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/1479419
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 38 SEPTEMBER 20, 2022 P119 velvety smooth personality. I've lost "friends" because I refused to back down on a position I know is correct, especially if their answer is based on emotion and not facts. A case in point is heated hand grips. Any rider that has ridden in cold conditions and had the option of flicking a switch and having their hands warm will absolutely, cat- egorically, do so. What manliness is there to prove? What valid "I'm a biker, so I don't want, let alone need, warm hands" argument could there possibly be? If I gave you a modern car that had design hues of a Ford GT40 with a great motor, comfy seats, a Bluetooth radio, but no possible form of heat- ing and or cooling and told you to drive through Montana on Decem- ber 27—and charged you the same as a car that looked that good and does have heating—would you still say it was a good buy? Of course, you wouldn't. At least, that's what I'd hope you'd say. The same argument is true about traction control. Even now, there's this moronic argument that traction control is for "wus- sies," as I've been told so very many times in the comments section. "Traction control is for people who can't ride," or "traction con- trol is only for people who need it." That last one was a favorite on YouTube. I must let you in on a little secret. You know those MotoGP guys you watch every second Sunday night? They all have traction con- trol active on their bikes. So does Jake Gagne, Cameron Petersen, Danilo Petrucci, and the guy who wins the Superbike races at your local club meeting. Traction control is designed to save you in case things go super-bad, not to make up for lack of talent. There's no masculine ap- proach to saying you got flicked off and broke your back. Surely, it's better to tell you nearly got flicked off but saved it, and although you lost the race, you lived to fight another day? If your friends call you a wussie, you probably need new friends. Motorcycling is at this strange point where people pipe on about "the good old days" with absolutely no idea what they're talking about. And, yes, most of the time, it's people who lived through the years when the industry was at its best in the 1960s and '70s. Why is it impossible to think the new way might actually be the better way? Are starter mo- tors not better than kickstarters? Are radial-caliper four-piston monobloc brakes not better than single-leading shoe drum brakes? Are the cross-ply tires fit- ted to the 1974 Kawasaki Z1 900 better than the radial Dunlop Q4s enjoyed by everyone today? About the only time, I can give this "retro is better" argument kudos is to a set of perfectly bal- anced carburetors on a four-cyl- inder motorcycle where I simply have to think about forward mo- mentum, and before I know it, I get it. For this argument, and that alone, I stand with the anoraks. Oh, and in aesthetics. No way a 2022 Kawasaki Ninja 650 looks better than a 2022 Kawasaki Z900RS SE. What is our aversion to the progress of technology? As street motorcyclists, are we so cocooned in some leather-clad time capsule in which bikes that look like they were built 50 years ago must perform like bikes from 50 years ago? Do you watch television on a black and white screen with a connected remote control? The nature of technology is to move forward. It can have a nod to the past—in fact, it should. But, make no mistake, the useful application of technology on to- day's motorcycles—ABS, traction control, cruise control, heated grips, rider protection (that's a whole separate argument), and, yes, quickshifters—are light years ahead of bikes from 50 years ago. Technology moves us forward. That's its nature. And if that means my gearshift on a "retro" Kawasaki Z900 RS SE is a little less authentic, this is a sacrifice I can learn to live with. CN