Motorcyclist Retro

I just received the email notification. Great news!  Looking forward to opening the mailbox soon.  

Have a hearty recommendation for those of you who enjoyed Retro, and are waiting for Mitch's new magazine:

 Check out the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club

  http://www.vjmc.org/

I recently joined.  $30/year.  Yes, it is worth it.

Once you're a member, you can read all of the back issue VJMC magazines on line.  Feature articles, tech tips, classifieds, restoration suppliers.

Check them out.  

Guys and gals of the Retro Army!

More great news! We're on track for a mid-May release of issue one of Motorcycle Retro! Check the website for subscription info - www.motorcycleretro.com - but here are the basics: Quarterly distribution, each issue packed and mailed in protective polybag for ultimate, tear-free freshness, all the same bikes we featured in issues one, two and three of the previous editions, superb writing, kick _ss photos, in-depth reporting (stuff you won't read elsewhere), and all on the thick, luxurious paper you remember so well. Momentum is picking up, so please help spread the word by telling every retro-oriented enthusiast you know to check us out. If we do well enough this year with subs, we'll be 6x in 2010. If you need to get me, ping at mcretro@cox.net, or mitch@motorcycleretro.com. Hope you're all well!
Best,
Mitch  

Mitch,  Good to hear from you,  Thanks for the up date!

Now back to work,  May is just around the corner.  

Mike  

hey guys Im Mandy and Im looking for a biker partner at www.meetbikers.net. register on that site and meet me. my username is Mandy1984

You could also find and meet a lot of people who are passionate about motorcycles..go and register now and meet me..just sign up at www.meetbikers.net and lets have some fun  

I had to order my last copy on line - ultimately, how many issues where published?  
Steve

Ride for one - Ride for all

MotoSteve:
I had to order my last copy on line - ultimately, how many issues where published?

3 Big Issues,   .   .Spring 2008,   .   .Fall 2008,   .   .Winter 2008-09,   .   . But soon,  IN FOUR WEEKS,  Mitch's new publication is expected.  Lets hope it's on time!      

Heard today that MOTORCYCLE RETRO is a little late.  It's expected in June now.   Two issues for this year, but alas there's no one here to read this.  It's a dead thread Fred!      

Motorcyclist Retro was ok I guess, I would buy another if I can find one I suppose. But my question is this, how long do you think this "new" Motorcycle Retro will last? I give it 1 issue and Mitch will be broke and out of investors money.  Putting together a magazine can't be a cheap venture and then add in the economic conditions within a niche market.  I guess we will see what happens, I don't have high expectations.

Travis  

Travis,

Maybe it will fail-maybe not.   But if no one tries anything new we will surely grind to a stop.  

Guess I better figure out how to subscribe then.

Joe  

So what is the latest deadline? Getting a little antsy now that the 350 is on the road.  

I work at BAM for a second income. When I read the preview information in the Motorcyclist I went in to work and had them request Motorcyclist Retro to be sent to our store. I grabbed the first issue of Retro when I unpacked the tote of mags, and have had the luck of being the first one in the area to scope out the issues when they arrive. Sweet! I am now consistently looking for the next issue. The next truck arrives in the store Friday. Hopefully it will be there then. Subscriptions would be soooo much easier, even for a bookstore employee.    

Is the mid june release still on track?  

Hey everyone

It's been a while since I visited here and I wanted to give you all an update.

My private Retro venture is still a go, and though it's been a bit of a struggle over the past few months, we're working hard toward a July release of issue #1.

First of all, we have a new name - Moto Retro Illustrated. The working title I'd chosen - Motorcycle Retro - was too close to the original name, and the Powers That Be at Motorcyclist warned me off using it. Rather than risk trouble, we've changed the name so we can get going. And when you think about it, no one cares what the magazine is called as long as it packs the good stuff and covers the Glory Days period of '65 to '85.

Our website - motoretroillustrated.com - has kicked our butts, but it's within a day or two of going live, and will be able to take credit-card and paypal subs. We're also hard at work on issue one, which will feature a ton of cool stuff: Eddie Lawson and the ELR, Malcolm Smith, Unadilla '74, Yamaha's Daytona Special, Route 66 and the Honda CB750, etc. So I'm hoping all of you who enjoyed Motorcyclist Retro will subscribe to the new Retro (all the info's on our site now).

That's it, and if anyone wants more info, please shoot me a note at mcretro@cox.net.

Best,

Mitch Boehm  

Motorcyclist Retro is now Moto Retro Illustrated!

Sorry to hijack the thread, but folks who enjoyed Motorcyclist Retro should know that its successor, Moto Retro Illustrated, has finally been published and is now available at www.motoretroillustrated.com.

Issue one includes a host of stuff.

Looking at the issue now, I'm really happy we went with Eddie Lawson and the ELR on the cover. I'd wanted to cover that bike and Eddie's racing connection with it for a long time, and we finally got it done. We shot Eddie at Cal Speedway (Auto Club Speedway now) and he was a gentleman as always. Kevin Wing did a great job on the photos, and we came away with a winner. The story runs 12 pages, and covers not only the stock KZ1000R motorcycle (both years), but also Eddie's Superbike career and also the very trick, very limited S1 racing version. I interviewed Eddie and Rob Muzzy for the piece, as well as Superbike collector Brian O'Shea for the piece.

The issue also includes a story I did with my first-generation CB750 on Route 66 for the 750 Four's 40th Anniversary. I'd done a similar piece 17 years prior while at Cycle Word; CW Editor David Edwards and I bought a couple of first-gen CB750s from a guy in Illinois via Walneck's Cycle Trader, flew there and rode them home on Route 66. The piece was called "West By CB750," and for some reason it resonated pretty heavily with readers. Folks still ask about it today. Anyway, we had a pretty wild time; my bike holed a piston in Tulsa, where we spent a few days trying to find pistons. David's bike holed a crankcase from a thrown chain, and we used JB Weld to patch it up. It was a gas. Bottom line is that I now own a CB750 like the one I bought and rode home so many years ago, so I un-mothballed it (it only had about 2000 original miles before I started!) and rode it on 66 to about the middle of Arizona and back with photographer Joe Bonnello and chronicled the trip, recalling a lot from that original CW story.

We've also featured Tom White's amazing motocross museum and collection in the issue. The place, called the Early Days of Motocross Museum, is private, though you can get in if you're part of a group doing an event there. His collection number over 100 bikes, many of them very, very special. Longtime motojournalist Dexter Ford did another motocross feature for us, a photo essay and story about his very first assignment in the industry - the 1975 Trans-AMA at Unadilla. Ford's photos, all black and white, are brilliant, and he successfully captures the feel of that event. DeCoster, Pomeroy, Wolsink, Lackey, Wienert, Smith....they're all there. We also did short pieces on Hodaka's Super Rat, Jeff Ward, Team Honda's motocross team from 1973, Darryl Bassani, Bob Hansen and Honda's 50th Anniversary in the U.S. and a superb piece excerpted from Terry Good's new book, Legendary Motocross Bikes, called Yamaha's First Monoshocker. The piece chronicles the genesis of modern monoshock technology, from Lucien Tilkens' first prototype, to Suzuki's refusal to buy and adopt the system (even with DeCoster pushing it and proving its worth on-track), and Yamaha's eventual purchase of the patent. The 'first monoshocker' featured in the story was the works bike ridden by Haken Andersson to the '73 250cc world championship. Great photos, and a great read. Thanks, Terry.