Chance of a lifetime: YOU can decide on New Zealand's new bike magazine!

[Conquiztador]

Keep it up guys, you are doing well!

Personally I like to read about bikers. A story on an interesting individual. No need to be a famous one. There is some very interesting bike riders in this country that would keep us all spellbound reading their tales. Add a few pictures of their bikes and perhaps a pic or two from their own collection of memories.

I also like reports from bike parties. But it is a very talented writer that can find new ways of telling them, as if he/she does not watch it they soon become very much the same.

Add a article re a project. This can be in one go or in a few following issues as the bike develops. I always find it interesting to see how people solve some of the issues and perhaps I learn something too...

Write ups about some of the MCC, SC and MC that we have in NZ. Good way for them to make them self known and perhaps find new members.

No need to have anything from overseas. That is what the overseas magazines are for.

[slowpoke]

Bike mags in NZ shouldn't try to be a replica of the big overseas mags, no way can they compete with their budget or access to the latest news and bikes. One thing they can do MUCH better than O/S mags is target Kiwi news, conditions, bikes, events, racing, etc. I was out of the country for nearly 20 years yet I know of some farkin' cool bikes and people in NZ that could/should be written about:

Honda AFC CR500 (alloy framed CR500 2 stroke)
Ducati 996RS (Factory Ducati superbike)
Moto Guzzi MGS-01
Self built V8 cruiser
Vincent Rapide
GW's Bimota YB8
GW's SVR650 (Kiwi built CrMo tube frame)
Shaun Donelly's luvverly Z1000 race bike
Damian Mackie's as new RG500 race bike
Kane Veltman's (?) cool bare bones R90 (?) BMW mongrel which proves ya don't need pockets full of cash to have fun.
Any one of Kevin Grant's stunning bike collection.
A mate in Oz has a NOS'd M109 (NOS was also fitted to his previous Cagiva Raptor), and we must all know some weird and wonderful rides out there.

Ray Clee is NZ's winningest race bike builder and a great racer in his own right, so how 'bout a peek inside his head/workshop?
Same for guys like Spyda, Billy, Tim Gibbes etc etc who have been around the traps since Adam had training wheels.
Or the Ross (John/Larry) family.
Not to mention in depth write ups on Andrew Stroud, Brian Bernard, Choppa, Craig Shirriffs, Hayden Fitzgerald, Tony Rees, Shayne/Darryl King, Josh Coppins, Stefan Merriman etc who have done well not just in NZ but overseas.
Or some of the faces behind Suzuki NZ, Blue Wing Honda etc (guys like Paul Stewart who are also actively involved in our sport)

Has anybody done a decent interview with Peter Clifford while he's in the country? With his history in the upper echelons of 500GP/MotoGP and given all the hype around CRT it'd be a criminal waste not to hear a few of his thoughts.

Get the inside scoop race report from one of the NZSBK race teams. Not just a press release but a nuts and bolts/blow by blow write up of what happens behind the scenes to put together a championship effort. Put the reader in amongst it.

Same for organising the Tri-Series/Cemetery Circuit/Burt Munro. Give us a blog on the trials and tribulations of organising something like that, might be some help come outta the woodwork, not to mention it's good promotion for the event.

How about Kiwi's doing amazing things Overseas? Brook Henry started up Vee Two and became one of the world's leading Ducati tuner's, Jeff Nash of Boulder Motorsports, Mike Webb MotoGP Technical Director etc etc.

And just for the record, I couldn't give a fuck about the spelling or what apostrophe goes where, this is a bike magazine not "Anorak Monthly".

[DEATH_INC.]

I think you need to be either a road mag, or a dirt mag, not both (unless it's 2 mags...).
I like tech stuff, the latest shock/fork/frame/engine etc developments, but the next guy will be bored to death with it.
Same as I don't wanna read about bob's trip to the pub down the road, though that's exactly what some of ya want.

It's farkin hard, all I'd say is don't try to cover everything, it means too much of the mag won't appeal to the readers. Stick with a smaller variety that will develop a core following that will stay with ya and buy every month.

[Bikemad]

less than 10% advertising.Everything advertised must contain Mag discount rate(no exception)
Tyre reviews.
Used bike reviews.
New bike reviews.
Maintence tips.
Build projects and custom build bikes.Prize drawn when finished to mag serial number.
Large race reviews even for budget classes.
Full reviews of Motorbike Rallys.
Day Ride reviews on every interesting NZ road and trail.

what he said and what about some Tits in there somewhere.............oh and a decent font size would be helpfull

[slowpoke]

I think you need to be either a road mag, or a dirt mag, not both (unless it's 2 mags...).
I like tech stuff, the latest shock/fork/frame/engine etc developments, but the next guy will be bored to death with it.
Same as I don't wanna read about bob's trip to the pub down the road, though that's exactly what some of ya want.

It's farkin hard, all I'd say is don't try to cover everything, it means too much of the mag won't appeal to the readers. Stick with a smaller variety that will develop a core following that will stay with ya and buy every month.

Yep, couldn't agree more. Pick your niche and do it well, rather than do a crap job trying to cover everything.

[The Lone Rider]

Dunno about content. But I think if you somehow managed to cover absolutely everything everyone wanted - all I can say is good luck getting a NZer to spend money on it!

[mossy1200]

what he said and what about some Tits in there somewhere.............oh and a decent font size would be helpfull

my bad forgot Tits and add 3d goggles for the tits also.

[GrayWolf]

I am a little bemused by the immense 'facination/requirement' for shitloads of race write ups...
I get it, that there are many who race, go to races etc.... but I find that on average 50% of most mags are given over to racing (road and dirt). I may be a minority, but lots of race writing in a mag for 'road riders' is going to keep my money in my pocket... We need a good balance agreed, but thats it, let's keep it balanced! projects, rebuilds, modification kiwi style? That'd interest most people here I'd guess. There's things like the Carberry V twin from Oz, the 535cc fireball Enfield. Those sort of specials are interesting as they are right up the Burt Munro/Kiwi school of building. Often specials get a short 1-2 page write up, it would be great to see a full road test and review of these builders pride and joy.

[tigertim20]

my 2c is articles on and reviews on older bikes aswell as new. I dont mean a 88 zzr or anything but reviews on 2001 gsxr or on the tl1000r as some of us cannot afford to buy the latest bike it would be nice to read about bikes a little older aswell as the new stuff.

this is something I totally agree with. sure, lots of people buy new bikes, but the majority of us are looking at bikes in the 4-9 year old bracket. some reviews on tidy examples of bikes in those brackets along with info on good, cost effective mods, relevant market values of such bikes etc etc.

New bikes are nice and all, and I go to demo days and ride them, because most of the time its the only way I will get near one, I dont have 20k+ to drop on a new bike.

[flyingcrocodile46]

I am a little bemused by the immense 'facination/requirement' for shitloads of race write ups...
I get it, that there are many who race, go to races etc.... but I find that on average 50% of most mags are given over to racing (road and dirt). I may be a minority, but lots of race writing in a mag for 'road riders' is going to keep my money in my pocket... We need a good balance agreed, but thats it, let's keep it balanced! projects, rebuilds, modification kiwi style? That'd interest most people here I'd guess. There's things like the Carberry V twin from Oz, the 535cc fireball Enfield. Those sort of specials are interesting as they are right up the Burt Munro/Kiwi school of building. Often specials get a short 1-2 page write up, it would be great to see a full road test and review of these builders pride and joy.

AAA+ Couldn't agree more. I like watching the racing on Sky but I would sooner watch paint dry, than read yet another bloody race bike/rider article (that are already featured very often in all the other NZ mags).

[Swoop]

The waving issue is certainly an important one.

One would be rather silly to ignore it.


[serious mode]Articles on SHEDS. Bikers have some bloody interesting shit in their shed (bikes, bike bits, porn, machinery, projects, etc) and regular articles could appear on this topic. [/serious mode]

[Hitcher]

I'd like a bike magazine that does proper, honest ride reviews. That shit that the Paul Owens of this world write gives me the absolute fucking yahs. Doyen of motoring writers my arse.

Owning a bike isn't just about the image. Not all bikes are owned by fair weather cafe cruisers. Quite a few bikers ride with pillions or luggage. But when was the last time you saw a write up of somebody who took their better half away for a weekend when the weather had the audacity to sprinkle some rain around or blow a bit?

As an example, I offer the Honda ST1300. Regaled by some as the doyen of sports touring motorcycles. Where is a review written by somebody who took this steed away to do what a sports tourer is supposed to do? If there had been one, Mr Honda may have sorted the locking system for the panniers. Where's the review of somebody who may have ridden one of these things in a big cross-wind? That would probably have not been published, as it would have cost Mr Honda some sales.

I'm not bashing ST1300s, rather I'm using them as an example to make a point that all bikes have short-comings that a decent reviewer should be able to sort reasonably quickly. Definitely over a weekend's worth of riding. Bike magazines are generally sucky-up, because they also need to secure advertising from manufacturers and distributors of the bikes and other products they review. Major conflict of interest. Money talks and honest assessment is the loser.

[Old Steve]

I just got some back issues of KiwiRider from the library and the back half of the mag is off-road which is of no interest for me. Don't off roaders buy off road mags - you can't be everything to everybody. So you have to define your target market very carefully. Road bikes, race enthusiasts, off roaders, tourers, sportsbikes, what mix of tourers/cruisers/sportsbikes within a magazine dedicated to road bikes?

I agree that reviews on 2nd hand bikes are great, yes most of us will buy a second hand/older bike. I do like Rhys Jones review and analysis of a bike from the past in KiwiRider. I've just bought a 2010 Boulevard M50, what I'd have loved to have read in the last 6 - 8 months (or been able to find on-line) was a review of the older M50 versus the new (headlight nose job) M50. Is there any noticeable change in newer bikes compared to the model they're replacing?

Yes, maintenance tips. Reviews on accessories.

I also agree with font size, there is one car magazine which uses a really small font and then compounds the problem by using a coloured type on top of a background photo where the font just disappears. White pages, large black font.

Contributions from readers, make it a competition - "Tell us about your ride/bike" with a prize (years sub?). Say a page with the reader's article and a photo (or two).

No overseas race reviews, if people are interested in overseas race results then they'll have Googled them well in advance of this magazine coming off the presses.

Review eating places, we don't just ride motorbikes we ride motorbikes somewhere to eat. Where's a good place with good food at the end of a good road - Te Hoi cafe from Tauranga is an example - maybe make that a reader contribution too.

And get some input from Joe Rider on new bikes, OK a professional motorbike journalist knows what he's talking about. But a reader will talk about how high the seat is, how comfortable it is, how confident they felt cornering/braking/with a pillion onboard. Tell me how I'd react to the bike.

[flyingcrocodile46]

Other bike mags do cafe write ups. I never read them. Just another page of advertising that I have no interest in. There are plenty of dinning guides available. I ride my bike to shoe shops and supermarkets from time to time. Perhaps you could do write ups about them as well.

Looking at the ideas coming forward I am wondering why they were offered, as most of the suggestions are already covered off by existing mags more than adequately IMO. If this is indicative of the content it seems likely that this mag will be another that I won't buy. I used to subscribe to MT, BRM and KR for about three years along with Classic Motorcycle Mechanics for the last couple. I really can't stand any of them anymore (cept CMM). The hard copy of Visor Down (very limited run) was several hundred percent better than any other bike mag I've read, but they can't make money out of it so stopped publishing it.

[ducatilover]

less than 10% advertising.Everything advertised must contain Mag discount rate(no exception)
Tyre reviews.
Used bike reviews.
New bike reviews.
Maintence tips.
Build projects and custom build bikes.Prize drawn when finished to mag serial number.
Large race reviews even for budget classes.
Full reviews of Motorbike Rallys.
Day Ride reviews on every interesting NZ road and trail.

Agree with this.
I'd like to see one or two proper custom bikes/tricked up toys per issue, but I don't know if there are enough around?

Buying advice for n00bs, especially concerning gear.
Upcoming M/C events.

Bit of everything really

I love new vs old comparisons (eg, an SRAD vs a later model 600/750)
I'd love more coverage on bucket racing, get that shit out there!