especially on a bike like this with
such a retro vibe?" Err, have you
ever ridden a bike with a quick-
shifter, Spudflap? Having one
fitted doesn't turn the bike into
a "twist'n'go," more commonly
known as a scooter. You still
need to shift gears.
And my favorite, Roger Elwyn
Jones, commented: "We are
raising a generation of lazy bikers.
Quickshifter? Cruise control? For
heavens (sic) sake, just enjoy the
ride. I have been biking since 1966
and never needed any of this."
What is it with motorcycle riders
where they are consistently living
in the past, and nothing can pos-
sibly be better than "the day" they
were young, dumb, and full of…?
Whether you like to believe it or
not, motorcycles are technological
machines, and if technology does
not improve, what's the point?
I'll admit mine is not the most
P118
CN
III LOWSIDE
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
but there was a larger than usual
subsection of commentators that
had a problem with my insis-
tence that a bike costing nearly
$14K should have a quickshifter
attached to the gearbox. And
cruise control. Because God
forbid, we should enjoy just a
few of the creature comforts of
the modern age. This is a retro
bike, after all. Everything must
be retro, including the gearshit. I
mean, gearshift.
YouTuber Bob Fell comment-
ed: "Cruise control and quick
shift ?? its (sic) a retro ... your
(sic) missing the whole point!"
Spudflap (seriously, that's
his YouTube name) said: "Nice
video, thanks. But I don't under-
stand this fixation with quickshift-
ers. Why do you want to turn a
bike like this into a twist'n'go?
Surely gear changing is a skill
to be celebrated and enjoyed,
R
ecently, we posted a
video review on the Cycle
News YouTube chan-
nel on the Kawasaki Z900RS
SE. A nondescript Universal
Japanese Motorcycle (UJM) in
its purest form, this is a machine
designed to capture the minds of
motorcyclists around the world
who remember the good years
because, as we know, those are
the only ones who actually buy
motorcycles these days.
YouTube offers an interesting
view into the minds of the buying
public because it gives an almost
immediate response to how good
or bad your review is.
I'm quite happy to say that
most of the comments on the
video were positive. The viewers
generally agreed with my com-
ments on the machine (having
no doubt all ridden the bike
themselves before commenting),
Technology is good. It's time
motorcyclists realize it.
GET
WITH
THE
TIMES
