2Wheel Tuner runs out of fuel,prints last issue words fly!
Published on June 29, 2010 by Dragbike Live.com · No Comments
Dragbike Live has obtained the final statement on operations regarding the popular magazine 2 Wheel Tuner. As rumors flew through all channels of the sport bike culture that the magazine was stopping the printing press it was just another devastating blow to some and another sad felt loss by others in the wake of AMA Dragbike announcing it was ceasing operations.
Both announcement’s are unrelated but fell eerily close to one another thus shaking the industry even further and have many asking what’s next or who is next!? 2 wheel Tuner magazine,one of a handful of national publication magazines that lent monthly coverage to the sport of motorcycle drag racing.
The publication had been lacking in content for several months with the drag racing coverage of the MiRock Series being the most complete . Still, the announcement came sudden and with bite for many. 2 Wheel Tuner issued the following statement to it’s fans,subscribers,readers.
“The two-wheel world runs at breakneck speed, so the last thing you want is to wait around each month for a print issue of 2Wheel Tuner to hit your mailbox. We realized we needed to find a better way to give instant throttle response and timely content to our readers in daily doses around their schedules. So we’ve made a tough decision to close a chapter on 2Wheel Tuner, the magazine that blazed the scene back in 2004, and fully embrace the ever-changing digital world through our rapidly growing community site.
No need to hang your head, there’s a new world out there and it changes every second- something a monthly print magazine can’t ever keep up with. Now sportbikeclub.com will be the tool to connect with fresh bikes, products, videos, news, events, girls, contests and fellow members of the sportbike brother and sisterhood.Looking forward to the rides ahead,Your friends at 2Wheel Tunerâ€
The magazine was known for it high quality photos and cover shots each month and articles by and of many of the industry most popular figures from custom bike building to stunter’s, and well known drag racing champion Rickey Gadson pictured right.
Gadson, who was the contributing editor for drag racing for the magazine typed a response upon breaking the news which seemed to be a reaction of shock and disbelief as he reacted to the bombshell announcement on the popular drag racing forum Psychobike.com with,
“WTF! Another crippling blow to our sport!! Our sport is in trouble!†as comment’s were posted from member’s of the site showing sympathy and and also disbelief Gadson later posted
“2WT TUNER MAGAZINE IS no more!
Now…….. their is no Professional motorcycle drag racing series, and no main stream media coverage of ANY type in a nationally distributed magazine!!!!You guys have no idea the trickle down affect that will continue to come from the Ama Pro series shutting the doors!â€
This last comment by Gadson sparked comment’s from Tim Hailey, a docile and dormant character on the forum and editor of America’s only all motorcycle drag racing magazine Straight Liner, considered by many in the drag racing industry to be the mainstream motorcycle drag racing magazine and is offered in print subscription and digital format. Hailey spoke up with,
“I hate to hear that about 2WT. I’ve known Sarah and her crew since before the magazine ever started and I know how hard they’ve worked. They are now owned by a very large corporation, and large corporations don’t have patience for dwindling returns. Their ad sales, like ours, have been falling for a long time now and it was only a matter of time before their parent company Advanstar would cut their losses.
Straightliner is a mom & pop organization without stockholders to please. We are definitely suffering from industry cutbacks, especially Kawasaki and Suzuki’s cuts. For any company out there that used 2WT to get your message out, Straightliner can help. Please contact me ASAP to get your ad in the edition distributed at MIR’s Fast By Gast WPGC Bike Fest, the biggest motorcycle drag racing event on the planet.â€
Hailey, in an attempt to further clarify his position later continued,
“Rickey, I know you were very involved with 2WT, but I don’t think its loss will impact drag racing that much. They didn’t devote many pages to drag racing, and none to coverage of AMA Dragbike.I agree that the PERCEPTION caused by the loss of the iconic AMA Dragbike series is huge, much larger than the actual loss itself. You and I know that MiRock is very strong, and that local series are popping up all the time. I believe there are as many people drag racing motorcycles as there ever were, they’re just not doing it with one group the way they used to. But for all those West Coast companies that know little about drag racing, they see AMA Dragbike is shut down and for all they know the sport is dead. That’s not true and it’s up to us to show them that, through Straightliner, Psychobike, Dragbikelive, Eatmyink and every other way we can think of.â€
Well said Mr. Hailey, bravo!
Any one wanting to subscribe to Straight Liner Magazine can do so by Subscribe by calling (888) 374-3371 from 8:30 to 5:30 pm EST. Straight Line Magazine is available online at Dragbike Live.com’s main website.
but seriously, I agree.
