Letters
LETTERS
CLEAN CUT AND TENDER
Your road test on the Triumph 650 (CW, March '69) would have been just as interesting without the few lines of criticism focused toward the Bonney and its riders. “It takes a real speed freek (sic) to shell out cash for those “extra low e.t.’s,” does it? Well, if that’s how you feel about it, why even road test a machine that goes over 65 mph?
So, the Bonney ville (sic) rider “gases it incessantly,” does he? Well I have news for you, buddy, we don’t have to “gas it” to get results. A very slight twist of the wrist gets the job done!
And we “slick our hair back and flog” our machines, do we? On the contrary, most Bonney riders are cleancut individuals who treat their machines with the respect that the name Bonneyville (sic) has earned both on the street and on the track. You don’t have to whip a horse to keep it running. You just give it what it likes—a little respect and tender, loving care.
JEFF CAMILLERI Millbrae, Calif.
Dear Tenderlovingcare: Glad to hear you share our respect for the Bonneville. But if we hadn’t poked a little fun at you, you’d have never written us, would you?—Ed.
LACK OF CONSIDERATION
I doubt whether I have ever seen such a lack of consideration for the time, money, and effort of so many people as last Sunday at Daytona. People had spent (collectively) hundreds of thousands of dollars to bring themselves and/or their machines from all over the world for a rain or shine race. However, due to the complaints of a few prima donna racers and the reprehensible lack of honesty among the fat cat promoters, thousands of fans and the more sporting riders were cheated out of the race.
That the whole thing occurred is completely unbelievable! (Could you see this at The Isle of Man??) It appears that if the big-name riders don’t have ideal (and nothing less) conditions, they don’t want to dirty their hands. Look men, a road race is just that—sometimes it rains on the road, sometimes the wind is a little high. You’re not going to break the lap record every time you go out. The true measure of a man’s driving skill is his ability to perform under adverse conditions. More dangerous? Yes, but remember that the throttle goes both ways! If you want a completely safe profession, get out of motorcycling.
Then to compound the fraud, the weak AMA officials are led about by the noses by these spoiled brats—again without any concern for the fans or other competitors!
Bill France is happy because the following week he can resell a large percentage of the tickets (“No refunds, folks”) to the college kids who will be in town for their Easter vacation.
This entire episode is a gross swindle. I personally spent $500 and blew my whole vacation to attend these races. I will never again go to Daytona or for that matter travel any distance to attend any AMA sanctioned race.
I can see what this is leading to: Soon we’ll see the blue-hatted boys from Columbus pushing Mann, Markel, Rayborn and the rest of the gang around the course in fully faired baby buggies.
DR. PETER FRANK Milwaukee, Wis.
An AMA news release, issued Monday, March 17, 1969, concerning the cancellation of the 200-Mile National Championship Road Race orginally scheduled for Sunday, March 16, stated: “This decision (to cancel the race) was made by the promoter... ” This was in error.
The decision to cancel the race was made by the AMA referee. The promoter agreed to the new date (March 23) after the race had been cancelled.
THE I'VE-BEEN-HAD DEPT.
“Put your best wheel forward”—at least as long as the wheel is made in Milwaukee.
AMA officials, in their infinite wisdom, (that’s becoming a rather popular term, isn’t it?) have canceled their last race, or at least the last one this writer will ever attend. Nationally advertised, including radio spots, as a “Rain or Shine” event, the Daytona 200-miler was postponed due to rain. Or was it?
After qualifying times were posted, the word was quickly spread by the diminishing, few AMA officials who can read to the illiterate remainder that the archaic Twins were about to be soundly trounced by the “little foreign jobs” piloted in one case by a diminutive, in size only, foreign rider. This was hard to take: “wouldn’t let that happen back in ’39.” I would like to think that an AMA representative at the speedway called Milwaukee and requested rain, but the AMA’s powers, I hope, fall just short of that.
At any rate, the extra week will give the “domestic” camp some time to squeeze a little more smoke out of the old bombs and perhaps even to alter the rule book to read something like this, “... two-cycle motors are limited to 5 0-cc displacement and side-valve motors shall not exceed six liters.” “All motors manufactured by or sponsored by foreign countries shall be required to run on one wheel.”
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A good possibility exists that many non-works riders could and/or would not stay around for another week only to run the risk of being disqualified for an uncommited peccadillo if they were fortunate enough to place better than the Orange Plague from Milwaukee.
I am personally out about $150, not including lost work time, inconvenience, etc., for the trip to Florida and related expenses, and I am sure there are several thousand like me who went largely on the strength of what appears to be false national advertising. Anyone for a legal fund?
ROGER W. MILLER Toledo, Ohio
HE WANTS A BM
I recently purchased a copy of the 1969 CYCLE WORLD Road Test Annual. Some people buy Corvette Sting Rays and some buy four-door sedans. Some people are of the type who buy BMW motorcycles, and some buy noisy machines which vibrate badly and are grossly overpowered.
Obviously the person who did the critique on the BMW R-60 U.S. was typical of the kids who ride noisy Hondas around town and grown-ups, too, who haven’t been any further than the city limits and don’t consider motorcycling their way of life. Or he might have been a fellow who drag races motorcycles or rides them in local racing events.
We have a Norton Atlas and a BMW R-60 with the Earles fork. The Norton is noisy and vibrates badly and is grossly overpowered, even the instruction manual warns against full throttle acceleration, stating that it creates excessive noise and undue wear and stress on the power train—but I love that Norton’s noise and hot engine. I’m just as crazy about the BMW because of its attributes, too. To say its underpowered is a crime. It’s got plenty of snap. Its power is hampered by the 25-lb. flywheel, but that’s there for a reason—to knock roughness out.
You said the U.S. model is no different from the Earles fork model except for the fork. That’s not true! The rear end gears are different, the rear drive compartment uses SAE 90 oil instead of SAE 40, the aluminum wheels, formerly an accessory with BMW, are standard on the U.S. model. The rear tire is no longer 3.50-18. On the U.S. it’s 4.00-18. Flanders would have told you this, and you should have asked Flanders.
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I am glad you took it on a road trip. That’s where the Bee Ms shine best. Glad you found it out.
You say the new telescopic fork cleans up the bike’s appearance. That’s your opinion. I think my Earles is just as pretty, and the hideous aluminum casting at the bottom of the U.S. fork is rough and unfinished looking. It’s not as darned pretty as my Norton fork. The U.S. fork has a darned ugly ride compared to the sweet sailing Earles. I’ve swapped bikes on a few rides with my friend, Nick. His fork (U.S.) corners more responsively, but it surely doesn’t ride as smoothly.
May I say this: “There’s nothing like a fast chain-driven, loud motorcycle for those who like fast chain-driven, loud motorcycles.”
May I add: “There is nothing like the BMW’s smooth, quiet, daylong, untiring rides for those who like smooth, quiet, daylong, untiring rides.”
May I conclude: “Don’t knock the other fellow’s cup of tea, even if you’ve tried it and don’t like it.” It’s offensive and bespeaks of bad manners.
STANLEY E. ROCKLIN Phoenix, Ariz.
NEEDS A SPONSOR
I am writing to see if you know of any person, business firm, or promoter who would sponsor me on a trip to America to compete in motorcycle races. I am 28, single and ready to travel at a moment’s notice. I have had experience on onemile, half-mile and quarter-mile dirt tracks, scrambles, 5/c passenger and road racing.
At present I am riding a five-port TD 1B Yamaha, which has been modified, and a 350 Yamaha for production races. On my dirt bike, a ’49 Ariel Hunter, I could lap the mile at 50, which is not bad for an old bike. I placed 4th in the ’66 AGP, my third road race meeting. I was a state representative for the ’67 AGP. I knocked it back this year as I couldn’t afford to travel across to Perth. In the ’67 ATT, I was in 6th position on Lap 4 out of 40 starters, until I ran off at a hairpin and worked back to 12th.
The bike now has five ports, so the reason I am asking for a sponsor is that I am nearly broke. The TD has set me back $2000. I was to have railed to the Continent on Jan. 5, but I did my dough on an abalone syndicate. The abalone was there, but the weather wasn’t.
This is my last chance to become an international rider. I couldn’t save the money again. If I could get to the USA and get a work permit and race, I could do something constructive. I believe that there has never been an Aussie Rider competing in the states; this alone is a
novelty. I would like to ride at Daytona, and others, and I would not be last. I am not a super star, but I’m no slow coach either.
I am riding in the ’69 AGP at Philip Island in Victoria. Kel Carruthers will be competing on a Honda Four with 210 other good riders, so here we go. I can’t offer a great list of wins, as I have spent the last year saving for my TD. However, on Nov. 19, riding my standard 350, I made the following: senior, 4th; 350, Lap 1, 12th, last lap, 4th; grade B unlimited, last away, 8th. Not bad against TDs, Manxes, Bonnies, etc.
CODDYCLARK 9 Pavlich St.
Port Pirie, South Australia 5540
NO MAN AN ISLAND
My husband sells bikes for a living, and my 17-year-old son is earnestly saving for a 250-cc Kawasaki so motorcycles ánd your magazine are part of the scenery around here. I drive a school bus for our high school district and cover about 75 miles daily, so I have an opportunity to observe a lot of highway activity.
I wholeheartedly agree with R. Schneider (CW, Dec. ’68) about protective clothing and helmets. The cost of boots, gloves, jacket, etc., is quite a chunk of cash. But when you compare it to a week’s stay in the hospital, I think it evens out. Also, when you consider (as a taxpayer) what it costs monthly for one patient to “live” like a vegetable in a mental institution—who said, “No man is an island unto himself’?
The new law for a separate license for motorcycle riders, I think, is sensible. If I had the finances I would open a school to teach new riders how to handle their wheels. Why not high school driver education for cycles as well as cars? *
I could almost choke kids when they cut in front of me when I’m doing 40-50 mph. But more often than not, it is the four-wheeler driver who thinks the cyclist is on a tinkertoy, and does not honor his equal rights on the road. I try to give a wide berth to both the motorized and the pedal type of cycle. I get a twinge when I read in the paper about a young person being killed on a motorcycle—but my son also skin dives, crawls down into caves and mine shafts, rides with friends in cars—well, I think you see what I mean.
MRS. MILDRED J. MILLARD El Cajon, Calif.
SOCKIN’ IT TO HIM
Having read every issue of CYCLE WORLD printed until Viet Nam put a crimp in my mail deliveries, and having been in all the Canadian provinces, two territories, and 36 states from Alaska to Florida, on a motorcycle, I feel qualified to respond to a letter by W.A. Hicks (CW, Nov. ’68) regarding brake and shift placement and shift pattern.
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Hicks has both my admiration and sympathy: admiration because he, with his limited training, can out “out-react” some of the all-time greats of motorcycle racing who have their brake/shift placement patterns custom-made for each machine they ride, admiration because he has the ability to ride any machine made without ever making a mistake with his left or right foot; symphathy because he feels his average intelligence has control over his automatic reactions, sympathy because one day he’s going to get himself killed when he uses his shift lever for a brake pedal.
One cannot truly enjoy a machine unless the machine is entirely predictable, entirely a part of the rider, an extension of his muscles and nerves. Who wants to go screaming around a blind banked curve (Ah! Ecstasy), come face to face with a pair of trucks and go through the process of thinking: Is it up with the left and down with the right, down with the left and down with the right or down with the left and up with the right? At 60 per, Hicks might use up about 300 ft. while he intelligently sorts through those choices. That 300 ft. could make the difference between finding out how much road tax the trucks pay or checking the quality of construction on the way through.
In short, those of us with an intelligence level greater or less than Hicks’ deserve standardization of controls; those with an intelligence level equal to Hicks’ deserve an inside view of a Freuhauf Trailer.
C.D. LOWMAN FPO San Francisco
OVERSEAS ALLY
I just finished reading a copy of CYCLE WORLD, and I was very impressed with the amount of information it contained. The road tests are terrific and the race and track reports are very well written, giving a clear picture of what is happening from start to finish. It is such an excellent magazine that I have placed a regular order with Vivian Gray, Sussex, some 250 miles away. It’s not stocked locally.
I would very much like to hear from other CYCLE WORLD readers. I am 21 years old and own a Norton Commando. I hope you will continue to keep up the same quality and interesting reports. Thanks for a good mag.
DAVE REANEY Coedhirion, Talley Llandeilo, Carms South Wales, U.K.
