BACKFIRES

MORE KR

“Holy Hell” indeed! To date, this was the best issue of American Motorcyclist I have received. Kenny Roberts and the “Yellow Peril,” Steel Shoe Stories, Left Turn Ladies and The Class of 79 — all top drawer writing and subject matter. Thanks for the transformation of American Motorcyclist!

James Withrow, AMA #3086687, Linglestown, PA

EVEN MORE KR

I just read the “Holy Hell” article about KR’s TZ750 at Indy. Love the historical articles, and hope you folks never run out of them. I know the younger generation is all about digital everything, but those of us that grew up when things like Kenny running the TZ at Indy were actually happening still like to sit down with a stack of glossy paper and enjoy the pictures and the words. It’s just not the same reading these great pieces hunched over a computer or squinting at a phone. Thanks for making American Motorcyclist a great magazine, a magazine the AMA deserves to have.

Rob Sigond

STILL MORE KR

Loved the latest issue with King Kenny’s TZ miler on the cover. I got to watch him race it at San Jose against Scott Brelsford on the Kanemoto Kawasaki H2 750 and a few other “strokers.” Such amazing sounds! I also got to sit on Kenny’s TZ in A&A’s showroom several years later (Ray Abrams was gracious enough to give me permission). I was struck by how wide the thing is, and the brake and shifter are both on the right, as well. I raced against Rick Hocking many years ago and always remember that he was actually the first person to ride the TZ miler for [Doug] Schwerma. What a machine!

Eric Bickel, AMA #313522

BICYCLE FORKS, YEAH, BABY!

While holding a copy of the latest AMA magazine — and looking at the spread showing Kenny Robert’s Yamaha two-stroke flat tracker at speed — I walked to our garage and held the photo next to my daughter’s 400cc Super Motard Suzuki. Just as I thought. The forks on her bike are easily twice as thick in diameter! In addition to all of Kenny Robert’s skills, how on earth did he control a 100-plus miles-per-hour dirt tracker that had, essentially, bicycle forks? Amazing.

Brian Halton, San Francisco, CA

LETTER OF THE MONTH

KENNY ROBERTS AND THE TZ750 AT INDY

The magazine is rockin’! From On Any Sunday to King Kenny on the TZ at Indy, and all the lady racers, too. I got to see KR manhandle that TZ at San Jose on the Mile back in ’75. Down on the ground in the middle of Turn One, looking through the fence and watching him come into the corner at speed and run so wide you felt sure he was going to blow right through it and take us out. We were only inches away, and instinctively, the crowd would back away from the fence every time. He rode it like he rode Indy, right up against the straw bales, whacking each one hard with the rear wheel in a near full-lock slide just to make the corner. And who could forget that TZ wail, with one cylinder blubbering in the corners until he took his finger off the limiter switch, after which it absolutely exploded to life as Kenny struggled to get it to hook up. But get it to hook up he did, even if it was halfway down the straight, and KR and the TZ would get shot like out of a cannon down the back chute and into Turn Three. You’d swear no mortal human could get that bike slowed down and make the corner. But he did, again and again, right up against the berm of bales, with the Harleys down low getting the better initial drive. I can’t recall if he won that day [he didn’t —Ed.] but we’ll never forget the show. Thanks, Kenny. Thanks, AMA.

Robert C. Wilson, AMA Life Member #464265

Letters to the editor are the opinions of the AMA members who write them. Inclusion here does not imply they reflect the positions of the AMA, its staff or board. Agree? Disagree? Let us know. Send letters to submissions@ama-cycle.org or mail to American Motorcyclist Association, 13515 Yarmouth Drive, Pickerington, OH 43147. Letters may be edited for clarity and brevity.

STEVE BAKER

STEVE BAKER, DAMN YANKEE

Mitch, my buddy, I loved reading about KR’s exploits on the TZ750, great piece, and thanks, but KR was not “America’s first world champion motorcycle racer,” as you wrote on page 30. That would be Steve Baker, who was the Formula 750 world champion in 1977. Baker was sponsored by Yamaha of Canada, but was born and lived in Bellingham, Washington, very close to the Canadian border…so many people just assumed he was a Canuck.

Joe Bonnello

Downs, she’d be on your hero list, too.

Jerry Carter, AMA life member #736800

You are correct, Joseph, and our apologies to Steve Baker. I knew that fact, and in my mind I typed the words “first Grand Prix world champion motorcycle racer…” But of course I left out the Grand Prix part. Thanks for giving credit where credit is due! —Ed. Thanks, Jerry. Appreciate the kindness in the way that you pointed this out, as plenty of other keyboard jockeys out there have been less-than-polite about it, all while making disparaging comments about the incredibly capable women we included. So not cool! So thanks for that. Fitting so many amazing women racers into one story was definitely a bit daunting, and you’re right…it’s easy to miss someone. I do wish I’d have included Jennifer in some way, but it’s never too late to tell her story, right? —Joy B.

THEMES VS. VARIETY

LEFT TURN LADIES

We are sure enjoying American Motorcyclist of late! In Joy Burgess’ Left Turn Ladies piece I sure think Jennifer Snyder, a former HarleyDavidson factory rider, deserved to be included. Somebody always gets missed in these types of stories, and somebody always seems to point out who (sorry!), but if you had seen Jenn’s crash at Emerald

I remember when Mitch and Nick [Ienatsch] were the “new guys” at Motorcyclist magazine back in the 1980s, and have always enjoyed Mitch’s work. However, the AMA magazine leaves me cold. Dedicating the majority of each issue to a specific theme means that unless one is interested in that month’s theme, the majority of the issue holds no interest. I love and respect women riders but that issue was a bore. Early motocross? Meh. Flat track? Ho-hum. On Any Sunday? I get the nostalgia appeal but having never seen it until recently, I found it enormously overrated. I’m sure that makes me a heretic. [Yes! —Ed.] Why so much focus on nostalgia? How many people younger than 55 want to read about Malcom Smith, Kenny Roberts, Honda Mini Trails, or other relics of the 1960s and 1970s? [A lot, based on our mail. —Ed.] So, since renewing my membership, there hasn’t been a single issue that’s held any appeal for me. I doubt I am alone. Even if one issue was dedicated to my particular interests, I would wish for some variety. I loved Easy Rider as a teenager, and Freddie Spencer was my hero during my 20s. Do I want to read an entire issue dedicated to either of those topics? No. Better to find some pleasure in each issue rather than the current all-or-nothing approach.

Bruce Dalgleish

Thanks for the note, Bruce, and we appreciate the feedback. A couple of things here. First off, you are very definitely in the minority, as the vast majority — easily 95% — of the written and verbal feedback that we have gotten over the first six or seven issues has been wildly enthusiastic. Still, you bring up an interesting point, theme issues, and it’s something we’ve talked about as a staff on numerous occasions. When I came here, the goal was to put American Motorcyclist back on motorcycling’s radar screen in every way we could, from storytelling to design to photography. The fastest way to do that, in my mind, was to do a handful of powerful and compelling theme issues (including this month’s Adventure and Travel theme), which would shock membership and force the industry to sit up and take notice. We did that, and they have, which was our goal. So now, starting with the December issue, our plan is to go back to wide-ranging issues in each edition, which I think fits pretty well with what you outlined above. Hope you’ll stick around, as we have a ton of very cool stuff planned for December onward. —Ed.