Women's motorcycle magazine

[Lteejay]

Perhaps we could convince Flame to pop a few wheelies for the camera (on a private road of course)

Sweet - that would make a great front cover

[surfchick]

good luck kicking off the mag au-

things i'd have liked starting out riding would be definitions of types of bikes & that there are dif. kinds of bikes for different styles of riding approaches. i totally bought the wrong kind of bike-getting a cruiser and later coming to the horrible realisation i wanted way more speed and cornering... doh

now i'd like to see track-days covered, races covered, dirt stuff covered. nu bikes and info on good used older bikes that people would be likely to be able to source in NZ used market. also esp. adventure riding info-good local & other backcountry trails and routes etc lots of pix too. don't wanna read all day

Also I've been trying to get motorcycle antics into the art-world that I'm part of and so far I'm getting somewhere with the project as well as a some funding to make bigger video-art projects connected with motorcycling
the TV3 nightline article is here

http://youtube.com/watch?v=2uDdCAPMjqs

the art-motorcycle exhibition description is here:
http://www.filmarchive.org.nz/newsar...x-Monteith.htm

in future hopefully jill and i will cook up a little something and after that's done, coook up an even bigger something

[chicksnleather]

Would love for you to provide me with an article on this and photo's - might not make the first edition but will definitely put into second.

Cheers
Chicksnleather

im going to be riding wanganui to invers and back to taupo and then home again the end of november. ill be keeping a diary, and would be happy to have it printed as a mini column, if you are interested? photos are guaranteed as well.

as for what would prompt me to buy it?
the only bike magazine i buy is old bike australasia... the photos in that are of bikes and their owners. they dont ruin a perfectly good photo by posing some plastic fantastic tart on top... thats the main reason i DONT buy easyrider etc.

well written articles, nice clear photos, lots of reader participation. try not to focus on one style of bike, have a good mix of sports, cruiser and racers [both on and off track, so dirt bikes etc]

[chicksnleather]

Hi Surfchick

Thanks heaps for your input will look up the items through the links you have provided. There are a lot of areas that can be covered off so if they don't all make it in the first edition please note they will be covered off in future editions. Would really love to have some articles and photo's coming through now as need to start pulling layout together.

Cheers
Chicknleather

[chicksnleather]

Hi Mrs Kendog

Will definitely take you up on the offer in the very near future - at present too many deadlines to meet but will definitely be on board.

Cheers
Chicksnleather

[chicksnleather]

Awesome idea - will be in touch to set up a date and time.

Cheers
Chicksnleather

Perhaps we could convince Flame to pop a few wheelies for the camera (on a private road of course)

[chicksnleather]

Great idea for panel - would be great to pull this together and do a bit of brainstorming - any volunteers?

Cheers
Chicksnleather

Well, you have to cater for all ages...

But you're right, we don't this one to flounder, so...

How about (when things are organised and settled a bit), an idea such as a star panel of famous Kiwi chick riders as well? I'm sure that a few well known adventurous women out there are also bikers?

It would make for some cool interviews, and would give a broader perspective of the "biker" image too...

[chicksnleather]

A great idea and Id be happy to help in anyway. I think women who dont have bikes would read it too as I know many women ask me about my bike and what its like riding. How they always thought of it but never did. There are definately more and more women riders however we are not as good as the Americans. When I was riding there there were alot of women, perhaps with a mag like this we can get our numbers up! I would love you to get ahold of ebay distributors for female bike gear. I have a flamboyant baby blue/pink leathers but there are lots of feminine "not so out there" but womanly jackets/pants etc. (eg NOT BLACK) New Zealand is limited in choices and I get asked all the time where I got mine. Anyways let me know if I can help in anyway

Great - will take you up on your offer so send in those articles.

Cheers
Chicksnleather

[Beemer]

Good luck and I agree with Hitcher - several of us do proofreading and editing for a living so don't miss this important step!

I don't want to put a damper on your idea, but have you got advertising/funding lined up? Several years ago I was approached by an idiot who shall remain nameless (but he was on Dragon's Den trying to pitch the same idea last year!) who wanted to set up a women's motoring magazine called Wheel Woman (he has an accent and the guys on tv thought he said "Queer Woman"). I worked on the basis of payment on publication, as is normal with journalism, and proceeded to write half a dozen articles and take the accompanying photographs. Some involved travelling and other expenses, which I had to pay for myself. Six months down the track he had exhausted every avenue to get advertising and had to drop the idea - so I never got paid.

The problem is it is VERY expensive to start up a magazine and when the market is limited, the chances of success are also limited. Although there are lots of female motorcyclists who use this forum, the actual number of female motorcyclists is small, and of those, not all would buy the magazine. Advertisers are wary of catering to niche markets unless those markets can be turned into dollars. If you have looked at advertising, what areas have you focused on? There are not many motorcycling companies in NZ that make female gear and the big players like the cosmetics and food/beverage advertisers would not come on board until you had established yourself.

Quality doesn't come cheap and if the magazine is not attractively presented, people won't pay more than a few dollars for it - not after the first issue anyway. And to have a quality product, with good reproduction of photographs, etc and glossy paper, costs HEAPS. I do regular newsletters for different organisations and they are often only four pages but they cost THOUSANDS to produce without advertising. Even with advertising, many advertisers pay the month following publication so you need a fair bit of cash behind you to start off and to fund the first few months.

I don't know how well the new dirt bike magazine is doing in NZ and I haven't actually seen an issue to judge it by, but I understand that took some time and financial commitment to get up and running. I have no idea of the rates they pay but most journalists expect around 50c per word minimum and photography rates vary from $50 per photo upwards. Then - depending on your skills and those of your friends and family - you have to pay designers, graphic artists, editors, printers, etc.

The other problem is, if you only focus on females, you will soon run out of good stories to feature. NZ is a small market and people soon switch off if they perceive the quality of the content is dropping.

[sunhuntin]

Would love for you to provide me with an article on this and photo's - might not make the first edition but will definitely put into second.

Cheers
Chicksnleather

no worries... as said, ill be taking a diary along, and will write the article based on that.

[surfchick]

Good luck and I agree with Hitcher ......The other problem is, if you only focus on females, you will soon run out of good stories to feature. NZ is a small market and people soon switch off if they perceive the quality of the content is dropping.

yeah some good thoughts there. at the moment there's only one main women's surfing magazine globally ... even combining the global articles on womens surfing the articles are a wee bit budget! BUT that said -i think there could may-be be a place for a kind of guerilla girls motorcycle publication - maybe not too glossy-but some feature splashes of high gloss, etc say with a few editions per year - 4? I'd like to see it get off the ground - even an annual publication? go hard crew...

damn, i missed an oppertunity to snap keystone trying for the 10th time to tie the oil bung to the bike frame before the trackday. maybe you could have a sub article on how to use those spinny wire tensioner/twisers without snapping the cable uh oh.. time for me to run off now...

[chicksnleather]

good luck kicking off the mag au-

things i'd have liked starting out riding would be definitions of types of bikes & that there are dif. kinds of bikes for different styles of riding approaches. i totally bought the wrong kind of bike-getting a cruiser and later coming to the horrible realisation i wanted way more speed and cornering... doh

now i'd like to see track-days covered, races covered, dirt stuff covered. nu bikes and info on good used older bikes that people would be likely to be able to source in NZ used market. also esp. adventure riding info-good local & other backcountry trails and routes etc lots of pix too. don't wanna read all day

Also I've been trying to get motorcycle antics into the art-world that I'm part of and so far I'm getting somewhere with the project as well as a some funding to make bigger video-art projects connected with motorcycling
the TV3 nightline article is here

http://youtube.com/watch?v=2uDdCAPMjqs

the art-motorcycle exhibition description is here:
http://www.filmarchive.org.nz/newsar...x-Monteith.htm

in future hopefully jill and i will cook up a little something and after that's done, coook up an even bigger something

Hi Surfchick

Excellent stuff! How would you like to pull together a piece for me on how your exhibition went and some photo's - would be really great to promote the work that you are doing.

Cheers
Chicksnleather

[surfchick]

sweet as au-
I got a good few pix and vid stills of the kiwibiker crew supporting this show - the wellington kb crew were super supportive turned out for the opening dropped the odd patch and made a fabulously LOUD impression. we got pretty good stills and vid. coverage of both the art-show and the 20-30 bikes that attended. what are your deadlines like? pm me and i can give you my real world email address

keystone and I are hoping to get some more work made ... between her race meets... and kids... and doctorate...

[Hanne]

Sounds awesome!
I would also be keen to contribute some stories, will pM you

[chicksnleather]

Hi Guys

Sorry I haven't posted anything for a while have just been snowed under, thank you to all of you that have submitted the articles for the magazine, they are looking great! Is there anyone that would like to submit an article on adventure riding, motorcross, stunt riding and FMX.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Cheers
Chicksnleather