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Lotsa Ifs, Ands and ButtsThe "Icon" spread on Eddie Lawson in your October issue sent chills down my spin. I thought to myself, "Motorcyclist is the greatest bike magazine in the world!" Then I arrived at the "No Ifs, Ands or Butts" article about Black Bike Week on page 68: a dude posing with his $275 ticket for breaking the law; a group of riders with no helmets or riding gear; a tattooed babe in a bikini wearing sandals on the back of a sportbike... I will admit there were plenty of awesome bikes in the article, and I'm sure it's a great event, but do you really need an eight-page story in the "greatest bike magazine in the world" to make your point? Steady Eddie only got two pages!Jay DavidsonLee, NH
What can I say? It takes all kinds to make up the rich tapestry that is motorcycling, and Motorcyclist is one of the few magazines that covers it all. -Ed.
Thanks for highlighting Black Bike Week in the positive manner that you did. As an avid African-American motorcyclist, I have often wondered why the bike-manufacturing and fashion communities have continued to ignore this incredibly lucrative market and event. Some 300,000 bikers rolling through Atlantic Beach means a lot of people looking for a good party that have cash to spend and needs to fulfill.
I did notice in your article that there appears to be a significant double-standard when it comes to the emphasis on the amount of "flesh" exposed at the event. The level of raunchiness and debauchery displayed at Black Bike Week is no worse than that at Daytona or Sturgis. White bikers love to see T&A just as much as black bikers do, and there is plenty of flesh-though perhaps a lot less badonkadonk-exposed at these rallies as well.Mike KeglerAtlanta, GA
The only thing I find cooler than women who ride sportbikes is the developing diversity of the people who ride them. Motorcycling is one of the few pleasures that so many can agree on and connect over. But my response to many of the pictures depicting hot, mostly naked bods on very fast bikes falls, pardon the pun, somewhere between ogling and disturbing visions of long hospital stays combined with months of painful skin grafts. If hot, naked women on Harleys at Sturgis is a potential emergency-room nightmare, hot, naked women on sportbikes is that times 10. And this includes males on bikes in shorts sans shirts and helmets.
Thumbs up for a diverse motorcycle culture. Thumbs down for greatly irresponsible riding practices.Damon HeimSan Rafael, CA
The October "Me & My Bike" feature is the perfect example of the Bling Bike culture:Shannon has custom paint, chrome wheels, a polished frame...and a front tire that was shot two seasons ago! All I can hope is that I see her around Cincinnati and can point this out to her.Tracy Doyle Cincinnati, OH
Uh-oh, here comes the hate-mail from the "cancel-my-subscription" crowd. Butts on pages 69, 71 and 76; bikinis on 72 and 74! In the Icon ad on page 14, the girl's pants are unbuttoned! Then, a bare-naked lady on page 32! Oh, the pornography! What is this world coming to? Keep it coming.Joseph SansoucieVia e-mail
10 4 $10KI am truly disappointed in your article "10 4 $10K." It left out what is unfortunately the best-kept secret in two-wheeled fun: the Suzuki SV1000S. A track tool it is not, but with a few mods made with the money you saved buying it, you can turn it into anything you desire. A great long-distance sport-tourer it isn't either, but with enough bolt-on goodies I'm sure it would be up to the task.RickSomewhere in Michigan