Letters
LETTERS
MALE OFFSPRING
In the December issue of Mechanix Illustrated under the caption MAIL FOR McCAHILL, this statement from a reader, “I think that every car driver should be educated about motorcycles. What do you think?”
B.W.B. Jr.
Williamsport, Penn.
McCahills’ Answer:
“You’re right. They make awful noises when you run over them and could scratch the finish on your car. ” Words fail me to express my utter disgust to know that this bald-headed male offspring of a female dog could, through the medium of a magazine with nationwide circulation, be allowed to denigrate motorcyclists, most of whom I have met are, unlike McCahill, gentlemen.
GEORGE COATH San Diego, Calif.
A real pragmatist, that McCahill.—Yd.
WHIZ OF A WHIZZER
I am 13 years old. I thought you might like to know my father bought a 1950 Whizzer Sportsman. He brought it home in a bushel basket and completely rebuilt it, adding crash bars, dual pipes, rolled and pleated metalflake seats, and many chrome-plated parts.
He entered it in the Second Annual Motorcycle Show at Vets Memorial in Columbus, Ohio, and won a 1st place trophy in the minibike class.
DEBRA TANNER Columbus, Ohio
NO ONE CARES
I have been a long-time reader, and a short-time subscriber of your magazine. I wish to take time now, and say thanks for all the fine articles in your publication. I also have some gripes to unload on you. These are just a few.
First, I bought a brand-new Kawasaki 35 0 Avenger, with a 12-month or 12,000-mile warranty. The dealer would not take the bike in for the 500or the 1000-mile checkup. After the 1500-mile checkup, he only changed the spark plugs, plus he wanted to charge me from $5 to $7.50 to look at the bike in detail. The motorcycle in question was still under warranty. I rode this bike for another 1500 miles, and had a great deal of trouble with it—fouled plugs, etc. I finally became disgusted, and traded it in on a new 1968 Honda 350 Scrambler. The Honda is a different story, and I’m afraid it would take several more paragraphs to explain the difficulties I have had with it.
Next, I bought a used 1965 650-cc BSA from a BSA dealer. After my experiences with the other two motorcycles, I thought this would be an improvement. After about two weeks, it konked out, too. I took it back to the dealer, and he would not even look at it. (We don’t get along any more.) I took it to another dealer, who said he could fix it. He kept it for two weeks, charged me $32, and said, “Goodby.” Little did I know at the time that he really meant it. Two days later, the bike quit running. The dealer refused to look at it again. I then found a third dealer who said he could fix it. He kept the bike for four months and charged me $182 for a complete rebuild job. It ran for 35 miles and quit again. Needless to say, he, too, does not want the bike in his shop again.
Now, what I want to know is this. Is there anything that can be done to make dealers stand behind their work? Back in the late ’40s and early ’50s, when incidents like the above occurred, the riders passed the word around, and the dealer was not patronized.
Nowadays, things are different, and no one seems to care any more.
CHARLES COUCH Martinez, Calif.
A GIFT
We are dealers, franchised for Honda and Yamaha motorcycles in this section of Indiana, and have enjoyed your magazine, especially the stories of people traveling or hunting on motorcycles.
You showed pictures of two spark plugs (CW, Aug. ’68), with diagrams below showing just what to do, if caught out on the road, to get the cycle going again. If the plug had spark, then you proceeded to do so-and-so. If the plug had no spark, then you did so-andso. This article intrigued me, and I showed a friend the magazine—he promptly stole it, when I turned away. I hunted the town over, and finally bought the very last copy, and took it to my store, and showed an office worker customer the article, and finally loaned it to him, to make several copies on his copying machine. I neglected to get his name. That was the last I saw of him—the magazine—and no copies.
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Will you please send me a copy of the August issue, or do you have a way to sell me some copies of this article? To tell the truth, it would seem to me that this would be a wonderful gift to present every man who purchases a motorcycle from us, “Just in case he was caught out some day on the road.” ALBERT M. SHROCK Kokomo, Ind.
KEEPING UP
Prior to being stationed here in Korea, I was stationed in Japan. There we had a real gine cycle and go kart club called the CIMKC or the Chitóse International Motorcycle and Karting club. We used to have many events throughout the racing season and in the fall. We sponsored MFJ affiliated TT races on a dirt track and motocrosses and occasional enduros. I used to race a Honda CL77, then switched to a Kawasaki F21M 238-cc motocross machine.
Now I am here in Korea, and the only way that I can keep in touch with the cycle activities is through your fine magazine, CYCLE WORLD. Back in Chitóse, your magazine was the only really widely read magazine and it was sort of a bible to us on the upcoming new bikes and tests on many different machines.
I look forward to returning to the States and getting a new machine. I am now waiting to see the specs on the rumored Honda 650 and hope it compares with the new 450 that I had to leave behind in Japan.
Please keep up the good work there at PARKHURST PUBLISHING COMPANY, and I hope to keep up with the cycle world through CYCLE WORLD.
SP5 PHILIP T. LEWIS USASAOC Pyongtaek APO San Francisco, Calif.
That Honda 650 is a 750, and we’re waiting, too. In fact, we can hardly. —Ed.
BAJA INSURANCE
I have recently made several trips to various places in Baja California, Mexico, and understand from some riders a problem was encountered in obtaining Mexican bike insurance. Approved motorcycle insurance at the rate of $1.06 per day may be purchased at the Holiday Lodge Motel, Interstate 5 at the border, San Ysidro, Calif. The gracious owners, Bob and Gladys King, are most kind and helpful.
ANDY ANDERSEN Fontana, Calif.
NICE STORY, BUT...
Re.: “The Americas by Bike,” (CW, Dec. ’68).
Attn.: Jim Parks and G. Sanders
Nice story, but I don’t believe it.
Shouldn’t this be labeled fiction (so as not to mislead)?
E. TUCKER BIRK New York, N.Y.
YEE, HO, HAW
Reference “The Americas by Bike” (CW, Dec. ’68). One of the funniest stories about cycles I’ve read in quite awhile. It kept me laughing all the way from, “carrying 450 lb. of equipment” (you know—chuckle—how light the X-6 is in the front end anyway!), through, “Though I hadn’t tested the bike fully loaded,” (the author—ker chuckle—must have been “fully loaded” when he wrote this), and that one about rounding up the horses—“I accomplished the mission in 7 sec.” (haw, haw, hooo!), and on through “I contacted the chief of police and a few days later started a school for motorcycle policemen” (Oh, HAW, HAW, HAW!). What a fantastic imagination! What a tremendous sense of timing! After traveling those thousands of miles over all kinds of roads, carrying 975 lb., just imagine the condition of those big universal tires! And then, he throws in a jewel-like “I again accepted an invitation to race my bike while in Mexico City and took 1st place in my class...” (HEE HEE HAW, HO HO HOOWL!)
Oh, man! I tell you I was in stitches the whole time. And then, (hoompf, hee) and THEN, (YAWW, HAW, HAW!) the best part of all; at the bottom, (oh MY, HAW HAW!) it says “continued next MONTH!” (YEE, HO, HAW-HEE HEE HAWW HO HAW HA HAW HAAWWWU!) Thanks, guys. The story is a joke, right? Hmmmm?
JOHN TIDBALL San Antonio, Tex.
You’ll be pleased to learn that Jim Parks now is touring Africa.— Ed.
LACKED ENTHUSIASM
I fully agree with “A Disappointed Reader” in your Letters column (CW, Dec. ’68). Not only was I disappointed in the Suzuki 305 Raider’s times that you quoted for the quarter-mile, but also I thought the whole test fell well short of your usual meticulous road test. It seemed quite obvious that your test riders had tested the Trident before the Raider, and I can fully understand that testing the Raider after the Trident can be quite a letdown. But, despite the fact which bike was tested first, I think the Suzuki deserved a better test than you gave it.
How could you get a 16.23 for the quarter? My little brother and I both own Raiders, and we take our bikes to the drags every weekend. Our times are consistently in the high 14s, and on my second time at Mel Larsen’s Speedway I turned a 14.86. Both bikes are completely stock, just in case you had any doubts. I don’t consider myself the world’s best rider, and I’m sure your staff has many riders who are better at drag racing than 1 am. So, how come such a slow e.t. on your test?
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Your test lacked enthusiasm, and it seemed that you were in a hurry to get it over with. If your test had been thorough, you would have mentioned the rock-hard seat, and the soggy front fork. In your test you kept comparing the Raider to the X-6, and implying that the Raider is a scaled down Suzuki 500. Many parts off the 500 are interchangeable with the Raider. The engines are very much alike, except for one more gear on the Raider.
WILLIAM LUNDSTROM Tempe, Ariz.
IT WAS CHILLY
The article you ran on riding in the cold was very interesting. I have been riding bikes for five years now in just about all kinds of weather. I, however, haven’t taken all the measures the article’s author took. My worst trip to date was Philadelphia, Pa., to Providence, R.I., this year at night. Seven hours riding time on a 250-cc H-D Sprint H. It was chilly. It was for this reason that I was able to fully appreciate and also learn from the article. Riding hints and advice that your publication puts forth is very helpful and informative.
MICHAEL T. MANNIX USS Saratoga CVA60 Philadelphia, Pa.
SPEEDWAY
The magazine of yours is very good, and seems to cover all aspects of the cycling field. I was very pleased to see that quarter-mile dirt track speedway has come up again in the U.S. I also hear that Australia may be getting a visit from a few of your riders.
I am mostly interested in quarter-mile or mile speedway, so let’s hope it can build up to something of a seasonal sweep around of riders.
My main interest is sidecars, as out here we have speedway outfits at all solo meetings, and I can assure you they are crowd pleasers.
Most outfits are Vincent powered, as mine is. I also have a 650 BSA outfit and 500 JAP solo, so I can compete in most meetings.
W. McGRIFFIN
Queensland, Australia
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EVOLUTION
With satirical wonder I viewed the curious rhetoric between James Q. Holley and Roger Hull in “Letters” (CW, Jan. ’69), regarding Hull’s description of the “Old Timer.” Holley’s selfdescription as a “purist” might leave him vulnerable to similar retorts if his caricature were posted in CYCLE WORLD. There is always the sniper, at least a little bit, in every man, et tu, Holley? As for the Old Timer, I resent his—or any other harmless minoritybeing held up to ridicule. As a boy, I warmly remember the Old Timers when they were young bucks, their uniform that of the American “purist” of the ’40s and early ’50s, their Chiefs and Hogs the machines of the day. Perhaps some 20 years from now, today’s purist will have failed to keep pace with motorcycling’s evolution—in both fashion and technology. Such Holleys will appear then to future virile young riders as “Old Timer,” cyclistic dinosaurs who thought their generation also had reached the zenith. And, Father Time will be just as cruel—perhaps more so—to your ladies of today as he has been to the fading lassies of yesteryear.
DENIS M. SEARLES Oakland, Calif.
VISIT
I’d like to say that I think CYCLE WORLD is a great magazine. I receive it from a pen friend in the States. I would like to take this opportunity to say that if any Americans are touring England this coming year, drop in and visit me. I will be pleased to see you.
PAUL SCOTT 8 Leveson Road Chadwell, St. Mary Gray’s Essex, England
CAN'T NAME 'EM ALL
A little self-criticism.
In my article on the Milne brothers and the origin of speedway racing at White Sox Park in Los Angeles in 1931 (CW, Jan. ’69), I thought I had covered about everything. However, my old friend Joe Walker, Harley-Davidson dealer in Santa Ana, Calif., pointed out that I missed one of the most promising boys who rode for us in those early days. He was Glen Anderson, later to become lieutenant governor of California under Pat Brown. He was the “goat” of the Watts riots. Another top rider omitted was Ed Hinkle, but you can’t list ’em all, or win ’em all, so apologies to all fast broadsliders of that era not named in the yarn.
NORM HARTFORD Santa Ana, Calif.
WEEPING WILLOW
In Racing Review (CW, Jan. ’69) whoever wrote the report on the fifth annual GP at Willow Springs might do a lot toward keeping new spectators away from Willow.
However, people who race and spectate at Willow will continue to attend and compete.
Report from Italy (CW, Jan. ’69) says the Italians are scrambling 50-cc machines. I know 50-cc machines have been racing all the time. They can be fun to road race, too. Carlo Perelli doesn’t knock the 50-cc bikes. He says these tiny mounts can be fun and that they’re inexpensive and gaining in popularity in Italy.
ED KELLY Wilmington, Calif.
WHAT RECORD?
It’s not very often that I write with a complaint. In general, yours is an outstanding magazine with unusually responsible editorial reporting. However, I must take serious objection to the article “New York/45 hr., 41 min./Los Angeles” (CW, Dec. ’68).
Sarossy’s wholesale violation of the speed laws of numerous states in an effort to break a so-called record (What record and by whom maintained?) is just what we motorcycle riders do not need. By his own admission he exceeded posted speed limits for hours at a stretch—drove recklessly. He was so tired he could barely park the cycle and, in general, did everything a safe and responsible rider should not do.
And, his answers, “I don’t think it is at all wrong...on a BMW. Speed limits are archaic. I consider myself to be almost a professional driver.” What nonsense! There are 50,000 people killed every year on our highways because of this attitude.
The saddest part of the whole story is that you give publicity to the circus and encourage more of these wholesale violations. What happens if one of these nuts falls asleep on another record try and runs into a bunch of school kids waiting for a bus? Remember your responsibility!
In the past, you have taken many fine potshots at the individuals whose irresponsible activities have been the cause of the reputation (unfairly acquired) which we bike riders bear. I think you might have done much better in the above article.
JOHN N. GAFFNEY Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
Our job, as we see it, is to report what is happening in motorcycling. Sarossy’s run happened. CYCLE WORLD did not condone or support the run.—Ed.
