Why are motorcycle print magazines going extinct?

[faffi]

I love printed press. Not only because it is tangible, but it is so much nicer to read a magazine in bed than scroll on a pad. Easier on the eyes as well, and no temptation to look up something else. Currently, I read my old magazines over again, and they are like new because I forgot most what's in them. Also, I began losing interest in modern bikes around 1985, especially sportbikes, because something like an FZ750 or Gixxer 750 already delivered more performance than can be used on public roads, unless you take huge risks AND am a very good rider.

I kept my Cycle World subscription until November 2011, and shortly after I believe they stopped printing. Losing Cycle magazine was a pity, because while many of the modern bikes at the time was too complex for my taste, they had Kevin Cameron and his wonderful technical articles. They usually listed things like valve lift and cam duration, and tore down the majority of test bike's engines.

The closest thing to the old magazines I can find today, is Classic Bike. While it does indeed provide technical information, mostly written by Rick Parkington, their "test" rides usually do not go in details like I prefer. Then again, I am probably a dinosaur. My ideal magazine have a lot more text than pictures, but the trend have been the opposite for decades. Market probably are always right, or?

What are your opinions on this?

[SIR REAL ED]

I would say lack of informative content, cost, competition from digital media, and lack of the ability of the reader to interact with the author of the motorcycle magazine article killed the printed magazine industry.

Look at much of the commentary on the internet via YouTube.  Much of it is 30 minutes of video to convey 2 minutes (or less!!!) of useful information.  The motorcycle magazine industry became similar.  It prioritized entertainment over information.  Perhaps it had no choice due to speed of disseminating information via other sources.

I gave up on motorcycle magazines about 15 years ago also, due to both lack of interest in "modern motorcycles" and the silliness of the authors trying to grab and hold eyeballs with useless hyperbole.  "This motorcycle is more like Angelia Jolie while the other bike is more like Pamala Anderson..." type of nonsense.

Practical Sportbikes out of England held my interest longer than any other magazine, due to its focus on 70's and 80's era bikes.

I think the old adage holds true:  "If you can tell good advice from bad advice, then you don't need advice!"

I suspect most of the readers on this forum know more than most of the "internet experts" who love to advise.

One of my favorite phrases is "I think the engineers who designed the bike know best, so you should not _________."  IMO, this phrase is almost always typed by people who have no idea whatsoever what the priorities of the responsible engineers and designers were at the time of product development, and who are ignorant of any financial forces at work.  In an ideal world, they would be correct, everything imaginable would have equal weighting.

[michaell32]

I can't give any specific examples but I remember noticing several reviews were nothing but an advertisement disguised as a review. Some of them sounded like they read the spec sheet and that was the entire review. There's also the shift in my generation and the younger ones where less people ride and even less read.

[Tusayan]

I think the issue in the English speaking world is people no longer buy print magazines, and the magazines can’t sell advertising with very low circulation.  For reasons I don’t understand this not the case in e.g. Germany, so Motorrad lives on.  Germans can be curiously old fashioned, and it’s a good thing in this case.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorrad_(magazine)

[faffi]

Practical Sportsbikes is no more, unfortunately.

There are still MOTORRAD, who owns what seems to be the majority of printed magazines in Europe. I used to like MOTORRAD when I was younger, and they still offer more facts and numbers than the others, but I prefer the way especially the American magazines were made in the 70s and 80s, and miss that sort of journalism.

[AJ Huff]

Cause there's not enough old farts to buy em.

-AJ

[chuck peterson]

Specialized mags do better to a smaller audience..such as…

Cafe Racer Magazine

[bad Chad]

It's not just M/C mags, it's almost ALL mags.  There used to be a big row of dozens and dozens of mags in most US grocery stores, now, if there is one now it's but a ghost of the past.   It's sad, I really enjoy "real" mags.

[Perazzimx14]

I think it would be easier to list the reasons why magazines still be in print.

[MarinerRime]

It sucks. I've always enjoyed MC mags next to my old fart chair and my dad who has advanced alzheimers still loves looking at them too so I break out the old stack and cycle through them.

[MikeP996]

I haven't bought a magazine or book in probably 20 years.  All my reading nowadays is on a screen of some sort.  I have always read extensively even when I was a kid and still do.  I find on-line book buying/borrowing far easier than going to a book store/library.  I typically buy/borrow at least a book per week.

As far as motorcycle magazines vs Utube/other internet sources, the mags were far more consistent in the way they listed the performance characteristics - usually a page of specs/graphs that could be directly compared with those specs on another motorcycle.  AND USUALLY there was an editor/contributer with some real experience and helpful information. 

On the internet a reviewer often doesn't really know what he's talking about - says things indicating he hasn't even read the specs and doesn't know how some things on the bike operate - "Add a comment if you know how this works."  Note I said "He"  I have found that typical on-line female reviewers seem far more knowledgeable about what they are reviewing than typical males.  A number of the men make a point of how much they are "racers at heart," or, my favorite, "I've been riding for 8 years so I can tell you what you need to know." 

BUT, the internet has a LOT of instantly available information and, with some care, the facts can usually be determined.  In some ways it was no different in the mags.  You had to read between the lines to "hear" the bad points.  For a magazine to badmouth a brand of motorcycle was to lose advertising from that brand.  Of course the same thing exists on the internet - a reviewer that gets "free" products to review is not going to trash it and risk losing that support.

So, in many ways, there isn't that much difference between print and screen...screen is just easier!!!

[SIR REAL ED]

In some ways it was no different in the mags.  You had to read between the lines to "hear" the bad points.  For a magazine to badmouth a brand of motorcycle was to lose advertising from that brand.  Of course the same thing exists on the internet - a reviewer that gets "free" products to review is not going to trash it and risk losing that support.

Once the 70's & 80's were history, my favorite printed publication was Motorcycle Consumer News.  They were subscription only, no advertisers and very matter of fact.  Much like the conversation you would have with another motorcyclist you met at a rest stop or gas station.

After Dave Searle left as magazine editor, it went down hill.

[Scott Carpenter]

I'm still hanging on as a subscriber to Motorcycle Sport and Leisure here in the UK, a magazine for old farts like me. Its not as good as it was 25 years ago, but it is still worth it - even if just for Maynard!  I will occaisionally get BIKE or Ride if there avid readers is something I really want to read. As for books, well myself and Jill are avid readers and screens are no replacement. 4 days in Hay-on-Wye saw us buy 15 REAL books, including about 5 sci fy, a few modern fiction , a great book on Bill Monroe and "The Man Who Would Stop at Nothing" by MHP of this parish. And a few others....And what did I buy with my book gift card for my 60th? Real books of course!

[blu guzz]

The times, they are a changin.  I still think lovingly of Sunday mornings spent with coffee, blackend hands and sections of the Washington Post spread all over the kitchen table. Dong the crossword puzzle. That could take up most of the morning.
I once subscribed to most of the mags as well and remember looking forward when that time of the month came for delivery. The people (younger) of today do not choose that as their form of entertainment for a multitude of reasons (many mentioned in previous posts) and so it goes.

[SLDMRossi]

Not enough advertising revenue, ever-increasing print cost, ever-increasing mailing expense and the fact that if you want to reach an audience, on-line promotion is much more cost effective. Magazines still work in places like England because 4 or 5 years ago, not as many households had personal computers. But now they're very much catching up so their magazine industry will start to suffer the same fate.

SR   

[faffi]

Not enough advertising revenue, ever-increasing print cost, ever-increasing mailing expense and the fact that if you want to reach an audience, on-line promotion is much more cost effective. Magazines still work in places like England because 4 or 5 years ago, not as many households had personal computers. But now they're very much catching up so their magazine industry will start to suffer the same fate.

SR

I believe you are on the money.

[Dr. Enzo Toma]

I have a few moto journalist & photographer friends, getting a magazine to buy their article and/or photos for an amount that keeps it a job/career and not a hobby is difficult. Most have veered into side work, advertising, or just selling to online publishers.

"Print Dead At 1,803" - The Onion

[Rons]

IMHO, we should all support the existing motorcycle mags with subscriptions. I enjoy a printed magazine a lot more than a webzine where ads pop up blocking what you are trying to read. Then you try to click the “x”, to close the ad window and almost always hit the ad and trigger a trip to a website I’m not interested in.
I usually do read the ads in print mags because they don’t interrupt my reading of the features.

[Huzo]

The same reason Pornhub killed Penthouse.
You can see more for less on the net…

[Rons]

The same reason Pornhub killed Penthouse.
You can see more for less on the net…

Does Pornhub have ads popping up that cover the content?

I would be more inclined to read online motorcycle content if the experience was better. I have some online issues of Rider, and the software that mimics “ turning the page” stinks. Always enlarging and reducing the page, then having to move it around to read it.

[Oca Grassa]

I use the Readly app. One monthly fee, every magazine you could ever want to read. Works fine on iPhone or iPad. Just like reading the paper version…except you can make the print as large or small as you like. IE, zoom in is possible and not just on print but pics also if you want more detail.

Also, IIRC, Practical Sportbikes was still available in the digital realm until just a year or two ago. It has since merged with another magazine…Classic Motorcycle Mechanic I think…or maybe Performance Bike. I don’t really remember, but have a subscription to both through the app.

[mrverveus]

The 2 things I really miss in print are Peter Egan's Leanings column in Cycle World and the old Guzzi newsletter (in the quaint old skool format). Another time in another age!

[faffi]

I personally miss Kevin Cameron's articles more than Peter Egan's, but they are both great in their own way. Here is an episode with them both https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tMHBUNpRao

[blu guzz]

I just returned from the Ohio Rally and one of the little things they do there is bring along an old stack of magazines.  I think the magazine heyday was in the late 90s through 2010 era for these.  I leafed through an issue of Motorcycle Consumer News for 2008 and remember that issue.  I think it was in the stack because the Breva Sport 1200 had just been introduced that year.  I believe the reason I remember the issue is because before it came to my mailbox, I had eagerly anticipated that month's issue as I did every month. When it arrived, I savored every article and reread several of them.  I am about 90% sure that I will not remember anything that I read online so vividly.  I felt a warm wave of nostalgia sitting there thumbing through that old mag.
Leafing through one of those is like finding some item in an antique store and remembering, I used to have one of these when I was a boy.  Young riders will never know the joy of those old mags
Cest la vie.

[SIR REAL ED]

I just returned from the Ohio Rally and one of the little things they do there is bring along an old stack of magazines.  I think the magazine heyday was in the late 90s through 2010 era for these.  I leafed through an issue of Motorcycle Consumer News for 2008 and remember that issue.  I think it was in the stack because the Breva Sport 1200 had just been introduced that year.  I believe the reason I remember the issue is because before it came to my mailbox, I had eagerly anticipated that month's issue as I did every month. When it arrived, I savored every article and reread several of them.  I am about 90% sure that I will not remember anything that I read online so vividly.  I felt a warm wave of nostalgia sitting there thumbing through that old mag.
Leafing through one of those is like finding some item in an antique store and remembering, I used to have one of these when I was a boy.  Young riders will never know the joy of those old mags
Cest la vie.

Wonderfully said!

similar to those who grow up with modern accoutrements will never know some of the simple pleasures of the old days.

Those who live in air conditioning, will never value a cool breeze on a summer night as much as their ancestors.

[Tom]

I remember the saying...."I subscribe to Playboy for the articles."     😂

[chuck peterson]

Too

Many

Words

[theoneandonlymin]

We still have Bike magazine and Ride magazine amongst a few others in the UK.
I normally read them online through my local library but if I'm traveling I'll grab a hard copy for the road

[rocker59]

Why are magazines dead and dying?  Easy:  The internet.

Magazines have staff and print costs, and their news is delayed by months.

The internet has provided almost instant flow of news and updates.  Events, such as new model unveils and intros, we used to read about months after the fact.  Now we can read about within hours or days.

Every industry rag has the same problem.  Why buy three or four month old news in your area of interest when you can get it almost instantly on social media or Youtube?

In the 1980s, I has subscriptions to several moto and auto magazines.  I don't know when the last time I've looked at that type of magazine.  All the information in the world is right here in my Samsung Galaxy...

 

[TN Mark]

Why are magazines dead and dying?  Easy:  The internet.

Magazines have staff and print costs, and their news is delayed by months.

The internet has provided almost instant flow of news and updates.  Events, such as new model unveils and intros, we used to read about months after the fact.  Now we can read about within hours or days.

Every industry rag has the same problem.  Why buy three or four month old news in your area of interest when you can get it almost instantly on social media or Youtube?

In the 1980s, I has subscriptions to several moto and auto magazines.  I don't know when the last time I've looked at that type of magazine.  All the information in the world is right here in my Samsung Galaxy...

 

Exactly.

We're all using the internet for this and other discussions, we're not writing letters to the editor etc.

The death of most magazines is beyond self evident.