"Rider" magazine: two trial issues in and I'm convinced it's a keeper

[sagerat]

I continue to look at various motorcycle mags, but have whittled down what I'm actually subscribing to.  Signed up for a trial run of Rider magazine and it's been perfect.  And that's not because the first issue had a write-up of a Royal Enfield Bullet, either.   Just nice articles about touring, touring gear, and good touring routes.

I'll let Motorcyclist lapse because outside of the excellent essays by Jack Lewis, the rest of the mag blows green chunks, especially if it involves the self-absorbed Catterson.  Also the prose of most of their writers just strains to show how cool and hip they are, rather than conveying info and impressions about the bikes they briefly ride.  

Anyway, I know I'm a latecomer to Rider, but I'm really enjoying it.  Clement Salvatori writes well, although Peter Egan of Cycle World remains my gold standard.  But Salvatori's love of riding comes through just as clearly as Egan's.

[doodah man]

A buddy of mine just subscribed to Rider so I am looking forward to trading my issues of Cycle Canada for his Rider.  Rider was one of my favorite magazines in the 90s but I never subscribed.  Then the local newsstands stopped carrying it and I haven't read it in years.  Lawrence Grodsky (RIP) was one of my favorites along with Clement.

I'm not renewing the Motorcyclist subscription my girlfriend got me for Xmas last year. although I'm glad to hear someone can actually understand, much less enjoy, Jack Lewis' essays.  

[blackbuell]

For the cost of the annual subscriptions (what, a few pints at the local pub), they are both a bargain.

[rajflyboy]

Not a bad Mag

I wish that Motorcyclist would keep the Motorcyclist Retro magazine going.   I hear that this new magazine has been scrapped.

[chornbe]

Rider and Motorcycle Consumer News are my only subscriptions. I used to have many. All others pale.

(I still get the Harley rag and the AMA rag because of my memberships - but they're best used for lining the cat pan)

$.02

[maddjack]

Rider is the one I read the most ,anymore the other rags are same ole same ole and they almost seem to write the same articles at the same time.

[BuckeyeInNC]

+1

[PhilBiker]

Clement Salvatori is one of my favorite moto-mag riders.  I used to subscribe to Rider.  My big complaint with the mag is that when I subscribed many of their bike and gear "reviews" read like promotional literature from the company responsible for the gear.  Not much in the way of critical depth there.  Their riding stories and editorial pages were great.

Definitle a magazine friendly to the touring crowd.

[rauchman]

Clement Salvatori is one of my favorite moto-mag riders.  I used to subscribe to Rider.  My big complaint with the mag is that when I subscribed many of their bike and gear "reviews" read like promotional literature from the company responsible for the gear.  Not much in the way of critical depth there.  Their riding stories and editorial pages were great.

Definitle a magazine friendly to the touring crowd.

Have a Rider subscription as well as Cycle World.  Cycle World pretty repeats what Sport Rider and Motorcyclist spit out.  I thoroughly enjoy Rider's take on motorcycling.  Much more real world oriented w/ an emphasis on touring.  I've found their bike reviews very informative.  I've never found their reviews to sound "bought for".  I especially like their comparo reviews.  I still read the July 2006 issue (at least, I think that's the issue) that compared the VFR, Sprint, ST4 and BMW1200ST.  My favorite class of bikes and my top choices in that class.  As someone who's never ridden any of the listed bikes, the article left me w/ a good impression of what I could expect riding one of the aforementioned.

Also, love their gear issues, where they give some input on jackets, helmets, boots, etc.

[squeezer]

Rider is the only one that has managed to keep my interest.  It's the only one that really seems oriented to real world riding instead of wannabe-ism.  

I'm getting Motorcyclist right now because it was a freebie, promo subscription.  I won't renew.

American Motorcyclist, the AMA rag, has transformed itself and is a whole lot better than it used to be.  It's stopped trying to be a pale reflection of other rags.  Instead of articles about bikes, it now features articles on individual riders -- almost exclusively.  It's a different take that  makes it unique among bike rags.  I've actually started reading it again instead of dropping it straight into the recycle stack with the rest of the junk mail.

[jnor]

  Rider, and Motorcycle Consumer News are my favorites

[MK96xj]

I get Rider and Motorcyclist and feel the same way your do. I have another year of MCist and will let go after that unless something changes in that time.

My only issue with Rider as with most other rags is that no new moto test can do wrong. Evey bike tested is the best

You always need to filter through the sun is always shining comments to find the reality.

[BuckeyeInNC]

I subscribe to both of those magazines and, like you, prefer Rider of those two.

However, Road Runner is my favorite magazine.  Every issue has ride reports by several sport touring riders.  Seems like alot of commonality between that magazine and this website.  I highly recommend checking it out.

[FJRmgm]

I have been a subscriber to Rider mag for years - they write what I like to read.

And I don't agree they love every bike they test - problem is, most bikes are so good these days there is not really anything glaringly "bad" about any of them.

[maddjack]

As i stated before Rider is my favorite,my other favorite is Roadrunner,not always the top of the pile but they ride and many of the rides inside make it worth a lok

[sagerat]

Oh, and it's Salvadori; I blame the egg nog for spelling his name wrong.  The "Riding Well" column has been good, too.  The article by James Petersen in my Feb. 09 issue (spoiler alert! spoiler alert!) on U.S. 50 from Cali to Chicago was a nice read.  He does a nice job of evoking a linear place and even though I've ridden The Loneliest Highway in America several times and the article captures that road's essence.  

I also get Motorcycle Consumer News, which is a great mag, and the AMA mag, which has improved.  MCN will never win any literature prizes, but there's a place in the moto-journal world for straight shot, meat and potatoes, Tab A in Slot B, reviews.  

One of the finest pieces of writing I've read was an article about a year or two ago in Motorcyclist by Jack Lewis about riding his old airhead from Pugetopolis to Idaho after returning from a combat tour in Iraq.  Occasionally his metaphors and his illustrative language veer into "hunh?" territory, but overall I like his voice and the subtle way he writes.  An acquirred taste, evidently.    The Lewis article about riding the airhead wasn't so much about riding an airhead as it was about returning home both geographically and psychologically.  The lens he used was a motorcycle journey, but the marvelous and evocative writing is what made the piece sing to me, the fact a motorcycle was involved was secondary.

Contrast that with the erst of the brashness, we're badass, we're pale imitations of Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Wolfe, and Insert Your Angry Young Man/Woman of Fiction Here Motorcyclist ink slingers.     Mike Seale ranges from tolerable to good, but the rest of them should be sent into a small airless room and forced to read Strunk and White's "Elements of Style" until they pass out.  The hardest thing a piece of good writing does is not call attention to itself while weaving magical words about you.  By contrast, bad writing wears stripped shirts with plaid pants while doing a handstand in the middle of the room, yelling "Hey, look at me!"  Motorcyclist scribblers, take note.

Anyway, I'm here to praise Rider, not bury Motorcyclist.  I'll check out Barnes and Ignoble for Roadrunner as well.  I did look for a Brit bike mag that had a reivew of the Ural Gear Up, but it wasn't in the issue of bike they had on the shelves.  Anybody know which Brit mag and what issue it might be in?  Adding to the conundrum is the 2WD camo rig called the Gear Up stateside is known as something else Over There.  Thanks.



 

[shil]

I like RoadRUNNER.  I'd like it a lot more if not for Chris Myers, I find his stuff almost unreadable.  I'm not sure why.
BIKE is my favourite.  It's the only rag that I'm not finished with in an hour.

[1KPerDay]

I take Rider and Cycle World, and get U.S. MCN second hand.

I let MotorCyclist lapse after 12 years of subscription.

the only thing I don't like about rider is their "reports" on gear (say "helmets" or "tank bags" or "waterproof jackets") are simply catalogs of what's available. There's no comprehensive review or rating. They will occasionally review one or the other, but it's presented as a single article.

[JIMLARCH]

I just finished a one year subscription to Rider.  It's a good magazine for the cruiser/touring rider, but not for my style of riding.  I won't be renewing.  British magazines are twice the cost of the U.S. bike mags (but have twice as much content) and I buy them instead.

[drc32-0]

I have subscriptions to Rider,Road Runner,MCN and Friction Zone.Rider seems to be the most consistently interesting.Road Runner has the best photography...anyone see the photos by Florres about two months ago?I always like MCN's bike and gear evaluations as well as their news briefs.Friction  Zone is a west coast mag that the folks in the west can pick up for free at dealers.I live in Ohio so I have to subscribe.FZ always has ride reports on California and the western states.I like Kate Edwards writing and FZ has some  good photography like the recent covers of the Grand Canyon and the Tetons.

[Blunder]

I've got one of those freebie Motorcyclist subscriptions. I'm not impressed.

CW I'll pick up from time to time as Egan and Cameron are so good. Too bad the rest of the mag is usually tripe.

But it's the Brit rags that I buy and read cover to cover. Bike and T.W.O have the best stories, pics and funny reading. Sure, they are expensive but it's not "I'll only read this when I'm on the can" stuff.

[Kraz]

+1 on the free MotorCylclist subscription.

MAN, I'm glad I didn't pay for that!  

BiKE is really amusing... Maybe one day I'll subscribe to that.

-m

[jstark47]

American Motorcyclist, the AMA rag, has transformed itself and is a whole lot better than it used to be.  It's stopped trying to be a pale reflection of other rags.  Instead of articles about bikes, it now features articles on individual riders -- almost exclusively.  It's a different take that  makes it unique among bike rags.  I've actually started reading it again instead of dropping it straight into the recycle stack with the rest of the junk mail.

Well, to each their own.  This is exactly why I stopped reading American Motorcyclist, and eventually let my AMA membership lapse.  If I want to know how other people feel about their riding experiences, I'll find some and talk to them - it's free, and more real.  

[garry]

I have subscriptions to Rider and RoadRUNNER. They're decent. I get CW real cheap and Motorcyclist free. That's about what they're worth.  

[Mastros2]

  Rider, and Motorcycle Consumer News are my favorites

I agree.  Also, I pick up Road Runner from time to time as well.  I too let Motorcyclist lapse due to the lack of interesting info.  

[DataDan]

I'll let Motorcyclist lapse because outside of the excellent essays by Jack Lewis, the rest of the mag blows green chunks, especially if it involves the self-absorbed Catterson. Also the prose of most of their writers just strains to show how cool and hip they are, rather than conveying info and impressions about the bikes they briefly ride.

I have 25 years of Motorcyclist. The collection ends 12/07. At one time it was my favorite--after Cycle died and before Motorcyclist withered, post-Petersen.

Catterson is to a motorcycle magazine what fingernails are to a chalkboard. He was annoying enough at Cycle World, and as editor at Motorcyclist, there is no one to rein in his annoyingness and keep it from spreading.

[maddjack]

I have 25 years of Motorcyclist. The collection ends 12/07. At one time it was my favorite--after Cycle died and before Motorcyclist withered, post-Petersen.

Catterson is to a motorcycle magazine what fingernails are to a chalkboard. He was annoying enough at Cycle World, and as editor at Motorcyclist, there is no one to rein in his annoyingness and keep it from spreading.

Amen to that,in truth Seate is the only one in that rag worth reading and he can get on his soapbox a little too often(sorry mike).I read his local stuff all the time,intresting thing is his style for motorcyclist is different than his regular writing ( he's a local man)

[Blunder]

Please don't bring up the late, great Cycle magazine.

I hate to break out in tears for no apparent reason.

Gordon Jennings, Cook Nielson, et al, put out a rag worth reading. They'd get a test bike from the distributor and pull it down to its basic parts. Literally.

Purchase an issue and you'd be witness to the innards of a Laverda Jota's tranny, because they'd pull the damned thing apart and explain, with pics, what was wrong with it, or maybe what was right with it. They did it with the first Gold Wing and they would do it to the lowliest Hodaka, and one could learn something. Dykes rings and Herron heads? Cycle mag was your source.

The Gentleman's Express, the K-Mart Special, a Maico stone axe and many others.

Those were examples of great writing and great magazine issues.

Those days are long gone.

[vguy]

Just got an email from RIDER ...

Subject: Rider Rally--Rider Magazine celebrates 35 years with a Rally in Ventura, CA April 17-19

Announcing Rider Rally 35
Celebrating 35 Years of Rider Magazine
Ventura County Fairgrounds, Ventura, CA, April 17-19, 2009

America’s touring, sport touring, adventure touring, sport bike and cruiser riders will convene at the Rider Rally 35, celebrating 35 years of Rider Magazine.
Located on the Southern part of the Central California coast, the scenic beauty of Ventura and the enjoyable roads and highways leading into the city will be a great pleasure for all who ride in.
Be a part of this celebration by becoming an exhibitor or sponsor (see attached sheet for details). If you have any questions, or would like to reserve space, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Thank you.