BACKFIRES

WINDSCREEN WISDOM

Excellent article on windscreen design, materials and care in the September issue’s Garage section. I ride eight bikes, but one I’ve had for 34 years — my 1988 Harley-Davidson FLHS — has the police-style screen that is original and still very clear and uncracked after 175,000 miles. I only wash it with water and micro-fiber towels, and dry with same. Years ago, micro-fiber towels weren’t really a “thing” and I used old-fashioned baby diapers to wash and dry my screens with. Those did not scratch things up, either. Keep up the great work!

Bob Lower

Casper, Wyo.

LETTER OF THE MONTH

MORE SHOP TALKIN’

SKILL TRANSFER

At 77 years of age, I am riding my motorcycle a bit less and my bicycle a bit more of late. A month ago I was at a four-way stop on my Cannondale bicycle, arriving simultaneously with a pickup to my right and waiting for my turn to proceed after him. As I began to cross the intersection, I covered my brake and monitored the front wheels of the car that had arrived after the pickup, as I have done in similar situations on my motorcycles. When I was a third of the way into the intersection, the car began to move briskly into my path, but I was able to stop in time to avoid being run over thanks to my 60 years of practice on motorcycles. The car driver appeared to be annoyed at my existence. Not me.

Richard DeBeau Nortfield, Minn.

Really enjoyed the Talkin’ Shop article in the August issue. Matthew Crawford’s Shop Class as Soulcraft book (which was mentioned in the October issue’s Backfires section) is a great read. Crawford, who’s a Ph.D., motorcycle shop owner and faculty member at The University of Virginia, writes that not every student is meant for a “knowledge college,” and that technical schools need to be considered more often. Society in turn needs to afford more respect to the trades and graduates with technological credentials.

Not long ago a young friend was dropping his mother’s Volvo off for service at the dealer and the Service Manager noticed the tech school logo on his shirt. He was offered a job on the spot and upon graduation became a certified Volvo technician, earning a decent wage doing something he loved. High school guidance counselors need to get on board and offer solutions that accommodate the individual’s interests and aspirations rather than being concerned with statistics boasting about their rate of graduates going off to “knowledge colleges.” Let’s pay these tech graduates accordingly, respect and honor them, and encourage students to explore the many benefits of a technical education and career.

Ron Fish Valley Forge, Pa.

From what we’re reading and seeing, Ron, tech-school grads are making quite decent money these days, and in many cases more than liberal arts degree holders. The knowledge-college-is-the-only-way mentality of the last few decades seems to be changing of late, and for those for whom a traditional college education isn’t a good fit, that is good news indeed.

—Ed.

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.

SOLO OR NO? A GOOD QUESTION

At 62, I often find myself hitting the trails solo. I suppose it could be my reclusive nature, inability to tolerate people for extended lengths of time (“extended” defined as longer than 10 minutes), or some other trait that will be assigned an acronym followed by the creation of support groups and self-help books. But seriously, I grew up racing with a whole posse of friends and we always did just fine. Nowadays, I will meet up with a few people on the trail…and yet there is always something that has me just wanting to ride solo. Is it an ego thing?

It always feels like someone is trying too hard to be the fastest guy, and let everyone know it, while people like me did our serious racing years ago and now just want to feel the rush without the crush of crashing out in the name of being the fastest guy on “Who Cares Trail” that day. Other times it’s just the lack of connection. The guy who brags about never washing his bike cuz it would cut into his riding time, or the one who has to stop every 5 minutes for a smoke. Even guys I do like to ride with on occasion can annoy me when they want to go ride XYZ trail because it’s close to home and they can get back to, ya know, the important stuff. I’d rather drive two hours to the best trail and make it a day. I could go on.

I guess I’m searching for ideas or ways on how to approach riding so I can actually be more social? I think I’d like to ride with others, and I miss my old buddies, and the camaraderie of it all. I just think so many people are in different places in their riding experience that it’s hard for me to find my niche. What do you think?

Brian Hennessy

I’m in the same boat some of the time, Brain. I enjoy riding with others quite a bit, but whether I know them or they’re strangers, there are occasions when they do things I don’t like. It’s getting worse with age, too. The older I get (I’m 60 now), the pickier I am about who I ride with, and my patience isn’t what it used to be — and it was never all that good to start with! I’d be interested to hear what readers have to say about this, so ping us at submissions@ama-cycle. org if you want to sound off.

—Ed.

CARLSBAD (PHOTO) CREDIT

Can you tell me who shot the stunning opening photo of Marty Moates holeshotting the 1980 USGP in your One Day of Magic piece in the September issue? The layout is stunning, but that photo is epic and makes the whole thing come together so nicely. Thanks!

Marc Johnson Ravenna, Ohio

That’d be longtime motorsports photojournalist David Dewhurst (dewhurstphoto.com), who shot a lot of the images in our Carlsbad history piece a few issues back.

—Ed.

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