Category Archives: Dirt Bike Magazine

“Wow, I’m in the lead! Hope I don’t f…”

The story behind an iconic motorcycle photo Do you remember this magazine, this monthly feature, and this particular photo? If you were riding dirt bikes in the 1970s (or desperately wanting one), of course you do! The magazine was DIRT BIKE, the feature was the last-page monthly “Crash and Burn” tidbit, and the photo was…well, […]

A Belated Defense of the “Trail Bike”…and the Search for the Perfect Trail

The term “trail bike” isn’t used much, these days. With the proliferation of highly-advanced dual-purpose (on- and off-road) motorcycles that really can do it all (mostly), both the design and the name of the original small displacement do-everything bikes have largely disappeared. But, these motorcycles still have their fans. Let’s take a look at the […]

Friends Talking: DIRT BIKE Magazine and Conversational Journalism in the 1970s

DIRT BIKE Magazine, 1972

    Abstract: In the very early 1970s, at the height of the worldwide motorcycle boom, an ad salesman named Rick Sieman envisioned a journal which would enable honest information to be exchanged between enthusiasts. He imagined this journal as the equivalent of “friends . . . talking,” and leveraged his modest resources to found […]