W H A T Y O U A R E S A Y I N G
"The sound and thrust is like nothing in the
world. Soon the whole world will know what
we're talking about."
Archives: The
Original Superbike
I enjoyed Larry Lawrence's
piece on Glenn Curtis' record-
setting bike. But I think there
was one technical error. The
engine is cited as producing 40
horsepower. That's way short of
what it takes to drive an unfaired
bike to 136 mph. BSA Gold
Stars came with dyno records
showing them to produce at
least 40 horsepower and a Gold
Star topped out at 110 to 115
mph.
My Aprilia RS250, with a
measured 60 horsepower at
the rear wheel and a fairing, will
just reach 125 mph. To go a 136
mph on an unfaired motorcycle
in a racing crotch takes about
70 horsepower. So I suspect
the 40 horsepower figure for
the Curtis was estimated by just
taking half the 90 horsepower
his later eight-liter aircraft V8
produced.
Brent Meeker
What an incredible story about
a most incredible man. Thank
you Cycle News, and thank you
Larry Lawrence for the rest of
the story.
Al Banta
The museum is excellent and
worth the trip to Hammond-
sport, New York.
Chet Schultz
Triumph Moto2
Prototype Test
Excited is too small a word to
describe my feelings about
Triumph's Moto2 Triple! Qatar
can't come soon enough.
Here's my triple story: I have
a new Thruxton R. It's a great
and very beautiful bike for sure,
but since I got my 21-year-old
955 big triple back on the road,
the R just sits covered in the
garage. The sound and thrust is
like nothing in the world. Soon
the whole world will know what
we're talking about.
Jon Dowd
Unfair
I see that Jon Jones [former
Ultimate Fighting Champion-
ship Light Heavyweight Cham-
pion] has finished his 15-month
sentence for his second
doping violation and is eligible
to fight again this October. He
is engaged in a sport in which
people beat the crap out
of each other, where a
competitor can literally
kill the opponent, which
makes steroid abuse a
much more serious alle-
gation when compared
to a MX racer. And yet
somehow USADA feels
Broc Tickle needs to be
punished for four times
as long for an infraction
that fell into a bit of a
grey area in terms of the
ever-changing rules, compared
to Jon Jones who straight up
cheated (twice) in combat
sports.
This is ridiculous. Where is
the justice? Why isn't the AMA
backing their rider? Is this
another example of political
correctness run amok, or per-
haps absolute power? We want
answers!
Name withheld by request
Empire of Dirt:
Jake Weimer
I met Jake a couple of years
back in the Vegas pits. He was
in street clothes and acting
like he was a nobody, and he
seemed surprised that I noticed
him. Humble, and, yes, he nev-
er got the respect he earned.
Gregory Eddinger
Sweet write up, Steve. Jake is
one of the truly good guys!
Clay Walker
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