Smart Money Magazine Bags Buddy

[KCScooterDude]

Just got this month's Smart Money Magazine, the Wall Street Journal's monthly magazine.

They bag on the Buddy in their article about scooters. It's really a maxi scooter article. They had some Hollywood actor (who has a motocross background) ride a Buddy, a Vespa GTV, a Piaggio MP3, a Yamaha Morphous and Honda Silver Wing.

See where this is going? No other 150cc scoots. He said the Buddy lacked power. Gee, compard to what? Ah, the Yamaha and Honda, which were his favorites, expecially the Silver Wing, which - duh - has the biggest engine. Said the Vespa was for girls and the Buddy was a Vespa knock off.

Ironicly, the article talks about how great scooters are because of the 70 mpg fuel economy. Humm? Which scooter would that be? I seriously doubt the Silver Wing gets 70 mpg.

I won't repeat what they said about the Buddy. You would be offended. I'm offended, and I'm not even a Buddy owner. I own a Blur.

If it helps any, Smart Money sucks. I only get it because it was thrown in with my GQ subscription. Love the WSJ, though. Can't do without it. Bag the mag, though.

[sotied]

How about the email address for the editor?

I'm a professional writer and hate it when some reporter mails it in on a story.

I'd love to contact the editor and let him/her know what was lacking in the story.

Thanks!

*edit to include signature*

[KCScooterDude]

How about the email address for the editor?

I'm a professional writer and hate it when some reporter mails it in on a story.

I'd love to contact the editor and let him/her know what was lacking in the story.

Thanks!

Smart Money's Editor in Chief is Jonathan Dahl. [email protected]. Kedon Willis was the writer. The "expert" rider was Gunner Wright, who is appearing in the new G.I. Joe movie.

You know if Harley is in the headline, the magazine doesn't get it. How about a story on the success of Genuine?

[sotied]

Sent a note to the editor.

Expect that if he has time he'll come read this post and maybe some of the site.

It's a tough topic to get reporters interested in (less now that gas is $4+), but we're still a small percentage of readers when compared to people who drive cars.

So from an editorial standpoint, we're as influential as Apple Macintosh buyers. Only 15% of the market (and growing), but still dwarfed by the evil Microsoft Windoze crowd.

And if you want topics that speak to a large percentage of your audience you might fall prey to the big names and styles people recognize like Harley and Gold Wing.

Not saying it's right. But if you want to see more scooter coverage you'll need to be more vocal.

I've been trying to sell a scooter feature for two months and have had many nibbles but nobody has bitten yet because they don't see it as fully relevant yet.

Sadly, even the RMVs in various states can't consistently decide what a scooter is. And I've heard that MA is considering lumping three-wheelers and scooters together in their own category and making riders be certified differently.

Just rambling. Hope SmartMoney and the WSJ take a look here.

[charltons]

I can't find it in their online edition. Can anybody find it & link it? Then we could ALL spam the editor-in-chief!

[7eregrine]

It's a tough topic to get reporters interested in (less now that gas is $4+), but we're still a small percentage of readers when compared to people who drive cars.

I've been trying to sell a scooter feature for two months and have had many nibbles but nobody has bitten yet because they don't see it as fully relevant yet.

Obviously you know what you are talking about since you are trying to get an article published, but for most markets, I would actually disagree.
Time Magazine is about to run an article on Scooters. They gt a lot of local press here in Cleveland. Recent article in the Plain Dealer here (that even mentioned PoC). Not a huge article, but something.

My partner got an article published in the Estes Park newspaper:
http://www.estesparknews.com/?p=135

[KCScooterDude]

There's been lots of local coverage on scoots. I too have a media background (newspaper reporter, editor and later advertorial writer - still doing freelance) and you can bet if one local t.v. station does a story, the others will follow in one or two days.

Now you are starting to see some national media coverage, but I still don't think people get that there's a difference between motorcycles and scooters. Obviously the writer and "expert" in this article just see scooters and automatic motorcycles for the masses. Why would somebody want a small-engine scooter when they can get one as big and powerful as a small motorcycle engine? That's what their thinking is.

Point is, if people are turning to scooters because they are fuel efficient, then the story should focus on fuel effecient scooters. Also, a lot of the people now turning to scooters are on wheels for the first time since they sold the old 10-speed Schwinn Contenental. Smart Money's real disservice is to the idiot who now thinks he needs a Silver Wing and has the cash to buy one. We know where that's going to end up. Hopefully the Silver Wing will end up on craigslist because it scared the Hell out of the guy, not sold for scrap after the guy's funeral.

[Artisan]

Dropped by the local Harley dealership yesterday on the way home. They were busy. This was after I stopped at the motorcycle shop up the road to try on mesh jackets. The guy behind the counter wanted to know my gas mileage on the Buddy so I said about 90mpgs. I thought his eyes were going to pop out . He said he only got 30mpg on his motorcycle. I told him that there were CARS that got better gas milage. Boy are those folks who are spending money on Harleys to save gas going to get a shock! That magazine is misleading people by making them believe that having a big motorcycle will give you better gas milage than a small car. I noticed ,that unlike cars, bike shops do not usually tell you (or claim that they do not know ) what mpg their bikes get. Nor do their web sites. I gave up my ATV because my 4x4 truck got better milage than it!

[KCScooterDude]

Dropped by the local Harley dealership yesterday on the way home. They were busy. This was after I stopped at the motorcycle shop up the road to try on mesh jackets. The guy behind the counter wanted to know my gas mileage on the Buddy so I said about 90mpgs. I thought his eyes were going to pop out . He said he only got 30mpg on his motorcycle. I told him that there were CARS that got better gas milage. Boy are those folks who are spending money on Harleys to save gas going to get a shock! That magazine is misleading people by making them believe that having a big motorcycle will give you better gas milage than a small car. I noticed ,that unlike cars, bike shops do not usually tell you (or claim that they do not know ) what mpg their bikes get. Nor do their web sites. I gave up my ATV because my 4x4 truck got better milage than it!

Guess that's why a lot of motorcycles don't have gas gauges.

[sotied]

There's been lots of local coverage on scoots. I too have a media background (newspaper reporter, editor and later advertorial writer - still doing freelance) and you can bet if one local t.v. station does a story, the others will follow in one or two days.

Now you are starting to see some national media coverage, but I still don't think people get that there's a difference between motorcycles and scooters. Obviously the writer and "expert" in this article just see scooters and automatic motorcycles for the masses. Why would somebody want a small-engine scooter when they can get one as big and powerful as a small motorcycle engine? That's what their thinking is.

Point is, if people are turning to scooters because they are fuel efficient, then the story should focus on fuel effecient scooters. Also, a lot of the people now turning to scooters are on wheels for the first time since they sold the old 10-speed Schwinn Contenental. Smart Money's real disservice is to the idiot who now thinks he needs a Silver Wing and has the cash to buy one. We know where that's going to end up. Hopefully the Silver Wing will end up on craigslist because it scared the Hell out of the guy, not sold for scrap after the guy's funeral.

That was mostly my point. That there is a buzz about scooters and gas prices and the next great thing, but the average reporter is tasked with writing a bunch of stories for each issue and sometimes glosses over the specifics of riding, purchasing and evaluating scooters.

It can be much different with magazines as they have a longer lead time. But unless an editor has hard evidence that the 'fad' isn't going away, he's not going to invest $2000 in a story about something that could fade away if gas prices drop again.

I'm not saying scootering is suspect, but think about the readership and what they want to hear about.

Good points by all here. BUT, I would not advocate spamming an editor. They're just doing their job. A nice letter will go much further in swaying their calendar toward doing more pieces on scoots.

Maybe send them notes about rallies, scooter raffles being used for charity events, celebrities who scoot, and even police departments who are using scooters in their patrols.