Good Times
GOOD TIMES
UP FRONT
EDITEIR'S lETTER
HOW THE LEAN YEARS IMPROVED MOTORCYCLING
What's that saying about how nothing succeeds like excess? Okay, maybe that's not quite it. But for a time there, motorcycling was getting larger than itself, so to speak. Remember the Kawasaki Vulcan 2000 V-twin cruiser in all its 2,053cc glory? Or the frantic pace of development in the middleweight and open-class sportbike segments, which significantly updated/redesigned models every two years, because we absolutely had to have the newest, fastest, and best?
We love performance and technology at CW, but a market in which a 6oocc supersport bike capable of 160 mph is considered "entry-level" is a bit out of whack.
So while we still have lots of awesome, powerful, high-technology bikes in most segments after the big economic crash, the true entry-level, with models all the way down to the Honda Grom, has filled in nicely. And simple bikes like dualsports have shown some of the biggest gains in the Motorcycle Industry Council's most recent sales numbers.
On a personal level, working at the magazine the past 14 years has given me the opportunity to ride just about every kind of machine available. I've been tempted many times to buy certain models, but the last new bike I bought until recently was a 1995 Honda VFR750.
I loved it, rode it quite a bit, but as I tested more and more motorcycles in this great job, it sat more and more, so I sold it.
And started pouring my time and effort into vintage bikes. I have always thought this was good for the world in terms of "recycling" old stuff rather than tossing it and getting new. And most of my vintage bikes seem to be more reliable when they are parked, so they haven't tended to get in the way of testing new bikes as much...
But recently, I bought a 2013 Yamaha WR250R, making me a part of the nearly
8-percent gain in dual-sport sales in the third quarter of 2013 versus a year prior.
Even at $6,690 MSRP brand-new, the WR is a lot of bike for the money and, of the bikes in its class, it offers the most performance "headroom." The single-cylinder engine makes 25 snappy horsepower versus the 20 of its competition, and the bike has the best suspension. It's not as low-seat-friendly or torquey down low as the Honda CRF250L, but, for my needs, the WR is just about perfect.
It's also dead easy to work on, it's light and narrow and takes almost no effort to move around the garage (or pick up on the trail). Fuel economy is in the 65-mpg range if I'm not flogging it too hard. Insurance is also significantly less than, say, a i,ooocc sportbike. Like $1,600 a year cheaper for me than equivalent coverage on a 2013 Yamaha YZF-Ri. Go, downsizing!
There will always be a place for luxurytourers, exotic sportbikes, and heavyweight cruisers, but to see a balance return to the market reflected in what's actually selling is a great indication of motorcycling's long-term health.
Shifting gears a bit: Is downsizing good for everything? Maybe not, at least in terms of the size of the print we've been using since our July 2013 redesign issue. While we've had lots of positive comment about Cycle World's new look, almost nobody was happy with the readability of the smaller text. We have heard the chorus of dismay from our loyal audience, so we have increased the point size on just about every piece of body copy and caption in the magazine. I hope you find it easier to read. Reader feedback is an important source of information on how your magazine comes out, so send comments to intake@cycleworld.com.
MARK HOYER
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
THIS MONTH'S STATS
30 NEW BIKES IN THIS ISSUE
MILES ON THE ODO OF #001 NINJA 900 COVER BIKE
9.0 BIGGER FONT SIZE USED THIS MONTH
