The Norton Girl And Other Tragedies
The Norton girl and other tragedies
UP FRONT
David Edwards
THE FIRST MOTORCYCLE MAGAZINE I ever bought was the April. 1971. edition of Cycle World. I was 15 years old, at hormonal redline and dropdead in love with the woman in the Norton ad on the inside cover. If you're too young to remember Norton Commandos or the provocatively posed ladies featured in the Company's advertisements. well, it serves you right.
Post-pubescent longings aside, there was plenty of great stuff of a mechanical nature inside the magazine. The main test was of BSA's allnew 500cc Victor motocrosser. a great booming Thumper about as related to the 90cc Yamaha trail bike I was then riding as a Piper Cub was to a Saturn V booster rocket. Four other motorcycles were tested, news items were covered in the Roundup section, the Editor shared insights in his monthly column, vintage fans were treated to a story on one of the great British V-Twins (the Vincent), there was a preview of the upcoming race season, a project bike was built, and a humorous Slipstream page finished off the package.
Jump ahead 20 years to the April. 1991, Cycle World. Inside was a test of a great booming Thumper (this time a Honda XR628). Four other motorcycles were tested, news items were covered in the Roundup section, the Editor (me) shared insights in his monthly column, vintage fans were treated to a story on one of the great British V-Twins (the Brough Superior). there was a preview' of the upcoming race season, a project bike was built, and a humorous Slipstream page finished off the package.
T he point, you ask?
Just this: Cycle World was created in 1962 to be an enthusiasts' magazine. As we approach the completion of three decades of publishing, we're still an enthusiasts' magazine. At one time, all motorcycle mags covered all aspects of the sport—street and dirt, touring and trailing, racing and wrenching. For the past several years, as other publications have become more and more specialized. Cycle IfbWi/has remained true to the belief that motorcyclists want to know as much about their favorite pastime as possible. In 1991. we're the only cycle magazine in America, and one of the few in the world, that covers every aspect of motorcycling's broad spectrum. If it's got two wheels and an engine, it will eventually show up on these pages.
Our competitors sometimes have taken issue with this shotgun approach to coverage. “Don't advertise in ( If." their ad salespeople say to streetbike-oriented companies, “it's a dirtbike book." Likewise, off-roadoriented companies are dissuaded from offering their products in a “street magazine." (Ask me what I think of certain, sleazy ad salespeople some time.)
Fortunately, most advertisers are smarter than that, and realize the value of reaching a core group of super-enthusiasts. the opinion makers and trend leaders of the sport.
All is not peaches and cream on the advertising f'ront. though. Let's go back to 1971. back to a time when motorcycling was a boom industry. In that April issue 20 years ago. there were 54 pages of bike ads. in w hich 99 models were covered. The ads were simple, usually with a photo of the particular model against a plain background accompanied by text and a list of specifications.
Fast-forward to 1991. Motorcycling is no longer a boom industry, reflected in the paucity of bike ads in Cycle Worlds April issue. There are just six pages of motorcycle advertisements. covering but five models. I hose ads feature artsy, big-bucks photographs or illustrations of bikes.
but little—if any—hard information about the machines. (Ask me what 1 think of certain, ineffectual advertising campaigns some time.)
You can argue that a down market is the time to keep up advertising, not reduce it. especially ads to an enthusiast audience, but those are the unhappy facts. The fallout to this advertising downturn not only is fewer pages in the magazines, but fewer magazines, period. Four years ago. Cycle Cuide, then the third-largest motorcycle publication, went bellyup. And last month, our sister-magazine. Cycle, ceased publication after 42 years. I say that w ith no great joy, even though Cycle's demise means that Cycle World is now the undisputed leader in the field. Cycle was a good magazine put out by good people. a worthy competitor that kept us on our toes. It will be missed.
This month's cover contains the phrase “Now incorporating Cycle magazine." If you're an avowed Cycle World fan. don't worry, the magazine is not changing—not dramatically, at least. A few years ago. our parent company made the decision that Cycle and Cycle World should have more separate voices, that Cycle should be more technically oriented and that OF should be more feature oriented. We purposely backed off many nuts-and-bolts-type stories, and played up other articles. Well, now we're free to be more in depth technically, while still doing the feature stories that have been so well received. To that end, we've hired Kevin Cameron to be CIFs Tech Editor. Kevin worked at Cycle for 18 years and is the preeminent technical writer in motorcycle journalism. He'll contribute a monthly column, TDC, as well as articles on technology. racing and personalities. We're happy that he is on staff, and think that you will be. too.
So. to current Cycle World readers, thanks for your support and enthusiasm. and look for the magazine to be bigger, brighter and better in the months and years to come. To Cycle readers, welcome aboard, w'e're glad to have you. Settle in and see what you've been missing. Together, we're in for an enjoyable ride.
Sadly, the Norton girl won't be joining us. E3
