Intake

Intake

SCOUT SAW lOB EGAN'S NORTON BII(E MOOS

KICKSTART THE CONVERSATION

I’m beginning to believe that Bonnier has a vested interest in Indian. Why else would you guys drool over a mediocre cruiser every month? I’m a boomer and think skirted fenders and tractor-style seats are for old men. If I read another word about how great Indians are, I’m gonna barf. I’ll call them great when Marc Marquez wins a MotoGP with one.

DAVID PARSONS CYCLEWORLD.COM

(A) We don’t drool over mediocre cruisers; (B) Marquez doesn’t race a Honda cruiser; (C) Great motorcycles come in all shapes and sizes, and the Scout is one of them.

LIKE BIKE, NOT FENDER

I agree that the Scout seems to fill a gap left by other manufacturers. I will be disappointed if it is not a great success. One negative point: the horrible front fender. It reminds me of when we were kids in the ’40s and bent up the front fender on our Knucks and had no money to replace it. Out came the hacksaw and we achieved the same result that the Indian design engineers have.

EDDIE B00MH0WER CYCLEWORLD.COM

BORN-AGAIN NORTON

Peter Egan can “waste several hours every week, just staring” at his restored Norton (Leanings, November ’14), but I’m squinting at this puny 1.5-inch photo. Come on, Peter, I'm sure you’ve got a nice (film) camera. Gallery, please.

BOB HILL MARLBOROUGH, NH

Talk about motorcycle karma: The same day your mag arrived in my mailbox telling about Peter Egan’s restored

Norton Commando, I fired mine up for the first time in 10 years. I didn’t do the full-on job that Peter did; still, to hear that deep roar and feel the prodigious torque after so long was a real treat. Something about these bikes, despite their quirks, just draws you in.

FRANKL. PALM ERI CYCLEWORLD.COM

Come on, Peter, $10,500 deserves more than a 1 x 1.5-inch photo, eh? How about a layout and show us your pride and joy.

ERIC GLENNIE

OSHAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA

But is it really a Commando if it doesn’t leak or even consume oil? Nice job, Peter.

GORD VELDHOEN

OSHAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA

We’re still studying this small photo to see if there are any oil spots. Visit cycleuuorld.com for a full gallery of Egan’s Commando. And what’s with you guys from Oshawa?

MIRACLES DO HAPPEN

Does it strike anyone besides me as extraordinarily coincidental that the photographer who captured the 12 frames of Marc Marquez (Ignition, November ’14) miraculously saving his Honda MotoGP bike from crashing is named Milagro?

JIM BENSBERG COLORADO SPRINGS, CO

BECAUSE WE CAN

I was interested in the long-term Yamaha FZ-09. I’m wondering, I guess, why I’d consider spending 43 percent of the MSRP making the FZ-09 into something which is no longer, as the article characterizes it, a “bargain” middleweight. At a total cost of almost $12,000, it now competes with an entirely different group of bikes. I understand that the FZ-09 is intended as a different kind of bike than, for example, a Ducati, but that’s my point.

BUFFORDD. MOORE CYCLEWORLD.COM

Bufford, we try many different things on long-term testbikes in an effort to address performance issues, expand or change their utility factor, or make cosmetic alterations. We do this to find out if the changes are worth the investment so that readers can make an informed decision about mods for their own bikes.

Comments? Suggestions? Criticisms? Write us at intake@cycleworld.com.