Topic: Motorcycle magazines gone the way of the dodo bird

[ofreen]

It has been many years since I subscribed to any motorcycle magazines. I'll bet I am not alone on this forum.  Like cars magazines, they started focusing on high end bikes that I would never own in a million years,  Just not that interesting to me.  While cleaning out a closet I came across boxes of magazines I've saved, issues going back to 1979. It is hard to say why I saved them since I never look at them, but part of it may be they represent a time and environment that is gone forever.  Not to mention all the pretty pictures.  And some good writing.  But enough is enough and I decided it is time for them to go.  At first I was just going to put them in the recycle (a few at a time since there must be a couple of hundred pounds there), but I wondered if they are worth anything.  I looked on feebay and there are plenty listed. Hard to say how many are actually sold. The photo below is just a small portion of what I have.   

Then I found out that most m/c mags are no longer printed, many of them that are still left going digital during the plandemic.  Do stores even have magazine racks anymore?

I guess I'll just trash them, but it seems a shame.  Even the ones that are 35+ years old are in good shape due to the quality paper they were printed on.  But as Vonnegut annoying said over and over again in one of his cutesy books "so it goes." 

[jlh3rd]

It's not just motorcycles. There were lots of car magazines, now just a few. When I was flying more, decades ago, there were racks of magazines to choose from at the airports. Now, mainly just one magazine for any particular subject. ( "guy" magazines).
    I was only interested in old magazines that had write-ups about my particular bike, which I have....When I go to swap meets, there are boxes and boxes of old bike magazines for sale......
When I was young, I couldn't get enough of car, boat, plane, firearms, repair, etc, magazines......

[jgger]

There is something about tossing old bike magazines, almost like throwing away extra parts. Never to be read, never to be used again, there is just some weird attachment to them. I have at least a milk crate (there's an old one for you) full and they may go back to the 60's. I guess my kids will have to deal with them when I either check out, or check into the dead pecker farm.

[ekpent]

 Don't throw them away ! Give them to somebody. Even the old ones are still a good read. Back in the day the road tests were so much better and sometimes they would even tear the bikes apart a little bit. I was subscribing to CycleWorld etc. before they went quarterly then digital.  Seemed towards the end they were in the pocket of Italian brands like Ducati and such and maybe BMW was feeding them a little extra cash as they didn't seem to have as many average Joe machines.

[BenelliSEI]

So true.... I stopped buying Road & Track when Peter Egan ended his “Side Glances” column. Nothing else worth reading..... However, I do keep up my subscription to MOTORCYCLE CLASSICS. excellent content, well written and superb photos. Have a look, you may get hooked again!

[ekpent]

Yeah - Peter Egan was writing a good column in the motorcycle mag also and I always enjoyed his stories. Forgot the name of his Wisconsin riding club he hung out with , Crusty something maybe,but I think they were regular guys. Know he had a CB550 in the stable along with his other toys.
  I get Motorcycle Classics also. Its kind of expensive but every year I wait them out till they send me the last ditch effort to get me back for $19.95 -    I pass them down to friends when I'm done.

[BenelliSEI]

Yeah - Peter Egan was writing a good column in the motorcycle mag also and I always enjoyed his stories. Forgot the name of his Wisconsin riding club he hung out with , Crusty something maybe,but I think they were regular guys. Know he had a CB550 in the stable along with his other toys.
  I get Motorcycle Classics also. Its kind of expensive but every year I wait them out till they send me the last ditch effort to get me back for $19.95 -    I pass them down to friends when I'm done.

We pass them around amongst four of us here! Peter wrote “Leanings” in the bike magazines. They have been published (along with “Side Glances”) as books too. They are an excellent read. Always have a copy in the bathroom!

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Save anything SOHC4 related

[ofreen]

There is something about tossing old bike magazines, almost like throwing away extra parts. Never to be read, never to be used again, there is just some weird attachment to them.

Yes.  I have been analyzing my resistance to just throwing them away.  They are kind of like books, which I consider to be sacred artifacts.  It is not just what is contained in them, but what they represent.  I wouldn't be surprised if most of what is in them is available in some interweb archive, but it ain't the same.

Save anything SOHC4 related

I hear you.  But with hundreds of magazines, it would be quite a job to ferret all that out.  I know I have magazines with road tests of the bikes I have now (except the RK), and I am reluctant to spend time looking for those.

Don't throw them away ! Give them to somebody. Even the old ones are still a good read.

It may be tricky finding somebody who wants them.  It is a commitment to keep them, they take up a lot of room.  And if they won't last long if they aren't stored in a dry, reasonably controlled temperature place.

[CycleRanger]

I have the same problem with magazines. I save too many too long.
In the past I've taken them in stacks of ~20 or so and left that at the laundry mat as reading material for the patrons.
My motorcycle mags are piling up. A while back I dropped off a stack at a nearby motorcycle museum for  their "reading room" area.
Of course the older the mags the more they could be worth to someone. The problem is even with older mags there's a lot of them out there because so many people saved them!

One thing about the older bike magazines is sometimes they can contain now-rare factory photos and information that just isn't available anywhere else.

[ekpent]

  Amongst my piles of old crap are some of these old easy rider and chopper mags. My neighbor has a ton of these so I go grab a handful now and then. Half the fun of these old mags are the adds especially all the CB750 aftermarket stuff for choppers and high performance. Anybody know what that bike is on the cover of the Chopper mag ? 

[scottly]

The September 1978 issue of Cycle Guide had an article titled "Honda CB750: Bound for Heaven", which is worth a read. There is a previously un-published account of a road test up the California coast and back down I-5. I probably bought it because of the article about the Kawasaki KX125; I didn't buy my 750 until spring of 1979.
The September 1985 issue of Cycle celebrated "25 years of Honda", covering a range of different models.
There was a magazine in the '80s that once listed the ten worst motorcycles ever made, and I was not surprised to see the 1972 Yamaha TX750 on the list. I kind of wish I'd saved that one..(The magazine, NOT the bike)   

[HondaMan]

Anybody know what that bike is on the cover of the Chopper mag ? 

It resembles the Amen Savior-framed CB750, but they also had the frame for the KZ engines, looked much the same. Do I see the Amen mini-oil tank in that cover, which would suggest the CB750?

I only saved (until 1992) the mags that had the SOHC4 and CB Twins in them. They all got wet (and tossed) when I moved into this house then. My old SOHC4 notes got wet, too, not as bad, but became the basis for the book.

Try not to move when it's raining.

[PeWe]

Magazines with tests for bikes must be interesting for people that owns a bike the mag write about.

The cover ladies look good too I bet those want a magazine where they can see how good they were!

Also a reminder about that era.  Easy to remember 40 years  as the good days with good things when I know it was not always sunshine.

Good that my brain seems to filter in favour for happy events

[dave500]

yeah bit of a shame,i used to have heaps of dirt bike magazines,ive only kept this one because ive had a coupla yammy 400s,,#$%* it cost a dollar!

[hawaiikid]

ihavequite a few articles about the cb400f and was wondering if they could be shown on SOHC site without facing legal ramifications. just a thought.....

[C317414]

Cycle World has most of their old articles available online.  You can search for them in their site, or search the internet for the bike model plus cycle world, for example, "CB550F cycle world".

For classic and vintage Japanese bikes, check out, Classic Motorcycle Mechanics.  It is available in print and digital form.  I get the digital version free from my local library, and read it on my Kindle Fire using the Libby app.  https://www.classicmechanics.com/

A good modern bike magazine is Motorcycle Mojo.  It is a Canadian magazine available in print and digital form.  https://motorcyclemojo.com/

[jlh3rd]

Yeah - Peter Egan was writing a good column in the motorcycle mag also and I always enjoyed his stories. Forgot the name of his Wisconsin riding club he hung out with , Crusty something maybe,but I think they were regular guys. Know he had a CB550 in the stable along with his other toys.
  I get Motorcycle Classics also. Its kind of expensive but every year I wait them out till they send me the last ditch effort to get me back for $19.95 -    I pass them down to friends when I'm done.

actually remember reading his 550 editorial when it was published. He liked the 550....

[ekpent]

Anybody know what that bike is on the cover of the Chopper mag ? 

It resembles the Amen Savior-framed CB750, but they also had the frame for the KZ engines, looked much the same. Do I see the Amen mini-oil tank in that cover, which would suggest the CB750?

I only saved (until 1992) the mags that had the SOHC4 and CB Twins in them. They all got wet (and tossed) when I moved into this house then. My old SOHC4 notes got wet, too, not as bad, but became the basis for the book.

Try not to move when it's raining.

Better Pics Mark and no not of the girls butt but the 750 chopper    Don't think rear disc was that common back then on choppers ??

[Stev-o]

Hey Greg - do you have a bookstore near you that might take them? "Half Price Books" is popular in my area.

I prolly only have a couple dozen magazines that I've held on to, they all have to do to at least one of my bikes.
The one I just happen to currently have on my desk is Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Magazine Jan 2016, it has a Kaw H2 on the cover [similar to my bike].  Not sure where I picked it up, I did not have a subscription.

The mag is produced by the VJMC and is online only now and you must be a member...

https://vjmc.org/restricted/?wppb_referer_url=https%3A%2F%2Fvjmc.org%2Fon-line_magazines%2F

[ekpent]

 Hey Steve It was mentioned earlier up by Scottly about the 10 worst bikes. I had to google it for fun. Check it out sometime. Half of them are bikes I would like to have. The early Kaw 500 and 750 triples are usually on the list along with the 3 cylinder Suzuki's 380-750. I had to say C'mon Man !

[Stev-o]

Hey Steve It was mentioned earlier up by Scottly about the 10 worst bikes. I had to google it for fun. Check it out sometime. Half of them are bikes I would like to have. The early Kaw 500 and 750 triples are usually on the list along with the 3 cylinder Suzuki's 380-750. I had to say C'mon Man !

Hey Eric...I couldnt find the magazine article but I found this website. I would like to have all those bikes! [except the Honda C bikes]

https://www.kratosmotorsports.com/blogs/news/10-of-the-worst-motorcycles-ever-made-from-the-older-days

[ofreen]

Hey Greg - do you have a bookstore near you that might take them?

Thanks for the suggestion, Stev-o, I'll check it out.

[HondaMan]

Anybody know what that bike is on the cover of the Chopper mag ? 

It resembles the Amen Savior-framed CB750, but they also had the frame for the KZ engines, looked much the same. Do I see the Amen mini-oil tank in that cover, which would suggest the CB750?

I only saved (until 1992) the mags that had the SOHC4 and CB Twins in them. They all got wet (and tossed) when I moved into this house then. My old SOHC4 notes got wet, too, not as bad, but became the basis for the book.

Try not to move when it's raining.

Better Pics Mark and no not of the girls butt but the 750 chopper    Don't think rear disc was that common back then on choppers ??

I feel cobwebs blowing...
IIRC, I remember this bike (in articles, not in real life) with some detailed photos, somewhere. The front springer with disc became a phenomenon in the chops around me back then (and helped to meet Illinois' laws requiring the front wheel HAVE a brake) and the rear one was made from the original front brake, plus someone else's caliper. There was a hand-made adapter plate on the rear hub (made on a Bridgeport, said an article about it) to mount the disc, and custom-made bolts to hold onto it.