Change is the only constant, as they say (well, not too many of them). The news that Motorcyclist Magazine is about to print its final edition with the July/August issue this year, entering an era of digital-only publication, including YouTube videos and social media activities, reminds us of one particular press launch on the cusp of this industry transformation.
It was January of 2000 when an upstart internet-only publication known as Motorcycle Daily attended a press launch at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Honda CBR929RR. To say we were the odd man out is a gross understatement, as the scorn from the print mags directed towards MD in front of Honda personnel was, on occasion, direct and express.
At that press launch, MD became the first enthusiast publication (whether automobile or motorcycle) to provide same-day reporting of our first impressions of the vehicle under evaluation. Armed with our state-of-the-art, kick-ass, two megapixel camera and its atrocious auto-focus, we snuck into Freddie Spencer’s office at the track and plugged in our dial-up modem to upload a brief story and pictures while the other journalists were enjoying lunch (seemingly unconcerned with their own 6-8 week print deadlines). At dinner that night, we overheard one of the print journalists flatly state that Honda wasted a valuable spot inviting a web site, because motorcycle Ezines would never amount to anything of significance.
Here is the dealer news statement regarding the final print edition of Motorcyclist:
Say it ain’t so! After more than 100 years, Motorcyclist Magazine will no longer be in print as of the July/August issue according to Bonnier Corp. “Like other enthusiast-content segments, motorcycle readership has evolved to a truly digital audience,” said Andy Leisner, SVP Managing Director of the Bonnier Motorcycle Group. “There have been substantial shifts in consumer content preferences as well as advertisers’ desire to reach motorcycle consumers on these growing digital platforms.”
The brand will continue online at motorcyclistonline.com and across all social and video platforms.
Leisner claims the digital audience for Motorcyclist has grown substantially, led by the 1.18 million enthusiasts who interact with Motorcyclist’s social channels, including 630,597 Motorcyclist YouTube subscribers. In the past two years, Motorcyclist’s YouTube views have grown by 239%, and subscribers have grown by 494%. All existing Motorcyclist staff and production resources will be shifted to address the growth on these channels.
See more of MD’s great photography:
Funny thing, I got the last issue in the mail on Saturday. Opened it up and 2 subscription cards fell out!
same here. I thought, how ironic….
I prefer to have my fingers turn a paper page rather than swipe across a screen.
I used to really enjoy Cycle World, first rate in almost every respect. Motorcyclist was a close second. Then they where put under the new owner and soon went to every other month. They both have very little content and in my opinion are lowest in quality since they don’t do any current reviews etc. Rider is probably the very best there is now if you like what we used to have available. I hope they don’t get sold to a big publisher or they’ll be done too.
Sad times for good magazines. Their online websites are plagued with advertisements and still have low quality articles. Real shame.
Yeah, I got hosed on the long term subscription as well. Couldn’t get any response from them either. Terrible to deal with.
Since both Motorcyclist and Cycle World are owned by the same publisher (Bonnier Corp.), your remaining issues of the former magazine will be automatically converted to the latter. I was informed that I had 28 issues remaining on my Motorcyclist subscription, and since my Cycle World subscription was due to expire shortly, it has now been extended by 5 years, to August of 2024. Sadly, one can only dream that they’ll still be publishing for even 2 or 3 more years, at best. Neither one is anywhere near as interesting as the old formats were. Sad.
P.S. – Thanks to your and others’ recommendations, I just now subscribed to Rider magazine. Three years (a true 36 issues!) for 30 bucks. Looks like my old magazines used to look. Thanks for the tip.
anybody remember Bill Bagnall when he had Motorcyclist magazine ????
Seems like the number of articles you are posting has slowed way down over the years. Be careful they don’t beat you at your own game. You are now going to be competing with some big boys with possibly more on the way.
What aggravates me most is I paid for a multi-year subscription that was 12 monthly issues, then that turned into 6 or is it now 4 issues per year, and now it’s going digital. Do I get a refund? No. Give it a few months and they’ll announce the same thing for Cycle World.
I know a guy that was in the motorcycle publishing world and an editor in chief. He now works on-line and makes twice what he did before. Economics.
I find online less than thrilling and a pain to read the way I like. Oh and motorcycle daily aint daily much……
Oh swell! Now that I recently decided to go the other way! Like many I have read motorcycle magazines since I first wrapped my fingers around some handlebars. There have been some great writing along the way employing wit, humor, and fact.
I switched my subscriptions over to digital almost 10 years ago. It was handy to have all in one spot and I felt I was helping to reduce waste. But that tactile feel of holding a newly minted magazine was gone. I found I was less drawn to the digit version as time went on. I just recently decided to go back to print and this news hits!
What’s an old rider to do?
In Australia there is a motorcycle magazine called Motorcycle Trader (MT) which is unlike any other I have seen. As its name suggests, it started out as a publication for people to advertise their bikes for sale, with a few articles. But as bike sales were taken over by the internet the adverts progressively became less and have almost disappeared, and it is now full of interesting articles. Re-invention is often the key to survival and MT evolved into a different concept for motorcycle magazines. It has very diverse content, from classics to the latest high tech rocketships, including relevant articles on dirt and trail bikes.
While most motorcycle magazines and journalists come across as being elitist, the team at MT make you feel like you are having a chat with your best mates. The team includes, – John Rooth, an Aussie bushman and highly experienced motorcyclist. His preference is for bikes he can fix himself, so he avoids complex electronics. He writes articles about fixing his own bikes as well as his travels and experiences. Guy Allen owns about 20 bikes and buys and sells more often than anyone else I know of. He understands the market, gives practical advice and predicts which bikes will be valuable collectors in the future (buy them now while they are cheap) as well as writing articles on maintaining and repairing his own bikes. Spannerman gives technical advice and answers questions to help readers solve problems with their own bikes. He has access to an enormous amount of technical information and is usually right. Just don’t ask him about chain maintenance (but we all know how to do that anyway) because he seems to hate them. Cam Donald has raced all over the world including two wins at the IOM TT (and you have to be brave and talented to do that) as well as being a highly skilled dirt rider. He tests any of the road and dirt bikes, particularly high performance bikes, that require a lot of talent and skill to get the best from them (many motorcycle journalists aren’t great riders, their skill is writing not riding). Ian Falloon is possibly the world’s greatest authority on classic bikes. Every issue he gives us a history lesson on a bike from the past which even I enjoy reading, and I have no desire for classics (or even retros). The editor, Chris Harris, has a younger, fresher approach to motorcycling. He is mostly a road rider but at the moment is preparing to enter the 24-hour Reliability Trial in South Australia. This is a yearly event with one rider per bike and one bike per rider, racing dirt bikes for 24 hours with only stops at checkpoints and meal breaks. The top riders go for the win, but for many just completing the event is a satisfying achievement. I look forward to a detailed report, from Chris, of his experiences. These journalists are well educated, highly experienced, passionate and dedicated motorcyclists.
MT is published every four weeks. Its greatest strengths are its diversity and ability to make all types of bike interesting to all types of rider, as well as the entertaining, highly experienced characters who write it. While the concept seems improbable, it works because it is all about real motorcycling. Their website is always out of date. You need to get your hands on a paper copy to appreciate it. If you are a poser, don’t bother reading it. It’s not for you. I get most of my motorcycle info from the internet, and MT is the only magazine I buy regularly because it is the most interesting and entertaining publication I have seen.
Although I have many motorcycle magazines from the mid-1960s on, I didn’t subscribe to any until 1970 when I had a more or less permanent address. I subscribed to everything except dirt bike specific mags, and at one point I subscribed to 10 motorcycle magazines, although a couple were bimonthly or quarterly. Much to my wife’s displeasure I still have almost all of those magazines, and even pick up and read a decades old issue on occasion. When Motorcyclist and Cycle World changed their formats I figured it was only a matter of time until they both were gone. I understand the difficulties that print media face, but why is it that Rider, Road Runner, Iron Horse, and MCN seem to be doing OK? (Perhaps I should add Bike to my subscription list. About 15 years ago I would read Bike regularly, but finally realized that I was paying good money for a lot of attitude. Maybe they’ve changed.)
I’ve yet to find an online magazine that is as easy to read as a print magazine or that provides the useful, comprehensive, and complete information that Cycle, Cycle Guide, Cycle World, and Motorcyclist printed every month back in the motorcycle heydays of the 1970s through the 1990s. Online is great for race reports, quick takes on new products, or reader responses, but the relaxed and reader friendly printed page is better for analysis and is just easier to read.
Motorcyclists are aging, but there are still a lot of us. When Motorcyclist magazine became a lifestyle publication I figured it was an attempt to chase the elusive dollars of the twenty-somethings, but I don’t think that demographic is buying or even interested in motorcycles. I actually felt betrayed when Motorcyclist changed and I should feel at least a little schadenfreude now that the experiment has failed, but all that I feel is sad.
Jeremy said it best: Some of those changes you didn’t care for were just last ditch efforts to stay relevant.
I use to get the mag –and one issue had a picture of a yellow stripe of old paint on a road course nothing else –and i’m paying for that ? then Cycle World did the same –SEE YA !
Have to agree that the 80’s and 90’s were the halcyon days of motorcycle magazines. Didn’t matter if it was Cycle, Cycle World, or Motorcyclist. The writing was superb and the bike reviews, oh there were so many bikes and so little time back then. The internet journalism has never been able to match that period of time. Sorry, MD. You’re still my online fave but not at the live of bike rags back then.
The one thing left is Cameron. I have CW’s site bookmarked but only to his feed.
I think the 80s-90s were the halcyon days of motordom. Tech had come far enough to address a lot of issues, but it hadn’t taken over. Nor had government regulations to the extent they have now. (Observe cars like the CRX, death traps by today’s standards. But come on – getting in a car crash is never great, so I think I would be ok with Avoidance.)
Buff books honestly had a lot more to write about. Sportbikes were still being developed. As good as modern “sport tourers” may be, do any of them inspire you to have one like the raft of real S-Ts that were at that time?
I could go on and on, but think about this: in the 80s-90s, when I drove around I admired SO MANY other cars, of all types. Now, hardly any. So much “who cares.” So many SUVs. And bikes? Well, just don’t see ’em. People might say “well you got used to CA and are now in CO” but I grew up in OK and always saw bikes I wanted….
We’re at the end of an era. Savor every drop while you still can.
Ditto, especially with regard to Cameron, my man-crush on Kevin is bigger than the jugs on the new BMW cruiser. Used to love reading the foibles of John Burns. Agree with the later poster who expressed love for Gordon Jennings (understanding these were not necessarily Motorcyclist contributors). Nick (Ienetsch?) was always a favorite read. My life has been better due to the work of the motojournalists I read and enjoyed so much. And that includes Motorcycle Daily, the only online source I read consistently – Honest, Reliable, Moto-prose.
At one time, I probably had twenty years’ worth of Motorcyclist on a shelf. The one constant is change. Thanks to all of those who enriched my existence through their recorded experiences.
I will fully agree with all the comments here. Carrithers, Boehm and Burns were the Clarkson/May/Hammond of the motorcycle world; their replacements frankly never had the charisma nor the general attraction of them. Cook & Co. seemed to only have an interest in motorcycles based upon how fast they went; every road test (seemed) to have a bias based upon speed, while “CBB” never forgot that motorcycling is to be fun, first and foremost. Cook and Co. seemed to mellow a bit later on in their tenure, taking interest in models beyond just speed demons, but by then the damage had been done – I had lost any and all interest in ever bothering to pick up an issue again.
So end of an era, but I saw it coming years and years ago as the issues got thinner and thinner, with less and less interesting (to me, a rider with interests beyond a 45-minute canyon ride) content. So bye bye, I’m sorry but I lamented your loss a long time ago.
I used to subscribe to Motorcyclist, saving the magazines and re-reading favorite articles over time. A few years ago, the format changed and it became “artsy”. Tiny little fonts with tons of white space were harder for me to read. “Artsy” pictures of pieces of a bike taken at angles instead of just showing me the darned bike. Stories about bike travel are ok but there just seemed to be more of the travel stories and less about actual bikes. I cancelled the subscription a year ago.
“pictures of pieces of a bike taken at angles” was just the tip of the iceberg:
– Pictures of hipsters, up close, grit on them, facial hair
– Pictures of hipsters, period
– Did I mention, hipsters?
Man, those two twits that took over tried very hard, at something, but g-d it was just painful.
I would have never thought the resurgence of vinyl would occur…..but it did. So I wouldn’t count the print motorcycle periodical out just yet. At least I’m hoping….. ’cause I still enjoy books, you know… actual books – not a Kindle. I also like looking at a magazine until it’s dog eared and worn out. I find them easier and more enjoyable to read/look at in the crapper, or out by the pool or whatever. I just like printed media for most things. Just like printed music. I could move my bands over to screen based material for performance, but paper always wins out. It’s easier to alter course mid-tune, make audible lane changes in the middle of a solo etc., and there’s real connection to analog; not sure why, but its there. Once all the magazines fold (figuratively) a new era of print bike mags will emerge again on (hopefully) cheap, slick paper with “ok” photos but lots of cool insight from veteran moto-journalist that want to hit a smaller boutique market right between the ears.
I’ve worked in digital media since 1997 and I’ve run multiple companies that disrupted existing analog media industries. Here’s the inescapable reality: convenience trumps all else. I sometimes wish that wasn’t the case, I used to subscribe to a dozen+ magazines, but as they got thinner they became less interesting (vicious circle) and it just seemed odd to get information weeks or months after I could get it electronically.
Every traditional media form has gone through this and it’s not done yet. Media companies used to make money by controlling distribution i.e. you had to buy the magazine, the CD, go to the theater, etc. but that’s gone and the tables, for better or worse, have been reversed.
I always thought MCN (Motorcycle Consumer News) had the best, most in-depth reviews on bikes, but they got too expensive, so I stopped subscribing to them. I do miss 2 Wheel Tuner.
MCN is worth the price to me. I have every issue going back to the Road Rider days (that was its name before it became MCN). Besides, with Cycle gone, Cycle World gone, Sportbike gone, now Motorcyclist gone, I’ve got extra cash to pay for MCN.
Sad to see it go, in a vague, nostalgic sort of way. But while I once bought bike mags monthly and religiously, today there is so much more content available electronically that I really don’t miss them much. Last time I actually bought a bike mag was when flying, for something to read on the plane. But it’s definitely the end of an era. I hope the good moto-journalists will still be able to make a living reporting on motorcycle stuff. I don’t know if e-media could have produced a Kevin Cameron or Peter Egan (I know, those guys were at CW), but then again many things have changed a lot over the last 50 years.
As a high schooler in the early 80’s totally into dirt bikes, this was one of the only motor cycle subscriptions the school library had. Boy if I had a nickel for every free period spent filling out that little form for the librarian to go fetch that new monthly issue – once in a while you could even catch a dirt review. Now if it was Dirt Bike mag I would have been in heaven. But there was always the option of hanging out at the mag rack at the grocers while mom was shopping.
What am I going to take to the toilet err.. library? I’ve done an on line subscription of Roadrunner but the experience is not the same as hard copy. I love the large glossy photos without having to scroll across a small screen.
My preferred style of motorcycle journalism died with Joe Parkhurst and Gordon Jennings. RIP.
Cycle was the best. If I had to choose only one motorcycle magazine to keep, it would be the November, 1982 issue of Cycle. Their review of the new XLX-61 Sportster is still the best explanation why I ride motorcycles and why I ride a Sportster.
Just to say opinion of ”GT” is not mine,
I’m a follower of Motorcycledaily since nearly 20 years now on Motorcycledaily, and i like the site the way it is.
The one who want to bash motorcycledaily, change place.
Please Dirck don’t change anything to this site.
I’m also sad to see Motorcyclist diseaper, one of my favorite paper mag.
Miss time when John Burns, Nick Ienacht, Kent Kunitsugu and other where for Motorcyclist. Maybe one day they will associate with Dirck.
Motorcycist, Cycle, Rider, Cycle Guide, and so on all falling to the internet axe. It is too bad that these publications are disappearing to online script. The quality of writing skills was simply the best through the 80’s and 90’s with much more vivid stories and creative writing. Motorcycle reviews these days equate to the writer spending half a day riding the motorcycle under the watchful eye of the manufacturer. Like fast food had taken over as thin and flakey motorcycle articles seem to dominate. Anyone and I mean anyone can grab a GoPro and within hours have posted some nonsensical video online “expertly “ reviewing a motorcycle. I have kept a few older magazines and they are a pleasure to read again, but the world is about easy access and low effort.
To the point. Since the digital age of media every single motorcycle, aviation, or general interest magazine has turned into stylistic, incomprehensible, and illogical shit, except the british BIKE. Artsee fartsee does not belong in informational media. Page number placement, borderless articles, black small fonts on dark colored backgrounds, advertising pretending to be an article of interest across both facing pages, smaller and smaller article content per page, even the use of feminism pastels everywhere to give that soft glow ( Consumer Reports ), speaking of which wrong charts and diagrams consistently with NO logical format. I have been a heavy subscriber to hundreds, since FLYING in 1962, to only 2 now, CR and Combat Aircraft both of which are on a short leash for renewal. Where is the Common Sense in publishing ? It should be clear, logical, conformal to standards instead a demonstration of personal ego, and DAMN Artsy Fartsy !
This is not all.
Even my decades of read, and personal gold standard Motorcycle Consumer News, has gone soft.
You can get Bike magazine from UK by mail, subscription, for about $80 something. If you ever saw a copy at B&N you know it is a great publication, the best of what is left.
Agreed, and check here for USA subscriptions operation…https://motorsportx.com/
BIKE is my favorite. It is so complete each month, pages and pages of proper bike tests, travel articles and bike news, it makes you wonder how they manage to keep it all going yet all the US mags now gone except Rider, Motocross Action and Dirt Bike.
I used to subscribe to “Bike” many years ago. It and all the other British motorcycle magazines – there are/were several – were miles ahead of the American ones. 10 times. I might re-up, now that you’ve reminded me of it.
Different markets. The UK market is so much more focused than the N. American one. Still, maybe some of the US bike magazines would still be in business if they provided the kind of coverage that Bike does, rather than fawning reviews afraid to criticize bikes for fear of getting cut off the review junket circuit, or losing advertising.
Not surprised, anyone that cared about motors or cycles quit taking it when they decided to go all artsy fartsy.
Cycle World seems to be following suit with the same thing. Went to 4 times a year, with heavier paper, more riding articles, but in my opinion less bike reviews, and I suppose what you could say is more artsy fartsy too. I’ve been a subscriber since 1972 I think, and will not be renewing. I liked the older format better, except it would have been alright to print every other month instead of every month.
Yeah I saw a copy at the store recently and was like “oh god they have taken over.”
Motorcycle Daily might want to learn from this development. Content has been mostly race reports and manufacturer press releases punctuated by the occasional road test. Thank you for avoiding click bait top ten lists but the name itself “Motorcycle Daily” implies daily updates.
Calm yer tacos…established brand…MotorcycleEveryFewDaysly doesn’t really have the same ring to it. You’ll be ok, and I suspect the site will keep carrying on. Something tells me this is not Dirck’s only gig. If it is, I’m in the wrong line of work.
I agree wholeheartedly GT.
Sad to hear MD take a “see I told you so” stance when a great publication is going by the way side.
The internet is certainly convenient, but it’s not necessarily kind to print publications and album sales.
Two industries that have been hammered.
And furthermore, as much as I enjoy MD, the journalism will never hold a candle to folks like David Edwards and Kevin Cameron (yes I know, Cycle World).
It’s tough waiting a week between articles on MD, especially if the last one was on racing (there’s usually very few comments for discussion on racing articles so little interest there). If racing coverage is dropped I fear that MD would also cease to exist due to the sometimes one week wait for a new article. New content OTHER than racing offered 3X a week would make for a fine ezine. I understand that MD is mostly a one-man circus and Dirk does a pretty good job, considering he’s flying solo. I remember Dirk was looking for new writing talent a while back and I wonder if he ever found someone?
I probably subscribed to every motorcycle mag out there and have great memories of lazy evenings thumbing through the new issues every month. Shame to see Motorcyclist go the way of printed media. Frankly I’m surprised they survived this long.
Cycle News has been free and digital since 2011 and is better than ever.
Most of the magazines turned into sports bike magazines 40 years ago. This Ural doesn’t perform like any of the bikes we reviewed in our lastest sports comparo. Video’s are taking over reviews. Some of the guys are pretty honest too. One review of a big cruiser a reviewer took the bike to a rough part of road and explained why it shouldn’t be like that. Another who was more answerable to higher ups took a naked bike to a bad patch of road and while it bounced around the reviewer grunted and groaned about how great the suspension was. The problem is everyone is spread so thin there can’t be much money in it.
A really interesting point. The buff books have forever been afraid to call a spade a spade and piss off the manufacturers. Note how usually you only find out about a vehicle’s flaws when the NEXT iteration comes out, then they can say all that was bad that is now fixed etc. (UK ones are curiously a whole different breed, they don’t fart around.)
I know a guy that tested cars for Automobile for awhile – his test of the original Hyundai Excel was rejected because he was honest about the thing, and he refused to tone it down or rewrite it.
I agree magazines cut there own throats with the new formats. Let my subs run out, only get dirt bike, roadrunner and rider now. Was a subscriber to cycle, cycle world, motorcyclist and cycle guide since the 70’s.
Me too todd. I got them all. Now I am down to 3…. Rider, Road Runner and Motorcycle Classics. Dropped Cycle World went all coffee table and no guaranteed number of issues a year, and now Motorcyclist is gone. Being an old guy, I do like my magazines vs electronic media. MCD is the only electronic MC info related website I visit regularly. Pretty fair reports and I like the comments from all the readers which makes me ponder my own conceptions.
Different “Todd”, I know how to spell “their” even though I don’t capitalize my name.
I’m only old enough to start my motorcycle subscriptions in the 90s but I do have a few boxes of every issue of Cycle from the early ‘50s through the early 80s. There’s also a bunch of other bike mags, parts catalogs, and plenty of dealer brochures from the different brands through those eras. My grandfather and dad gave them to me along with hundreds of Road and Track, Car and Driver and many others. I’ve spent countless hours reading these and they take up a lot of room in the closet. I’ve tried to sell some but they aren’t worth much and that just leaves issues missing in the collection. Digital media is so much easier to store and it doesn’t get eaten up by silver fish or moisture damage. It’s also much easier to find what you’re looking for and carry around with you wherever you go.
I had 4 magazine subscriptions for decades. I dropped Motorcyclist when it went bimonthly and turned into a motorcycle version of Vogue. Hated it.
Now I have only Motorcycle Consumer News, which is still free of advertising and its related biases.
Good for Motorcycle Daily for anticipating the future and acting on it. It’s the site I read most often (although I get a little tired of the racing coverage.)
While I enjoy Motorcycle Daily, it is tacky to gloat over the demise of a publication that lots of us enjoyed over the years. I liked most of the bike mags (excluding the semi-porn biker rags) over the years. I read them all, but only regularly subscribed to Rider and RoadRider. Now I wish I hadn’t tossed so many of them in the trash. It’s nice to have the instant access of the internet, but I still miss my old dog-eared magazine friends.
Well, as much as I enjoy MD too, this platform itself been looking pretty dated for years and could use an update to the site and a few complements such as video and social media. If MD doesn’t get a little proactive, those defunct print mags forced to go full digital to exist may end up with the last laugh.
Maybe MD seems to be dated, but it’s their advantage. Please take a look on visordown.com – after introducing new, modern layout and formula, they are simply hopeless. Tons of youtube stuff with “funny” and horrible crashes, difficulty to find anything because of new articles mixed with old ones and placed chaoticly in several places of the site, with very often, poor quality pictures from “first impression” rides. Sorry, but then I preffer dated MD with substantive content, chronological order, good quality pictures, comments without fb account and no stupid youtube overload.
I’m not saying it lacks quality, and I like MD very much myself. Personally, I don’t need (or want) a Twitter feed or Instagrams, but people 10+ years younger than me may demand that sort of thing. Every defunct magazine thought their own qualities would keep them afloat, and I think it is a little naive to assume that a wide audience can be retained with quality photos and thorough written reviews alone I could be wrong, of course.
I think Cycle World won’t be far behind. Don’t really care for digital mags anyway. Agree with G Hill, don’t want a travel mag or a catalog of products. Rider mag already has that plus still does bike tests. Been subscribing since the 70s and I really miss those days.
(If this comment is too long, please feel free to skip it.)
Motorcyclist, Cycle World, etc. all have the same problem for me. They review the same motorcycles at the same time based upon what the manufacturer’s have on their agenda. The reviews are filled with the propaganda the manufacturers/advertisers want to promote, when they want to promote it and under their control.
Dealers will let customers test ride motorcycles. They probably would let magazine journalists test ride and test new motorcycles. Review a motorcycle provided by a dealer or owner instead of by a manufacturer so that you aren’t obligated to the manufacturer or so both magazines would not be reviewing the same three motorcycles in every issue? Review a customer’s or reader’s motorcycle, just for surprise, or old motorcycles, or used motorcycles?
It was always the same format, the manufacturer flies the reviewer to the Costa Brava, Spain for a week of sun, sea and beautiful women and then the reviewer writes an honest review? I don’t think so.
Thanks for the heads up I took your advice.
So I get a refund on my subscription I assume not. Their mag turned to shit about a year ago. I wanted a bike mag, not a travel mag with huge pic’s with a tiny motorcycle somewhere in pic. Was going to cancel anyway. Just cancelled my Cycle mag after over 40 years.
I’ve had sunbscriptions to 4 different motorcycle publications over the years. Dirt Bike was first in 1976. I added Cycle(the best) in ‘77, then Motocross Action, and lastly Cycle World in June of ‘80. There was Popular Cycling in there somewhere but not as a subscription. Or got one. Cycle News in the mid 90’s. Still have Cycle World but figure it won’t be long before it too is gone from print. Motorcycle Daily came to my attention when I was looking for info on the then new 2000 W650. I did buy one partly because of the report on MD. Been checking it everyday since. I have every issue of every magazine I’ve purchased, whether be by subscription or off the rack. I will miss the printed versions. And I doubt I will purchase a subscription to adigital publication if required to view content. Sad.
Thank you for recognizing Cycle as the best. Without question it was one of the finest magazines covering any genre, period.
“Plucking the Stradivarius String” by Cook Nielson, one of the best pieces of moto-journalism ever created!
And month-in, month-out, Gordon Jennings and Kevin Cameron. (Humble opinion of a Cycle reader, from the mid-60’s until…)
“Pile with Style” by
Kevin Cameron…
You got that right! Cook riding the RG500.
Damn I hate spellcheck! Thats what I get for using my phone. Anyway, Cycle always did it for me. It was the best. Best writers, stories, and when they did a road test, more than a couple of pages devoted to most bikes. Even pics of the bike tore apart. My first issue was the Buyers Guide for 1975. Still have it. One of the pics on the cover was a hot blonde in her motocross boots and short jersey. Came out of the doctors office and walked right over to the magazine rack in the adjacent drug store. There it was and talked my mom into buying it for me. And speaking of the monthly features, Ed Hertfelder and his fried egg sandwiches. Got a real kick out of it.
Facebook fans of Cycle magazine…https://www.facebook.com/groups/331497513772/
Agree, Cycle was the best. The detail was what drew me to the mag. They listed every possible spec along with performance charts, professionally written articles, etc. I think the moto magazines just got lazy. It was a lot of work to put it all together but anyone that was subscribing back in the 80’s knows what I’m talking about. That era has ended and for the most part digital just sucks.
Yeah, Cycle Magazine was the best. Started reading the bike mags in 1970; the newsstand was like a candy store. Cook and Phil and a lot of other great writers. Favorite “The Gentleman’s Express”. I have a lot of clipped articles in a box and scanned in the computer. Once the corporations started buying the magazines, the writing was on the wall. Anyone remember the Cycle cover with the silver RD400 and the equally attractive cover girl? Imagine the outrage if that appeared today! I gave up on all the American bike mags, but found that the Brit mags still had the “vibe”, even though they cost a lot. Bike, Practical Sportbikes, Classic Bike, etc. Take a look at them if you want to see how a motorcycle magazine should be done, and could be done in the USA if not for the corporate suits.
I have had mail subscriptions to motorcycle magazines since 1970. I for one thought the best overall magazine was Cycle magazine. Then Cycle World bought them out. I also purchased Motorcyclist magazine for many years until they recently changed and was no longer anything I was interested in. I currently receive Rider magazine. Motorcycles are still fun.. but many of the goofy designs of today are not, and the same goes for the magazines. There is money to be made in machines and magazines if they get back into basic designs that made motorcycles pure fun to own and ride in the first place. I also believe many riders feel the same way as I do.
+1
I don’t think there is any money to be made in print magazines, otherwise they wouldn’t be going extinct. Some of those changes you didn’t care for were just last ditch efforts to stay relevant. I used to subscribe to Sport Rider, Cycleworld and Motorcyclist. Sport Rider was the first to go under, and I eventually cancelled the other two. Motorcycle Consumer News is my only remaining subscription… Digital of course.
I was with you early on.
Dirck’s review weighed heavy on my decision to buy at least two bikes, my zrx1200 and my z900.
Maybe my 650 Versys.
I still have the zrx and the z900. Those are keepers.