AMCA Magazine Reduced to Four Issues from Six

[hacksaw01]

I say cut the board members by 2 .
anyone thats too cheap to toss in another 10$ doesn’t deserve the magazine .
I am a former club member whom came back for the magazine. As a looong time subscriber to cycle world I rejoined when I saw the editor was Dave Edwards.
truth is quarterly makes the member want ads rather useless. I mean bi monthly at least there is a chance that the more familiar items for sale might still be available.
I don’t know how this club is run. How many of the actual membership is involved with judging? How many of the members actually attend the meets? How many actually read the magazine?
as the word antique becomes further diluted by the 35 year rule including modern motorcycles, the more disillusioned I have become. Now many of you would cut 2 issues and suggest the next step is to online only.
does that sound antique? NO!
I would like to see the club itself concentrate more on its core. That is those of you whom are seriously big on judging cut the categories and raise the fees.
do chapters pay dues to the parent org? Raise it.
raise the gate fee at meets.
if somebody has thousands into their Indian four they are going to cry over a couple extra dollars here or there to enter it?
besides does anyone here actually believe that cutting 2 issue of the magazine will save actually save the club ?
why not put the mag on news stands?
or make the magazine elective for members for ten bucks . You will get some if us to pay and a lot to opt out. Which saves money and earns it too

[T. Cotten]

....How many of the actual membership is involved with judging? How many of the members actually attend the meets? How many actually read the magazine?...

Are we allowed to asked these questions?

..Now many of you would cut 2 issues and suggest the next step is to online only.
does that sound antique? NO!

Wouldn't 'online' allow for expansion of the mag? It would certainly open the door for more contributors, and perhaps advertising.

I would like to see the club itself concentrate more on its core....

Don't look now, Hacksaw,
But the 'core' is dying off.

That is those of you whom are seriously big on judging cut the categories and raise the fees....

Sounds like falling upon its own sword.

do chapters pay dues to the parent org? Raise it.
raise the gate fee at meets.

Chief Blackhawk seceded because they felt they were being bled; They still need no gate fee; Vendors float the boat; The AMCA learned nothing.

...besides does anyone here actually believe that cutting 2 issue of the magazine will save actually save the club ? why not put the mag on news stands?...

Because then there is no reason to join?

..or make the magazine elective for members for ten bucks . You will get some if us to pay and a lot to opt out. Which saves money and earns it too

If we want anyone to opt in, including new members, the AMCA needs to offer something more than an elite, cost-prohibitive good-ol'-boys mutual admiration society. The judging system takes it to an extreme.

....Cotten

[exeric]

Personally, I dislike the internet on many levels. I do like it for some things but the internet (as a whole) has evolved into a corrupted, and dishonest well of . . . Well, fill in your own *$+% word. The difference between the 'printed' word, and the 'ethereal' word had been discussed by far brainer people than me and generally they discount the future honesty, and accessibility of the internet. I like a tangible document and I WILL pay more to keep getting an actual magazine. Real documents will outlive the current internet (soon to be replaced by the next wave of weird tech) and (God forbid holocaust) somewhere those ancient paper club magazine will still exist (Hello, i.e. hieroglyphics). I don't always agree with the direction, or ethos of the AMCA, and Antique Motorcycle magazine, but I have great respect for the Administration, Staff, Editor (David Edwards), and countless volunteers that keep these rusty 2 wheels rolling.

[T. Cotten]

Personally, I dislike the internet on many levels. I do like it for some things but the internet (as a whole) has evolved into a corrupted, and dishonest well of . . . Well, fill in your own *$+% word. The difference between the 'printed' word, and the 'ethereal' word had been discussed by far brainer people than me and generally they discount the future honesty, and accessibility of the internet. I like a tangible document and I WILL pay more to keep getting an actual magazine. Real documents will outlive the current internet (soon to be replaced by the next wave of weird tech) and (God forbid holocaust) somewhere those ancient paper club magazine will still exist (Hello, i.e. hieroglyphics). I don't always agree with the direction, or ethos of the AMCA, and Antique Motorcycle magazine, but I have great respect for the Administration, Staff, Editor (David Edwards), and countless volunteers that keep these rusty 2 wheels rolling.

We all love hard-copy, Eric,..

(My AMCA mag stash dates back to '88 or so; a lot of it is patinated. What's it worth?)

And yes the 'net sux, and things can vaporize. (A current example is upon Moen's passing, the VirtualIndian webmag would have been lost but for The Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20250421090511/http://www.virtualindian.org/.
Thanks due to the VI moderators, and the mailing list remains alive and well.)

How about an annual coffee table book? Five-eighths of an inch thick?

....Cotten
PS: Ironically, The Wayback Machine seems to have gone down right after I posted it!
Solar flare no doubt.

[PaulCDF]

I like Cottons idea of a Annual Coffee Table Book!
How about featuring detailed photographs of the motorcycles of the past year that scored over 90 points or made the Marquee of Excellence (Might make a good reference) or among those feature a "bitsa", hillclimber or racer?

[T. Cotten]

I like Cottons idea of a Annual Coffee Table Book!
How about featuring detailed photographs of the motorcycles of the past year that scored over 90 points or made the Marquee of Excellence (Might make a good reference) or among those feature a "bitsa", hillclimber or racer?

It was only food for thought, Paul!

Would it be more economical to produce, but still fill the need? (I have no clue as to either,.. just wanted to posit the extreme.)

The whole judging thing is its own death-spiral: Next to nil History has been documented and preserved by the system, so next to none has been included for posterity in the mag.

If the system is not reformed, it does neither the mag, nor the "hobby", much good at all.

....Cotten

[PaulCDF]

I agree Tom;
I have been kinda amazed that often folks will ask where this wire or that line is 'supposed' to go.
I am not a big fan of the judging thing but one would think with all the decades of judging done there might be a data base of well photographed bikes for reference but not so. As an example in my own case on my 46 my brake light stopped working (the switch had given up the ghost) Only when I went to order a repo replacement did I learn "my original" brake light switch was some auto part a previous set of hands had retro-fitted in the past likely when parts or $ was scarce. No big deal. I would lnot have run out and replaced a working switch but would have kept it in mind when I went to swap meets ect.

[hacksaw01]

“If we want anyone to opt in, including new members, the AMCA needs to offer something more than an elite, cost-prohibitive good-ol'-boys mutual admiration society. The judging system takes it to an extreme.

....Cotten”

I don’t know about the judging system . I does not make a lot of sense to me. But then I don’t care about judging to pay for it if it’s losing money . The magazine to me is the club since the yankee meet moved out Ct and Rhienbeck disappeared. (Was that the Blackhawk chapter) I don’t travel too much these days and the magazine is what keeps me interested and informed.

you mentioned earlier the core is dying . Then what happens to all these great antique machines?
if it dies it dies. As you mentioned it happened to VI.
and Tom , I really wonder what happened to VI!
know I knew I recognized your name from somewhere besides here. So it became The Wayback Machine that I did not know . But you say that’s dead now as well?
as an aside BSAOwnersClubofCt has canceled their yearly meets. Some of this was becz Covid they moved the meet to fall when it was for decades held in spring. It didn’t pull the curious and cabin fevered to the new schedule.
but do you think a bunch of new members on 1980’s neo cafe racers really are going to enhance what is supposed to be about true Antiques?
i dont see that as a positive at all.
its selling out !

let me just add , I dont horde my magazines. I give them away hoping that issues reach and inspire new members.
they do nothing in one’s basement. Cutting the issues is cutting the Clubs exposure. That’s stupid.
and rendering exactly what you criticized as a small number of self admiring core members.
maybe the magazine needs be a bit less shiney or take a monthly news letter approach along with the yearly or bi annual 3/4 inch coffee table book.
But cutting back on the headliner magazines is imploding .

[micmac]

Hacksaw, like you I live in the woods. I will miss the two issues. I get down to Greenfield, Mass in July for the event. I'm in the Yankee Chapter but probably the closest member to me I believe is in Portland 5 hours away. and Rhode Island is to far away to attend the Christmas dinner. The mag , the Yankee newsletter and this forum is how I stay in touch with the club With this winter closing in I will be on the internet more during the firewood I spent all summer cutting!

[DEEBS47Chief1991]

I too loved the Hebron meet. I actually saw a few running Crockers there years ago. Then the meet moved to Terryville which wasn't as good. Dirt road leading into the event. Not cool if you just polished your un-trailered bike and rode it in. But that didn't last long. I do like Greenfield but it's not like 25 years ago in Hebron. Rhinebeck was the greatest motorcycle meet I had ever been to and I started going when it was held (loosely) at the Aerodrome. I really miss that one and the ride to get there from Connecticut. I may be an old man but things never seem to get better, they seem to slowly deteriorate and sometimes it looks like greed is the common denominator. This "hobby" or what I personally call my way of life is getting priced out of existence. Money is just crazy these days and it applies to everything and anything. Us old wrenches that ride and maintain these old bikes are the last of our kind and the what's coming on the horizon is a world that we could never imagine when we were young men. They don't want guys like us to keep rebuilding and repairing. They want you to throw it away and buy new. If they can't get you to by new, they flood the market with sub standard parts (especially any rubber part like tires, carb parts, diaphragms, manifolds, etc.) in order to make an infinitely rebuildable machine fail so that you throw it away and buy new.

What does this rant have to do with the magazine? Not much I guess. However, I do understand the pressure the club is feeling financially just like the rest of us. I appreciate them for taking action to keep the ship afloat.

[exeric]

Hacksaw, like you I live in the woods. I will miss the two issues. I get down to Greenfield, Mass in July for the event. I'm in the Yankee Chapter but probably the closest member to me I believe is in Portland 5 hours away. and Rhode Island is to far away to attend the Christmas dinner. The mag , the Yankee newsletter and this forum is how I stay in touch with the club !

You are spot on, Peter. As printed magazines have become rare, and costly, they are perfectly aligned with ancient motorcycles. I love the 'Antique Motorcycle', I love seeing it in my mailbox, and I go through it from cover to cover. Down-grading to 4 issues is a loss to the members, and worse than that is the potential STINK of a digital magazine.

I put a lot of value on being a member of the AMCA and the magazine is the primary source, and common denominator for the majority of members around the world. I can't travel to California, or the European meet, but I can get a feel for what dedicated members contribute and bring to us from those far off places. Of course, that can be done digitally but I have enough experience with the internet to know I prefer the paper magazine to the 'willo-the-wisp', easily obliterated '1010101010' junk coming from a supercomputer that could easily be a target for some future disaster.

There seems to be an obsession with growing this club into some kind of monster that has to have young, nubile bodies to survive. The AMCA is a small club by any standard and was far smaller in its most formative, and progressive past. It can be a small club and I contend that the AMCA will always attract new genuine enthusiasts, and still be of high quality, and a great place for its devoted members. A round of golf, a ticket to a concert, or pro stick and ball game can cost a lot more than an annual membership to the AMCA so if an additional $10 is a game changer for some. . . Well, I'll keep that opinion to myself.

[T. Cotten]

“If we want anyone to opt in, including new members, the AMCA needs to offer something more than an elite, cost-prohibitive good-ol'-boys mutual admiration society. The judging system takes it to an extreme.

....Cotten”

I don’t know about the judging system . I does not make a lot of sense to me. But then I don’t care about judging to pay for it if it’s losing money . The magazine to me is the club since the yankee meet moved out Ct and Rhienbeck disappeared. (Was that the Blackhawk chapter) I don’t travel too much these days and the magazine is what keeps me interested and informed.

you mentioned earlier the core is dying . Then what happens to all these great antique machines?
if it dies it dies. As you mentioned it happened to VI.
and Tom , I really wonder what happened to VI!
know I knew I recognized your name from somewhere besides here. So it became The Wayback Machine that I did not know . But you say that’s dead now as well?
as an aside BSAOwnersClubofCt has canceled their yearly meets. Some of this was becz Covid they moved the meet to fall when it was for decades held in spring. It didn’t pull the curious and cabin fevered to the new schedule.
but do you think a bunch of new members on 1980’s neo cafe racers really are going to enhance what is supposed to be about true Antiques?
i dont see that as a positive at all.
its selling out !

let me just add , I dont horde my magazines. I give them away hoping that issues reach and inspire new members.
they do nothing in one’s basement. Cutting the issues is cutting the Clubs exposure. That’s stupid.
and rendering exactly what you criticized as a small number of self admiring core members.
maybe the magazine needs be a bit less shiney or take a monthly news letter approach along with the yearly or bi annual 3/4 inch coffee table book.
But cutting back on the headliner magazines is imploding .

I don't know about the judging system either, Hacksaw.

When the core dies, lawyers take usually take over.

The Wayback Machine was just doing maintenance, and the link I posted works, so the VI mag survives, and the mailing list is quite active. https://web.archive.org/web/20250421090511/http://www.virtualindian.org/.
(Most of the archive works, but naturally I clicked upon personal contributions, and got errors. Somehow I find that comforting.)

I didn't mean to hoard my mags, honest. They just piled up in the Reading Room by the throne.

....Cotten

[ammorest]

Personally, I would pay the extra $10.00 whether it's 4 or 6 magazines a year, That extra $10.00 breaks down to less than 3 cents per day. Don't think that puts a financial burden on anyone. Maybe skip a meal at McDonalds or a few beers. The AMCA membership cost is a bargain considering the benefits you receive; the meets, road runs, magazine, library etc. This forum is a great source for information (and entertainment).
I have been an AMCA member since 1983 and over the years I have made countless good friends, contacts, and aquaintences due to the AMCA.
Just my 2, I mean 3 cents worth.
Dave

[bjind]

I like reading the AMCA Magazine I suppose I will have to read slower now.