Bike Magazines for upper class EFI riders

[250girl]

I am an avid dirt bike magazine reader. I like reading, and always want to learn more about bikes and biking. I do not race MX ( as much as it does interest me) and the newest bike I own is a 2000 2-stroke. And to my dismay, every magazine I pick up is all about EFI and 250f/450f race tests. Then there are the articles on how to make your 2008/2009 bike better, faster, blah blah blah. It's all crap for people who buy a new bike every year and are allready into racing. Not to mention they love dishing on 2strokes.

I don't wanna hear that crap! I want to know how to make my '94 and 2000 faster and better. I want to read reviews on products that you can get for a bike older than '06. I want to read an article from a pro rider on techniques for sticky situations on the trail. I would like to see a magazine that caters to the offroad, older 2-stroke bike crowd. I know there are more than a few of us that would probably agree with me.
And the few things I do find on trail riding are usually written for 2nd gear riders on 4-stroke 125 trail bikes. Not for those of us who get out on out 250 mx bikes and tackle the mountain as hard and fast as possible.

I do like to hear about new stuff,like the scoop on EFI (which I think is just stupid on an MX bike... but I don't know much) and what the big features of the new bikes are. But I am tired of that being the ONLY thing I hear about.

When are we going to get a magazine for us Travis Pastrana wannabees with older bikes and duct tape holding our rear fender in one piece?

 

[Chili]

There is an endless supply of back issues available to you with articles on 250 2 strokes. Dirt Bike has many off road related riding articles. You'll likely see very little reviews for products for older bikes because those products were featured when they were new bikes and now the advertising dollars are paying for current product.

How many car mags do you see reviewing products for a 2000 Toyota Corolla?, How many PC mags do you see doing product reviews on a Pentium 166? How many......well you should get the point by now.

 

[Rich Rohrich]

Trail Rider Magazine - http://www.trailrider.com/

Trail Rider is off road riding and racing only, no MX. Trail Rider has always had the very best coverage of the ISDE and now Trial Rider is THE magazine for Endurocross. Trail Rider also boasts the very finest writers in the industry. Joining Paul Clipper are legends Ed Hertfelder, and Rick Sieman aka Super Hunky. Charlie Williams, Jerry Bernardo and a cast of dozens make Trail Rider the funniest magazine on the bath room floor.

If you like riding, racing or adventure riding, Trail Rider is the magazine for you. Along with humor TR has bike test and gear reviews, it’s better than you’d expect….

–(With Excerpts from Rick Sieman of Offroad.com)

“Based in New Hampshire, TRAIL RIDER MAGAZINE is run by Paul Clipper, a graduate of the Hi-Torque/Dirt Bike group. TR is unabashedly written for the Eastern fun/play/trail/enduro/hare scrambles rider. If you ride in trees, rocks and mud, you’ll find a home here.

Tests in TRAIL RIDER are done with the emphasis on how the bike works in the woods. Here, a soft, supple suspension is welcomed; coping with 75-foot triple jumps is, thankfully, ignored. Paul is patient with a test bike. Just because an ATK 250 is not the fastest bike available, or the trickest, Clipper will not write it off. He’ll go to great pains to tell you how to make the thing work in the woods. TR will tell you what gearing works, what jetting to use, and how to set the suspension up without spending a fortune on after marketparts. They’re especially knowledgeable on KTMs and Huskys.

Clipper has his own certified mad-man writing for TR: Charlie Williams, listed as National Affairs Editor. Paul gives Charlie lots of leeway in his stories, and the result is a loose, weird, gonzo-journalism that is a joy to read. Following Williams through an enduro or hare scrambles in print, is almost like being there with him. Everybody knows someone like Charlie Williams, and Paul is smart enough to exploit this. Often, Williams forgets to take photos when he covers an event, and makes up for this with crude (and intensely funny) stick drawings.

Paul writes a column (Last Over) every month, and nine out of ten times, it’s good stuff. His column in the March ‘97 issue “Knowing the Language,” is a pure gem.

Photography in TR is excellent, in general, with crisp photos; layout and graphics are clean and simple, with no wasted space.

Ed Hertfelder, who was cut off at the kneecaps at DIRT RIDER, found a new home at TRAIL RIDER.

All things considered, TRAIL RIDER is certainly readable; it’s not a pretentious magazine. Paul Clipper knows where he is, what his people want, and delivers it.”

Super Hunky

http://www.trailrider.com/subscribe/

 

[IndyMX]

Sorry to say this Rich, but Trail Rider magazine is dead.. Going out of business.

I just started doing some computer work, and internet stuff for Charlie Williams.. He had me do a flyer for their 10th Annual Trail Rider part that's going on this week. There was some talk back and forth about how we should handle the fact that the magazine is dead.

Oh well, another one bites the dust.

But.. I did make a pretty killer flyer.

 

[XRpredator]

When are we going to get a magazine for us Travis Pastrana wannabees with older bikes and duct tape holding our rear fender in one piece?

That's what the interwebs are for!

 

[Mully]

Indy, is this by word of mouth or rumor.

This was in the last magazine.

 

[Rich Rohrich]

I sure hope Clipper finds a way to keep it afloat. If only to have an alternative to that glossy birdcage liner coming out of California.

 

[IndyMX]

Indy, is this by word of mouth or rumor.

This was in the last magazine.

Here is a quote from one of the emails from Charlie as we were working on this flyer I was talking about

TR is going out of business and no sense promoting that, ....
Does this translate enough for you?
The map is awesome dude!
C

Not rumor or word of mouth, but words directly from the National Affairs Editor..

 

[Mully]

thanks for the clarification Indy.

But what a bummer.
Tell Charlie they need to scale it back, I can not stand the other crap.

 

[SpeedyManiac]

That's unfortunate. I have found one other magazine worth reading - Dust Offroad. It covers more of the western offroad stuff, but I still like it. Beats anything from Dirt Bike, Dirt Rider, TWMX, MXA or Racer X (yes I said it. I'm fed up with their lack of offroad coverage and am not renewing my subscription after 9 years).

 

[IndyMX]

thanks for the clarification Indy.

But what a bummer.
Tell Charlie they need to scale it back, I can not stand the other crap.

I don't know jack about the magazine, except what little he's told me, but I'll pass that along. Could be that it's too late to do much.

I can tell you that Charlie and Wilma have one hell of a nice shop. I just hope that they can weather this economy. It so much closer to me than any other shop, and the prices are good.

And with any luck, we'll have the website kickin in a few weeks.

 

[Patman]

That's a darn shame because it's a great magazine. I remember the days when some of the others we actually geared towards the real rider. I just don't have the bottomless pockets that it aparently takes to be the demographic the current versions of DB, DR, etc... are geared for.

 

[PaulClipper]

Hey Folks,
Don't bury us yet! I don't know why Charlie is saying Trail Rider is dead, but we're not. We've been kicked hard, but we're still kicking. Business is up a little since the Indy trade show, and we're planning on digging out of the hole the winter put us into. Subscriptions are available, advertising space is available, and the magazine is still cranking out every month. The March issue has a huge reminiscence on the 1973 Dalton I.S.D.T. that the vintage guys will get a kick out of. There's still plenty of two-wheeled fun out there, and we're going to keep writing about it.
So, please don't believe what you hear unless you hear it from me. OK? And thanks for all the great compliments I've read above, I'm going to have to go get a size larger helmet!
Anybody can contact me at the magazine, I guess they won't let me post the e-mail here. You might not get a fast response this week because it's deadline week (end of month, short month).
Thanks,
Paul Clipper

 

[Mully]

Paul,

Thank you for the clarification and it is good to hear that you guys will keep on it. The Penton issue was great, and I can't wait to read the 73 six days article. At almost 50, I grew up reading about the ISDT,the Two Day qualifiers, and the National Enduros, (plus yours and Hunky's editorials of course) in the magazines, so it is great to read what the "back in the day" riders are doing now.

Please continue to stop by our site and please feel free to contribute anytime.

Mully

 

[Rich Rohrich]

That's the best news I've heard in a while! :yeehaw:

 

[IndyMX]

On this, I'm happy to be wrong! ;)

 

[Wolf]

Ditto, I just realised that my sub must have expired....haven't seen one in ages. Need to contact and re-up.

 

[VintageDirt]

I just signed up for the online subscription and it's full of back issues, even.