thal lhe views expressed by certain
members of the mOlOrcycie press had
liule lO do wilh lhe aClual owning ot
the motorcycle or paying for repairs
nec~silaled by ~e melhods employed
dunng the lesung of lhe machine in
question- racing machines excluded,
of course.
Mr. Ulrich's "leave her in lhedin"
allitude smacks of the 19th cenlury
buffalo hunter's belief in unending
plenty and personal glorification al
any price. For lhose of us who mUSl
pay for our mOlorcycles, Mr. Ulrich's
lack of remorse after deslroying lhis
beautiful mOlorcycle mUSl surely color
our opinion of his fUlure producl
evalualion.
BRUCE ARMSTRONG
Ojai, CA
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America's weekly
motorcycle newspaper
C
C';1
~
Sharon Clayton. Publishn
Mikt lUin~. ComplTOlln
Skip Johman. Assocu.te Publisltn/
N.tion,,1 Soks Manllga
Carolin~ Gcndry. £x~culi~ Secrrlary 10
the Publishn
Editorle'
John Ulrich Editor
Kil Palmer, A.uociate Editor
Rex Reese. Featu.re E.ditor
Adverti8ing
Terry Prall, SGles Managn
Mike Spmctr. Sdks Manager
Tim Ryan, SDks Manog",
Linda Brown, Advntising Coordindtor
Nancy Waslell, Advnt;singIEditorln.1
A<'{islan'
Grllphica end Production
Lori Tyson. Graphic Artist
Larry Gill. GrtIfJhic Artist
Marion Hawhiu. TypeseueT
Soolo Larsen. Ty/> a
mauer of facl, I sel a lap record later
lhal same day, and lry as 1 mighl 1
couldn'l duplicale your feal.
'
Please lell me whal 1 did wrong. I
went lO the same lrack, I rode a bike
with a 16-inch fronl wheel, 1 went
fasl enough lO have the lap record
(onl, for an hour, my 1:19.05 was
replaced with 1:18.!W) and I backed
0[£ the throule in lhe same comer
while going at full race speed. BUll
didn'l crash.
GREG WING
PRRO#32
Glendale, AZ
OlUJy, try it again on a 600R with
stock tires... Editor.
Crash testing
1 would like lO thank Mr. Ulrich
for the insightful commenl in his Risk
.colum!l (Cycle News,. December 5)
regarding lhe wadding of lhe firsl
600R Ninja: "I don'l give a hool
aboul crashing thal mOlorcycle."
As a mOlorcycl iSl for some years
and owner of several machines which
I paid for, I have fell for some lime
It you're going to quote us, get it
TIght. John Ulrich said, "But this
time... this time I admit that I don't
give a hoot about crashing that motorcycle, beyond being sorry that I
marred the/ress intro and possibly
embarrasse .and worried the Japanese engzneers. Because lknow wh:-; I
crashed. I learned something..." The
pomt bezng that what Ulrich learned
far, far oveYShadowed the damage
dC!TU! to one of a fleet of 600R test
bikes. The purpose of testing, is not to
preserve machinery, it is to test and
evaluate it, to see if it is prone to
breakage, to see how it works at the
limits. A motorcycle that survives
publication testing usually will give
a street rider very good service for a
long time. It is better, we say, for
John. Ulrich to crash and report on a
SIgnificant handling characteristic of
motorcycles with l6-inch front wheels
than it is for him not to riiU fast
enough to find anything out about a
machine's limits, thus leaving the
discuvery - and crashing - to unsuspecting readers who buy such motorcycles. It is worth noting that early
test machznes Imported for magazine
testzng are often brouglU into the
country under customs bond, and, as
such, must be crushed after use. It is
also worth noting that if not for the
presence of a dirt embankment bordering tum three at Phoenix, the600R
in ruestion would have had superficia damage only. John Ulrich has a
garage full of motorcYcles he has
paid for, .including Triumphs, a Ducatl, several Hondas and Suzukis and
a Kawasalti. Mr. Ulrich's willingness
to exploye the limits of test motorcycles may, in the long run, mean you
won't have to taste asphalt on your
own bike... Editor.
16-inch wheels
1 rarely wrile lener.s, and il seems
you've.slimulated me lO pick up my
pen lWlce recend y. Your Risk col umn
~n the Dec. 5 issue has stimulaled my
InlereSl aboul 16-inch front wheels
especially since I recently boughl ~
Inter~tor.
I've noticed an increased sensilivilY
in lhe rain, which I attribule lO a
chang~ in slipan~les from wellOdry,
bUl Il IS very nouceable. I lhink il is
~imply lhe from end lranSferring more
InpUl through the l6-in.ch wheel, and
nOl a decrea~ in u-aclion over a larger
wheel; but Il sure feels squirrely in
lhe wel and is especially nOliceabJe
passing lhrough a wel Spol on a dry
day.
:r~is is why your slOry on the small
Ninja Inleresled me. Is il possible lo
explore lhis further?
Keep up the gOod work.
KERRY STAMEY
Houston, TX
Look for more on l6-inch front wheels
soon ... Editor.
(Continued to page 42)