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/960906
CN III VOICES W H A T Y O U A R E S A Y I N G "Norton should be very proud of a true throwback with modern tech. Thanks." Triumph Speed Triple The 2018 Triumph Speed Triple you tested is easily the ugliest bike on God's green earth. The bulbous tank and Harley-sized engine remind one of a pregnant guppy, while the headlight nacelle gives an impression of an insect's eyes or bizarre a fish from 20,000 leagues under the sea. From the right side the rear wheel looks like a misplaced choco- late donut chasing the bike. I'm tempted to contrast it with the 2018 Norton Commando you test in the same issue, but the Brits have managed to mutilate the most beautiful street bike ever made, an image of which you include in the article. The 2018 tries with that clas- sic aggressive cylinder angle and the gorgeous upswept exhausts, but the tank is inex- plicably misaligned with that bulbous thing under the seat, and the rear fender has the wrong proportions and looks like it was bent in an accident. "Simplicity, carried to an extreme, becomes elegance." – Jon Franklin Marc Warburton Norton Commando 961 California Nice to see a real looking mo- torcycle, 75 percent of the stuff out there all looks the same and is very uncomfortable. Norton should be very proud of a true throwback with modern tech. Thanks. Robert Laroque It needs a "banana" seat! John Johnson The humongous tank ruins the entire project. I guess the de- signers never saw a real Com- mando. Ugly could have been beautiful; shame on you. Gary Ritts Beautiful machine, [but] the current exchange puts it at nearly $22 grand for the least expensive model. I'll do better looking for a vintage Com- mando. Oscar Jolly In The Paddock: Phony Peace, Real War Michael Scott, Rossi's attack on the two Spaniards was eas- ily explicable. Marquez passed Rossi (and the rest of the field) with fiercely faster laps. He then chose to slow considerably (check his lap times for proof), to remain in between the title rivals, thus allowing Lorenzo to finish ahead of Rossi, and win the whole shebang! Marquez and Lorenzo are now dead to me (I am Italian, after all). Anthony LaGrasta Indy Supercross I attended the Indy SX so I got to witness the carnage known as SX first hand. Instead of considering limiting the air intake on 450cc machines, it would make more sense to completely eliminate quad sections. I ran this idea past an official and the response was "the riders will always figure out a way to try and jump quad sections" but I don't accept this given the latitude the track builders have. If the current track builders can't figure this out, find someone who can. On the subject of track changes, a few races ago a supercross round I watched on TV showed that the motorcy- cles are in the air 50 percent of the time. This is beyond dumb and unnecessary. Fifty per- cent airborne is a guaranteed recipe to result in the depleted ranks that we are experiencing for yet another season. How many years will this nonsense continue? Please eliminate all quads and change the tracks to where the machines are only airborne a third of the time. It is past time to return the sport of SX to what it was originally, which was motocross in a stadium and stop the FMX show we currently have. We owe it to the riders to make the tracks safer. Michael Rigdon 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