Letters

LETTERS

D-P dreaming

I have to agree with Peter Egan’s April column, “Ten Percenters.” Dual-purpose bikes have taken a turn for the worse! Why can sport-bikes, cruisers, motocrossers, etc., keep getting better, while dual-purpose bikes keep getting more and more street-oriented?

Roy Artman

Vandergrift, Pennsylvania

I decided I would like to get back on a dual-purpose bike, but all I could find was one of those pretty Transalp-types (unless I would accept 250cc, or less). And the price on those fancy contraptions is outrageous. I wouldn’t own such a monstrosity any more than a good, red-blooded man would own one of those prissy new breeds of the Bronco 4X4. Gawd, the world is really going down the tubes at mach speed.

William Keith Clark,Jr.

Carson City, Nevada

It troubles me to see the trend that dual-purpose machines are taking. Case in point: Honda Transalp 600, Honda NX650, Kawasaki KLR650. How can a machine with no kickstarter, more painted plastic body parts than a sportbike, and weighing between 340-400 pounds dry, be classified as a dual-purpose motorcycle? It isn’t that the new dual-purpose bikes are so terrible, and they make nice streetbikes. But let’s get the dual back into our dualpurpose bikes.

Jerry Giles Nairobi, Kenya

When I first saw the new NX650 and Transalp and all that expensive, breakable bodywork, I was disappointed. Even though on the average just 10 percent of a dualpurpose bike’s time is devoted to roughing it, it only takes one mistake to find out just how costly replacing those plastic body parts can be. I’m happy to see there is some concern among fellow dualpurpose riders about this matter. Hopefully the industry will re-evaluate its current trend. If I wanted a streetbike I would buy one.

Kurt Cooper

Pinckney, Michigan

Price wars

In response to the two “sticker shocked” letters in your May issue: It’s true that the value of the dollar

just isn’t what it used to be, but neither is motorcycle technology.

All right, so I paid over $4000 for my FZR400, but look what I got for my money: a quick, excellent-handling bike with liquid-cooling, 16 valves, advanced suspension and an aluminum frame.

So come on, part with some cash and enjoy today’s motorcycle technology at a “bargain” price!

Tom Godon

Lincoln Park, New Jersey

I’m sure the Honda CB-1 (CW, April, 1989) is another fine example of how well Honda designs and builds things, but that price galls me. It may baffle you and Honda why sales are sluggish, but it sure as hell doesn’t baffle me.

God help us all if it now costs $4500 to build a 400cc standard motorcycle.

Ken Headlee

Star City, West Virginia

Two-bike trouble

I’m a 22-year-old American engineer working in a Middle Eastern refinery. My ’88 Hurricane 1000 is sitting in a Massachusetts garage with 3500 miles on it, and I’d like to ship it over here. However, in one year I can save enough money to pay cash for a Bimota YB6. What should I do?

J. Chris Mineo

Awali, Bahrain, Arabian Gulf

Easy: Work for a year and a month and do both.

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