You may recall the demise of the US publication Motorcyclist Retro after just 3 issues. Well, the editorial team from that one have been working hard at bringing a replacement to market and it's almost here. Called Moto Retro Illustrated, it is really pretty much Motorcyclist Retro reborn. Mitch Boehm has a great new website up and he's taking subscriptions now. Or just keep an eye open at your newsagents sometime after July 24.
Find out more at the Moto Retro Illustrated website here:
http://www.motoretroillustrated.com/app/index.cfmHere's the content of an email Mitch sent out to all subscribers and interested readers of the old Motorcyclist Retro:
The Retro ReportEdition 3
June 10, 2009
Dear Retro Army,
I hope you‘re having a blast as summer clicks into gear!
It‘s been three months since our last communication, and a lot has happened here at Retro headquarters. The biggest news is our website, which is now live and accepting subscriptions via credit cards and PayPal. It took way longer than I ever imagined to get up-and-running online, but we‘ve finally figured it out.
The other big news is this magazine‘s new name – Moto Retro Illustrated. It‘s a long and complex story, and I‘ll spare you the details. Boiled down, the working title we‘d been using in the aftermath of Motorcyclist Retro‘s demise last December – Motorcycle Retro – was deemed too close to the original by the publishing company I worked for. Not wanting to create confusion or problems, we‘ve simply changed the name prior to issue number one. As I‘ve told many people over the last few months: Our readers don‘t really care what the magazine is called as long as it‘s jam-packed with great stories and the sort of ‘60s, ‘70s and early-‘80s content many of you grew to love in the three issues of Retro we published last year. And let me assure you: issue one of Moto Retro Illustrated will be jam-packed with all that and more!
Please check out the website –
www.motoretroillustrated.com – and let me know what you think at
[email protected]. On the site you‘ll be able to buy U.S. and foreign subscriptions, single copies, and also get info on our dealer-sales program. Down the road we plan to add a whole range of cool stuff – Moto Retro swag, news, columns, photo archives, event coverage, a reader forum and much more.
Many moons ago I‘d targeted May/June as the launch date for issue one of Moto Retro. Of course, excitement got the better of me, as I honestly didn‘t realize the amount of work I had in front of me in terms of setting up the business and taking the website from concept to fruition. And that put us behind on the actual magazine-production front. Our revised goal – and it‘s one the team is committed to reaching – is to have issue one mailed out to subscribers and for sale by July 24th – Day One of the AMA‘s Vintage Motorcycle Days event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. If you‘ve not been there, do yourself a favor and get to VMD this summer… It‘s literally a vintage event like no other.
We‘re in the midst of writing, shooting and laying out issue one as I type these words, and I‘m reasonably confident we‘ll make the deadline. Vintage Motorcycle Days is perhaps the event that best represents what we‘re doing here at Moto Retro, and having the magazine available there – and be the sponsor of some of VMD‘s goings-on – is a perfect way to introduce folks to what we‘re doing.
You folks, of course, the Retro Army, already know what we‘re about, and many of your have already stepped up to support us with subscriptions, advertising and/or dealer packages. And for that I want to thank each and every one of you. This magazine is largely reader-supported, and without your votes and dollars we simply couldn‘t do the two issues we‘re planning for 2009 (July and October) and the four issues we‘re planning for 2010. (Note: Current subscribers will get two issues this year, and two of the four in 2010.)
For those who haven‘t yet subscribed, I‘d like you to take a minute and consider it. You‘ll not only appreciate our unique brand of journalism on the dirt, street and mini bikes of the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s, you‘ll play a vital part in this magazine‘s future, have a say in what we cover and have our issue mailed directly to your doorstep in a protective plastic envelope. You folks can also help keep the magazine strong by spreading the word about Retro to every vintage-oriented enthusiast you know. Whether by word-of-mouth, email, Internet forums or through your local riding club, every single recommendation helps.
Also, if you have a favorite bike shop, especially one run by folks who dig the retro hardware we all love, ask if they‘d like to carry Moto Retro in their store. If so, they can also contact me at
[email protected]. Our goal is to have 100 outstanding bike shops carrying Retro nationally by the end of the year.
Before I go I‘d like to invite you all to take part in something very near and dear to me – the Kevin Schwantz School, now based at beautiful Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. About a month ago I was asked to be the school‘s lead classroom instructor, and as you might imagine it‘s a role I‘m extremely excited about. I attended the school three years ago at Road Atlanta and came away shocked at not only how much I learned, but how much better my riding became in three short days. Going in, I wasn‘t sure an old roadracer like myself could learn much in an environment with other students and actual classroom time. But Kevin and his superb instructors made it all work, and also helped make the experience a helluva good time. I‘m confident all of you would enjoy and benefit from the Schwantz School experience, and I want you to know about a special, $100-off price for new students that‘ll be announced shortly. See their website –
www.schwantzschool.com – for more information, and please shoot me a note if you have questions about the school.
As always, feel free to email me at the above address with comments, criticisms, ideas, photos and, above all, back-in-the-day stories and pix of you when you were young and had hair! We‘re going to feature more of these BITD bits in Moto Retro Illustrated than before, so we‘ll need plenty of material. Be sure the photos are relatively hi-rez (the more kilo- or megabytes the better) as you scan them.
Once again, thanks for the support you‘ve shown the magazine. It helps more than you can imagine. And please continue to spread the word. I‘ll be back in touch as issue one launches in about a month.
Best regards,
Mitch
Mitch Boehm
Editor/Publisher
Moto Retro Illustrated
PO Box 202
Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274
www.motoretroillustrated.com[email protected] 
