109CI Of First Bike
First a huge thank you to you all-I have, after much searching and wasted money, finally found the motorbike magazine that perfectly matches my needs-hoorah! Aged 44 I decided last August to pass my bike test and get out on two wheels having never been a biker in my life.
The obvious next step was to buy a Suzuki M109R right? I mean, what else do people buy as their first ever ride? I love that machine even if it still scares me half to death at times, I figure that keeps me respectful and therefore safe! Cruisers are less popular here in England than in the States I guess for the simple reason that our roads are smaller, twistier and more crowded but I still wouldn't ride anything else.
My first copy of your mag was the May 2009 issue in which a reader wrote to complain of your use of the word "crissakes"-unbelievable! Please, please, please never give in to the demands of any religious type who would stifle the free speech for which our soldiers are fighting and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Doug
Via email
P.S. Can you point me in the direction of any road tests you've done on the 2006 Suzuki Boulevard M109R?
You can find an archive of our old road tests at motorcyclecruiser.com -BB
Indian reactions
Dear Indian Motorcycles;
Are you idiots? Harley and Indian used to be competitors. Both bikes were once made for the average working man. H-D has gotten to the point that they are priced for the professional Your proximity to Charlotte and their banking headquarters must have made you set your price structure based on bank executive bonus programs! H-D prices are high for the average working man. In this economy, your pricing is ridiculous. I am sure that in a year or so you will be out of business, and there will be a lot of 1-year-old Indians with less than a thousand miles on the clock, sitting in garages, neither looked at, ridden nor properly maintained. I am in the motorcycle sales business and I see many high dollar bikes with an average of less than 100 miles a year on the odometer. I will not take a bike in for trade when the manufacturer is out of business. It simply will not sell. It makes me wonder if your business plan was written by the U.S. House or Senate. Goodbye, latest incarnation of the great Indian motorcycle. We were hoping for the best for you. You just got stupid somewhere in the process from idea to delivering the final product.
As for you Mr. Bartels, please do not be apologetic for excluding them from Feb. Buyers Guide. They never belonged there in the first place.
Thank goodness for Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, and Kawasaki for keeping the serious rider on two wheels without having to sacrifice his family financial stability to be able to ride 5 to 10 thousand miles a year. $35,000.00 and 350 miles do not make you a biker.
Bob Maull
Hickory, NC
And now we get poems...
I wrote this poem two weeks ago in preparation for a Hill Country week of H-D riding in Central Texas. It was a great week! Publish it if you wish.
The Rider
Fragrant morning mists
Envelop the foggy form,
Wheels roll beneath
Spraying dewdrops on tarmac.
A raven bleats
Displeasure
At the thumping
Engine drone.
And the rider rides?
Grassy yards ripple.
Green ponds
Nuzzled into motion
In breezy bursts.
All this, the rider knows.
Sounds, familiar.
Scents, known and new.
Sights, fleeting.
And Mind serene.
The Moment stabs
Infinite now.
A manic laughter
Laced with joy.
And you know that rider knows!
And on the rider rides?
Gene Balfour
Ontario, Canada
No Crime in Canada
I just read your May 2009 article "Lockdown". Informative article, however it leaves me feeling some guilt. In the past 40 years I've owned several motorcycles, and I have never locked any of those bikes and very, very seldom do I even remove the key. I leave the key in the ignition, that way I know where it is, I hate losing keys. Am I naive? I don't even know anyone who has had a bike stolen.
Paul V.
Saskatchewan, Canada