Trike magazine

[Uncle Willie]

I know that we of the three have been treated
like step-children by the world of 2 wheelers for many years, but now in 2016 it's quite evident that the Trike population is growing by
leaps and bounds, and is going to continue so
for many reasons that I don't need to address
in this thread. I go on line and Germany, Great Britain and Australia do now and have had publications devoted entirely to Trikes.

They are not bike magazines with a section for Trikes, they are solely directed at Trikes
and associated information.

I haven't been in a coma for the last few years
but I have looked, and looked and still haven't
found a US publication directed at Trikes available on my electronic device, much less at my local newsstand or book store.

Has this country reached the point that no one
wants to invest the Capitol and work to publish something they think won't have enough support to make it a viable business?

This looks like an opportunity going unfulfilled.

Uncle Willie

 

[Papa Zook]

Magazines survive on subscription sales and advertising and both are seriously declining year after year. Even Playboy magazine is for sale. If they cant make it who can?

Its all due to the fact that everyone goes to the internet for their reading and picture gazing these days. I cant remember when the last time I bought a magazine, but I know it was a gun magazine.

 

[Sidecarbill]

I'm curious 2 c where this is going. I haven't bought a magazine for years,now that I have the internet. I guess 4 some reason I considered them obsolete.

 

[trike lady]

Some time ago there was a magazine called 'American Trike', but it flopped and only 2 or 3 issues produced. Right now the 'Fad' is big wheel baggers and magazines dedicated to these bikes. Some where in my bookmarks on the computer I have a website for a trike publication out of England.

 

[Pegasus1300]

Brothers of the Third Wheel publishes a Trike only magazine. You can get it digital only or a print version.Seems to be a pretty good magazine

 

[Uncle Willie]

Thanks for the input. I realize economics are what drives a business. That being said how
come these other countries (whom I would assume have a smaller base of Trike owners than the US) can publish/ post Trike oriented
information and we are unable to do like wise
in a broader format?

A Trike costs as much or more than many high end models the manufacturer makes. I'm
sure after investing that much in something
you love you would be more than willing to invest in something you like.

It could even be a semi-monthly or quarterly
magazine, with the option to expand from there.

I know we live in an electronic world. I have news, sports, weather, etc. apps., but I still
enjoy going out in the morning and picking up the newspaper on the front lawn.

Maybe I'm still a little too much old school,
and change is inevitable, but I remember when Easy Rider magazine came out in 1971.

You can still subscribe to it, which is 12 issues
per year. And believe me they started small
and now are part of many other magazines.
You're probably right. Multiple magazines are
the survival machine for that company.

Why doesn't Piasano Publications put out
a totally Trike mag?

Just thinking, which for a guy like me can be
dangerous!

Uncle Willie

 

[Rick Kay]

Go to Brothers of the Third Wheel. btw-trikers.org/
They a trike organization and publishes a Trike Only magazine. You can get it digital only or a print version.Seems to be a pretty good magazine

When I was a member of BTW, the magazine was mostly classifieds and chapter news. I never saw any real "trike" content. I would not become a member for the magazine...

 

[Papa Zook]

Brothers of the Third Wheel publishes a Trike only magazine. You can get it digital only or a print version.Seems to be a pretty good magazine

When I was a member of BTW, the magazine was mostly classifieds and chapter news. I never saw any real "trike" content. I would not become a member for the magazine...

Yep, its not really a magazine with much of any worthwhile content and certainly not worth joining and paying a membership for IMO.

 

[Ozarkryder]

Has this country reached the point that no one
wants to invest the Capitol and work to publish something they think won't have enough support to make it a viable business?
Uncle Willie

:xzqxz: Not sure what this is about, but it seems the question has answered itself. I don't know of any time when someone would invest money and time in something that would not pay back.

Well, I know that in the great scheme of large corporate shenanigans having losses on the books can somehow be beneficial, but there are cheaper ways to appear to loose money than putting out a magazine.

For myself, I think Trike Talk has more usable info on trikes than the magazines I have seen both on and off line, and is generally more entertaining. But, YMMV

 

[rhino 2]

If?? there was money to be made in an all Trike magazine, Someone would be all over it.. But if anyone does publish one, And doesn't mind losing money ' I'll take a free subscription ...........

 

[Sully]

If?? there was money to be made in an all Trike magazine, Someone would be all over it.. But if anyone does publish one, And doesn't mind losing money ' I'll take a free subscription ...........

I'll help you support that. ThumbUp

 

[Lee H. Mann]

Everybody is just cheap today, the internet has spoiled everyone in the US.
Instant gratification without responsibility--- that's my motto !!:AGGHH:

EXAMPLE:
Something as useful as a calendar offered by ZOOK is having a hard time.
Everyone wants one but is not willing to pay for one !!

 

[clint44]

When I was a member of BTW, the magazine was mostly classifieds and chapter news. I never saw any real "trike" content. I would not become a member for the magazine...

Way too much homebuilt trike stuff,for me.

 

[Shimpy]

Way too much homebuilt trike stuff,for me.

Yes.......I've seen several trike magazines in Barnes and Nobles store and nothing interested me, all home built trikes that look the same to me. I'd be interested if they covered Tri Glides, Free Wheelers, and the Goldwing conversions. These are the trikes that about 95% of us ride and are interested in.

 

[DK Custom Products]

There have been several attempts at a mainstream Trike Magazine. To date, none of them were economically rewarding, thus discontinued.

DK Custom Products has advertised in many different magazines for years, and we still do.

One of the large mags we advertise in recently sent out a mailing to all their advertisers with the headline-

GO DIGITAL OR DIE!

They are trying to get their advertisers to realize that their digital magazine reaches far more readers than their print magazine.

The magazine publishing industry (at least for V-Twin Motorcycles) is in a huge state of flux right now. They have a foot in the print world, but they are spending more and more energy in the digital world. Everyone's subscription and rack sales are dropping each year, and have been for many years.

We currently run small ads in 6 magazines. We don't expect any sales from those ads, they are more point of presence/we're a real company type ads. But we have already cut one of the mags out of our budget about a year ago, and the others have barely survived our periodic budget reviews.

I still have hope that there will be a print Trike magazine sometime in the near future. Personally I prefer print magazines to digital magazines. I read 8 of them, cover to cover each month.

However, I see the larger, long term picture, and it is not good for print magazines. Digital is going to dwarf them eventually.

btw, I can tell you, I personally enjoy motorcycle forums more than print mags. They are more informative, more interactive, and more accurate than magazines.

Business wise, I would drop every resource spent on magazines before I dropped any involvement in the forums we participate in.

Kevin

 

[oldprowler]

A quick look showed that there are over 15,000 members of this forum, roughly half (probably more) are "at idle" but that still leaves about 7,000 potential writers. All have unique knowledge and experience to contribute in real time. A print magazine could never have that many writers. My opinion is that forums such as this are the magazine of the present and the near future.

 

[rhino 2]

To add to this discussion Most print magazine's will only tell you what their sponsons want to tell you....The only magazine i trust is Motorcycle Consumer News... They have NO advertising....... Year's ago a motorcycle [Forgot the name] mag did an exposé on motorcycle helmets. Their findings were , That a five hundred + dollar helmet wasn't any safer/better than a one hundred one... It took them years before some of the helmet manufactures would advertise in their mag again...

 

[DK Custom Products]

This showed up in my email inbox today...pretty relevant to this thread.

Kevin

 

[tndragonrider]

I have a Truck Camper (slide-in for a pickup bed) and there is a magazine for it. ONLINE ONLY! It's called, "Truck Camper Magazine", what else! But I guess I am old fashioned, and a touchy, feely kinda guy. I prefer paper. A perfect example to me is I have a factory Service Manual for everything I own. They are all in paper. My longer friends, preferred to order the DVD versions. However when it became time to do work on their machines, they found it rather difficult to use a laptop with the DVD and try to scroll between pages with dirty hands. So they eventually had to print the sections on paper whenever they needed to use it.

 

[rhino 2]

Me' i'll look up the directions on the computer , Hit print and done...ThumbUp