Originals?
 Just finished reading your article "Why Milwaukee Won't Die" (June '87),
and would like to share my opinion with you on the state of "Cruisers",
both Japanese and American. As your article points out, the Far East is
doing its best to clone Harley-Davidson's line of motorcycles. I would
take this a step further and suggest that the new Harley-Davidsons are
nothing more than caricatures of the fine motorcycles the company
made 40 years ago.
 I own a restored 1950 Harley flathead 45 incher, which is my "daily driver"
Although the springer front end and hardtail make for a pretty rough ride
(50 miles to work and back), it is not a pretentious machine, and it was
not designed to look like anything but itself.
 The cost of acquisition and restoration? Four thousand dollars and six
months in the garage after work. I agree that imitations strengthen the
authenticity of the originals. I disagree that contemporary examples of
Harley-Davidsons are the originals.
Eric Byorth
Lincoln, Nebraska.