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Where can I find a test for a particular motorcycle?

One of the most popular subjects on the Motorcycles site is Road Tests/Reviews. Most of the links under this subject were found by direct searches on the Internet or by looking at various motorcycle electronic magazines. Unfortunately, it's quite difficult to keep up with all the motorcycle road tests that are being published on the Internet.

One link near the end of the Road Tests/Reviews subject is to the Ian Smith Web site that provides a paid service that supplies all the articles ever written about a particular model in hardcopy. This is a useful service for someone wanting to do a complete paper chase to find all that has been written on a bike they may be wanting to buy. If you haven't seen this link, you should take a look at it.

Since the motorcycle magazines tend to take a very long time to get a test published, more and more riders are turning to the Internet for bike evaluations. Many of the motorcycle electronic magazines listed on the Motorcycles site do give these more timely reviews. The problem still is finding out if a particular bike has been tested, what magazine or electronic magazine it's in and the date of the publication. Often members of the Motorcycles forum post messages asking if anyone has seen a road test for such-and-such a bike. There is no simple index of these road tests.

To provide a means for these road tests to be indexed, I have created an index on the Motorcycles site called Motorcycle Tests Index. This feature lists the various motorcycle makes and models alphabetically on an index page. Clicking on the model of interest takes you to a separate page of information about that bike. This information includes the motorcycle magazine containing the test and the month and year of publication. Information is given so you can order back copies of the magazine. If any electronic magazine articles have been found for the same model, they are also listed. Since this is a work in progress, as additional road test links are uncovered, they will be added to the page. A link to the manufacturer's Web site where the model is described is also listed.

Creating such an index can be a daunting task. To get the Motorcycle Tests feature started, an initial set of makes and models was created from the major motorcycle magazines for the year 2000 by listing their major motorcycle tests in the Index. All tests for all months were not included owing to time constraints. Then electronic magazines were perused for tests on the same models and links provided. As mentioned earlier, additional electronic magazine road tests will be added going forward. Also, new tests will be added as they appear in the magazines.

There is no guarantee of completeness here. Not every motorcycle magazine has been searched. Only Cycle World, Motorcycle Consumer News (MCN), Motorcyclist and Rider have been used but others may be added later. As always, your assistance is solicited to provide information about additional current tests that you feel should be included in the Index.

Motorcycle Tests Index is a feature that allows you to locate motorcycle road tests in magazines and electronic magazines provided online. Knowing the particular magazine that contains the test you're interested in allows you to either buy the magazine, locate it in your personal magazine collection, or order back issues from the magazine publisher. If you like, you may also use the Ian Smith Motorcycle Reports service to obtain copies of the individual reports. Links to electronic magazine road tests are also provided.

Since the Motorcycle Tests feature will continue to grow and include more and more magazines and electronic magazine tests, you should make it a point to check back often on the Motorcycles site.