IT’S LIFE – NOT JUST STYLE!
A CHAP CONTACTED us to complain after the ‘Old Bikes, New Faces’ issue, saying Classic
Bike was too ‘lifestyle’ and asked: ‘What are you going to do next, a fashion supplement?’ He also had a beef with Rick. Apparently he talks too much about vintage bikes in the workshop section.
Difficult one, isn’t it? Some people would like the same content, month in, month out, others look for something a bit different. You can’t please all the people all the time.
However, we are conscious of including ‘core’ bikes in each issue – and, as the chap pointed out, owners of British twins circa 1960s-70s make up the bulk of the readership. Thing is, though, we can’t constantly reinvent the Bonneville feature or the Commando feature. Well we could, but we don’t want to. We know from the dreaded ‘market research’ that most
CB readers appreciate our broad spectrum of coverage. Not everyone wants a magazine full of practical advice. Even the diehard, hands-on experts like to escape the shed.
As to the chap’s ‘lifestyle’ comment – isn’t classic bike ownership a lifestyle? We meet at events, in pubs, on the roadside and talk about bikes – what we’ve done to them, how we fix them, where we go on them, and expressing opinions on bikes in general. I wondered what aspect of ‘lifestyle’ irked him when the entire magazine contained owners talking about their old bikes? I suspect it was a generation issue.
We constantly hear comments about classic bikes becoming worthless in a few years, when the current generation of owners are no longer around (me included) and there’s a glut of bikes with no one wanting them. We’ve shown that’s not neccesarily the case – that there is a new generation of enthusiasts out there. Thing is, all the people we featured owned core British bikes (except racer Mark Purslow).
We were just happy to fill an entire issue with younger classic bike enthusiasts – covering so many different aspects of the scene. But what really surprised us was having way too many for one issue. I feel a ‘sequel’ coming on...
As to fashion, why do older people always trot out younger-generation cliches? ‘They wear turn-ups, braces, check shirts and flat caps.’ Most of us wear jeans. I’m old and mine have turn-ups. I see plenty of old boys in check shirts with braces on their trousers (jeans). But not everyone wants to ride around in trad biking gear. I mean, if you are under 30, why would you dress like you dad, even to ride a bike? I know I didn’t when I was 18, on my Triumph.
And Rick? There’s no denying he’s a vintage bike fanatic, but his tips and projects cover all sorts of bikes – and a large percentage of Rick’s tips and projects are relevant to any motorcycle with an infernal (sic) combustion engine or tubular frame, regardless of ‘vintage’.
As you can see, normal service has resumed in this issue, with three tweaked BSA twins. And no turn-ups in sight.
Enjoy.
It's all about the lifestyle, it always has been