Just been looking at a few old motor cycle mechanics magazines fron the late sixties/early seventies,The supposed help pages where they start from a -z of machines is a laugh.These pages where owners of various machine write in for help 
,One poor guy writes that his 1956 BSA B31 has been using oil and smoking badly the reply is to not bother as spares for these machines are near impossible to find and he would be better off buying a equivalent japanese motorcycle.I wonder how much influance these pages had in the downfall of british bike ownership? Also what motivated these so called journalists to answer these questions in the manner they did? Must of been a promise of the latest superbike test ride from the land of the rising sun. Mind you these journalists must of helped me buy some amazing bikes at a knock down price
Dave
Hi Dave..You raise an interesting point as most people are subject to 'outside influence' in the decisions they make...especially in that instance where they took the trouble to ask for advice, so must have been quite inclined to follow it.
Certainly in those days it was accepted that the magazines were mindful of where the advertising revenues came from and this affected thier stance.
I can remember the journalistic phrases such as 'slight vibration was apparent through the footrests' to describe a machine that vibrated like a jackhammer...mustn't offend the manufacturers too much!
AMC refused to supply road test machines for a number of years after a critical (realistic?) test of one of thier machines..I'm sure the journos were mindful of that possibility.
It is interesting when you look at a magazine over a number of years..MCN for example have raved copiously over numerous new machines on release...but a few years later when they are doing a 'what to buy secondhand' article are very critical of basic features of those same models....I recently read a road test of the 1600 BMW tourer which has more electronic gizmos on board than you could shake a stick at..satnav, ABS, cruise control, programmable riding modes, traction control,reactive headlamp,fly by wire throttle and two computers..and that isn't all of it..However, at no point was this described as anything but brilliant with no mention at all of the fact it might have implications for maintenance costs, long term ownership etc.
As for the classic mags of today some of thier content is a joke..particularly technical articles..A journalist of say 35 years of age wasn't even born when the British motorcycle industry came to an end and is unlikely to have come from a technical background either as manufacturing has 'crashed' during that period as well..So how much experience is he really likely to have of the subject he is covering?...Articles today are not usually written based on the personal experience of the journalist in my opinion, but put together from archive material and brief conversations with people who do know the subject. I have supplied such information on more than one occassion....When it comes to technical articles that nearly always shows...I read an article in Classic Bike Magazine about measuring equipment and it was plain the writer did not have a proper grasp of the subject and had probably misinterpreted the information given to him...The old adage 'Don't believe everything you read' definitely applies...Ian
email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com