Motorcycle Cruiser Magazine

[cactusjack]

Just fetched the August issue from the mailbox. On the cover: "Tourers By The Ton"...Big Bagger Road Trip.
Featuring:

H-D Softail FLSTC
Honda VTX1800T
Star Stratoliner
Suzuki C109RT
Victory Kingpin Tour

But wait...there's something missing! Second page of the article states Kawasaki didn't have a Vulcan 2000LT available for them to test.

To clarify, the test is large soft baggers, no hard-bagged bikes, which excludes the Nomad. I'd also like to point out that the shootout took place in Zion Nat'l Park.

Once again, Kaw's a day late and a dollar short in the marketing department.

[racinchef]

Originally Posted by cactusjack

Just fetched the August issue from the mailbox. On the cover: "Tourers By The Ton"...Big Bagger Road Trip.
Featuring:

H-D Softail FLSTC
Honda VTX1800T
Star Stratoliner
Suzuki C109RT
Victory Kingpin Tour

But wait...there's something missing! Second page of the article states Kawasaki didn't have a Vulcan 2000LT available for them to test.

To clarify, the test is large soft baggers, no hard-bagged bikes, which excludes the Nomad. I'd also like to point out that the shootout took place in Zion Nat'l Park.

Once again, Kaw's a day late and a dollar short in the marketing department.

Under that criteria, the Victory Kingpin and Stratoliner don't qualify. Leather-look hardbags don't even look like regular leather saddlebags. MC is still supposed to redo a comparo on the HD Road King, Yamaha RSTD and the Nomad. Go back a few issues to the one with an article about riding two up and see if the woman pillion rider on the Nomad doesn't look like a mannequin. While I still enjoy MC I have lost respect for them over the few years that I've been subscribing to that mag. My harsh opinion is that they don't live in the same world that we do. Their first job is to sell magazines. Gee, do I sound critical?

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by racinchef

Under that criteria, the Victory Kingpin and Stratoliner don't qualify. Leather-look hardbags don't even look like regular leather saddlebags. MC is still supposed to redo a comparo on the HD Road King, Yamaha RSTD and the Nomad. Go back a few issues to the one with an article about riding two up and see if the woman pillion rider on the Nomad doesn't look like a mannequin. While I still enjoy MC I have lost respect for them over the few years that I've been subscribing to that mag. My harsh opinion is that they don't live in the same world that we do. Their first job is to sell magazines. Gee, do I sound critical?

I agree completely, Bruce. I do remember the mannequin picture also. Wasn't that the same article where two guys' wives wanted to ride with them, and everybody was going to wear helmets, then you see pictures of them riding with no helmets?

[Top Cat]

Yes that is the same article CJ ;)
that is definitely a mannequin on the passenger seat

[racinchef]

I think it was mentioned full-faced helmets and you mostly saw shorty's. That was just a poorly coordinated article. I would like to see a motorcycle cruiser magazine that focuses more on buying, improving and reselling used bikes. Especially long production run bikes that have remained pretty much unchanged.

[coacha]

I only get an occasional magazine any more. I don't see much in them that applies to our bikes other than ideas that we can get to possibly adapt H/D stuff to our bikes. It is disheartening. I know this forum and many others has great information and such, but I need stuff to read in the library.

[Yellow Jacket]

I quit buying and reading MC when they got rid of Jamie Elvidge and Art Friedman.

[pirate]

I agree it's hard to find a decent motorcycle magazine these days. All the ones I see are devoted to either H/D or crotch rockets.

Originally Posted by Yellow Jacket

I quit buying and reading MC when they got rid of Jamie Elvidge and Art Friedman.

That was too bad, huh?

I haven't bought but maybe one in three years myself.

Originally Posted by prairie cruiser

I agree it's hard to find a decent motorcycle magazine these days. All the ones I see are devoted to either H/D or crotch rockets.

I get Motorcyclist which is mostly crotch rockets and exotics, but mostly I like it for the stories on the oddball things. Strange bikes, off-beat rallies, unusual stories etc. They still tend to celebrate the old days when bikes weren't such a UJM thing and there was a variety of "standard" bikes. (Which of course really followed no standard at all.)

Sometimes I'll buy a custom bike rag, just to see what's getting press these days, but I'm really more of an old-school custom kinda guy, and I see very little that appeals to me there.

BTW, what ever happened to Baggers magazine. Did that ever happen? Or was it just vaporware?

[racinchef]

I miss motojournalists like Peter Egan. Guys like him didn't just do a write up on the latest bike. They wrote about the heart & soul of the bike as well as the bike/rider relationship.

[dantama]

Originally Posted by Yellow Jacket

I quit buying and reading MC when they got rid of Jamie Elvidge and Art Friedman.

I still subscribe to it, but liked it much better when they were there.

I also agree that Peter Egan is a great writer along with Clement Salvadori.

They are worth wading through too many sport bike articles to get to.

[coacha]

Baggers is still out there but it is almost exclusively a H/D magazine. They will put a few reader pics of metrics in but they even said in a response to a letter that you will see mainly H/D's in their magazine because they are the best looking bikes.

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by CoachA

Baggers is still out there but it is almost exclusively a H/D magazine. They will put a few reader pics of metrics in but they even said in a response to a letter that you will see mainly H/D's in their magazine because they are the best looking bikes.

When the magazine first became Hot Bike Baggers about a year ago, they stated that they would feature both American and metric baggers. Aside from a few pictures, I've yet to see them feature a metric bike.

I guess it's time to start a letter (email) writing campaign.

[Top Cat]

I read American Motorcyclist it comes with membership to AMA.
Rider is good. Metric Road bike is also good. I also get Motorcycle Crusier. There is a new one out called Road Runner, looks like a quality mag. The book is actually held together with a binding not staples.