Critiquing Cycle Designs

Your critique of the Las Vegas Guggenheim display of fine art, which included classic motorcycles, was uninformed and narrow-minded (“A Cultural Gamble: Opening Juxtaposes Sublime Masters and Flashy Motorcycles,” by Christopher Knight, Oct. 6). That classic motorcycles cannot be the basis for art dismisses the professional design efforts of many successful design artists worldwide, including Willie G. Davidson, a graduate of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and head designer for Harley-Davidson, and Craig Vetter, a design graduate and designer of the X75 Triumph on display at the Guggenheim Art of the Motorcycle, displays which have been viewed worldwide.

Classic motorcycle shapes and designs conjure up the same kind of emotions that come from viewing other works of art. Can art be so narrowly defined as to exclude one form over another?DON J. BROWN Motorcycle industry analyst Irvine

When I noticed Christopher Knight’s extensive article about the Las Vegas Guggenheim on the front page of Saturday’s Calendar, I was looking forward to reading about the motorcycle exhibit.

Unfortunately, the only thing I learned is that Knight has no interest in motorcycles and, therefore, they are not worthy of his attention. His description of the most extensive collection of historical motorcycles ever assembled in one place is, in effect: If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. Perhaps The Times should send someone else to review this particular exhibit, since your readership knows no more about it now than they did before reading Knight’s review.

DAVID PATTERSON

Culver City