Letters
LETTERS
SORRY, ROG!
Hey, what happened to the reprint credit on those two sidecar articles in the April issue (Principles of Rigging, and Legality and the Hack)? Roger Hull, Editor Road Rider Magazine South Laguna, Calif.
NO-FAULT
The Association of Trial Lawyers of America endorses the concept of a fair “no-fault” automobile insurance plan that protects the motorcyclist as well as the auto owner without inflicting additional cost. I’m sure you realize that millions of registered cyclists in the United States will be greatly and adversely affected if the proposed HartMagnuson No-Fault Bill (S. 354), which may soon come up for a vote in the Senate, becomes a national law.
Passage of this bill will cause insurance premiums for motorcyclists to skyrocket. The reasons are simple.
As you know, the cost of no fault insurance that protects against bodily injury is high for motorcyclists. Comparatively, liability insurance is low because the motorcycle’s potential for causing harm is so small. However, motorcycle riders are exposed to a great potential for personal injury in the event of an accident. It has been estimated that motorcycle owners now paying less than $40 a year for insurance would pay between $200 and $300 for the coverage under the proposed Uniform Motor Vehicle Accident Reparations Act (UMVARA) which is similar in this respect to the proposed HartMagnuson Bill. (Estimates re motorcycle premium increase for coverage under the proposed UMVARA plan were contained in a Feb. 4, 1972 report from C.T. Houston, of the American Reciprocal Insurance Association, to the Chairman of the NCCUSL Special Drafting Committee.) hibitively high.” Under the Colorado measure, cyclists would have been required to purchase insurance coverage to pay for their own medical bills if they were injured in an accident—regardless of who was at fault. It was further stated that, because cyclists are particularly vulnerable to physical injury, insurance company actuaries would have to impose high premium rates on cyclists because of the historical experience reflecting high medical costs.
Last November, the Colorado Motorcycle Dealers Association’s opposition to a proposed no-fault plan in that state was based on the same grounds. At that time, Al Hein, a representative of the CMDA, stated that, “The owners of about 120,000 motorcycles on the state’s streets, highways, and mountain biking trails consider the initiative ‘discriminatory,’ and that it would make motorcyclists’ insurance premiums pro-
However, and fortunately for the Colorado bike owner, the Colorado nofault proposal, which was presented for public referendum, was defeated at the polls by a margin of 3-to-l.
Currently, motorcycle owners, like the owners of automobiles, have the option of buying insurance to protect themselves against bodily injury if they so choose, and if they can afford the extra expense involved. However, passage of the Hart-Magnuson Bill would make such coverage mandatory, and by so doing, prohibit many from owning and riding a bike if they could not afford that additional expense.
We hope you will make these points clear to your readers, and urge them to oppose passage of this bill.
Margaret Maese Account Executive, ATLA (Continued on page 14)
Continued from page 10
FLABBERGASTED
Your article entitled “One Year With Honda’s CB350 K3” flabbergasted me by your results, and I believe you have done your readers grave injustice.
I have almost 24,000 miles on my CB350 K3, purchased in June, 1971, and could not disagree with you more as to its “proper role.” I recently rode 2750 miles, in four days, from Phoenix, Ariz., to Toronto, Ont., Can. Unlike your machine, mine got 50 to 60 miles per gallon of gas, consistently. It used but three quarts of oil, total cost for gas and oil being $28.
Vibration at a steady 62 miles an hour was almost nonexistent, and the bike seems to be getting smoother with age. As to altitude, I climbed from sea level past 7000 ft., suffering only a loss in passing power (above 75 miles ar| hour). Top end is 91.
I could not be more satisfied with a machine that has no more than an occasional tune-up and average care. I have had no trouble with it and anticipate none in the miles ahead.
Your article, I think, has done more harm than good in that many people who might have purchased, and been happy with, a CB350, might now go to a different motorcycle; a definite mistake.
Travis Short Midhurst, Ont., Can.
I read your article on Julius Kegel appearing in the January ’72 issue of your magazine with great interest. I could relate to Kegel quite easily be^L cause I am of the older motorcycle^r generation myself. Although I’m a little short of Julius in years—I’m 55—the urge to get back on a bike bit me last winter and it was almost as strong then as when I was a young man.
RELATES TO KEGEL
My interest in motorcycling was revived when I inherited an old BSA Star Twin, 500cc plunger frame model, year 1953. I was intrigued with the idea of trying to restore the bike to some semblance of its original condition. The question was, where to start? The bike had spent the greater part of its life in North Africa and judging from its condition, a good deal of this time hauling overweight Fatimas around the desert.
Who should know more about a particular motorcycle than the people who built it? With this in mind I sent a letter to the BSA factory in Birmin^Ä ham. I was very pleased and a littl^^ overwhelmed to receive in reply not only a nice letter but also all of the original spec sheets of bike. Along with these sheets I alsl^ received a copy of an old Motorcycle magazine that had performed a road test on this particular machine. Mr. Harper, in BSA’s service department, was the kind gentleman who performed this act and I owe him a lot. This took place about the time BSA was in financial trouble so it made the gesture all the more praiseworthy.
(Continued on page 18)
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I also received much help, and am still receiving it from a Mr. Stanley Phelps, a retired grass track rider. He has been an unfailing source of information and has never failed to respond to my many problems with sound advice, sometimes running to 3 and 4 pages of invaluable information—all freely given.
He is a dealer in old motorcycles who I recommend highly as being honest and will give people a fair deal.
I would welcome any letters from^ your readers who might be interested in exchanging ideas on old bikes and who might be ready to renew their interest in motorcycling.
I’ve included a picture of the old BSA when it was pushed out for the first time. You’ll note that it was on its way to being a modified chopper. I ran it most of last summer but somewhere along the way—before I came into possession of it—someone had put in short connecting rods and the compression ratio was down from what it should have been. Consequently, it never did run quite the way it should have. This year I have taken the bike completely down and have started complete restoration at the sandblasting of the frame level and hope to work right through the bike.
Frederick A. Browi^^ 55 Lakeview Ave.
M Waltham, Mass. 02154
