EasyRider's Magazine Empire....Gone.... - Poof

[asphaltgambler]

As a long time fan and former subscriber to all things related, I recently discovered the whole thing has gone ......poof......At one time, EasyRider's was THE largest motorcycle magazine in the world.

Started in @1970-ish with 3 guys, the main one being Joe Teresi - a publication that was more about the motorcycle, albeit, 'biker' lifestyle than just the actual bikes. It was an instant hit, relating to the counter-culture or at least, people who thought of themselves as counter-culture. The name 'lifted' from the movie starring Peter Fonda just a year or so earlier about the biker 'lifestyle'

Over time it became huge with almost a dozen magazines under the Paisano Publication umbrella.: V-Twin, In-The-Wind, Iron-Horse, Tattoo, Hot Bike, etc. They had rodeo events, racing, shows - the biggest one held at Columbus, Ohio where literally the participants came from all over the earth to that one.

As things and business boomed for EasyRider's, there seemed no end to the shows, good times, parties, lifestyle. At one point in the late 1990's - they started franchising their brand into a clothing line, actual brick-and-mortar stores with motorcycle repair. Specifically for a time there was one of those just outside Winchester, Va; close to me.

Back in the day, I was fortunate to have had my pro-street bike in the main rag as well as In-The-Wind. While not a full-blown feature article, for me about as famous as one gets. Because of that, I was invited to the big Columbus show as only people that had their bikes in one of the magazines, could get in. That was the E-ticket. Even then, you had to resubmit pictures and story to them, they decided if you made the cut prior to the event. I did and was in the spectators class where all the bikes were built by the owner and was judged only by the people. I made top-20

Well, time has passed............a lot really looking back now. Whether it's one of those things that you've been there and done that, or possibly times were changing as far as attending the shows, events and parties. But there was definitely a change with the 2008 recession / housing crisis. I think people who had money and time to burn with their toys, suddenly didn't. I know that about 2010 or so, AHDRA (All Harley Drag Racing) went bankrupt. Almost overnight the shows, races and parties - especially the smaller / regional ones....................vanished.

My son is in the last printed issue with his bike, and when I went to online to buy a copy found out there is nothing left. The EasyRider's empire all came down to nothing more than the name, which was auctioned off to two guys in California with a clothing line They promise a new magazine; Motorcycle GQ

It's interesting as I think about the whole trajectory of EasyRider's as possibly the generation X did not relate at all as to their core audience of Boomer's ..........

[pwd72s]

toss in the internet...and many hard copy enthusiast magazines are gone.

[masraum]

Exactly, print items (magazines, newspapers, books) are getting hit hard by the Internet.

Then also things change. As with cars, hotrods from the 50s, 60s vs JDM and more modern stuff.

this seems fitting. Same thing happening impacting more old tech.

[URY914]

Their demographic is dying off.

[herr_oberst]

I'm trying to think of the last time I saw a chopper. Mostly see baggers now. But summer is coming. The pandemic seems to be behind us, maybe we'll start to see more....?

In a related story, this from two weeks ago;

"PORTLAND, Ore. — Two members of the Gypsy Joker Outlaw Motorcycle Club were sentenced to life in federal prison on Wednesday for the 2015 kidnapping, torture and murder of a former fellow member.
Mark Leroy Dencklau, 51, of Woodburn and Chad Leroy Erickson, 51, of Rainier were convicted in December of a laundry list of federal crimes related to the killing.
Dencklau was president of the Gypsy Joker clubs Portland chapter from 2003 until his arrest."

So that's still a thing.

[craigster59]

Easyriders magazines would get passed around when I was in the Army. Always enjoyed them, especially the "In The Wind" reader submitted photos. There used to be the Paisano/ Easyrider building right off of Chesebro Rd in Agoura.

[serene911]

David Mann did alot of nice centerfold illustrations over the years.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by URY914

Their demographic is dying off.

Having been a part of the motorcycling world since I was a teenager, I have to agree. The demographic attracted to Easy Rider has died off. Lost interest. They have moved onto the next shiny object...

Motorcycle sales are absolutely tanking. All of those b.s. chopper build shows where they cuss and throw things at each other are off the air. The commercialized, "merchandising" end of this game is dying, no doubt about that. The great unwashed masses that supported all of it have left. But...

But there remains a demographic who never really bought into any of that to begin with. The really dedicated, the ones who live "the lifestyle" and are committed to it. They haven't gone anywhere. The whole thing has simply "inspanned" back to its original, pre - West Coast Choppers, pre - Orange County Choppers days.

The only reason the "biker" demographic appeared to grow to epic proportions at one time is because so many who were actually on the outside of it looking in wanted to appear to be a part of it. They wanted to role play on weekends, dressing up like "bikers" and learning to use their lingo. These were the element that made the whole demographic appear to outsiders to "grow" as it did. Well, that element has left, having moved onto the next "shiny object", leaving that original crowd right where they were before everyone else noticed them and wanted to grow up to be just like them. The original core that never really accepted that wannabe hanger on crowd anyway. Good bye and good riddance...

In the end, unfortunately, that was what killed Easy Rider and all of its associated commercialism - the core demographic never really accepted them (except perhaps very early on), and saw them as no more than the symbol of the commercialization of something they loved, especially as the whole Paisano Publications empire grew so tremendously in size and influence. It became an embarrassing parody, capturing everything that had gone wrong when an outside group attempted to convince one another that they were living a lifestyle they simply didn't understand. Easy Rider appealed to these hangers-on and wannabes and actually became a symbol of their influence, and when they lost interest, Easy Rider was doomed.

The rest of us are still carrying on like it never happened.

[asphaltgambler]

Interesting, thoughtful reply....

[rusnak]

Yeah, and for all of that we can thank them for making "build" into a noun.

[cstreit]

Our neighbor had a subscription when I was a kid. All I remember is the pics of the girls...

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by cstreit

Our neighbor had a subscription when I was a kid. All I remember is the pics of the girls...

Yep. Female friend showed her boobs in a 1989 issue of Iron Horse at some gathering when she was a teenager.

It was in Foxburg, Pennsylvania. Some MC group that had training and awareness as their core mission. But she was high as a kite and on the main stage with her tats out. LOL

I called her on the clock at Kent State just now to confirm. MC group started with an A. Five letters. All caps. It's not worth calling her back to clarify.

[Jeff Higgins]

Must be ABATE. A Brotherhood against Totaliarninstic Enactments. They used to be almost relevant - almost. For at least 30 some odd years now, however, their only mission has been the repeal of helmet laws. Many have tried to tell those idiots that "that ship has sailed", both from without and within. They won't listen. Kind of a standing joke in motorcycling circles these days.

[VINMAN]

Easyriders tried to make a comeback with a "new, revamped" format about a year and a half ago. It just didn't work out for them. Picked up a few issues, but wasn't like the old version. Never was a huge fan, but would buy it now and then.
I always preferred " "Street Chopper". It focused more on the bikes and the tech rather than the partying.

I'm still a fan of the old school choppers. I had started building one back in my late teens, but $$ flow was a hurdle. Plus I had two other bikes. and a hot rod to worry about. Would like to build another one now once I get some room in my garage.

The "biker" demographic has changed so drastically since I started riding Harleys back in the early 80s Very few are into older bikes. In the MC I ride with, I probably have the oldest bike( a 1990...) Most guys I know, even 1%ers are riding new models and new Indians. Most of them don't even work on their own bikes. That was almost a prerequisite back in the day. Now, its all about fancy paint and sound systems and waxing your tins and bags.

Like Jeff stated, ABATE is a shadow of its former self. Gave up my membership a few years back. The helmet law repeal thing is a joke. Heck, you even see outlaw club guys wearing full face helmets now.


.

[Jeff Higgins]

Yeah, it's funny... I might know some guys who still, very occasionally, ride with real, bonafide, MC's... Ahem... From what they tell me, they have absolutely embraced the full faced helmet. For, you know - "safety" reasons...

In all reality, it's "free" anonymity - they don't really look like they are so much trying to hide their faces, which used to garner unwanted attention in and of itself. Sorta like the COVID mask and folks with ill intent... Black tinted face shields. Pretty God damned hard to tell who's who in that zoo... They have figured it out...

[911boost]

^yep, entirely to defeat facial recognition software or so I have been told by some LE folks I know....

[BlueWing]

Wow, have not bought a copy since 2002. Got too far from the old school biker and ad heavy.

When I down sized to move I sold off my collection I started back in 1972 and ended in 2002. I still have random copies and the first and second edition official reprint of issue #1. As weird as it may seem for my old life style a majority of them were in the original envelopes/plastic wraps, covers and Dave Mann center folds intact.

Here is a picture of when I was in process of getting all the issues in one place to inventory. Not all of them are in the picture and still found more after they were sold.




Bluewing

[asphaltgambler]

^^^Wow!!^^^

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Must be ABATE. A Brotherhood against Totaliarninstic Enactments. They used to be almost relevant - almost. For at least 30 some odd years now, however, their only mission has been the repeal of helmet laws. Many have tried to tell those idiots that "that ship has sailed", both from without and within. They won't listen. Kind of a standing joke in motorcycling circles these days.

Yes. It was ABATE.

[GH85Carrera]

The same thing happened to many genres and hobby magazines.

Popular Photography and Modern Photography, the photo magazines, used to be 1/2 inch thick magazines with lots of camera tests and articles. All gone.

Some for the computer magazines. I can remember carefully typing in several pages of code from an article to have a new program, and of course one typo and it would not run. Then I could download the file with my 300 Baud modem. It still boggles my mind when I download a update of a program now and it is 100 MB.

How about all the car magazines, same thing. Autoweek went from a great once a week newsprint magazine with race results, to a slick twice a week sometimes three weeks, magazine about life style and pickup trucks and SUVs. Like every one else I dropped them when they had magazines about nothing but camping and off road adventures, and one page of F1 coverage. They are gone.