[Ducati] re: British mag "Bike" 1098 review - Ouch!...

[Ets-Hokin, Gabe]

All I can say is you're either not very critical or you don't read Cycle World very carefully. Name one Brit motojourno who knows as much about every aspect of motorcycling as guys like Matt Miles, Don Canet, Ryan Dudek, Paul Dean, Kevin Cameron, Peter Egan, or David Edwards. Name a Brit who is as funny or influential as Johnny Burns. 
 
I like Bike and Ride and Fast Bikes as much as you do. Bike is especially insightful and their articles are thoughtful and in-depth. But there is also a lot of crap in those mags--bad photography, incomprehensible slang, and half-baked conclusions presented as fact--and how well can you evaluate a motorcycle in a country where it's constantly raining?
 
There is a lot of great stuff in those mags, for sure, but I think you're projecting "Saturday Night Live" syndrome, where you only remember the funny sketches from the 70's and then proclaim that since the 70s SNL sucks, even though there have been brilliant sketches every season since then, and really awful sketches in the 70s.
 
For instance, the July issue of CW has a 7-page story detailing the development of the Ducati Hypermotard, 6 motorcycle comparison tests, a review of the Isle of Man at 100 years, a critique of AMA racing, a comparison of the Zumo and TomTom bike-specific nav systems, not to mention opinion from Peter Egan and Kevin Cameron. So by your standards, this month's issue of Bike has over 60 solid features and 12 world-renowned columnists? Is that why it costs $9 an issue? The last issue of Bike I read had a lot of stuff a regional publication would write in the States, like what the best used-bike bargain is and how to ride from London to Nice on an R-1. Whoopee!
 
As mediocre as you say Cycle World is, we circulate 320,000 (probably 3 times what Bike circulates) copies a month that are probably seen by something like a million pairs of eyes, or more than 20% of US motorcyclists. It's the largest motorcycle magazine on the planet. We've been doing that for 45 years. 
 
But hey, the grass is always greener, right?
 
Gabe Ets-Hokin
Online Editor, Cycle World Magazine
www.cycleworld.com
getshokin at hfmus.com
415.730.8268 cell

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Message: 1
Date: Sun, 27 May 2007 10:54:13 EDT
From: ALOHADREAM at aol.com
Subject: [Ducati] British mag "Bike" 1098 review - Ouch!...
To: ducati at ducati.net
Message-ID: <ce3.11569ccd.338af595 at aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

The June issue of the British magazine "Bike" tears the 1098 an A-hole.  What
a bummer. They compare it to the latest Japanese Liter-bikes and it comes  up
dead last in almost every category...  and there initial test a few  months
back was very positive.

Even with that bummer review, what a  great magazine "Bike" is. There is more
excellent content in one issue of that  mag than 6 months worth of
"Motorcyclist" or "Cycle World". What's up with that?  Why do the Brits have such better
cycle mags?

Bryan
Bona-fide Ducati Nut