Motorcycle reviews and journalism bias | GTAMotorcycle.com

Motorcycle reviews and journalism bias

bigpoppa

Well-known member
A friend of mine bought one of the first BMW K1200s when they first came out.
There were a large number of design flaws in this bike. They didn't make it unsafe to ride but they did make it a pain for maintenance and repair.
He swore he would never ride or buy a BMW again.
This seems to be a common trait among many in the moto-journalism field.
I had one bad experience with a specific make of bike so now they're all crap.
Some of these guys have been holding their grudge for decades.
 
Haven't watched the video yet, but I'll pre-review it.

You have to remember that anyone that reviews things regularly is selling something.
If they're an online retailer, they're selling **** to you. If they mistakenly purchase thousands of a crap item and it sells, they'll continue pushing it.
If it doesn't sell, they may push it harder, or liquidate it, and then cut down their supply.

If it's some internet reviewer, they're pushing you for subscriptions, and companies for free ****.
They may at some point decide to write off one or two companies, because they don't give good free ****, or they can up subscriptions, but they'll then be more dependent on the other companies for free ****.

If someone is critiquing other reviewers, they're probably pushing their channel, or subscriptions.

Unfortunately, I don't have a channel, because I'm really good at breaking ****.
 
I usually catch Motorcyclist Magazine's MC Commute whenever a new one comes out. Zack Courts generally does a pretty good job with these but there was a pretty embarrassing episode where he rode an MV Agusta Brutale 800 and at around 10-minutes into the ride he looks down and notices that the shifter linkage had fallen apart. At 10:15 he nonchalantly pulls over and pulls off the linkage as it's just hanging there. Not a bad word to be said; he just polishes that turd by pre-selecting 3rd gear and saying how we're going to see how awesome the 3-cylinder engine is.

I dunno: Could be said he was making lemonade out of lemons or that the event spoke for itself but he had a chance to really openly question the quality of MV and instead chose to skirt the issue almost completely. As a review it came across as pretty phony.
 
I usually catch Motorcyclist Magazine's MC Commute whenever a new one comes out. Zack Courts generally does a pretty good job with these but there was a pretty embarrassing episode where he rode an MV Agusta Brutale 800 and at around 10-minutes into the ride he looks down and notices that the shifter linkage had fallen apart. At 10:15 he nonchalantly pulls over and pulls off the linkage as it's just hanging there. Not a bad word to be said; he just polishes that turd by pre-selecting 3rd gear and saying how we're going to see how awesome the 3-cylinder engine is.

I dunno: Could be said he was making lemonade out of lemons or that the event spoke for itself but he had a chance to really openly question the quality of MV and instead chose to skirt the issue almost completely. As a review it came across as pretty phony.

Yep

Saw it when it came out, it was a brand new bike also I believe
 
So a vid about motojournalists saying nothing, by a motojournalist saying nothing ......new. That's my take after watching it. lol
 
they depend on the manufacturers to keep on giving them press bikes, and invite them to press launches, if they talk **** about them they will stop getting invited and will have nothing to wrote about, so they continue to produce fluff pieces on every new bike that comes out so the can stay in the "in" crowd
 
they depend on the manufacturers to keep on giving them press bikes, and invite them to press launches, if they talk **** about them they will stop getting invited and will have nothing to wrote about, so they continue to produce fluff pieces on every new bike that comes out so the can stay in the "in" crowd


If a shift lever falls off and you dont talk '****' , somethings wrong with you.

A spade needs to be called a spade.
 
I've always liked watching these fortnine videos and ordering parts from them, but this was an exceptional piece on moto journalists, and reviews and why you SHOULDN'T trust them.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgGU3GYx9Qg

The man pretty much read my mind

"Scruple-less or weakminded journalists are bought by schmoozy press launches"

"I review motorcycles and have never been invited to a press launch and my feelings are not at all hurt by it"

No journalist of any kind deserves trust because they are being paid to write (or vlog) words. You can discern whether or not you should trust them by the words they are writing. In this case, if they are regurgitating a press release, it's probably not a critical perspective. If they review an R1200RS and don't mention the bafflingly stupid dashboard layout, maybe they're not looking too hard
 
If a shift lever falls off and you dont talk '****' , somethings wrong with you.

A spade needs to be called a spade.

you wont have a job after you talk ****.......because a "good" moto journalist will turn it into a "character" feature and be a good team player

These guys don't get nominated for the Pulitzer very often, so journalistic integrity is not at the top of the skills column on the resume, they are basically marketers disguised as journalists
 
If a shift lever falls off and you dont talk '****' , somethings wrong with you.

A spade needs to be called a spade.

yes, and a shift lever dangling on the chain
on the highway....could have ended really badly

sad the way the guy continues to whore for the manufacturer
after the thing falls apart
 
If a shift lever falls off and you dont talk '****' , somethings wrong with you.

A spade needs to be called a spade.

In that video he criticises the clutch, the dash, and mirrors. Also if he gave a **** about making MV looking good, he could have just re-shot the video the next day. Maybe he was just focused on getting to work? Those videos aren't reviews anyway, just his subjective thoughts on bikes
 
This is why I watch 44 Teeth...highly subjective...they've got all the BS but without the BS !;)
 

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