Hotshots
HOTSHOTS
Café posers
Just finished the October issue and was excited about seeing the articles on Café Racers—nice job, indeed. Neither the 39-horsepower Guzzi V7 Racer nor the 61-hp Triumph Thruxton will send adolescent readers' hearts a-flutter. But those readers with some miles on them, yours truly included, do appreciate riding at a more sedate rate on a mount that does not require shredding the kneecaps of their favorite motorcycle jeans to have fun.
I have a 2006 Ducati Sport 1000 Monoposto that's out of its element around town, but give me a twisty road and I'm in heaven. The look of the bike (just like the old 750), the sound (after opening up the mufflers a little) and the connection between the bike and rider is, in my not so humble opinion, what riding is all about.
For those readers who `ye never given a retro bike a shot, you owe it to your self to try one. Character is something worth savoring.
Al Lovitz Columbus. Ohio
Al, even lower-mileage riders have discov ered the charms of the retro movement.
Magazines like Cycle World have long knocked the Harley-Davidson clan for placing form before function, for synthesizing retro élan via archaic, out dated technology. True enough. But how does that (disapproved) style-forward H-D emphasis differ from the (ap proved) style-forward café racer empha sis? I mean, come on! Just 38.7 hp from the Guzzi V7 Racer? Yet somehow that bike is okay, while a 40-hp Sportster is an object of scorn? Either of them is nothing more than butt jewelry. Posers are posers, whether they're wearing their studded leather at Sturgis or the Ace Cafe. (Full disclosure: I ride a BMW GS Adventure and wear an Aerostich. Function über allesfl
Steven Taylor Beck Sioux Falls. South Dakota
Yeah, you're a total original, Steven. But you `ye got us confused with some other magazine. We `ye always embraced archaic technology and style when it's as much fun to ride as the V7 and Thruxton. And when have we treated a Sportster as an "object of scorn"?
Adventure posers?
Stop marveling at the sheerness of the emperor’s new clothes and admit that the dude is nude. Aggressive tires, clown-stilt suspension and wishful thinking will not transform a quarter-ton streetbike into anything remotely dirtworthy. Today’s Adventure Bikes are the unholy spawn of adspeak and fat-wallet fantasy. They appeal to the same lawyers, pharmacists and middle managers who pose as weekend rebels on their shiny Hogs—clearly a market segment with more money than sense.
Peter Egan’s trusty DR650 Suzuki, at about half the weight and a third the cost, is IN EVERY SIGNIFICANT WAY a better multi-surface vehicle than any of the current adventure barges.
There’s just no defending these wallowing hippos except to say that they can be decent street machines. Buy and ride whatever honks your horn, but unless you can Photoshop yourself barreling past mud huts in Central America on one of these things, expect only derisive laughter from anyone other than the Starbucks crowd.
R. Christenser Goldwater, Michigar
I was kind of surprised to hear you describe the Tiger Explorer 1200 as a total "poser" ("Asphalt Adventurers," September). For some reason or another, I thought such adjectives -. were reserved for the rider. As in, we have "squids" who do stupid ) things with their bikes, more often than not with ________ out any protective gear. _________ And on the other end of .1 the spectrum we have "posers," who have all the right gear but seldom go -anywhere because it is too __________ hot/collar/dirty...
Anyway, I showed your article to my Scrambler, and she is glad she wasn't included in that test. Because even though she only has half the suspensionl horsepower/fuel capacity, she is no poser and always willing to go on an adventure. I guess that makes her a true adventure bike.
Michel Trahan Verdun, Quebec City, Canada
Thanks for the adventure-bike comparison of the major non-BMW offerings. As a GS owner, I find the recent plethora of new models trying to chase the GS nearly laughable. At least KTM chose to go their own way in building their adventure bike, and it works for them.
All these new units try to look like a GS for whatever reason instead of taking the adventure concept and building their own designs. In defined categories, these units sometimes surpass the GS on sheer performance, but most of us don’t own a GS for a specific here or there; it is the total package that simply works. With the upcoming water-cooled GS, I am afraid even BMW will overcomplicate the model.
Oh, well, here's to the future.
Greg Wonacolt Boise, Idaho
Come on, man, how about some love for the Suzuki V-Strom Adventure? I know it's only $10,900, but I just bought one, and it is a great bike for the price. I could have purchased a six-year-old BMW R1200GS with 20K miles on it, but I chose the V-Strom and am very happy about it.
Kevin Newton Sacramento, California
The stench of performance
Mark Hoyer, I chuckled when I read your column about the rotor-eating Commando (Up Front, September). The same thing happened to me 40 years ago with my `68 Triumph T100C. The one thing I remember most is the rancid smell of the fragmented stator. Thank God it was only the rotor and stator, but I was 18 years old and that was a big expense at the time. That experi ence stuck with me. The `66 T100C I'm reviving now has a Sparx-brand rotor and stator. The next time you experi ence that smell on a Brit bike, you will diagnose the fault without lifting a tool. Thanks for the memories.
Michael Cooper Cincinnati, Ohio
Meet you at the Ace
Loved the article on the Ace Cafe (October). Brings it all back to me. A three-minute record on the jukebox served as the timer for a ton-up blast from the Ace to the next roundabout and back. Bloody scary! And don't for get "Johimo's" and "The Dugout".. .not as famous as the Ace but very similar Rocker hangouts. A point about pricing in 1959: Austin Seven or Morris Mini Minor, about £500. Triumph Bonneville and other bikes, about £300. Also, the bloke with the pins is probably called "Titch," not Tich, which means "Shorty" in U.S. parlance.
"Skeg" (Shaun Walton) British Columbia, Canada
Ready for a stroker
Loved seeing that article about the pos sibility of a two-stroke streetbike again (Roundup, October). Too bad it couldn't be a resurrected version of a Kawasaki Triple. But then it hit me: Erik Buell gets his motors from Rotax, which is owned by Bombardier. Just imagine an all-new Buell running around with a big-inch, clean two-stroke. We won't get to see that trail of blue smoke or the smell of castor oil, but it would be great to hear that exhaust note again.
Dave Beacock Brockville, Ontario
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