Goodbyes, Hellos

GOODBYES, HELLOS

UP FRONT

EDITOR'S LETTER

ON MAKING A MARK IN MOTORCYCLING

Departure is inevitable for all of us. The greats, the rich, the poor, the wretched, and all of us average folk eventually leave a hole in this world where we once were. And goodbyes must be said. Such is the case with the former publisher of CW, Jim Hansen, who died at age 71.

If you’ve been a motorcycle enthusiast during the past 40-plus years, you don’t know it, but you knew Hansen—not just for his longtime work at this magazine but also for being a mentor to a huge number of people in the motorcycle industry.

His first issue as director of marketing for CW was in October 1974, and he stayed with the magazine until 1990, when he retired as VP/publisher and handed over the reins to Larry Little, who Hansen had hired and who was publisher of CW until 2010. When I joined CW in 1999, Hansen was Rider magazine group publisher after serving as the president of American Roadracing magazine, which he had purchased from Terry Vance of Vance & Hines fame.

Not long after I was hired and fully up to speed doing lots of writing for the magazine, Hansen called me about a story to say some very kind, encouraging things. We talked awhile about the business and storytelling and had a great conversation that gave me some new insights into the magazine business. From a guy I’d hardly met. But that was just how he was.

“He had such a way about him,” said Little, now VP/general manager of the AIMExpo for Marketplace Events. “He always had time for people. For me, personally, knowing and working for Jim was more about learning to think in new ways. He was such a creative thinker.

As he was to so many in this business,

Jim was a mentor and a friend. And as a riding companion he was the best, as there was nothing he wouldn’t tackle.” Bonnier Motorcycle Group Publisher Andy Leisner worked for Hansen at American Roadracing. “Jim taught me a great deal about publishing,” Leisner said. “He had high standards. He taught me about building strong relationships with clients, about editorial integrity, about entertaining an audience, and about caring for our readers and our business partners. He had a fun, cynical sense of humor and loved to verbally spar and debate issues, but he loved all who he worked with and almost all in the motorcycle industry deeply. I owe a great deal of my career growth to him.” I’ll always remember Jim as a smiling and affable man with an uncommonly smooth dignity. And, no surprise, at his memorial service, held here at CW headquarters, the list of attendees included CEOs, CMOs, publishers, salespeople, marketers, and editors. It was a heartwarming and impressive turnout for a heartwarming and impressive man.

Moving to a hello, I’d like to welcome Ray Nierlich to Cycle World as the new head of the Service department. Ray is a lifetime motorcycle enthusiast who became a professional auto mechanic in the late ’70s in Ohio and is an accomplished motorcycle and car restorer who ran his own repair and restoration business for more than 15 years. His (and his wife, Carla’s) collection of bikes varies from pre-war British to classic Italian to modern Japanese. Currently he maintains a small specialist shop where he does select work on choice projects and now takes care of Service for us.

You’ll find his answers both informative and funny, bringing into play his broad experience in making machines go.

MARK HOYER

THIS MONTH'S STATS

7

STREETBIKES WITH TRACTION CONTROL RIDDEN IN THIS ISSUE

ONE DIRT BIKES WITH LAUNCH CONTROL IN THIS ISSUE

1 WORLD CHAMP CONTRIBUTORS WHO PREFER NOTC