Can You Hear Me?
Dear Jimmy,
I am simply amazed at April 2008's Letter Rip. After reading it, I realize that there are a LOT of people 'just like me' out there. Like the author in the first letter, I am 'middle aged' 43 years old. I 'got back into' dirt bikes in my late '30's.I'm now back into dirt bikes and I LOVE IT! I cannot believe how much I enjoy riding dirt bikes off-road. After setting it up for off-road riding, my new YZ450f rips on the trails, and I feel reborn.But I don't subscribe to your magazine anymore.Like the second writer to Letter Rip, I feel that the magazine has become too motocross oriented. I don't really care that Ken and Molly went to Hawaii and New Zealand to ride trail bikes or if you used race motocross. What I care about is that I DON'T RACE motocross. If I did, I would have subscribed to Transworld Motocross.I ride off-road, on trails. I care about getting my bike set up to ride off-road on trails.Every person I know who has purchased a new dirt bike is over 30 years old. Every person I know who reads your magazine is over 30 years old. As someone who is over 30 years old, I realize that in MY business, I MUST listen to my clients or I won't be in business much longer.When my clients tell me what they want from me, I shut up and listen. I don't berate them. I don't tell them that they are wrong. Why? The customer is always right, and I, sadly, am no longer your customer.You are very good at what you do. But what you do is no longer what I do. I ride Off-road. I buy new dirt bikes, I buy the items that your advertisers sell and I buy magazines---lots of them. But I don't race motocross, and I don't buy Transworld Motocross.Now, I no longer buy Dirt Rider. But I miss Dirt Rider the same way I missed riding dirt bikes off-road. I'm going to have to start looking for a new magazine, or maybe---just maybe, you can listen to your customers and increase the off-road content.Very truly,
Mike Daley****Mike,Too bad because you'll miss all the great off-road content we stuff between the motocross information. There are other places where you can get only off-road content, try Trail Rider, for instance. And Dirt Bike is way more off road exclusive that we are, so they may fit your needs too. I don't know you (but you seem to know a lot about the motorcycle magazines), but we do listen and that is why the magazine is comprised of the content that it is. We are the biggest magazine in total circulation, by far (almost double), and you'll notice three MX only magazines out there as well. We compete with all these magazines on the newsstand and hold our own. Considering there are just as many MX only riders who don't care for the off-road stuff, sometimes we are settled to compromise. I like it all and so do most of our readers. For those of us, there is Dirt Rider.Oh, and it is better for the bottom line when you pick up the issue on the newsstand anyways, you'll likely be back.Jimmy Lewis
