Handlebars

Last year was lousy for the motorcycle industry. Sales took a steep plunge after the economy cratered and people started spending less and less on leisure-time activities or hobbies. Although East Tennessee is a motorcycling haven, it's not immune to the domino effect of plunging sales. And neither are we. Full story »

For anyone who’s been paying attention to current events, the motorcycle industry has had an incredibly difficult year. According to Webbikeworld.com’s compilation of motorcycle sales stats for the U.S. in the third quarter, “...motorcycle sales totaled just 434,370 so far this year, down from 771,950 in the first nine months of 2008 for a drop of 337,580, which makes overall sales down 44 percent.” Full story »

Riding a motorcycle is generally an escape—from your worries, from your bills, from whatever you left behind after hitting the starter button. But lately, it’s been getting harder to avoid bad news about the economic downturn and how it’s affecting our particular lifestyle niche. Just as this issue of Handlebars went to press on Oct. 15, Harley-Davidson announced it was pulling the plug on Buell Motorcycles. Full story »

As much as we like putting together Handlebars, we’d like your help to make it an even better monthly read. And we’ve got a couple of options for you. Full story »

As motorcycle enthusiasts, we usually stay focused on the idealized aspects of the sport: freedom of the open road, kinship with other riders, and a sense of individuality in an increasingly homogenized world. And then there’s our appreciation for all things mechanical: power, engineering, design. But there’s a dark side we don’t often want to think about, one that also makes us appreciate every moment we ride on two wheels: It can all end very suddenly. Full story »

So, do you like having a free monthly motorcycle magazine that focuses on the huge variety of riding and riders in the East Tennessee region? That’s what we’ve been hoping. When we took on Handlebars back in January, there was some question of whether the magazine should even continue—are there really enough advertisers willing to support it? We believed that there could be if Handlebars appealed to a wider range of readers with different types of bikes, from dirt to touring. If we could build up such a readership, we thought, then maybe we can pique the interests of new businesses. Full story »

I’m still getting used to being on two wheels myself. After being out of the saddle for many years, I succumbed to the habit of so many middle-aged guys: Buying the dream bike you couldn’t afford when you were young. In my case, that’s the Honda Hawk GT. No, you probably haven’t heard of it. Imported for just a few years in the late ’80s, it’s now considered to be the original (modern) naked V-twin sport bike that preceded the models that Ducati, Aprilia, and Suzuki now produce. Full story »

All too often, the motorcycle media doesn’t treat women as real riders—they’re typically used as adornments in photos. And while that may make lots of male riders happy, you’ve got to wonder if it really helps the overall cause of motorcycling. There’s probably a huge market of potential riders out there who feel put-off by such a belittling public image and who won’t bother to walk onto dealers’ lots as a result. Full story »

For many riders, life begins with a two-stroke. Growing up in the wild, unregulated ’70s, your first motorcycle often involved mixing oil and gas, then hitting the throttle for instant power—thrusting your 10-year-old body into hyperspeed. Or maybe it just seemed that way. Full story »

One of the first rumors to hit cycling circles when we revamped Handlebars was that the magazine had been “taken over” by people who don’t ride. As one biker-bar owner asked us via e-mail before canceling his advertising, “Is there anyone even still affiliated with this ‘NEW’ but not at all improved magazine, that owns or rides a bike?” Full story »

Who knew that putting out a magazine covering the wide range of motorcycling available in East Tennessee would be so controversial? Full story »

When Handlebars was launched nearly five years ago, it really filled a need among East Tennessee motorcyclists. This is one of the best regions in the country to ride on two wheels, and it’s home to all sorts of different enthusiasts, from sportbike racers to Harley cruisers. It truly deserves its own magazine. Full story »