[vito]

I subscribe to a whole lot of motorcycle magazines, primarily to have something bike related to do during the long winter months. I get Rider (my favorite), Motorcycle Consumer News, Motorcyclist, Cycle World, Cruiser, Motorcycle Touring and Travel, the AMA monthly mag, and maybe one or two more that I can't think of right now. And lately it seems like these mags are only interested in so-called adventure bikes. Being a short guy, most of the bikes they write about would have me tippy-toeing at a stop, which is not my thing, and I know I am not likely to be wanting to ride down dirt roads and forest trails anyway. When not showing adventure bikes, they are pretty obsessed with whatever is the latest superbike that has the rider scrunched up like a jockey on a racehorse, can do 200mph right out of the box, and has more electronics than my house. Even Cruiser magazine has wandered and featured scooters and sport tourers that are more sportbikes with hard bags than they are cruiser-like. Since my age, back, and legs have made me a cruiser rider, and made me enjoy riding more than I probably have a right to enjoy, I find I flip through new issues of these mags in a few minutes and then put them aside in the pile I reserve for a friend who wants my old magazines. I think maybe I will stop renewing the subscriptions on all but three: Rider, MCN, and Cruiser and rely on real books for my restroom meditation visits.

 

[seagullplayer]

I like Rider, but it is hard to find in my parts. We are planning our summer vacation around one of the trips I read about in it.

I still pick up a chopper mag now and again. Sometimes I pick up a copy of the Horse. I like to look at the reader submitted bikes, but the editorial stuff is a joke...

 

[vito]

Buying any of these magazines off the rack is expensive when compared to a subscription. The reason I have kept getting so many of these magazines is that whenever I have thought about stopping renewing, they come back with an offer of like $8 for a year's subscription, which is so cheap that I just go ahead and renew. Truthfully, if I had to reduce to a single one, it would be Rider.

 

[Eye_m_no_angel]

I'll leaf through an Easy Riders or the Horse at the grocery store now and then. I seldom buy one anymore though.

Sometimes I'll grab a Full Throttle or Thunder Roads from a local shop or something since they're free and list a lot of local events and stuff.

 

[Rebeldog1]

With all those subscriptions assuming you do read all of them every month how do you have any time to actually ride your bike?

 

[vito]

I ride as much as I can when the weather is good. Sometimes I just stack up the magazines during the summer months, then use them during the long winter to have a motorcycle related activity, along with my annual trip to the International Motorcycle Show in Chicago each February. And even during the summer, its nice to have something to read or at least look at the photos while on the throne.

Speaking of riding, here it is April 22 and most years the weather would be perfect for riding, with or without a jacket. Today we had snowflakes coming down and temps in the mid 30's; definitely not riding weather for me. (As I've gotten older I will admit that my temperature threshold for enjoying riding has changed. I used to say as long as it was over 32, then later this became 40, and now pretty much it has to be in the 50's or higher for me to want to take the bike out.)

 

[Jo6pak]

I hear ya vito, we had snow on the ground this morning. Hang in there, sunny and near 70 next week

I used to subscribe to a bunch of bike rags, but have cut it down to just a few now.
RoadRunner, which is mainly touring articles and travel logs. An excellent publication that deserves a look if you have the chance to pick one up.
And the AMA magazine, American Motorcyclist.

I just recently let my subscription to MCN lapse because I never seemed to read anything other than Fred Rau's article and occasionally reviews on bikes that I am interested in.

During the off season, I read a lot of adventure travel, motorcycle touring, and similar books to keep the P.M.S. in check

 

[Eye_m_no_angel]

The problem with motorcycle magazines is they often showcase new bikes, performance products, and other things I don't need. Then, after seeing them, all glossy and alluring, I suddenly might start thinking I want them. And it's all down hill from there.

 

[distantThunder]

I used to sometimes buy V-Twin magazine when I was going through airports.
I think that's what it was called.

A lot of beautiful custom work on cruisers.
Body, paint, frame.
Some of those guys have awesome talent.
I swear I was standing last-in-line when God was giving out genius for motorcycles But it's COOL to see what people can actually build. I doubt if most of those folks EVER get half the credit that they deserve in life.

dT

 

[hawkaholic37]

Interestingly, l am looking at getting a new bike this year, and l am into Adventure bikes and Sport-Tourers, so l have really been enjoying my subscription to Motor Cyclist lately. I just read about a new KTM 1290 Adventure that sounds like it is just the bomb...now to scrape up an extra $20k...