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

[Alex]

I think what he is responding to is the edginess of the brit mags 
versus the more professional feel of American mags, not necessarily 
the quality of the reviews....

Cycle World certainly isn't mediocre.  That being said, UK mags seem 
to push the envelope.  I have an issue of Superbike and in the 
masthead, the editors and writers all give their favorite porn flick. 
It's a joke, of course, but it speaks to the different mindset and 
it's a little more fun.  CW seems a little "corporate" sometimes, 
which isn't a bad thing, it is just a different take on how to review 
and talk about bikes.

As far as the criticism that Cycle World is beholden to its 
advertisers, I think we all need to remember to take car/bike reviews 
with a grain of salt and remember it all comes down to personal 
tastes.  I hope that CW has a code or some manner of dealing with its 
advertisers so that they can handle bad reviews and not yank advertising.





At 09:09 PM 5/28/2007, you wrote:
>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