Letters

LETTERS

Semper fi

Here I am, sitting in Saudi Arabia pouring over your magazine for about the sixth time. You see, I am in the U.S. Marine Corps, and when we shipped out, we weren't allowed to bring much extra, but I couldn’t leave home without my current Cycle World. I was to be deployed to Okinawa, where I was bound and determined to buy a Honda CBR400RR and ship it back to States, but the Saudi thing ruined those plans. I’ll just have to wait for my chance to have one. Keep up the great work, and keep printing all you can about the Japanese-spec sportbikes.

Jonathan Schendel U.S. Marines, Saudi Arabia

RS. Wish I had my CR250 here, there’s lots of sand.

Anchors aweigh

I am starting my second year on the Battleship Wisconsin in the Persian Gulf. I subscribe to all the bike magazines from home. Of them, Cycle World continues to be my favorite. My thanks for being the best bike magazine available in the United States. Or the Middle East. Jeffrey Medvin U.S. Navy, Persian Gulf

Thanks for the compliments Jonathan and Jeffrey. Good luck, and come home soon and safe. Your words encouraged DCI, Cycle World 's parent company, to send extra copies of its various magazines to the Middle East to help our servicemen and servicewomen there pass the time.

Serious fun

Thank you, Mr.Thompson, for your column, “The Alliance Against Fun” (October, 1990). As a 23-yearold motorcyclist who took up the sport a little over a year ago, I have quickly discovered that there are plenty of people out there who do not want me, or anyone else for that matter, riding a motorcycle.

While I fully agree with what you have written, I would like to say that the AAF—which you described as a group made up of everyone from “simple-minded busy-bodies to legislators looking for easy targets”— has been able to load it’s guns with ammunition provided by motorcyclists themselves. Let’s look at your example: a 20-year-old and a Kawasaki ZX-6. There are some questions that need to be asked here. Is he/she a properly licensed rider? Has this rider completed a certified rider course? Will he/she wear protective clothing and a helmet at all times? If the answer to any of these questions is no, it is all too probable that this young rider will not live to be an old rider. The AAF can use the irresponsible actions of one rider against all motorcycle riders. Insurance premiums go up, public opinion stays negative, and fewer people can afford to ride.

Patrick Cannon Tucker, Georgia

Remember the Sputhe

Oh-oh, a lapse of institutional memory. In the August issue, Cycle World said about the modified Buell RSI 200, . . the Buell reeled off a

138-mph top-speed pass. At the strip, it notched an 11.46-second run at 1 19.04. These numbers make the bike easily the quickest, fastest street-legal Harley ever to compress our eyeballs.”

Once your eyeballs decompress, you might want to re-read your July, 1980 report on Vance Breese’s street-legal Sputhe Sportster. There, CIT wrote, “. . . the Harley stopped the clocks at 10.554 and 130.24 . . . and the bike ran through the halfmile at 149 miles per hour.”

Alan Sputhe

Grass Valley, California

We stand corrected, though it should be pointed out that the Sputhe Engineering-modified Sportster pushed the definition of "street-legal, " as it was ridden in road race form, with no front fender, no headlight, no electric starter and an open exhaust pipe loud enough to break window panes. Still, its numbers were indeed impressive. 0

Reader Information

Editorial offices are located at 853 W. 17th St. Costa Mesa, CA 92627. Editorial contributions are welcomed, but must be guaranteed exclusive to Cycle World. We are not responsible for the return of unsolicited material unless accompanied with a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

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.

Subscriptions in the U.S. and territories are: one year, $17.94; two years, $27.94; three years, $37.94. Canadian subscribers, please add $5.00 per year. All other countries add $8.00 per year. (Please remit by money order or draft on a U.S. bank, payable in U.S. funds.) Single copy $2.25; $2.95 in Canada.

Subscription service: P.O. form 3579 and all subscription correspondence should be addressed to Cycle World, P.O. Box 51222 Boulder, CO 80321-1222. Please allow six to eight weeks for a change of address to become effective. Include both

your old and new address, and if possible, a mailing label from a recent issue.For faster service, call toll-free 800/456-3084; in Colorado 303/447-9330.

Back issues from 1985 to current year are available on a prepaid basis for $3.75 each from Cycle World, P.O. Box 754, Holmes, PA 19043; 800/345-8112. (Canada and overseas: 215/532-8687.

Advertising: See SRDS. Circulation audited by Audit Bureau of Circulation.