[verification needed] It was initially called Pacific Motocycling when it was first published on July 1, 1912, as a bi-weekly newspaper in Los Angeles, California.

In 1965, the magazine was purchased by its Editor, Motorcycle Hall of Famer Bill Bagnall, who ran it until 1972 when it was bought by Petersen Publishing.

[2] In 2013, Source Interlink sold Motorcyclist to Bonnier Corporation, which relocated the magazine's headquarter to Irvine.

[3] Starting in the spring of 2017, Motorcyclist changed its format from a twelve-issue-per-year to a six-issue per year publication.

The physically larger format consisted of more pages per issue, stronger paper stock, and a revised cover layout.