CN
III VOICES
W H A T Y O U A R E S A Y I N G
"Tracked the kid down and immediately liked
his attitude—tall with big hands and feet, he
was indeed a gentle giant."
Jim West
Amazing story on Jim West.
That was a name I haven't
heard in a long time and was
happy and surprised to hear
again.
I also grew up in South Pasa-
dena and would hear stories
of him when we rode our dirt
bikes at Elephant Hills. He was
a legend to many of us and
some of the older riders back
then knew him since we all
went to South Pasadena High.
Another legend from
South Pasadena who also
practiced at Elephant Hills is
Larry Brooks. To this day I have
never seen anyone ride as fast
as him on an 80cc in person. I
still live a block from Elephant
Hills and all the trails and hills
still exist there, but riding there
will get you arrested.
Thanks for the memory.
Jose Shuton
The article on Jim West really
stirred up memories. Back
in 1969, working for Norton
Villiers [I was] scouting for up-
and-coming riders for our AJS
Stormer effort.
I attended the races at the
Bay Mare track in SoCal and a
young rider caught my atten-
tion, riding the wheels off a Ya-
maha trail bike. Tracked the kid
down and immediately liked his
attitude—tall with big hands and
feet, he was indeed a gentle
giant. I offered him a ride, and
before he accepted I had to
be checked out by his dad,
an LAPD detective! I guess I
passed okay, as I had permis-
sion to take Jim to Seattle to
start competing in the Trans-
Am series. There he joined
the AJS team that came over,
Andy Roberton and Bengt Arne
Bonn. Jim did the series and
always gave his best. Really
good kid; tragic to lose him.
Who knows where his talents
would have taken him?
Brian Slark
Technical Advisor
Barber Vintage Motorsports
Museum
Kent Taylor's tribute to Jim
West was a soul-moving, supe-
rior piece of journalism.
Blain Stone
Wonderful profile story on
Jim West by Kent Taylor. This
is reminiscent of the popular
"hanging out" series we used
to feature in Cycle News during
the late 1970s. It's not so much
the racing on the track, it's
storytelling for the lifestyle on
the road and in the pits.
Please, more of these
features. There's an old saying
"you can't know where you're
going unless you know where
you've been." Featuring culture
and racing from years past
is important to how the sport
progresses into the future.
Thomas Mueller
Former Cycle News East Editor
The Monkey And
The Super Cub
Yes! These new models are
indeed iconic and a blast-from-
the-past. But what then-teen-
agers and now-seniors really
desire is the Grom/Monkey/
Super Cub 125cc powerplant
shoehorned in a "Scrambler
90," reminiscent of the Honda
CL125. With street-scrambler
styling, bigger diameter wheels
and taller seat height, it would
be very difficult to keep them in
the dealer showroom.
Michael Hopkins
Us guys in our 60s can never
forget spending riding a Honda
mini trail doing circles and rid-
ing wheelies. Maybe the most
fun bike ever built. Great job,
Honda!
Martin Wolf
The "monkey" name was just a
nickname based on how riders
looked riding it. It was never re-
ally an official name—until now.
Lazlo Toth
I think these will fly out of the
showrooms. At 64 years old I
want one!
Monty Sanders
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
