I wasn't one who criticised MCN but that aside, great response from Andy and I am grateful he took time to post and address the points made. It must be brutal being in print media these days as the future is digital media and harder to forecast. MCN seem to be moving with the times and I'm still a reader of the physical copy, understanding they can't provide copy without my money.
I wrote a detailed email to MCN some time ago regarding the hossack fork (as invented by Norman Hossack - ex Mclaren suspension engineer) that has been used by BMW very soon after his patent expired. The result - silence. I think they dont want any negative coverage of BMW.
Sorry Andy but the perception from me, which i formed independently as a regular reader, was that there was a disproportionate amount of BMW news throughout. I like the S1000RR, I have no problem with beamers. But I am fed up with the amount of coverage. It appeared to me, whether it was intentional or not, that MCN had become BMW News. Thus Ive stopped buying it. Last weeks was my last. I may buy the occasional issue but 52/yr is no longer. Soz.
Great response but shouldn't you be working and not browsing forums? I'm on your side re the test riders, anyone who deliberately throws themselves round a circuit or the NW/TT course gets my respect.
I like it.......its got pics of bikes, its got words about bikes, its winter and I cant ride my bike , so I like mcn.
Well said Andy! I rather like your paper, (which I said in an earlier post), and always have done - I've read the MCN regularly since the mid 70's ....and I love you!....and probably want your babies....
I am an Apple Newstand subscriber. It's nice to read a well written response that avoids being unpleasant. The paper has been a bit thin these last few weeks, but that's be expected I suppose. Like with most things in life, I'm a free agent; if there is an article that doesn't interest me, I don't read it. Pretty simple.
Nice to get Andy's clarification. As with previous posts I buy it to keep abreast of the Racing News and have previously spoken with Michael Guy suggesting that this could be expanded upon as there is little coverage given to the Supersport or support classes in general. The thing that irritates me most is the over use of the word "Exclusive". It sometimes appears to be on virtually every page!!
To be fair regarding BMW news, it could be said that BMW have just been releasing a lot of bikes recently. However I feel their coverage is greater than that for the new kwackers, suzi's, yamaha and even Honda. The back pages are where I start anyway. But its guitar weekly or similar for me when I partake in my usual thursday fry up when I would normally buy and read MCN in the cafe. Look at the past couple of years and my perception is BMW News. I dont give 2 hoots for GS's. The KTM Adventure doesnt get anywhere near the coverage and its arguably the better bike than the panzer. Andy's response if fair enough but its my perception that makes my decisions and not his honest and earnest explanation and defence. If even my wife notices it, then something is amiss.
Papers are in the business of selling papers and as such they tailor their content to appeal to the greatest number of people. BMW are appealing to a lot of people right now, as shown in this copy-and-paste from visor down.com from October 2013. ADVENTURE SPORT BMW R 1200 GS 67 CUSTOM Yamaha XV 950 42 NAKED Yamaha YBR 125 151 SCOOTER Piaggio VESPA LX 125 3V 149 SPORT/TOUR Kawasaki ER 6F 50 SUPERSPORT Yamaha YZF R125 125 TOURING BMW R 1200 RT 42 TRAIL/ENDURO Honda CRF 250 L 47 Read more: UK's top-selling motorcycles in October 2013 - Motorcycle news: Industry - Visordown MCN is a business and as such operates like one. It isn't required to provide a broad, unbiased view point of all aspects of motorcycling. (Although in my opinion it does do a very good job of this.) It is only required to sell as many newspapers as possible, and if more people want to read about BMWs then they'll write those stories to sell more copies. All magazines and papers are skewed towards a certain target audience and I don't know why anyone is surprised that this happens. Andy gave a well written and objective answer to the criticisms sent MCNs way and that alone should demonstrate that MCN employees do care about their readers and that they do care about motorcycling and motorcyclists.
I get Mcn every week, some of the time i consider it barely worth the cost content wise but to the next guy it might be Gold if it covers a subject they are into. I just accept that to cover the spectrum of owners and bikes the content is going to be diverse. Some weeks it's like every page is of interest, just the way it goes. This time of year with no racing to cover the subject matter is greatly reduced so it must take some head scratching on how you fill some of the pages. At the end of the day no one ahs to buy it if it turns them off that much.
Its cursory tea-break reading. A biking tabloid. If it were more detailed or more serious I wouldn't get any work done on Wednesdays. And you can eat chips off it. You can't do that with a glossy magazine. Its too expensive though, considering the amount of advertising in it. It needs some competition.
