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Original Article:
Book Review: Top Dead Center

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[seruzawa]

If/when Kevin leaves CW there will be absolutely no reason to ever pick one up again.

 

[longride]

There is no reason to pick up a CW rag now. Gabe aside, they have the biggest bunch of corporate ass kissers in the business. They should name it PC magazine instead of CW. It has the edge of a bowling ball.

 

[sarnali2]

It's good to read on the loo, other than that there's not much in there.

 

[54937]

I like the pheromone adds in the back of CW.

Ah jeez. Hold on a sec, fellas. Muffy and Kitten are fighting again.

LADIES, there is enough E-Z Cheese for you both! You know you are both special to me!

Where was I? Oh, yea. Pheromones. Careful with their use- it is a jungle out there...

 

[sachiwilson]

I haven't bought a motomag more than twice or three times in six or seven years. I got the Motorcyclist helmet issue, and I picked up another mag for one reason or another when I was on a trip, but that's all I remember. I'm going to get the June issue of Rider because there's a article about the Rounders, but after that I'll probably drop reading the mags again.

 

[54937]

I went over to the 'Rounders web site out of curiosity. I noticed that the founders rode BMW bikes. In my neck of the woods BMWs appear on the roads about the same time as the robins do on the backyard, and are a sure sign of the imminent arrival of spring.

As for riding year round, well, err...I look out at my "driveway" and am greeted by the sight of a long narrow path of gooey mud. I don't think I could pass the "no whiners" test of membership, in other words.

 

[61860]

I agree, CW is very lucky to have Cameron. He's simply great. His Sportbike Performance Handbook is a must have for anyone wanting to understand what's going on between their legs...er with the motorcycle I mean. I keep that book on my nightstand and grab it and pick whatever subject I'm curious about at the moment and read up. I really wish Kevn would release ver2.0 of it. Update his chapters to incorporate some of the modern technology we are using today. Still, the book is totally relevant even without that after all these years.

Nice write up Leif. You convinced me it's good read- although I was pretty much convinced as soon as I saw the author's name.

 

[sachiwilson]

I went over to the 'Rounders web site out of curiosity. I noticed that the founders rode BMW bikes. In my neck of the woods BMWs appear on the roads about the same time as the robins do on the backyard, and are a sure sign of the imminent arrival of spring.

As for riding year round, well, err...I look out at my "driveway" and am greeted by the sight of a long narrow path of gooey mud. I don't think I could pass the "no whiners" test of membership, in other words.

Not all BMW riders are Rounders. But the group was begun by a bunch of BMW owners (plus a few guys who rode other bikes), and it spread from there. I found out about the group on the Iron Butt Association forum.

Many of the Rounders have winter bikes (often dirt-oriented dual purpose bikes) that work much better in winter conditions than the BMWs could. Some of them (like you) find it impossible to ride in deep winter because of the conditions. One of the members lives in Edmonton, Alberta - he really gets skunked in the winter!

 

[mscuddy]

JB tried to get my foot in the door with that Jawa 90 story...Dave Edwards hemmed and hawed, fially didn't go for it, and in that next issue Egan did a very similar story about his first bike. It's a jungle out there...

Oh well, at least I can still bore you MOrons with trivia, little know facts and bull$hit.

 

[seruzawa]

JB tried to get my foot in the door with that Jawa 90 story...Dave Edwards hemmed and hawed, fially didn't go for it, and in that next issue Egan did a very similar story about his first bike. It's a jungle out there...

Oh well, at least I can still bore you MOrons with trivia, little know facts and bull$hit.

I caught the Edwards dude in an outright lie about a submission I made back in the 1980's. A simple rejection would have been no problem. But I don't abide liars. Haven't bought one of those rags since. Never will.

 

[mscuddy]

Yeah, it's hell with anything that has to do with writing in this town. The suits and weenies ride to the top somehow by intense ass-kissing, subtrafuge & manacity. My dad wrote for Road & Track back in the mid-fifties, he said that's the way it works. The bigger the talentless jerk, the higher up the food chain and higher the salary.

 

[sarnali2]

You might try rider, Mark Tuttle seems to be a reasonable sort.

 

[54937]

JB tried to get my foot in the door with that Jawa 90 story...Dave Edwards hemmed and hawed, fially didn't go for it, and in that next issue Egan did a very similar story about his first bike. It's a jungle out there...

Oh well, at least I can still bore you MOrons with trivia, little know facts and bull$hit.

Bull$hit? Sorry, but you are dating yourself. It is Bull$$$hit these days- ain't inflation a *****?

Seriously- their loss.

I would love to hear your "you'll shoot your eye out, kid" advice about the wild world of dirtbikes. I am being seduced to the dirty side of life. It all goes back to what I have to work with- a lot of mud. I have already done my level best to alienate the neighbors, so a bit of moto-mayhem will raise the bar in that arena. Speaking of arenas, my back "yard" would be improved by putting in some proper ruts & whoops.

I say, when life gives you lemons- ferment them!

I figure I could use either a dirtbike or a herd of bison. The neighbors ain't gonna like it anyhoo.

 

[mscuddy]

If you really want to alienate the neighbors, put an open megaphone exhaust on the lawnmower, every day at sundown do wheelies up and down the street on a CR500 with a blown silencer, and shoot every bird in sight out of the trees with an old Crossman air rifle. The neighborhood cats will love you, but that's about it. Worked for me.

 

[27193]

Way back around 1973 I took a bunch of parts from my 1972 Kaw 750 2 stroke up to Kevin and Co. in Arlington, MA. He worked some magic, and when I put it back together the bike was scary-fast, at least for me.

2nd gear @ 40, lean over the headlight, whack the throttle and wham, there was 70. Quite a guy!

 

[mscuddy]

...um, I think a '72 750 Kawi triple was scary enough already. Made neat mosquito abatement devices too...

 

[27193]

The stock handling was scary, not the acceleration. That changed with a set of Bill Wirges chambers and Kevin's mods.

Notice how it only took me 7 years to make my first post? I've been kinda busy---.

 

[The_AirHawk]

Notice how it only took me 7 years to make my first post? I've been kinda busy---.

That's it, keep it up - postwh*re.............

 

[27193]

>"that's it, keep it up"<

I'm trying, but at 67 it sometimes doesn't cooperate.