New Patreon Page and How You Can Support This Site

Motorcyclists put their fellow riders first. We don’t pull over to help a rider on the side of the road because we expect to get something back. We stop to help him or her because we can help. We stop to help because we have each other’s backs. We stop to help because that rider is just like us, and and we’re all in this together.

For 9 years, YouMotorcycle has served up over 2 million how-tos, walk-throughs, news, product reviews, and motorcycle reviews, to over 1 million riders from all around the world.

For the most part, it’s been the work of one man and his dog. I want to keep doing this for another decade, but the pup, the server, and me (the man behind the keyboard) could use some help.

To turn back the hands of time and keep this site growing, I’m starting a Patreon page. You can visit it here. It’s perfect for those who can and would like to contribute. For those who haven’t heard of Patreon, here’s a short video that explains what it’s about:

Summary:

• Patreon is a method of crowdfunding that lets you donate a couple dollars per month to support digital creators.
• Your sponsorship gets you some value and some input as well. Example: My sponsors are able to get on a call with me to chat and let me know what topics I should cover, or what questions I should answer, in my next post or video. In the future I’m hoping to add more kick-ass perks for my supporters.
• Your support goes directly towards maintaining and developing the site (I’ll explain further down this page)
• You can cancel at any time.

Mainstream motorcycle publications turned my stomach

YouMotorcycle was started in 2009 in a cold, damp, basement apartment. My doggo was still a pup back then, and we huddled together for warmth while thinking about motorcycles 24/7.

I never tried to get big corporate sponsorships for the site because working in the motorcycle industry taught me that when motorcycle manufacturers opened up their advertising budgets they expected positive reviews. Unfortunately, magazines and other publications would give in to them. If you paid enough you were guaranteed a solid endorsement of your next test ride vehicle. It made me sick. I lost all faith in motorcycle publications.

So I kept the site very small, and very indie.

Why use Patreon? My goals:

The thing is, there’s only so far you can go, and so much you can grow, with a very limited budget from very limited revenue. There are three main reasons why I want to turn to crowdfunding:

1. A better server: YouMotorcycle is reaching about 1,000 motorcyclists every single day, and our server is crawling at times. It’s taking visitors 10-12 seconds to load a page. A lot of people simply leave part way through, which hurts the site in the search rankings. Sometimes, especially the back-end of the site, feels like trying to ride a 250cc with two seized brakes. We gets hit with dozens of hacker attempts that our current web host doesn’t proactively block. We need a better host, capable of handling our traffic.
2. The growth in video: More and more new motorcyclists are turning to videos or vlogs, rather than articles or blogs. And why shouldn’t they? High speed internet is now in everyone’s hand, and videos can often do a much better job of showing, teaching, and explaining things than the average article can. I want to turn my best how-tos and informative articles into videos aimed at helping riders. That’s taking investment in the right equipment and software.
3. A second author: This site really needs a second author, and maybe even some support staff, to get more helpful and interesting content out to riders, offer a different perspective from my own, and to keep things running smoothly. To do that needs some investment.

You can see more about my goals on the left side of this page.

I want my supporters to also get some value from their pledges, which in essence means three things:

• Access to me. Let’s talk. Not just in the comments or by email, but let’s schedule a time and date, and I’ll call you up, and we’ll shoot the breeze on bikes, your questions, whatever.
• Your input in content creation, specifically, what topics or themes you want to see the site address.
• Some other little perks like gifts to you guys that I’ll pay for out of my pocket.

My ultimate goal is for you guys to feel like this site is your community, and we’re part of a family that helps each other out.

What now?

I’m making some promises to you guys and they start at $20/month. Keep in mind, that’s a combined total. Meaning if twenty of you chip in $1/each, we’re at $20!

• At $20/month in sponsorships I’ll move us to a better web host
• At $50/month I’ll start making more videos aimed at helping motorcyclists
• At $100/month I’ll bring on a second author and/or some support staff

If you want to support YouMotorcycle, sign up and become a patron here. Your pledge can be as little as $1/month. Every bit helps, and if even one person donates I’ll probably do a freakin’ back-flip with joy to be honest.

PS: I’m going to try to offer a special early-bird reward for the first 10 patrons. I’m just looking into how I can make that work for an international audience. Details to be determined, so if you’re interested, now’s the time to make a pledge!

And above all else, thank you, even if you aren’t donating but you’ve left a positive note, given one of our posts a thumbs up, shared a story with a friend, thanks. The love I get from you guys is awesome!

Much love,

Adrian and BikerPup

We’re looking to share the stories of men and women riding motorcycles all over the world. We want to hear and see where you’re riding, and answer all of your questions. Let’s make a big world a whole lot smaller, one ride at a time.

Click here to send us your story or ask us your question.