Cycle World Letters
CYCLE WORLD LETTERS
Sabreliner
i he Sabreliner is a jet aircraft that costs approximately $5 million and is capable of speeds approaching 600 mph. Hardly in the class of any Honda. I am a motorcycle rider and a pilot of airplanes. Your references to the aircraft in your V65 test in the May issue offends me.
Any person who operates an aircraft has spent a considerable amount of time and money to earn the right to be called a pilot. Just because a person can afford an 1 lOOcc motorcycle, it does not make him a pilot.
Don’t get me wrong. I love motorcycles, I also love airplanes. But when it comes to high-speed cross-country travel, the airplane is the superior piece.
Brad Campbell Danville, 111.
The word pilot applies to more than drivers of airplanes. Tracing back to its Greek origins, the word referred to one who steered a ship, and the pilot of a V65 Sabre often feels like that.
For cross-country travel, our resident Beechcraft owner reports that it takes him, on the average, the same amount of time to go crosscountry on a bike or in his plane. And on the bike, he can stop wherever and whenever he so wishes.
Houston report
After reading your Camel Pro report, One Bike Fits All in the May issue, I noticed you neglected to mention me in the second heat. Rich Arnaiz was first, Graham second, and Parker fourth. Well, my name is Duane Gerrard and I was third.
It was my first race as a pro and I’m damned proud to have made it to the Houston TT national as a rookie.
Duane Gerrard Seattle, Wash.
Demise of the kick starter
I must respond to your Service letter in the April issue.
I would never purchase a motorcycle without a kick starter. Their weight and expense is more than made up for by their usefulness. Although all of the bikes I’ve owned have had electric start I often find myself using the kick lever. For one thing, a cold bike that has sat a week or more, or perhaps a winter, may need more than one crank to fire it up no matter how well it’s been maintained.
It’s still the battery that is the weakest link in the motorcycle system. Maybe someday when we have electrical storage systems that don’t go flat we can depend solely on the electric foot. Personally, I prefer a starting system that depends on nothing more than the ability to move one’s leg downward.
G. Hawkes Wakefield, Mass.
Rejoice, we have no choice
I don’t like the finite motorcycle, you don’t like it, and the guy down the street with the new VF 1000 doesn’t like it.
So, who is the majority that the Japanese statisticians base their production quotas on anyway? There must be a lot of people who turn green at the thought of not owning this year’s culmination of motorcycle technology. Personally, I don’t know any.
About all I would gain if I traded in my 1982 GPzl 100 for an ’84 model would be about 0.5 seconds in the quarter mile. Not bad for $2500. Maybe I should also get a facelift this summer when I turn 24.
Victor Slate Newark, Del.
Why, Ted?
Okay, I give up. In your June Slipstream photo, why is Ted sitting astride a bigbore road bike in roadrace leathers, flak vest, motocross boots and a road-style helmet? And why is that man draping Ted’s bike with giant sheets of toilet paper? Has he just entered the Daytona 200 combined road race, enduro, supercross and wheelless observed trials competition?
Dan Anderson Dallas Center, Iowa
With Ted you never know.
Things To Do
Your Things To Do department is a great idea and long overdue. Now with clubs to contact and events to ride to, I look forward to the upcoming issues with even more interest.
I would like to start a club in my area. Can any established clubs get me moving in the right direction?
L. E. Reid 605 Kern Rd.
Killen, Texas 7654\
I really perked up when I discovered your new Things > To Do column. As vice president of the Southern California Norton Owners Club, it’s a great reference for the many members (and nonmembers) of groups and organizations that are involved in motorcycling activities.
Reader Information
Editorial offices are located at 1499 Monrovia Ave., Newport Beach, Calif. 92663 Editorial contributions are welcomed, but cannot be considered unless sent only to Cycle World. Not responsible for return of unsolicited material unless accompanied by self-addressed, stamped envelope. Rates on request.
Letters cannot all be answered. Nor can all Service inquiries be answered. We appreciate correspondence sent to the editorial offices and will use the most interesting and appropriate letters in the magazine.
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should be directed to these phone numbers. Back issues from 1980 to 1983 (except 4/80, 4/81, 5/81,7/82) area vailable for $3.25 each from Old Del Mar Emporium, P.O. Box 162fi? Spring Valley, Calif. 92077. Please add 75 cents postage and handling per order. Advertising: See SRDS. Circulation audited by ABC.
ME MB(R YoNcvc~.a JS?~V
Mark Fare
Los Angeles, Calif.
I was pleased to see Things To Do in your magazine. And speaking for the Blue Ridge Road Riders, I’m grateful for your willingness to help local motorcycle clubs promote the sport of motorcycling.
Nick Diaz
AMA Road Rep #555
Frederick, Md.
The 5-lb. Special
In your article, The Five Pound Special, you state that an autoclave is a vacuum oven. That is wrong. An autoclave is a pressure oven that heats with live steam at 1-2 atm. pressure and supplies a rather wet environment. A vacuum oven operates at a pressure less than atmospheric, and usually is employed when an extremely dry heat is desired. So, which one was really used?
Tom Lubben
Madison, Wis.
It was an autoclave; and yes, an autoclave is a pressure oven. They typically operate at around 100 psi, over six atmospheres. The part being cured is separated from the steam by a rubber blanket, and a pump is used to remove air and any other gases released by the epoxy on the part’s side.
We’re getting safer?
There’s an interesting thing you should know about those statistics (Roundup, December, 1983). South Carolina is where the greatest number of accidents per 10,000 registered motorcycles occur.
Yet the federal government withdrew all of its support for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation’s Better Biking Program—the only program trying to do something about this problem.
If you would like more information on this, contact Roy Covington, in Columbia, South Carolina at (803) 7817260.
Bobby Blackwell West Columbia, S.C.
What reserve?
While looking over my May issue of Cycle World, I found a mistake. In your test of the V65 Sabre, you mentioned that there was no reserve fuel tank. I was surprised when I went through the specifications, though. The fuel consumption said it would go 207 miles to reserve. Oops.
J.W.M.
Rittman, Ohio
Like an increasing number of new motorcyles, the Sabre has a fuel gauge instead of an active pet cock. Most of these bikes, Sabre included, have an indication of sorts when the fuel is low. Often this is a low fuel warning light. On the Sabre it’s a blinking liquid crystal. We list the range to this reserve warning.
New-bike choice
It’s almost new-bike time for me and I’ve been thinking about a BMW or a Moto Guzzi. My ’78 Yamaha Triple has been a reliable friend over the years but it takes so long to do any repairs on it that there’s no fun in tinkering anymore.
My next bike should have two cylinders, pushrods, a gearbox that takes gear oil and not engine oil, and a drive shaft. The BMW is a bit outside my budget, so would a Moto Guzzi be a suitable substitute as far as simplicity and reliability are concerned?
Dave Geldert Panama City, Fla.
Yes—although only you know what is “suitable” for your needs.
continued on page 17
continued from page 12
Husky-light
In your June, 1984 250 enduro comparison test your riders didn’t like the steering on the Husky. That’s probably because it had a flat front tire. See for yourself on page 42.
Paul Tillberg mm Mickleton, N.J.
Whoops! You caught us red-handed. See, we all felt that the Husky was kind of heavy, so we decided to lighten it up by 10 or 12 pounds by letting all the air hut of the front tire.
Motorcycle spirit
Whether writing about the restoration of a weathered 1967 Bonneville, or about a sojourn along the desolate ■Stretches of old Route 66, Peter Egan has managed to capture the mood and feeling of motorcycling in The TwoWheeled Underground Canadian Railroad.
Reading his stories consistently reinforces the decision I have made to include the sport of motorcycling as an integral part of my life.
Mark Hering Charlotte, N.C.
Harley impression
Concerning your test of the HarleyDavidson FXRDG (June, 1984), tell ^ne, how am I supposed to be impressed by this $8000, 1300cc lead sled that turns a scorching 13.34 at 97.40 mph quarter-mile and delivers a top speed of 113 mph? The specs on my ’82 Suzuki 750EZ sound a lot better to me: $2900 (before Reagan’s tariff), 12.01 at ^J09.10 in the quarter and a top speed of 130 mph.
If this is the best Harley can do after they cried to the government about the unfair business practices of the Japanese manufacturers, my next motorcycle for damn sure won’t be a Harley. I’ll gladly spend the price of the tariff to buy Something that will run.
Maybe Harley should get with Pabst and try to sell some more beer.
Steve Null Troy, Ohio
Maybe they should. But you seem to *be forgetting that there are lots of riders who do like the way Harleys run and look. And if you’re not one of them, then you’re not supposed to be impressed by the FXRDG or any other Harley. They aren’t built to appeal to and serve the needs of performancer,oriented riders, a group to which you certainly seem to belong.
