Hotshots
HOTSHOTS
Dear Honda...
I can remain silent no longer after seeing the tantalizing picture of the Honda CB1100F from the Tokyo Show (Up Front, December). What a beautiful bike! It has all the right shapes and exposed pieces. Best of all, that gorgeous air-cooled transverse-Four in all its naked glory. This is what a street motorcycle should look like! Honda, bring it to the U.S! I’ll buy one. Hell, I’ll buy two!
Although I appreciate cookie-cutter repli-racers as the marvels of engineering that they are, there’s something lost in the execution. Perhaps they’re just too perfect, just too powerful, just too polished for their own good. I realize air-cooled engines have limitations compared to their water-cooled siblings, but there’s something much sexier, guttural, even primal about the way they look and the sounds they make.
Dave Greer San Diego, California
I agree with Editor Edwards in his letter to Honda. Styling is a very personal thing, but to me it has pretty much been downhill since the Triumph Bonnevilles, Norton Commandos, BSAs and, yes, Honda CBs of the 1970s. The CBl lOOF is a nice reminder of that period with the blessing of better brakes, suspension, etc. Sometimes, you get it right the first time-or at least early on. I hope Honda builds it. Bob Bixler Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Please pass along to Honda: If they make a production version of the Honda CBl 100F as seen at the Tokyo Motor Show, I’m certain to buy one. It is a beautiful bike and makes those retro Ducatis look stodgy. Bill Perkins Hermitage, Tennessee
I couldn’t agree with you more about the lack of excitement in Honda’s current lineup. It’s with great sorrow that I admit that I’ve abandoned the company after having at least one Honda motorcycle in my garage from 1985 until this past June. Unbelievable! Twentytwo years of Honda motorcycles and they’ve lost me. It was nice while it lasted. I now own a Suzuki DRZ400SM and a Ducati Hypermotard.
Get with it Honda, bring the excitement back! Mark Mercer
Califon, New Jersey
As a (now-discontinued) 919 owner, I cannot tell you how frustrated I am that Honda gave up the UJM market. It would be nice to see the CBl 100F here, it is a beautiful and clean-looking bike, but I am not going to hold my breath. Thanks, Mr. Edwards, for putting into words what most of us Honda fans have felt for a long time.
Billy Rhoda Olive Branch, Mississippi
American Honda has forgotten its past. If you ever see that beautiful CB11 OOF, it’ll be on your next European vacation. Tod Cumpson
Highlands Ranch, Colorado
I couldn’t agree more with Mr. Edwards’ reactions to Honda’s 2008 lineup. I have been a huge Honda fan since the CB700 Nighthawk S came out in 1984. I have ridden only Hondas, and my father did the same in his time. I loved the style and technology of the older models. But Honda is not the motorcycle giant that it once was. Their website shows only one new streetbike for’08, the CBR1000RR.
As excited as I am about the Tokyo concept bikes, I doubt very much that any of those models will be brought to production. Even if they are produced, the U.S. market will never see them.
The cruiser population is aging and will soon trade in their Harleys and Harley-clones for walkers and canes. The rest of us aren’t 18-year-olds looking for a repli-racer to stunt on. America needs real motorcycles. There was a time when Big Red could deliver, and I hope that they will again.
John Saenz
Jacksonville, Florida
Thrown back
Man, was I stoked! As I began to read Edwards’ letter to Honda, I realized here /# was a man with gravitas in the motorcycle industry, about to tell Honda a thing or two about needed improvements to its product line. What a letdown, then, when his final and only suggestion was to build the anachronisms shown at the Tokyo Show!
Yes, it is time for Honda to come out with some new motorcycles that will knock our socks off. I was hoping Mr. Edwards would throw out some really bold ideas for Honda, not praise them for 1980s throwbacks.
Rick Mullins Arlington, Texas >
That Egan again...
It’s all Peter Egan’s fault. A few months ago, he wrote in his column about a restaurant-owner friend of his who bought a Triumph Scrambler and absolutely loves it (“The Accessibility Factor,” Leanings, March, 2007). So, influenced by that column, along with the Scrambler’s smooth, tourquey motor, classic looks and backto-basics design, I bought one for myself last week. I, too, absolutely love it. As much as I appreciate modern, hightech bikes, the Scrambler brings me back to the joys of motorcycling. It’s refreshingly void of the high-maintenance complexity and miles of plumbing that have become standard on today’s bikes.
Anyway, thanks to Peter for consistently reminding us of the pure pleasure of our common passion. Riding is a joy, whatever bike you choose. Doak Smailer Highlands Ranch, Colorado
Just add lights
Saw and purchased your December issue largely on the table of contents blurb “BMW gets sideways.” Rushed home and as soon as I opened to the “American Beemer” article-without reference to the text-it screamed Ron Wood: the red paint, the minimalist frame and bodywork, the styling. I still remember the Alex Jorgensen/Ron Wood Norton dirttracker of the 1970s as an absolute gem of moto-sculpture.
This latest bike? Lithe, sub-350 pounds, 90 horsepower, electric-start and counterbalancers. Just add lights and I’m in. Where do I sign up? Rodney Forman Gainesville, Georgia
Ballsy wonkers! I’d bet money that if BMW hired Ron Wood as design consultant, they could bring a neo-naked F800 to the street utilizing his minimalist manifesto. It would have 100 horsepower from the Rotax Twin and weighin wet well under 400 pounds! Just don’t ruin it with German origami styling and that bike would sell! I know there’d be one in my garage. Ted Toms
Paw Paw, Michigan
When I saw the BMW 800 flat-track bike, I e-mailed Mr. Wood. “No, I am not producing the frame,” he wrote back. Please, please, help him see that there are still people out here who need that bike. The Sacramento Mile is gone but I am not. Bob Willis
Roseville, California
As a long-time BMW rider and lover of the brand, every time I look at the images of Ron Wood’s dirt-track Beemer, I find myself grinning from ear to ear. This astonishingly beautiful, museum-quality bike is a testament to Wood’s incredible genius. Best of luck to Ron for the 2008 racing season. Shahram Shiva
New York, New York
Unfortunately, you may be jumping the start with your well wishes. As of presstime, the big bosses at BMW had made no decision on Wood ’s sponsorship proposal. Hopefully, they read these letters.
(Sic) puppy
Farewell for the last time! Your magazine have (sic) become dreadfully boring and inane. You could learn lesson (sic) from U.K.’s top english (sic)-language motorcycle mags (sic), Bike! Dude, are you all too old or is FCC controlling you? Jeez! I just got this month (sic) magazine and golly, what a barf-o-thon!
Totally not expecting a reply English-Lit professor at UCLA
Lit crits
I recently began receiving Cycle World after a 25-year break, and it’s even better than I remember-more bikes, more info and more insights month after month. And they say you can’t go home again.
Gary Brush Houston, Texas
Evidently, not a UCLA grad, Gaiy?
Cool! Stupid way to start a letter, but I just leafed through the new issue (December), and I’m more impressed with the magazine every month. Right now my biggest issue with the mag is that I can’t seem to find the time to read one issue before the next arrives! But winter is coming... Peter Spinale
St. Paul, Minnesota
Ruling class
“UJMs Rule!” by John Burns in the December issue was great stuff. I, too, buy Used Japanese Motorcycles. The article gives me faith in my decision to buy second-hand, old-school bikes. The Kawi ZX-9 makes for a great streetfighter.
Marcus Trise Oxford, Maryland
Please accept my formal request to have John Burns’ salary doubled. I can’t tell you how happy I was to see an article about an old beater streetfighter (complete with Sapporo catch can!) in this month’s CW. Burns has proven that you don’t need to drop a ton of cash to have a ton of fun.
Please pass my gratitude on to Burnsy for picking up on the streetfighter segment, which, by and large, goes ignored by the American moto-media. It’s nice to know we have another fellow “fighter” in our corner. Oh, tell Burns to stop by www.customfighters.com. We’d be happy to help him find a better headlight setup for his beast.
Now if you’ll excuse me I’m gonna hop on my own fighter and go “schwantzing around town.” Greg Aftung
Indianapolis, Indiana
I was disappointed to read John Burns’ “UJMs” story. Once again, buying used is made out to be the province of those too poor to buy new rather than those too smart to do so. Used motorcycles can be had cleanly and cheaply and need not be made into parody vehicles. Mr. Burns does extol the virtues of buying used, but does so apologetically, almost mockingly. Buying used is simply smart.
Adam Novitt
Posted on www.cycleworld.com
I really enjoyed John Burns’ “UJMs” article. So easy to relate to. Lots more to say, but I have to change my Depends, take my little white pills and get my prostate into the sidecar so I can go riding.
Robin Pomerantz Pensacola, Florida
Careful, Robin, that kind of behavior could get you hired as a CW staffer... as long as you don’t have an English-Lit degree from UCLA.
