Motorbike mags, do you ? don't you ?

[Cousin Jack]

................................ same week after week. Here's a bike we're testing, we rode it a lot, we liked it a lot, it's based on this older bike so we know it will be reliable. Here's some kit and it's good.

That ^

[G.P]

I sometimes buy Bike and Classic Bike when I' m going on holiday so once a year. I prefer the classic bike mags as the resto stories are more interesting and education al than the modern road bike road tests whihc a usually a shite read but usual a decent watch on YT.

I'm stuck in Hospital at the moment and am about to break out the latest copy of Classic Bike ,which Mrs B bought in a couple of days ago. I will report back!

[chutzpah]

................................ same week after week. Here's a bike we're testing, we rode it a lot, we liked it a lot, it's based on this older bike so we know it will be reliable. Here's some kit and it's good.

That ^

"Feels very assured in the corners"
"But push the revs a bit higher and it really comes alive"

Forgot those common entries too.

[Supermofo]

................................ same week after week. Here's a bike we're testing, we rode it a lot, we liked it a lot, it's based on this older bike so we know it will be reliable. Here's some kit and it's good.

That ^

"Feels very assured in the corners"
"But push the revs a bit higher and it really comes alive"

Forgot those common entries too.

Saying that I read the MCN test of the new Speed Triple RS this morning on the khazi and shock they criticised the Triumph! I think that's the first negative Triumph review I think I've read in a bike mag in a loooooooooooooong time.

I nearly skipped the test as all the bikes were north of £15k but read it just for the negative Triumph comment for the novelty.

[lostboy]

That ^

"Feels very assured in the corners"
"But push the revs a bit higher and it really comes alive"

Forgot those common entries too.

Saying that I read the MCN test of the new Speed Triple RS this morning on the khazi and shock they criticised the Triumph! I think that's the first negative Triumph review I think I've read in a bike mag in a loooooooooooooong time.

I nearly skipped the test as all the bikes were north of £15k but read it just for the negative Triumph comment for the novelty.

Bloody hell. They'll turn on the GS next!

[G.P]

I nearly skipped the test as all the bikes were north of £15k but read it just for the negative Triumph comment for the novelty.

So what was wrong with it?

I bet the engine "was a peach" ?

[Skub]

I was an avid buyer and reader from the 1970s,Motorcycle Mechanics,Motorcycle Weekly (remember that,MCN's rival paper)

Superbike,Performance Bike,Bike,Ride,Fast Bikes,BSH and the little mags like Used Bike Guide. I bought the lot regularly,or on subs.

There were some good writers,such as John Robinson,Trevor Franklin,Shakey Byrne,Sean Emmett,his brother Jason,Gus Scott,Mark Forsythe and Ronnie Smith. I've picked the odd one up in the last few years,but the editorial and scribe content is pitiful.

I reckon they've lost their readership just by being shite.

[Supermofo]

I nearly skipped the test as all the bikes were north of £15k but read it just for the negative Triumph comment for the novelty.

So what was wrong with it?

I bet the engine "was a peach" ?

From the sounds of it Triumph got suckered into the 'Beast' mythology of the Superduke/Duc Streetfighter (bikes it was tested against) and have thus turned the Speedie into a rock hard animal bike that's a bit of a pig to ride on B-roads or slowly. Funnily enough neither the KTM or the Duc are a Beast either and are perfectly happy to be ridden at a bimble whilst being capable of mental too. They also said this is made worse by the fact the old Speedie was a cracking road bike.

[Noggin]

I bought a couple about 6 weeks ago. TBF, even when I bought them in the UK I tended to flick through the pictures and scan the writing (I read in a weird way and technical language is really difficult for me to recognise and then put into context). So the ones I bought are just sat waiting because of the language issue - and probably the technical words issue!!!

But on Saturday I'll be down in the valley and looking at bikes. Thinking I might take one of the magazines with me to try and learn some of the right words before I start meeting bikers out and about and trying to understand their language!!

[The Spin Doctor]

I had hundreds of mags... virtually a complete collection of Superbike, Perf Bikes since it was Motorcycle Mechanics, nearly all the Bike issues, quite a few Fast Bikes, and MCN had been a weekly purchase since 75, but I've barely bought one in a decade. I found I gradually stopped reading the content, was just flipping through looking at the pics and thinking "not interested... not interested..." and now I rarely look at their websites either.

I finally sold them all on ebay.

The last time I bought a mag was at the airport a couple of years back.

I do pick up the freeby Motorcycle Monthly when I see it.

[derek badger]

I bought one the other month when I picked up some comics for the kids. Cheap, thin paper and shit resolution printing. I'm done. Printed periodicals are done. The digital revolution has won. Not a bad thing, just a observation.

[ajlog]

As many others have said, in the past I would buy several titles each month, but in recent years haven’t really needed to as the web has filled that space.
These days I get a subscription to Bike free as one of the ‘perks’ of our type of bank account.
I wouldn’t go out and buy it each month, but saying that I do enjoy it coming through the door and taking an hour or so with a coffee to flick through the articles.

[Asian Boss]

I was an avid buyer and reader from the 1970s,Motorcycle Mechanics,Motorcycle Weekly (remember that,MCN's rival paper)

Superbike,Performance Bike,Bike,Ride,Fast Bikes,BSH and the little mags like Used Bike Guide. I bought the lot regularly,or on subs.

There were some good writers,such as John Robinson,Trevor Franklin,Shakey Byrne,Sean Emmett,his brother Jason,Gus Scott,Mark Forsythe and Ronnie Smith. I've picked the odd one up in the last few years,but the editorial and scribe content is pitiful.

I reckon they've lost their readership just by being shite.

IIRC some of them didn't even write. They were hired guns, eighty pounds a day to get it reet over and craic on. Rupert Paul was the architect. But where are they now? Probably wintering with a great aunt in Guildford, Vim under the sink and both bars on.

[Skub]

But where are they now?

Well,that Shane fella did ok.

Gus Scott and Ronnie Smith were killed on the island.

Cancer got John Robinson.

Sean Emmett went off the rails.

Trevor Franklin is still involved in something?

[wheelnut]

Same as you, the only time I buy them is at the airport. No particular preference, just if whatever is on the cover catches my eye. I always tend to get private eye too.

[KungFooBob]

Ronnie Smith died on a moped near his home in Harrogate. Not quite the IoM

[KungFooBob]

Fastbikes was always an interesting mag, chock a block with characters of dubious morals... and Shakey.

It was also very difficult to read at times, whoever did the design work needed shooting. They'd put yellow text over photo's so you couldn't read it and shit like that.

The VHS' were frickkin awesome too.

[G.P]

44 teeth is the nearest thing to the irreverent old style mags, couple of ex performance bikes journos on there,,

[Bigjawa]

Read AWOL and PB back in the days when JR did lovely tech articles, Forsythe did lots of wheelies and I think Hargreaves had just appeared.

Wasn't a fan of Fast Bikes, but read the UMG every month without fail. I wonder whatever happened to Fowler?

Also read Streetfighters until it turned into a soft porn mag with adverts for "eat my flaps" phone lines in the back.

[Skub]

Ronnie Smith died on a moped near his home in Harrogate. Not quite the IoM

Ah,I didn't know that. I stand corrected.