{"id":90159,"date":"2026-08-16T16:05:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T23:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/creative-riding.com\/WPMaster\/?p=90159"},"modified":"2026-08-16T17:42:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T00:42:12","slug":"is-there-a-moto-press-problem-in-this-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/creative-riding.com\/WPMaster\/is-there-a-moto-press-problem-in-this-country\/","title":{"rendered":"Is There a Moto Press Problem in This Country?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The following is an editorial opinion-

In the Beginning, there was Ford:
Nothing is more American than the pursuit of happiness except perhaps the freedom of speech. These two tenets of American society seem to be at war in the motorcycle press today. Speculation and brand bashing seems to have taken the steering wheel while reporting on the facts, specs and any positive news have been tied up and thrown in the trunk.

In the good ol’ US of A there has been brand loyalty as long as there are have been two brands creating a similar product.
I couldn’t tell you if it was soap, salt, charcoal or gun oil in the early days, but I do know that nowhere (except for maybe sports teams) have marketing departments fought harder for brand loyalty than in the automotive arena.

Henry Ford made the automobile a household item, but only by implementing automation and mass production of his vehicles. While Ford was by far the most popular, Duryea Motor Wagon (1893, America’s first automobile), Olds Motor Vehicle Company and Winton Motor Carriage Company (18970, and Packard (1899) in contrast, have all fallen out of the collective conscience.
By the time Cadillac, Buick and Ford hit the scene in 1902-03, the fellas at Indian, Harley-Davidson, Merkel and a few others had already surpassed production of the Orient-Aster and Auto-Bi, two of the earliest American motorcycle brands.
The point here is that being first doesn’t always mean being best, or even remembered, by the time brand rivalries start to form and the sales teams go into war rooms with well-paid advertising agencies.

Ford and Harley-Davidson are still around in no small part due to a few daring business schemes, government bailouts, yes – tariffs, and above all else – THE PRESS!! Newspapers were great for getting the word out via ads, but what sells harder and creates more public interest than a heated rivalry and a sensational story? NOTHING!
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1. 1903 Model A Fordmobile” by 70_musclecar_RT+6 CC BY – SA 2.0 license<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don’t think I need to go back to the late 1800s and the days of Yellow Journalism from the likes of Joseph Pulitzer and William Hearst to prove to you that sensational headlines – clickbait in this digital age – help fuel everything from public opinion to economic behavior and even international intercourse.
Since the early days of the press, the old adage “the pen is mightier than the sword” has always been a north star for content creators. Rumors and flat out lies get a spotlight that they would never have access to outside of the dim households and dark alleys where they spread like mold on wet bread.

P.T. Barnum said, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity”, and thus begot the age of bad press is good press<\/em>. Nothing is better for sales and marketing than having one’s name in the spotlight, right?
Thanks to unprecedented access to media, including social media, that is no longer the case.
Let’s talk about human behavior, motorcycle media and sensationalism.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Media Target: The Human
While there’s nothing wrong with being critical of yourself and calling out areas for improvement, there is a limit to the level of finger pointing, even at yourself, before doing some harm.
There have been relationship studies done revealing the impact of negative feedback and interactions on outcomes amongst couples and families. That ratio is 1:5. Every negative interaction counteracts five positive ones.
Harvard Business Review featured an article revealing that studies show the devastation caused by using belittling and humiliating feedback in the workplace. If you’re a coach or a manager trying to use tough love on your team to do better, you may actually be sabotaging your future success, as well as laying down lore for future generations.

Hearst and Pulitzer both figured out a successful strategy for selling their newspapers – “if it bleeds, it leads<\/em>“. That concept still works today and has been studied at length by modern science. The human brain focuses on bad news and sensational headlines because as a social, gregarious species we have to pay attention to what may be harmful for us.
A massive downside of sensationalist media has been the court of public opinion. Digital social media is even worse because every account is a repeater, constantly sending the curated signals, believing that they are broadcasting a truth. <\/p>\n\n\n

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The whole reason for this editorial piece is that I have finally had an epiphany while meditating in a garden full of motorcycles no less. After reviewing all of the digital and printed resources that I regularly review, I noticed something amiss in the domestic offerings. They were as yellow as a Suzuki race paddock.

I am not going to name any names or call out any specific sources. What I will say is that from the overly speculative and hopeful down to the headline “(Insert Your OEM of Choice Here) Has No Idea What Its Doing…<\/em>” exemplifies what the American Motor Press has turned into.
Creators of content are are zeroing in on the weakest defenses of the human psyche. The headlines and short videos that they make or curate stimulate the serotonin centers with the hopeful headlines that we want to believe, while simultaneously peddling doom and gloom opinions and speculation. It’s digital bullying in my opinion, and we’re the target. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have looked at all of the ‘journalism’ that I consume, and I can say that the United States is the biggest culprit of sensationalism. Not all American outlets, but quite a few of the most influential and entertaining ones use Yellow tactics. Maybe the problem lies in calling them journalists. The straightforward news outlets and trade publications are all business, sometimes hard to consume even, unless you are concerned with who the next VP of Distribution is for Acme Handlebar Grip Co in your region is. Yet there is no speculation (beyond algorithmic business predictions), rumors or sadly – humor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While I love sarcasm and a good one-liner, I don’t think it transcends journalism, especially in this decade of scrutiny against the press. It’s comedy, lampoon, opinion and bullying. Yes, I consider even promising headlines bullying. What would you call a school kid who told a more gullible classmate that a present was waiting for them in the center of school football field everyday. Even if the classmate quit going to check after a few days, I’d still consider the bully a bully, or at least a massive jerk. Well, if I hear one more mention of a small displacement Harley-Davidson coming to the US or an electric motorcycle with a 300 mile range without proof-in-hand, I’m going to completely lose it. This computer is going straight into a wood chipper. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rub:
The final point that I want to make is that Yellow journalism, sensationalism and attacking the defenseless centers of the human brain that hyper-focus on news does nothing for the industry as a whole. I didn’t like enraged Harley-Davidson owners shooting their bikes because of a corporate DEI program. I liked the expose of Indian Motorcycle’s latest marketing tactic that called back to H-D’s anti-DEI era. Both of those were news. Neither did anything positive for either company. Both were especially detrimental in the hands of Yellow journalists and AI. Please don’t get me started on that technology’s complete washing of the ‘free press’. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I digress. We need to lift up this country’s motorcycle industry. Things are about to get hard. Possibly really hard. I have heard many people grumbling about the two-party system of politics in the USA, yet we apparently love to divide and bash two parties in the showroom as much as we do on the soapbox. I often think about how many US motorcycle companies existed before the Great Depression and WWII wiped them out. Can we at least lift up the two major ones that we have left?

I love the US OEMs – even the electric ones. While I see the doom and gloom in the financial reports and I use the grumblings to fuel my satirical rhetoric, I do not claim to be a journalist or a news outlet.
I actually believe that this is the perfect role for entertainment<\/em> sources like podcasts, blogs and YouTube channels that don’t take them selves too seriously. Because while I value actual news, I do understand the role and value of opinion and satire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The future of American motorcycling isn’t going to be saved by algorithms, rage-baiting, or speculative clickbait\u2014it\u2019s going to be saved by the people who build, ride, and respect the machines. To the creators, influencers, and publishers shaping this space: drop the doom-mongering, strip away the artificial outrage, and start treating this industry with the respect it deserves. If you claim to love motorcycling, prove it by building up the culture, not tearing it down for clicks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following is an editorial opinion- In the Beginning, there was Ford:Nothing is more American than the pursuit of happiness except perhaps the freedom of speech. These two tenets of American society seem to be at war in the motorcycle press today. Speculation and brand bashing seems to have taken the steering wheel while reporting…
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