Years ago, I wrote, edited, proofread and published a martial arts newsletter called FiST that ended up going to Scotland, Africa and Russia, as well as across the United States. I ended up getting articles from people all over the world. It was pretty successful for a made at home job with a type writer and an exacto knife.
I've been working on a newsletter based on the XJ Series of bikes, specifically 1982-86, called The Yama-zine. Basically, I plan to put to paper all the things I've learned about motorcycles (should take about 3 seconds) as well as hit people up for articles or at least permission to re-print articles found on this site. There are lots of XJ's in my area, and I feel this is a way to reach out to some of them, gives me something to do (besides polish my bike) and maybe help someone who doesn't have access to a computer and are clueless about this website. It's free, will be mailed to whomever wants a copy, and is strictly non-profit. I plan to put it in any business that will have it, free to peruse, and hopefully won't be used to mop up coffee or to kill bugs.
Anyone interested in contributing, I am willing! Obviously, no copywritten material. I'm more interested in the back yard mechanic anyway, plan to have a section based on Mods/Bobbers, a Honored Fallen section, Rubber Side Up (a section focusing on crashes people walked "away" from) and much, much more. Plus riding tips, clinics, get togethers, riding buddies (a kind of personals section for people to get together and ride based on location).
It'll be a simple black and white job, no corporate sponsorship, but possibly cheap ads for interested businesses to cover the cost of paper, supplies, printing and copying. (Looking right at you, XJ4Ever, and you too, MiCarl) I'm fairly handy with Photoshop, so I can whip up something, unless you have something specific you'd like to use.
Again, this is based on my love of bikes in general, but specifically XJ's. Certainly Honda's Kawasaki's and even Harley's are welcome to read it.
Not much reaction from the crowd over there, but then again people are kind of reeling from a recent accident involving one of the members. I've already got the cover page done, and I'm guessing it'll be a 2 page double sided newsletter.
I also went on a short road trip with Nursepadawan, an interesting fellow with a Maxim750. We rode around town, but I had no plan on where to go. Of course, the ride was thrown together at the last minute, but we did manage to cover about 35 miles, I think. If you see a distinctive red Maxim750 with a rider wearing a white helmet with a stormtrooper on the back, that's the guy. We talked about setting up another ride soon, perhaps to Jackson. He seems like a good riding companion, didn't take any risks and stayed the speed limit. I didn't go over 75 myself, staying with the flow of traffic. Nice to know he's not a speed demon.
I'll be posting the newsletter in pdf format as well as paper. If anyone wants a copy, they're free for the taking.
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