Letters

LETTERS

Talk to me

I just finished reading David Edwards’ June editorial, “Conversations,” and I just wanted to say that I think he's right on the money. The hallmark of being a motorcyclist is the ritualistic “talk” we engage in with our machines—washing, tinkering, buffing, polishing—followed by an over-the-shoulder glance as we walk away. There is a certain magic between all those exposed nuts and bolts and the person who takes care of them.

Bruce Esse Duluth. Minnesota

The “Conversations” editorial really shocked me. I thought that I was the only human being on the face of the planet who “talked” to his bike. I can spend hours just walking around my 1978 Honda 750, looking at its many chromed parts, searching for any loose nuts and bolts, cleaning parts over and over again.

J. Stevens

Breckenridge, Colorado

Save the elephant

Now, we got us a flub in this here June, 1990, issue, and it’s my intention to take y’all to task over it. Specially since no red-blooded straight-shooter woulda made the mistake in the first place.

In your comparison test of them three nuclear-powered giraffe gizmos—Open-class motocrossers I believe ya called ’em—you wrote that “horsepower without controllability is about as useful as an elephant gun without a scope-sight.” Now, y’all best not be safariing off to Elephantland without yer brain surgeon buddy right close-by, cause yer

gonna sincerely wish for him when yer E-gun recoils and impales yer cranium with that “scope-sight.” Ya see, most shooting of large game is done at right-close range (which makes it more sporting, ’specially if you recollect the dining habits of some of them critters), so you don’t need no scope-sight, which most biggame rifles would jar out of accuracy anyway. . .perviding they didn’t do as suggested and carve you a nice new eyeport with it.

Let’s not let loose metaphors exceed the envelopes of our experience.

J. Foster Turner Houston, Texas

Thanks for setting us straight, J. Metaphors aren't something we take lightly. Start mixing them, and pretty soon it gets out of hand, snowballing like a house afire.

ST1100 chatter

Don't do it, Honda! Why bring out the new ST l 100 during a slow market, when the directly compet-

itive Concours has recently been given a year's rest to clear out inventory? Why create a large, heavy, complex machine when your updated CBR 1000 is already considered one of the best available sporttourers? The same market could be more easily addressed with a lowpeg, high-bar. better-seat option package for the big CBR. Is the touring market (sport or otherwise) really strong enough to support the Gold Wing, CBR 1000. Pacific Coast and ST l 100?

Michael Clark Corvallis, Oregon

The ST l 100 is “$2000 better” than the Concours? It marks the “arrival” of the Japanese sporttourer”? You guys have got to be kidding.

Here, Kawasaki makes a five-year commitment to a really good motorcycle (with some poor-fitting bodywork, granted), keeps the cost reasonable, updates it according to riders’ concerns (higher windshield and handlebar), all the time keeping the emphasis on “sport” without neglecting the “tour,” and you guys dismiss it. What gives?

Ed Gelasi

Crystal Lake, Illinois

It was never our intention to “dismiss" the Concours. It is a good motorcycle; in fact. a couple of years ago, we picked it as the best sporttourer over the BM W K100RS and the Suzuki Katana 1100. What we meant to impart was that the Kawasaki—for various reasons—has never really attracted a large audience, nor has it swayed many BMW owners. The ST 1100, better finished and more sophisticated, has a chance to do both those things. E3

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