The smell of tacos drifted in the air as a handful of people cruised around the parking lot at media company Bonnier Motorcycle Group’s Spectrum-area headquarters to test out various electric bikes.
The gathering was to celebrate the recent launch of the company’s new online publication—Cycle Volta—that’s dedicated to electric mobility vehicles such as electric bikes.
Cycle Volta is the fifth brand under the group’s corporate banner; others include Cycle World, Motorcyclist, Dirt Rider, and Motorcycle Cruiser. They’re published in a mix of online and print formats.
The motorcycle collection of publications is a unit of Bonnier Group, whose portfolio of publications such as Popular Science and Field & Stream date back to the late 1800s.
Riding E-Bike Growth
Andy Leisner, senior vice president and managing director of Bonnier Motorcycle, said in addition to e-bikes the website will cover other forms of electric mobility such as electric motorcycles and scooters from firms like Bird and Lime.
“Ninety percent of our content will be about e-bikes because it’s an emerging two-wheel transportation, two-wheel mobility trend,” Leisner said. “It’s a huge, huge growing segment of bicycling and touches motorcycling.”
Research firm NPD Group said U.S. e-bike sales were up 79% last year and estimated it as a $143 million market.
Trek Bicycle President John Burke said earlier this year that for “good retailers in the U.S., e-bikes now represent more than 10% of sales,” but he could see it growing to represent at least 30% of a store’s sales.
The growing trend has been noticed by major brands, several of which are based in Orange County, including Yamaha Motor Corp. USA, the Cypress-based unit of Yamaha Motor Corp. in Japan, which entered the U.S. e-bike market this year.
For Bonnier Motorcycle, tapping into the electric mobility industry also gives it an opportunity to boost circulation and advertising revenue.
The company, once considered the largest motorcycle-enthusiast media group, has been impacted by declining ad revenue and has recently made attempts to retool its strategy from folding print publications such as Hot Bike to reducing its publishing schedule and shifting brands online like Motorcyclist, which ceased print operations in May to become all-digital.
Bonnier Group last month sold off a collection of scuba and diving-related publications to Rancho Santa Margarita’s Professional Association of Diving Instructors, on undisclosed terms.
Bonnier Dive Media Group was said to have readership of more than 75,000, as well as 820,000 social media followers, and 540,000 unique monthly website visitors, at the time of the sale.
Readership details on the Bonnier’ motorcycle group have not been disclosed.
Spinning Wheels
Before launching Cycle Volta, Leisner said Bonnier’s market research found a strong connection between traditional cyclists and motorcycle riders.
“We found a motorcycle rider is three times more likely to buy an e-bike as a non-motorcyclist and a non-motorcyclist who buys an e-bike for general urban transportation is more likely in the future to buy a motorcycle than a general consumer,” he said.
“We see [Cycle Volta] as a great way to take these powersports consumers we speak to regularly and expose them to e-bikes and also take young e-bike consumers and bring them into powersports someday.”
The digital-only title launched last month followed by its social media channels and this month’s kickoff of related YouTube videos. It’s also planning to work with content-syndication partners.
Leisner noted YouTube has been a successful platform in helping to draw eyeballs and awareness for its other publications, citing its popular video series such as On Two Wheels, where editors at Motorcyclist are seen doing everything from motorcycle reviews to going on adventures.
Bonnier Motorcycle’s Vice President and Content Director Mark Hoyer said it’s also planning to work with an engineer to create a product testing program “to bring to the space our imperial background [and] our testing background to differentiate our product.”
But he adds that Cycle Volta is not trying to cater to the e-bike or scooter enthusiast.
“We feel strongly about broadening the market and keeping it consumer-based and utility-based because we really see the growth here,” Hoyer said.
While Hoyer will be overseeing editorial content, he said the publication is still looking to bring on an editor-in-chief, as well as additional staff.
Harley’s Helping Hand
Cycle Volta is getting a little lift from Harley-Davidson, which agreed to be the platform’s exclusive launch sponsor for 30 days.
Harley-Davidson caused a stir when it introduced two e-bike concepts at the Consumer Electronic Showcase in Las Vegas earlier this year.
Leisner said having the motorcycle giant be a launch partner is in line with the company’s stated goal to roll out 10 electric mobility products, including its recently released electric motorcycle LiveWire.
“They’re famous for great motorcycles, but they see the future being a lot of urban electric mobility,” he said.
Following the sponsorship, additional advertisers will include other motorcycle manufacturers and e-bike companies.
