Cycle World Magazine Gets A Full Rebuild

"We share the same passion for motorcycling as you do"

D

uring the early 1960s, Joe Parkhurst reacted to the state of ­motorcycle publishing and the market. Cycle World published its first issue in January 1962. Within a decade, Joe, who’d hocked everything and made the first issue on his kitchen table, owned lots more motorcycles, a Ferrari Daytona, and a big yacht. And he was having the time of his life making the best ­motorcycle magazine in the world. It’s 2018, and Cycle World is ­reacting to the state of publishing and the market as the media world has changed profoundly. While I don’t have any visions of fancy cars or big boats, we do plan to make this heavy-duty, high-quality quarterly CW the kind of beautiful, library-­worthy print piece you’ll want to keep forever. Traditional stars like Kevin Cameron and Peter Egan along with new writers and photographers will help us explore with a new perspective the beauty and technology of the motorcycle inside and out.

Each issue of the new CW opens with a photo essay on something remarkable in motorcycling. The redesign debut issue features the dynamic photography of Jamey Price from his visit to the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix.Cycle World

I was so glad I got to know Joe. When I was hired at CW in 1999, he'd started working on a book about his time in the business. So he'd spend his days in the archives at our old building in Newport Beach. My office was actually in the CW archives. Joe and I shared big-time Transportation Enthusiast status and talked about cars, planes, motorcycles, and single malt. I carry those talks with me and work to keep that sparkle in Joe's eyes alive in these pages.

For our part, I hope the magazine design speaks for itself and helps us get inside the universal beauty of the motorcycle more than ever. On nuts and bolts, you'll still find Kevin's TDC column, but we've reworked the rest completely. Components leads off with Elements to give us a sort of love letter to the (yes) elements of the machines we love. Titanium is the first subject, and it's related to the main feature on the Ducati Panigale V-4. Origins celebrates ­landmark motorcycles from our past, and Fundamentals covers technical subjects related to the basic functioning of the machines we love. After that, it's great big beautiful features on motorcycles new and old, followed by Makers, dedicated to the people who design, build, collect, customize, or otherwise shape the motorcycle world.

By studying where we've been, we better understand where we are and where we're going. Technical Editor Kevin Cameron takes a deep dive into the groundbreaking AJS Porcupine Grand Prix racer. Our focus is on the 1954 model now owned by Team Obsolete, with photography by Doug MacRea.Cycle World

Along with cycleworld.com, our social-media footprint, and live events, we share the same passion for motorcycling as you do, and will keep spreading the word through all our channels that the motorcycling life is the best life. Dirt, street, adventuring, commuting, in custom shops, at shows, and on factory floors, we will be there alongside you, ­continuing the ride of our lives.

Ducati's latest move to a V-4 engine in its Panigale streetbike is predated decades by the Apollo V-4, commissioned by 1960s American Ducati distributors Berliner Corporation. The air-cooled, 90-degree V-4 never reached production but was meant to take on Harley-Davidson in the lucrative police market.Cycle World
In the section called "Elements," we examine materials and parts of the motorcycle in depth. We use this to help broaden the understanding of the motorcycle as it relates to a later feature in the print magazine. Titanium is highlighted in Issue 1 because of the material's use in production of the Ducati Panigale V-4, our cover bike.Cycle World
The cover story on the 2018 Ducati Panigale V-4 superbike for the street was constructed from exclusive early-access trips to Ducati's Bologna, Italy, headquarters by editors Kevin Cameron and Zack Courts. Photography from this trip, the press launch in Valencia, Spain, and images shot at a special location in Los Angeles by Doug MacRae, provide a study of the beauty of this motorcycle inside and out, as well as in action.Cycle World
"The Beast of Bologna" gets the full treatment in Cycle World Issue 1, 2018.Cycle World