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/900508
CN III VOICES W H A T Y O U A R E S A Y I N G "Congrats, Marquez, but I'm still not a fan of you or Lorenzo." Electric Motorcycles I have never before written a letter to the editor of any newspaper or magazine in my life but I've had all I can stomach with all this nonsense of electric vehicles of any kind! I have ridden and raced motorcycles since 1965. The smells, vibrations and noise that open exhaust internal combustion engines make is one of the main reasons I was drawn to them, and I discovered riding bikes fast came quite naturally to me. I scared the hell out of everybody that watched me ride, including making my mom pee her pants making a last-lap, last-turn move from fourth to first in a short track race in Dade City, Florida in the early '70s. When the day comes (God forbid) that you cannot buy or ride an internal combustion-engine mo- torcycle anymore, that will be the day I hang up my helmet and quit pursuing the inner most passion of my life for good! Frank Lackey Tom White Tom will forever be a legend in the motorcycle industry. Our sincere condolences to the family and friends. We first met Tom with his broth- er Dan fresh out of the military at the original Elsinore TT raceway around 1967 and, of course, at the Perris TT track at the same time. Tom, and I believe his father, helped us with our Honda 90 and, of course, taught me how to get a great start. We will forever remember Tom White, rest in peace. Tim Beason Indian FTR1200 Just saw the pictures and video for Indian's concept bike, the FTR1200. Wow! I hope they do put this in to production, but please, Indian, don't dumb it down or cheap it out. I realize they will have to put an evap canister, cat exhaust and an extended rear license plate holder on the thing, but keep it simple and keep it a performer. No ABS, traction control, etc. But please keep the Ohlins suspension! Build it, and I will buy it! I have wanted a flat-track replica forever, but Harley's feeble (and I mean feeble) attempts have never interested me. This machine looks good and could possibly be it. It will go nicely in my stable (2003 Aprilia Tuono Racing and 2016 Aprilia Tuono Factory). And Congratulations Indian on winning the manufacturer's cham- pionship and sweeping the riders championships! Wil Mansfield Marc Marquez With all due respect to Ducati and Dovi on a great season, Marc Marquez rode on a whole different level at most races this year. It is beautiful to watch Marquez ride— aggressive but smooth and loose from entry to exit. A perfect ex- ample of dirt-track style on slicks. And his intensity level every time he is on the track is amazing. Even when he crashes, he's usually so low to the deck already that he doesn't actually fall and he usually comes away totally unscathed. And this season he usually only fell in practice/qualifying while he was out looking for the edge. His intensity never waned until the final checkered and was evident by his two huge front-end saves, because he was still riding at 99.999% despite his points cush- ion. He has so many miraculous saves just this season alone that I am convinced that it is not luck at all but an example of his genius. He might be the most talented rider ever, and certainly deserves to be world champ. Howard Halterman Valencia MotoGP If there was ever a doubt whether Marquez helped Lorenzo against Rossi a few years back, all you had to do was watch Lorenzo hold up Dovi even when his team re- quested it. I think the Italian riders have figured this out and with the next crop of Italian riders already moving to the big show it could get interesting. If Dovi would have been able to get by Lorenzo in midrace when he was faster, Mar- quez might have failed under the pressure he'd have added. After all he almost gave up the race all by himself without being pushed. Congrats, Marquez, but I'm still not a fan of you or Lorenzo. John Holman 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 P6