Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1102141
CN III VOICES W H A T Y O U A R E S A Y I N G P6 Letters to the editor can be sent to voices@cyclenews.com. Published letters do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News. Letters should not exceed 150 words and are subject to editing. Anonymous letters won't be considered for publication and each letter should contain the writer's name, address and daytime phone number… Editor Empire Of Dirt: Pointing Out Steve Cox's Empire of Dirt article on "pointing out" of the 250 class brought up some things that have been concerning me about SX. His statement, "The best way to make sure the 450cc field is deep is to do everything we can to make sure as many 450cc racers as possible finish the series," is on the money. What concerns me is the increasingly dangerous track designs the rid- ers are forced to ride. Competi- tion is more rider vs. track than rider vs. rider. Fans are there to watch rider vs. rider. My concern is validated by the too common occurrence of the race leader being half-a-lap ahead of the nearest challenger because he was the one that night to master the timing of the track. Do you ever hear the crowd roar for the leader out front doing his thing? Nope. You only hear the money-paying people cheer- ing when a pass is made or when a horrific crash occurs. Which brings me to the terrible and near- ly career-ending crashes over the past two-three years. If the tracks were not so straight rhythm with u-turns/over whooped carnage tempters, maybe more riders could actually race each other and finish the series. M. Dayn Mansfield Arlen Ness Arlen Ness was one of the cool- est people I have ever met. In 1989, my friend Jim Cox and I decided we would ride from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada to attend the MotoGP races at Laguna Seca. I had recently read in a moto mag that Arlen had started buying back some of his custom bikes with the idea of opening a museum. Riding a Honda and a Yamaha, we rode to his shop in San Leonardo, and when we ap- proached the counter, he was working the counter because someone was off sick. After introductions and explanations of where we were from, I asked about his museum. Arlen said that it was not open yet, but if we could wait a few minutes while he made a phone call, he would show us some of the bikes. We looked at several displayed in the store and in less than 10 minutes, he escorted us through the rabbit warren of buildings to an upper floor where there were 28 Arlen Ness creations. As we slowly walked up and down the two rows, he gave us a 45-minute-long explanation about each bike. Back in the shop he gave us each one of his catalogs, wished us well and waved as we rode away. The coolest man ever. Michael LeBlanc Captured The photo of Tony Cairoli on page 24-25 of this week's issue shows pure confidence and commitment. Cranked over, both feet on the pegs, weight forward over the front end, on the gas hard. He really does look like he's on rails compared to everyone else in the photo. This shot stopped me in my tracks to do a double take and look more closely. This is the first motorsport photo from any discipline of racing that has done that for quite some time. Great work by the photogra- pher and, of course, Tony himself. Ruben Archilla SWM RS 500 R Review If you're not obsessed with the latest and greatest, it looks like a smart buy. Duane Henry I currently own a 2010 Husqvar- na TE510, and I absolutely love it. However, I've been tempted to get something a little newer like a KTM or Husqvarna, or even a Beta, just because my bike is pretty worn out now, not because it's not a good trail bike. Unfortunately, new KTMs and Husqvarnas are out of my price range. I'm excited to read about the SWM, it sounds a lot like my TE but newer and better, and since it's basically a Husky at heart, parts shouldn't be a problem, either. And the SWM is cheaper than what I paid for my TE 10 years ago! Vince L. Rueben "Do you ever hear the crowd roar for the leader out front doing his thing? Nope."