Cycle News

CN III VOICES LETTERS TO THE EDITOR P18 "Come on, Nicky, come and get it." Liking The Enfield I have one of the new Enfields – in the UK. And this is just to say I thought your review was the best yet ("History On Wheels," Issue 40, October 8) – thoughtful and informed and not strewn with errors – as many of the other reviews have been. And I was pleased to see you quote rake and trail because I could not find this information anywhere – it is certainly not in the rather poor Royal Enfield documentation that comes with the bike. I think Steve Harris has it pretty well spot-on. Having started riding in 1966, and having ridden or owned a very wide range of British and European bikes, comparing the Enfield with classic British designs like Norton featherbeds, Velocettes, BSA Gold Stars is right. In terms of weight, and general dynamics the new Enfield is indeed a sharper version of my Velocette Venom Clubman or a well set up Featherbed Norton - both of which steer more slowly. Power in standard trim is fairly close to the standard Velocette Venom at 30 (ish) brake horsepower. We will see what a Stage I tune will bring in due course. Sid is right I think about the direction of motorcycle design. The Enfield is by definition a bike that can be worked on and improved by the owner in a thoughtful engineering and design led way. The majority of modern bikes are limited to accepting accessories. And there is a major difference between thinking about and executing design engineering improvements and bolting on top box. The Enfield meets my criteria for Resilient Design – capable of adaptive improvement. Stephen Feber Via the Internet Thanks, Laguna Thank you Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for bringing World Superbike back to its American home. We hope all American roadracing fans will realize how much better the show and access to the teams riders and bikes and how close the racing is at World Superbike - and attendance will increase ten fold at Laguna Seca World Superbike in (hopefully) the coming years. Jim Gianatsis Via the Internet Politics? Seriously? Posting a letter with political opinions? Leave that for the HuffPost. Let's just talk about bikes! I'm disappointed. Christian Rice Los Angeles, CA Evo And World Superbike Interesting read about the Evo Rules for World Superbike. The obvious question is will Daytona Motorsport Group (DMG) adopt the rules so that the U.S. can be on par with the rest of the world. When DMG took over AMA road racing they had the opportunity then to adopt World Superbike rules and they chose not to - and look at the state of our series. If the National series here is the same as the other countries we would once again have a situation where racing in the American Superbike series would actually mean something and provide a stepping-stone to world level racing for young talent. This would also encourage participation by more manufacturers and sponsors. Let's hope somebody in Florida gets it for a change. Larry Coleman Chico, CA Come And Get It, Nicky I read the Nicky Hayden interview (Issue 40, October 8) and I know Nicky reads Cycle News and I would just like to say that I and many, many more Nicky fans would love to see him come home and scratch that itch you mentioned at the end of the interview. I'm talking about you getting that one win that eluded you – victory on a mile. I wrote a letter to Voices that was printed back in September 20, 2000 and stated then that Nicky has the talent to win at "every" form of motorcycle racing. Only (I believe) four others have ever done it and I know you've got it in you. Come on, Nicky, come and get it. Bill Keys Via the Internet 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

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