| Gabe July '09 |
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“It’s About Motorcycles! It’s Free! Take One!” I was ‘bout 25 or so, and that’s what the sticker on the battered red newspaper rack promised. Free! That meant a lot, as I had just shelled out about $3000 to rebuild the engine on my old BMW Twin, and was scratching out a living with part-time work and GI Bill checks. I already subscribed to a couple of the big national moto-mags, and although I reveled in their multi-colored glossy splendor, I loved reading about motorcycles. I could have read 100 magazines a month. But CityBike was different. Instead of porn-quality photos of the latest sportbikes whipping around corners and doing block-long power wheelies, accompanied by uniformly positive copy, (“the 1994 ZX-6 has set a new standard for the middleweight sportbike that will only be exceeded by the 1995 ZX-6”) CityBike wrote about riders. Riders who knew that what you rode was less important than how you rode. Riders who thought it’d be a good idea to jump a full-dress Harley off a skateboard ramp, or ride to Cabo San Lucas at 150 mph just because all their friends were doing it. Riders who didn’t see any problem with rolling their bikes into their living rooms so they could do a valve adjustment while watching TV. Riders who rolled their bikes into their living rooms to do valve adjustments because they didn’t have a TV. That was a long time ago, and the world has changed. But what hasn’t changed, well not much, anyway, is CityBike. It’s still Free! It’s still printed on pulp and distributed in motorcycle shops and that mangy collection of newsracks. And though many of CB’s alumni have moved on to other pursuits – or other planes of existence – it still reflects the unique point of view of our Northern California motorcycling community. That’s something special. In 2009, we have 300 channels of satellite radio that are exactly the same no matter where you are in North America. A few giant conglomerates control 95% of the rest of the media: TV, magazines, newspapers, websites, billboards. Highly tuned P.R. machinery cranks out press releases, which are snapped up by overworked, underpaid, understaffed newsrooms and run as news stories, which bloggers then regurgitate a few hours later. “J-Lo to Purchase Size 12 Gap Capri Pants!” Motorcycle magazines are the same way. The new model is announced, and every publication runs the same story. Then the “sneak peek.” Then the model launch, with the same bike photographed in the same curve 23 different times with 23 different editors on board. We here at CityBike aren’t proud and we’re not snobs; we’d do the same thing as the big mags if we got invited to these events. But we usually don’t. So we gather our own news. Turns out it’s more interesting. The Dirtbag Challenge. Cross-continental and global-circumnavigating touring rides. Home-built motorcycles, messengers, club roadracers far more colorful than any MotoGP jocks. And best of all, covering a moto-culture that doesn’t really care about brands or badges or how much stuff costs. We just like to ride, and we ride fast, and we take chances. A lot has changed since I risked contracting tetanus to reach into that rusty newsrack and grab my first issue. Five years ago I started writing a column, and I’m editing CB now, but it’s more than just a job. Don’t tell The World’s Oldest Paperboy, but I’d probably do it for free if I had to. If the Bay Area has a unique voice, CB is the flapping tongue of that voice, one more thing that keeps us from being swallowed up by the corporate gullet that has made Sioux City look like Tallahassee, Seattle like Salt Lake City. It’s not a secure future. CityBike’s plan for global domination has run aground on the shoals of reality. But every month the ads get sold, the issue comes together, the bills get paid. Our website (www.citybike.com) is slowly coming along. But as long as people care, and spread the word, and read the paper, there will be a CityBike. My suspicion is that there are enough people out there like me who aren’t into motorcycles just for the hardware or that primal wash of adrenaline that comes when you go fast in a straight line (and the chicks, don’t forget the chicks). There’s something different about motorcyclists, and CityBike is one of the few (successful) publications that really tries to get at the heart of that difference. So lend a hand. Tell us your stories. Tell us what you want to read about. (You can reach us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) Tell your friends where to get a copy. But most importantly, get your copy every month, and when you pick it up at your local shop, make a big deal about walking in and asking where CityBike is. “Where’s my CityBike?” you must exclaim, waving your hands about excitedly. “I hope it’s not buried under that pile of Thunder Press again!” Seriously, read it. It’s Free! Gabe Ets-Hokin is available for speaking engagements, bar mitzvahs and Wiccanings. Do not give him sharp objects, no matter how much he pleads. Read more Gabe at gabeunchained.blogspot.com. |