MAG News

No More Life on the Margin (Motorcycle Action Group)

I've had a dream for 28 years. A dream that motorcycling would have a huge powerful organisation such that no one in the government or the road safety lobby would dare upset us, and anti-bike legislation would be dismissed as too risky to contemplate. I once hoped that the motorcycle media would help to build our organisation but, with notable exceptions, they have ignored, ridiculed, and marginalised us to a contemptible degree. It is for that reason that MAG decided to launch it's own newspaper to put road riders' interests ahead of trivia, about which bike is a nanosecond faster than another. I hope you'll agree that, in Streetbiker we now have something to be proud of, a mag which truly represents the voice, life, and activities of the genuine enthusiast road rider.

The next phase in our plan is to massively increase the circulation of Streetbiker so that its campaigning power is enhanced, and with it, the credibility of MAG as a major player in the motorcycle publication world as well as the lobbying sphere, and believe me, the two are closely linked. To do that we need more members, a lot more members. While MAG welcomes those clubs who have affiliated to us, it should be understood that MAG makes hardly any money out of club affiliation, which mainly operates to provide us with a wider communication mechanism and provide affiliate members with a range of benefits. Full members, naturally have greater benefits in keeping with the far higher membership sub they pay. At £20 a year, it is still nominal, however, particularly in view of the ease with which that money can be recovered by taking advantage of MAG’s discount deals.

My intention is to build Streetbiker’s relationship with its members by including more material from you. I want this paper to be even more the riders’ paper than it currently is. In short, a vehicle of participation rather than spectating. How many national publications can you pick up and read about your club's activities and see pictures of your friends rather than just the same incestuous camp of egotistical speed crazed test riders and celebrities?

MAG is independent of any commercial publishing houses with their corporate policies and clinically tailored editorial styles. Being independent means we dare to be different and if you seen Streetbiker, I think you'll agree that we are different. We can't afford to lose money but we aren't controlled by anxious shareholders with no interest in motorcycling. We are controlled by our members and reflect our members’ interests. Right now, we print between 25,000 and 30,000 copies of each issue, but imagine if that was 100,000 or 200,000....

With a tiny effort at no net cost to you, we could make that dream the reality. Numbers will give us the credibility we need. Great Britain may be heading into recession again but that might not be bad news for us - smart players profit during recessions. We can afford to undercut the ad rates of all mainstream magazines because we don't have to make a profit, and with a huge circulation and low ad rates, we would be a natural choice for advertisers with reduced budgets. It will be survival of the fittest and the road riders’ great opportunity to assert our voice as never before.

MAG is not a club, it’s a lobbying organisation, and you need not dilute your commitment to a club by one iota through joining MAG as a full member. If you play no active role in MAG at all but pay the annual sub than that is all we ask. Controlling the media is the key to power. Historically the motorcycle media has failed MAG, it’s failed the road rider and it’s given the anti-motorcycle lobby the chance to attack our interests.

Just imagine how sweet it will begin to be able to cock a snook at the big publishing houses by ‘outselling’ the very biggest of them without using a single newsagent. Riders taking control of our own destiny. MAG never set out change the system; we're not anarchists or revolutionaries; to be honest we’re pretty happy with the system, that's why we want to run it. We can do that, you can do that. All you have to do is take out an individual membership.

We're so eager to get this off the ground that we’ll give every affiliated club £5 for each one of its members who upgrades to full MAG membership through our Standing Order Mandate form. This is accessible through our web site on www.mag-uk.org.

You can also contact our Central Office on 0870 444 8 44 8 for a Club form.

Let’s change the world - NOW.

Ian Mutch

MAG reminds the world of motorcycling that motorcycles will not be subject to the forthcoming congestion charging planned for the capital. Gaining exemption from the charges was a prime point of MAG's 'Bikers Are Voters' campaign which emphasised the environmental credentials of motorcycles.

The 'Bikers Are Voters' Campaign, conceived by MAG¹s Chairman Neil Liversidge, involved MAG members mailing their MPs with questionnaires seeking their opinions on a range of subjects including congestion charging.

The campaign logo of a helmet with a voting slip dropping into it was complemented by a pamphlet bearing a pair of images. One showed a line of bikers in motorcycle clothing standing in front of The Palace of Westminster, the other depicted the same line of people in their work clothes. The images included police officers, nurses and businessmen, and attracted enthusiastic support from many MPs.

MAG Spokesman Ian Mutch: -
MAG is delighted that the environmental benefits of motorcycles have been recognised by way of the exemption from the forthcoming congestion charges planned for London. What we would now like to see is improved parking facilities for the many new riders who may well see the light¹ and take to two wheels. Motorcycles have always been about freedom and the Mayor's wise decision endorses that image.

Images of the'Bikers Are Voters' pamphlet available via email or post from the MAG PR office. Tel 020 8 556 6495