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.
