of floor space, 44 inches at the rear door and 20s for gas mileage-and shorter overall than the Transit. Most of the world can still get this van, and with the diesel, it gets better than 30 mpg and has loads of torque. Let our voices be heard: We need this type of van from the manufacturers over here. This one won't last forever. Glen Stuart

Posted on forums. cycleworld. com

Buffer zone?

You have a great magazine but some im provements could be made. One of them would be to put 15 minutes of reading material between Kevin Cameron and Peter Egan. I have a very difficult time going from the extremely organized thoughts of Mr. Cameron to the "never could guess what the next sentence will bring" passages of Mr. Egan. This shift from one extreme side of the brain to the other takes time. Maybe you could slip in an article about the theoretical limits of how fast a Segway could be driven by a 300-pound rider into a 50mph headwind. Thanks for many years of excellent reading. Greg Pappas Plymouth, Michigan

Scooter love

Kevin Barron (Hotshots, February), get over it. I'm 72 and have been riding since I was 15. I've had many rides, lost count after 40. My first was a 1950-ish Allstate something-or-other, and I cur rently ride a Ducati 848 and a Piaggio MP3 250. Each has its own niche, and I love `em both. Enjoy what you have and don't be such a wuss. Don Kassner Los Altos, California

Time warp

Curious how 25 years before February, 2011, was September, 1985? Tell the proofreader just because it's medicinal, doesn't mean inhale every hour on the hour. I'm just nitpicking, but it's fun. The content more than makes up for a few errors. Keep up the good work. Dan Williams Hanford, Wisconsin

Burns swears he doesn `t inhale.

2D or not 2D?

I love your magazine and looking at the bikes I will never own. The bike reviews are outstanding, thank you. But I have some questions. First, the "scan me" doodads for the iPhone. Will that be available for Androids and other smart phones? I felt silly trying to scan it only to realize it can't be done.

Second, I remember the Honda Magna being such a great machine with an amazing engine, to boot. Handling was great and it always fared well in shootouts. Is Honda going to come out with an updated version? Will they be using that engine in something else? Thanks again for all you do. I am a happy Cycle World subscriber and proud Honda Magna owner. Jeff Lopez Virginia Beach, Virginia

Jeff as it says on the table of contents every month, visit http://gettag.mobi on your mobile-phone browser to get the free Microsoft Tag Reader It works on Windows Phone 7, Windows Mobile, iPhone, Symbian, Blackberry, J2ME andAndroid smartphones. As for ques tion two, Honda never discusses future product, but we suggest you hang onto your Magna.

Subject: advertising vs. editorial

I write this in response to Steve Rangeloff's comments (Hotshots, January) about advertising versus editorial content. I assume that your magazine would cost at least 45 bucks a year if it did not contain advertising. At that price, the subscription list would be smaller, so the price might be even higher. Who cares how much advertis ing is in your magazine anyway? It's not like someone is forcing anyone to read the advertising. I find most of the ad vertising informative and am interested to know when a manufacturer has a new product on the market. I, for one, enjoy the broad range of motorcycles you cover, even dirtbikes that I would never buy (age issue), but I find the technol ogy of the new bikes interesting and informative.

One final comment: The Yamaha empty chair ad was classy. I don't think many companies would have done that. Michael Havel La Grange, Illinois

Send your letter to the editor to Cycle World HotShots, 1499 Monrovia Ave., Newport Beach, CA 92663 or hotshots@cycleworld.com.