Letters
LETTERS
OFF-ROAD POLICEMEN
In “Roundup” of your November 1977 issue the article concerning the use of offroad bikes by the police at the USGP at Carlsbad, California, stated that you hope “that’s as far as it goes.”
I hate to be the one to pop your bubble, but there are at least two police agencies in San Diego County, California that have regular off-road motorcycle squads. The San Diego Police Department and the San Diego County Sheriffs Office regularly utilize off-road bikes for enforcement purposes. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office has utilized four-wheel-drive vehicles in the back-country areas of the county for years and has now added bikes to that capability.
Being in law' enforcement myself (although not with either of the above agencies). I find it a little hard to believe that a police department would spend the money involved for the bike, boots and leathers shown in your photograph for policing an event that occurs once a year. 1 would imagine that the officer pictured uses the bike on a regular basis.
In this era of growing popularity of offroad motorcycles, the police are going to have to keep up with the trend. There are too many irresponsible riders that are going to ruin it for the rest of us. These people need to be regulated. I. for one, do not like the noise associated with motocross and enduro bikes and think that these should not be ridden in populated areas. Increased enforcement is becoming a fact of life.
John T. Wright
El Cajon, Calif.
YAMAHA 2D CLUNK
In the “Service” column in your November 1977 issue, you printed a letter concerning a 1-2 shift clunk in the Yamaha XS750-2D. I read this letter with interest as. nearly word for word, it described the very same problem I have had with my own 2D. I believe mine was even worse because accompanying it on occasion w'as a gear crunch and w-onderful whirring noises and such from the engine.
To my dealer I went, your printed solution in hand, complete with the Yamaha service department phone number. My dealer’s initial comment was, “They all clunk to a degree.” All? All. I told the service manager that you had no such occurrence with your test machines. So he came out and test-rode my bike. Response: “That’s worse than usual.” But he could not see the tie-in between your solution and the problem. If that was the cure, w'hy did it only clunk between first and second? Anyway, he told me he’d phone dowrn south to the main service center and get the info straight from the horse’s mouth.
In the meantime, I rode over to another dealer and talked with another service manager. He said the same thing: “They all clunk to a degree.”
A phone call down to Yamaha’s service department got me in touch w'ith the warranty department and talking to one of the honchos there. First comment to me: “They all clunk to a degree.” You can imagine I was getting tired of that line. But. he’d check. The wheels started turning.
Results: The boys down south said: “It is our consensus that you are experiencing normal 1-2 shift clunk.” This was contrary to the statements of two different service managers and I told him so. I was told my continued on page 14 alternative was to take it up to a dealer and have him strip the hike down and look. First time that was ever suggested. So I did just that, with a very cooperative dealer. Inside of a week I had my bike back, in perfect shape, running great, clunk to a nil minimum. The cure? A new primary chain. Mine was stretched beyond adjustment. Thank you. CYCLE WORLD magazine.
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Robert L. Hovorka. Jr.
San Francisco, Calif.
CRACK-POP VS THUMP-THUMP
I think that you have a great magazine, except for the fact that all of you at CW seem to think that two-strokes are the best dirt bikes to have. You've got to be kidding! How on earth can you prefer a bike that goes “crack-pop” over a bike that goes “thump-thump”?
In the first place, a two-stroke has almost no low-end torque; on the other hand, a four-stroke has plenty. A two-stroke also sounds as if it is constantly out of time. There is almost no compression to hold you back on a steep hill and that accounts for a lot of unnecessary brake wear.
Sure a four-stroke is a little bit heavier, but you could sacrifice a little weight for a lot more usable power. If I still haven't convinced you that four-strokes make good dirt bikes, take a look at Bengt Aberg's bike.
James Shepherd Glendale. Ore.
COLD WEATHER RIDING TIPS
In my 22 years of riding experience, the last five of which have been here in B.C.. I have come to the conclusion that leather is almost worthless for winter riding—for really cold winter riding, that is. Leather has great wind-proofing qualities, but almost no insulating qualities. When it belonged to the cow or horse, it sufficed, because the horse/cow had lots of fat and long hair to go with it. Not so for the human.
Starting from the inside out. here's what 1 wear to keep warm: thermal underwear, two-piece light cotton or silk inner socks to wick away or absorb moisture, knee-length X-Countrv or wool mountaineering socks. A wool or heavy cotton flannel shirt. Heavy wool pants with Sorel snowmobile boots, Icelandic wool sweater and heavyduty bib front coveralls. A goose down face mask and mitts, a parka and vest over the sweater. If it gets super cold (from zero to -20 deg. F.), a down sweater on top of the vest, under the heavy-duty parka.
If any of your readers would like to correspond regarding tips on cold weather riding. 1 would be delighted to share my knowledge and experience with him/her. I don’t claim to be an expert, but I have found out what works and what doesn’t.
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Bob Schneider 459 S.E. Maine Dr. Vancouver, B.C. Canada V5X 2S9
ATTENTION ANN LANDERS
1 appreciated your open letter to Ann Landers as we bikers need help from the press if our rights are to be recognized. However. I feel you let her off pretty easy. When you consider all those respectable folk who read her column daily and believe it to be 100 percent right and good, I'm almost afraid to go back out there w ith people who are now reassured that it's okay to ignore bikers’ rights. When someone takes chances with my life, I feel justified in making known how I feel about it. I’m sure Ann wouldn't (doesn’t) enjoy 18-wheelers messing around with her health. I'll be watching for her apology.
Bob Dodd Madison, Tenn.
HARLEYS VS JAPANESE BIKES
1 would like to comment on the letter written by Edward J. Loomis in your November 1977 issue.
First I’ll say that I am in 100 percent agreement with him in terms of devaluation of a bike. You buy a new bike one year and the next year new left over models like yours are sold at a price you feel your yearold used bike should be worth. Unfair.
There is one thing I can’t agree with Mr. Loomis on. and that is his comparing a good Japanese bike with the great American dream, the one and only Vibro-Massage Harley. I don't think price can always be the only factor in making a bike purchase because it all depends on what you want. I personally want a bike that is a good tourer. (I make at least one trip of about 4000 miles a year) plus an allaround good handling bike, which you can't get from Harley for any price.
I think I would find it quite easy to sympathize w ith Harley on their dumping charges against the Japanese firms if they made a good competitive bike, but they don’t. The Harley is a poor stopper, and only the XLCR has any good handling characteristics at all. The Hog is a good touring bike because you can haul half of your earthly possessions plus your wife and your St. Bernard, however they don’t stop, handle, or accelerate very well.
I didn't write this letter to make Harley owners mad because I have lots of friends who own them and they love their machines. however I think what I’ve said is true. If Harley would come out w ith something that could compare with the imports 1 would be willing to try one even if the price was a little higher. Until they do. I'll stick with my Yamaha XS750-2D that does everything well.
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John W. Seefeldt Neenah. Wise.
FROM THE FRYING PAN INTO THE FIRE
Your October 1977 “Roundup” contained a “Farewell To Helmet Laws” section listing 23 states, including Minnesota, which had repealed their helmet laws.
Minnesota did indeed repeal its mandatory helmet law but took w hat I feel is a big step backward by replacing it with one which “prohibits non-helmeted motorcyclists from suing for head injuries which could have been prevented by wearing a helmet.”
I’m sure this clause will give lawyers and “expert w itnesses” a great deal of time in court. Also, the logical extension of this concept would he to rule out suing (or collecting under our optional no-fault) for any injury because “everybody knows those motorcycles are just too dangerous to be on the road.”
I am interested in finding out how many other states have repealed their helmet laws by substituting such restrictions. I intend to follow' through on this subject by w riting to the two legislative authors of the hill in Minnesota and would like to be able to report that our state is the only one which was so “concerned” about our personal safety.
Your statement of resistance to mandatory usage “on philosophical and constitutional grounds” about sums up my views on the subject, and I also continue to believe that wearing a helmet is the best choice for me.
LaVerne P. Smith Rochester. Minn.
NOT A PERFORMER, JUST DEPENDABLE
I have been riding for a couple of years and I really like it. My bike is a Honda 500 Twin and aside from the vibration usually associated with the intermediate and larger bikes of this type, it suits my purpose fine.
I found Honda’s service to be a great credit to them. I had a couple of small but no less annoying things go w rong with the bike; they were fixed promptly and without hassle.
The bike I owned before was a Honda 350 purchased second-hand from a private party. When I traded my 350 in on the 500 it was still running fine as usual. I told the salesman if the new bike was half as dependable as the old 350 had been we’d get along fine. Less than four months have gone by and the odometer is closing in on 10.000 miles with nominal maintenance and no major trouble. The Honda 500T: Not a performer, just good old Honda dependability.
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AÍ lodice Gulf Breeze. Fla.
ROYAL ENFIELD BULLET 350cc
We saw' the picture of the Royal Enfield Bullet 350cc in your October 1977 issue.
I would like to inform you that my cousin and I picked up the idea of bringing back the famous British “Thumper” Bullet 350cc to the world.
In the spring of 1976 we went to India and brought out, in cooperation with Enfield India Ltd., a new styled Bullet.
We introduced the bike tor the first time to the public at the IFMA 1976 in Colon. Now we are the distributor for West Germany. We believe that many dealers from different countries will pick up the idea to sell this bike on their market at IFMA 1976. This is about the story of the new Royal Enfield Bullet 350cc.
We are very happy that our idea has found its way to the USA.
Ferry Boza West Germany
HAS ANYONE READ THE CONSTITUTION?
Much in your
In regard to the article, “Too Government in Our Future”
November 1977 issue, I would like to add some of my ideas.
My comment is that the article gives a feeling of despair, a feeling that at best we can slow down the fatal day that motorcycles will be outlawed, but we cannot change the law. This is ridiculous. The people of the United States or their elected representatives can make the laws. When people other than elected representatives can make the laws, our rights are jeopardized. And that is just what has happened. The EPA and BLM and other agencies of the federal government are not elected representatives, but under the guise of regulating, they make rules that are, in effect, laws. They try to give the illusion of the democratic process by holding hearings that are dominated by the influence of the wealthy.
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If we attack the right of Congress to give law-making power to the EPA and others, we can win; if we defend the right of states to control all land within their borders, if we attack the EPA and others as a form of dictatorship that is illegal and unconstitutional. and if we view these organizations as national police forces that we do not need or want, we can change the law'.
Congress cannot amend the Constitution and give law-making power to governmental agencies. The powers not mentioned in the Constitution belong to the people and the states. Has anyone read the Constitution?
Those who wrote our Constitution feared organized and centralized power above all. and now their carefully planned separation of powers is downtrodden by governmental agencies such as the EPA.
The federal government is not responsible for the prosperity in the United States and has only contributed to that prosperity by the speed with which it got out of the way and stayed out of the way.
Right now. it needs help to get out of the way.
Glen R. Shaw Escalante. Utah
THE BRITISH ARE COMING
Your November 1977 issue was one of your finest. It gave a glimpse of something besides Japanese machinery, namely the Ducati 500 and the Laverda Jota 10Ö0. A motorcycle magazine should include machines of this sort in their scope. No matter what one is riding it gets tiresome reading month after month about Honda. Yamaha and Kawasaki.
One bit of aggravation, though, is your treatment of English bikes. Your lack of advertisement can be attributed to their lack of money for it but not once in two years of reading your magazine have I read a test on a Triumph or a Norton. Why? You had a nice little piece several months ago on the demise of British bikes and you even listed places where their owners could get parts for their two-wheeled relics. The article read like a nostalgic look at the Duesenberg.
Remember they are still making Triumphs and Nortons and a few readers would like to know' how the new' ones perform. They may not be the best bike in the w'orld but Honda isn’t either. Just ask a Yamaha ow ner.
Cliff Sumner
Crown Point. Ind.
Our treatment of new English hikes has heen sparse during the past year.
So have the hikes. By the time you read this we will have attended the introduction of the 1978 Triumph line. (Nortons are out ojproduction.) We w ill bring you that new s and will be first in Une to test the Triumphs when available.
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I REST MY CASE
I recently purchased a subscription to your magazine thinking you would cover a wide range of scooters. After two issues, I have changed my mind. Scanning through your magazine, 1 thought 1 was in a foreign country (Japan). In a recent issue you stated Japan is dumping all of its excess in the U.S. for less money per bike than is charged in other countries. Is this fair? I think more will be heard of this when Harley-Davidson finally brings its suit against Japanese motorcycle companies.
When you stated that the price gap between BMW and Honda GL was great, how great is $500? Also in the same issue was a comparison of Kawasaki 1000 to the H-D XLCR. Why not the Superglide? Also how about the resale value of Japanese bike vs a Harley-Davidson. When is the last time you saw a seven-year-old Honda sell for $2500; or a seven-year-old Harley sell for $500 (excluding basket cases)? I rest my case.
Ray M. Figas Jr.
Pittsburgh. Pa.
TEST BIKE AVAILABILITY
I realize that I am a minority in the fact that I own a KTM (Penton). But I would like to know why there are rarely (if any) articles or advertisements concerning KTMs in your magazine. Articles concerning performance, hop-up kits, service tips, improvement ideas, etc., on KTMs would be appreciated.
I believe strongly in the European MX machines. And I have noticed that KTM is rarely a subject of conversation.
Has KTM fallen behind the times or can no improvements be made?
John C. Vines San Jose, Calif.
Having a world-wide variety of test models is a continuing problem. Most of the importers of European models are small companies, as are the manufacturing firms. They don 7 have the large, nationwide facilities of the big factories, w hich means that getting bikes to test can be dijficult, even without such hassles as the just-ended eastern dock strike.
Numbers are important. We’re obligated to test the bikes our readers will buy, and to report on the newest models on the market. So, if Honda comes out with six new bikes and KTM has one new bike, chances are we’ll have six Honda tests and one KTM test. Our likes and dislikes have little to do with it. S
