[Twitch]

Before I begin, "FIRST"





I think that the internet is taking away from sales of real paper type motorcycle magazines. I have not had a subscription nor bought a magazine in a year and a half because the net gives it to me quicker and with out all the freaking subscription cards falling out when I open the magazine up. Just my 2 cents.

 

[backroadbandit]

I am in agreement with you on that. I still get the paper mags, they are useful for a little reading to get to sleep well.....nothing to put you to sleep like a comparo of $3000 250s.

 

[backroadbandit]

No sh*t, Squidly. I went to cycle shark site a couple of times, but who wants to look at ads, especially when bikers-in-the-know can buy all that stuff cheaper somewhere else?

 

[IceWorm]

"So what's up with that? Perhaps people are too busy riding to be sitting around reading about riding? Maybe the magazines aren't giving the people what they want. Or maybe they are -- MO is consistently logging over a million unique visits per month. Perhaps you, the MO readers, harbor some theories about this."



Perhaps these online mags are not making any money. Interesting that you did not even include that as a possibility. There are so many internet based businesses not making money one wonders if the bottom line is no longer important. Can you say BURN RATE?

 

[pk509]

Personally, I really never liked the CycleShark website. They had nothing that interested me. I don't have a great deal of money to spend on cool, new stuff so I avoid sites that sell a lot of stuff. Further, I'd rather spend a bit more and support my local dealer than save a little money and buy over the internet undercutting the people that provide me local support. As a full-time college student, I don't have a lot of time to read things either so I stick with the few print mags I get and MO. There are too many sites out there trying to market the same product to the same niche of people: US. I think on-line motorcycle sites that are succeeding are the ones that got in early and have built a strong reader/buyer base (like MO and Motorcycle Accessory Warehouse). Just my 2-cents.



-Paul

 

[ducatirdr]

MO is...



Fast

Light

Responsive



Just what we motorcyclist like. Keep it fast, easy to read and filled with great articles on bikes and bike stuff.



I keep sub's to rag's because I don't have a web browser in my bathroom. ;-)

 

[RichReed]

I have found myself simplifying things lately. I used to subscribe to five different moto-mags, now I am down to one (OK, two including the AMA monthly). I was discovering that the more I found out about motorcycling, the less the so-called experts knew. If I was to spend money on a paper magazine, I want to be informed and entertained. Don't tell me what's best for me, tell me about the new bikes, dammit.



My single paper magazine is Cycle World. It is intelligent, fair, covers all aspects of motorcycling, has heavy hitters like Cameron, Egan and Lewis without the Cult Of Personality of other mags, and is timely (for a monthly).



RIDER: Too preachy. His Royal Highness Tuttle's personal soapbox. (Before that it was HRH Tash Masuoka. Before that HRH Denis Rouse). Nothing new. Same old stuff.



MCN: Yeah, right. Good idea, poorly executed. Questionable test processes, amaturish writing. Tendancy to tell me what it best for me, rather then presenting the facts and letting me decide. Of course, I haven't read one in 5 years....maybe they've changed...?.....NAAAHHHH!



Motorcyclist: Writers keep getting killed (OK, a low blow, but they do - two in the past five years). Too focused on Sport Bikes, which is OK if that's all that interests you, but it doesn't. Too much Cult Of Personality. Childish "California Squid Dude" writing style



Cycle News: Not enough general interest content.



I agree that CycleShark was a gutless wonder. All smoke and mirrors and no content. It billed itself as a "total source of rider accessories." Where?



Too bad Andy Goldfine only publishes his Aerostich catalogue once every couple of years. Very good reading. High quality stuff.



If it don't come from Andy, I buy it from the local non-affiliated tires, leathers and helmets guy. They know my name, give me a decent price, and if I have any problems, they fix it. Sure, I could save another 5% by going mail order (Aerostich excluded) or on the web, but that 5% is well worth it.



As far as Cyberzines, MO seems to be the only one that is committed to hanging in here for the long haul. Others seemed to have published Issue One, then gone off and spent their advert income with no regard for the future.



MO's writing could be better, and I hope it does improve, but it is satisfactory. Good product evaluations. Just the right touch of irreverence without sounding childish. No whiz-bang graphics, just good timely indformation.



Besides, a URL of "www.motorcycle.com" can't hurt.

 

[oldjapbikes]

Re: cycleshark went under

Wait.. so let me get this straight; CycleShark thought they could sell stuff at retail? What kind of idiot thought that? Here they were, publishing online, to a user base that has access and often motivation to check and compare prices from multiple different suppliers; result? nobody pays retail any more. It amazes me that e-companies seem to forget the convenience of price comparisons offered by the internet. I agree and echo a previous comment in this thread that I will ONLY pay retail to support my local dealer (a) to avoid shipping costs and (b) because he provides me with the chance to see what I'm getting in person before it shows up on my doorstep with a 15% restocking fee.

Thank God for the internet; survival of the fittest.

 

[Durandel]

Bad Information?

1 million unique users a month? Come on.

MO is a great site but please be realistic and truthful.

http://www.top9.com/automotive/motorcycles.html

 

[ZRXRy]

Looked it up, listed as non-standard. Why use irregardless when regardless means the same thing and is shorter by a syllable?

 

[roadload]

Paper Mags Internet Who cares! Its a great world inwhich we get both. Yeah some mags suck, some sites suck.



For me mags are great because when i put my beer down on the coffee table and leave one of those rings i can gently slide over the latest...and presto problem is gone.



The computer though always for interactive communication over topics (such as this one) that I would normally never stop to think about.

 

[ZRXRy]

The Brit bike mags do lots of those kinds of tests. Some material from the Ride/Bike/PM/etc family of magazines engs up on the MotorcycleWorld website http://www.motorcycleworld.co.uk/home/index.asp . Like just today I found a review of chain lubes. Unfortunately, of course they review a lot of stuff we don't get here, and vice versa.

Am I the only one who finds themselves skipping over most of the so called news (new bikes and such) in the print mags, because their lead-in times are so long that I've already seen it 2 or 3 months earlier on-line?

 

[roadload]

Ya Know I was wonder where my money went. The trailer needs a fixin and i am da plumb out of cash.

 

[blip]

Re: Bad Information?

Duranedel --

Thanks for bringing up a annoying subject, one that we've overlooked for a while: Top9 and their bad reporting...

Have a look at our August, 2000 BPA Audit. MO is the only audited web site, and based on the published (thus unaudited and, we suspect, higher-than-auditable numbers) statistics of the other motorcycle content sites, we remain larger than all of them combined.

Top9 is a problem, we've been trying to get them to use real numbers for a long time. They're based on PC Data, which is a free, open panel. That is, anyone can join, intead of selecting a random significant sample of 'Net users. I've been meaning to write a distributed program that uses their data gathering client and visits MO constantly. Getting to the top of their motorcycle category is as easy as that. Not that such "troll" traffic is discarded by a real auditing company such as BPA or Neilsen I/Audit.

You work for a large company, you probably have access to Media Metrix numbers. Look in their overall Automotive category and see who the #1 site is...

Speaking of the company you work for (which you should disclose here), we posted this story because we wish any motorcycle site well, including yours. Best of luck to you...

 

[roadload]

Yes the internet is great but to get more than just product visit your local dealer or accessory/parts shop. here in sherman oaks, califonia the only place and i mean only place to go is REDLINE MOTORSPORTS ON VENTURA BLVD. GET OUT IN YOUR COMMUNTIES AND SUPPORT THESE PEOPLE.

 

[roadload]

And what will the print mags be able to offer as technology keeps getting more and more user friendly. I meen other than looking nice on the coffee table what is there?

 

[Durandel]

Re: Bad Information?

Youre right, I work for MotorcycleWorld.com

PCData is a reputable source, and they do audit our motorcycle site. They have a larger pool of users who they monitor than Media Metrics or Netratings, and therefore their numbers more accurately reflect the true Internet traffic.

Claim what you want about the numbers, who can prove or disprove them anyway? Im a motorcyclist with a computer science background. I know this industry well enough to know how unlikely it is for any motorcycle site to truely get 1 million unique visitors per month at this stage of the game.

I appreciate your good wishes and gotta give you props for implementing this great forum environment. Its definately tried and true, and will work well for MO in the long run. We are both successful with helping to create more knowledgeable motorcyclists. I believe that everyone here can appreciate that.

 

[roadload]

i STILL THINK THEY WILL GO THE WAY OF THE ALBUM. USEFULL TO A SMALL SUBSET OF HUMANS, JUST A FOND MEMORY TO THE REST.