Want to save bucks on your subscription to Motorcyclist? All you gotta do is toss the blow-in subscription card that fell into your lap (and lists a $19.97 price) and read the small print. The small print at the back of the mag (page 98 in the March/April 2018 issue) lists the subscription at $18. But wait, there’s more! You can go online and get the sub for $14.97 (that’s a 25% savings or a cool $5). Guess Motorcyclist is hoping you’re too busy or lazy to look this close, but why leave money on the table?
Be careful subscribing online. Once they get your credit card number, they will automatically renew your subscription and who knows what price will be assessed at that time? I don’t use a credit card for subscriptions because of this.
Is Motorcyclist Worth $14.97 A Year?
Motorcyclist reduced their magazine from 8 issues a year to 6 issues. So you are paying $2.50 per issue (if you got the best price). That’s a great value. But is there value between the covers? The March/April issue’s content was, to be polite, “uneven.”
The Ups
The story on Malcolm Smith is the issue’s solid center. Great photos, great story and a great man. The issue’s theme is endurance and the stories mostly head in that direction. Hardass Hardware, The Unkillable Machine, The Healing Wrench and The El Camino Del Diablo stories all hit high notes (but editor please! No map in the El Camino story?).
The Downs
Don’t admit that your magazine’s tester has never had a motorcycle license. It doesn’t instill confidence in his opinion. The physical difference and training preferences between a MotoGP rider and motocross rider could have been interesting if two riders were compared (Tomac and Rossi?). Instead, it was generalizations and photos of unidentified riders. Nice 8-page advertisement for a personal trainer. Should have given those pages to the ISDE history story (and tried to find better photos for that one).
The author of “Why Do We Do This” needed to read “Tips for Enjoying Long-distance Riding” even if that article was surprisingly short on usable tips (Get off the road when exhausted. No kidding? I thought you always rode until you fell asleep).
The Basement
A story on analog navigation? Really? The event referenced doesn’t allow motorcycles and the entry fee is $12,000. Finally, I’ll pass on anymore motorcycle poetry.
Even with all my griping, I got way more than $2.50 enjoyment out of this issue. I still love reading magazines and hope Motorcyclist will improve on their ups-to-downs ratio. That is the only way it will survive.
