Hotshots

HOTSHOTS

Superbikes & SuperBoz

Ten years ago in a middleweight shootout article, one of the "Ups" on the ZX-6R was "Eric Bostrom wins on one," and one of the "Downs" was "You're not Eric Bostrom." In the "Workhorses" and "Exotics" comparison ("Superbikes 2012," August), there was mention of several non-Eric Bostroms riding, yet their lap times and riding impressions were not included. While it is interesting to know which bike E-boz can hustle quickest around a track, it is useless for me, as you were correct 10 years ago: I wasn't Eric Bostrom then, and no matter how many laps around the track I do, I still am not Eric Bostrom. Perhaps you could include the mere mortal riders' results in a future issue so we non-Eric Bostroms can use the information for purchasing, or at least dreaming, decisions. Kurt Cecil Lakewood, Colorado

Then again, even Eric Bostrom isn `t Eric Bostrom anymore. (That a love tap, E-boz.)

Kudos to Steve Anderson and Marc Cook for upping the ante on the definition of "superbikes." I really enjoyed the corn mentar~ graphics and the track system for ranking. Topping it off with John Bums' "Shout Out to the Shootout" put a nice punctuation on the concept, which prompted me to dig out my old December, 1972, issue of Cycle, which contained the first real detailed superbike comparison. The bikes featured (in order of ranking) were: Kawasaki 750, Kawasaki 903, Triumph 750, Norton 750, Ducati 750, Honda 750 and H-D Sportster. The highlight was that all were fitted with a front disc brake!

It looks like 40 years of evolution has increased quarter-mile speeds from around 110 to more than 140 mph, and 60-mph stopping distances have decreased from 135 to 120 feet. 1972's top list price was $2025 for the Sportster compared to 2012's cheapest, the Honda at $13,800. As Burns points out, today's superbikes may have reached an apex of daily usefulness, and continued evolution may be cloudy, but there will always be a desire to compare the "best of the best." Maybe in 2013, Norton will make it back into the mix! Bob Yacenda Fountain Valley, California

Categoric denial

My sincere thanks, folks. Given both the decline of print and the weaponization of web-refined infobubbles, I appreciate the arrival of each CW as much as ever since joining readerand rider-dom in the late 1960s. Sure, all aspects of mo torcycling don't appeal to me equally, but whether I never participated in them at all or just don't any more, it still does me good to keep up.

Something I've always been curious about, though: Does the editorial staff have any kind of sorting system for complaints? You know, like WhAMBi ("What about my bike?"), fundamentaladvertists ("Please refrain from the depiction of any non-burqua-wearing models for riding gear"), hostage takers ("Please cancel my subscription and refund directly to my PayPal account, there's this wolverine bobblehead on eBay..."), FreeWheeliers ("more/less hooliganism!"), FreeWilliers ("morel less Harley!"), FreeEgans ("more/more Peter E!"), etc.?

David Windhorst Tigerville, South Carolina

Good question. All the Eganlove and Cameronlove letters go to their inboxes and sometimes into the magazine. The Cancelmysubscriptions go to the Subscription Department, and all other complaints are filed under the same heading: "Delete."

Hoylove

I really enjoyed read ing Mark Hoyer's "The Power of Dreams" edito rial in your August issue, and I learned from it, as well. There seemed to be a subtext about Honda

losing ground as a leader in motorcycle innovation and creativity. Could this be because of Mr. Honda's passing? The economy? The European resurgence? I don't know, but I ride a 1985 Honda V65 Sabre that is a great machine (shaft drive, water-cooled, self-canceling turnsignals, air-adjustable suspension). The guys I ride with (Band of Brothers MC, Bronx, NY) all ride modern sportbikes and cruisers, and my bike has features some of theirs don't. Let's see what Honda has in store for the future. Kim Burgle Yonkers, New York

Egan's new BSA

How on Earth could a part-time air guitarist like Peter Egan miss mention ing the BSA 441's biggest stage in his tory? In his senility, did he forget that Woodstock co-creator Michael Lang used a newly minted 441 as his primary chase vehicle in getting this massive production levitated (along with the THC smoke)? Lang is filmed riding this bike early in the movie about the event. Mike Gerald Hattiesburçj, Mississippi

Back in the day, Cycle did full road tests on the BSA 441 in both the Victor and Shooting Star models. Gordon Jennings complained about the starting problem, too (he blamed it on the carb and suggested replacing it), and poor idling, but he concluded by saying that the Victor was a very good dual-purpose bike and that the Shooting Star was one of the best road bikes available. He was always partial to British bikes. The Victor’s 44lee single-cylinder pushrod engine was about as sophisticated as a hammer. The British had been building engines like it for 50 years and yet still couldn’t make it reliable. Amazing.

In that Cycle article, the editor promised a forthcoming test on the ladies from the BSA ads. I’m sure you remember them. I waited for years....

Hugh Turnbull Coquitlam, British Columbia

Characters reverb

I really appreciate all the info in your articles and enjoy reading from cover to cover. In the July issue, how ever, there are a couple of errors in the Royal Enfield story. The reference to Lawrence of Arabia is misguided. As far as I know, he never rode an Enfield; his chosen stallion was the Brough Superior. His time on this Earth came to an abrupt end on May 19, 1935, at the controls of his latest Brough SS100 fitted with a KTOR JAP V-Twin 998cc engine. The actual motorcycle he died on is now exhibited at the Imperial War Museum in London. One thing of interest that came of his accident was to spark a desire to save lives of motorcyclists by designing hel mets. This was initiated by one of the neurosurgeons present at his morato rium, Mr. Hugh Cairns. The second error in the article is in reference to the Spitfire. Lawrence missed the advent of the Spitfire by about a year, with the first version not flying until March 5, 1936. (Prior to the land-based version, there were the Supermarine varieties that won the Schneider trophies for fastest planes.) I remember my parents remi niscing on this fact, wondering what would Lawrence have been capable of in a Spitfire! Geoff Beale United Kingdom

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