Motorcycle Magazines Past and Present

Dain Gingerelli remembers motorcycle magazines past and present.

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by Dain Gingerelli
The first (April 1950) and last (October 1991) print issues of Cycle magazine.
“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” — Albert Einstein

Fifty years ago newsstands in grocery and liquor stores were crammed with motorcycle magazines boasting energetic names like Popular Cycling, Motorcycle World, Modern Cycle, Cycle Illustrated, Hot Bike and Big Bike. Leading the pack, though, were the four major stalwarts, Cycle, Cycle World, Cycle Guide and Motorcyclist, which, first published in 1912, could be construed as the granddaddy of American motorcycle magazine titles.

Today practically all of those and other titles are absent on what few newsstands remain in America’s retail outlets. Print media today has changed, catering now to a specialized market composed of people like you who enthusiastically subscribe to genre-specific publications such as Motorcycle Classics (which will continue, in print).

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