Please can we start more discussions about biking related activities rather than just junk in the forums?
I always ask people who leave why they are leaving, and the most common answer right now is due to the junk all over the forums and the lack of real "bike talk".
Please post up biking news, mechanical questions, advice, etc. If you find a useful magazine article giving tips on riding please post up the info for others to benefit from.
Thanks for your understanding
FANTASTIC MATT. I have taken a step back lately because I have been finding some of the threads useless threads (if thats the right words) and the more interesting ones being lost down the page or onto previous pages.
Yeah I know in the chatroom I banter about anything and everything and mostly not bike related but most in there are the same (there for company on an otherwise boring night stuck in the house alone) and are always open to bike related subjects/questions.
Good job I am out on my bike today it will save me having to run and get my coat for that post.
not too bothered in the chatroom, it's the social chit-chat part of the site, but the forums have gone right down hill recently with some people just posting as much crap as they can
Even i can't keep up with it anymore. I'm gonna start removing pointless junk to clean the site up a bit
Has anybody else noticed it seems to go in fits and spurts?
You get a lot of bike related stuff posted then loads of junk followed by loads of bike related stuff followed by ......................
Surprised that's the reason you're being given from leavers Matt.
Looking at the Active Topics page (20 threads) we've got:
8 specifically bike-related threads 1 general road-users thread (speed cameras) 3 meet/ride-out threads 2 site usage threads (this one and server business) 2 newbie threads 1 current affairs thread 2 longstanding "junk" threads (happy/sad) 1 thread about what members do for a living
Doesn't exactly look like the "junk" is outweighing the "bike" discussions. Unless you've already had a big tidy up? I don't know, I wasn't able to access the site all last week.
You advertise BM as a social site and means you attract members like myself who don't ride, but enjoy the biking scene & would like to learn to ride one day. Personally speaking, I'm put off by sites where I know I won't be able to join in any of the conversations because I don't know my wankel from my 2-stroke
I'm with Wannabe, sort of, I don't see why, just cos it's a bike site for bikers, we have to keep the chat to BIKES!!! It's boring if all the chat is about bikes, but...I also agree that some of the topics are pointless, but like C G said, I tend not to join in if I don't like them. It wouldn't do if we all thought the same way, liked the same stuff etc.
Perhaps if the topics that aren't bike-related were less trivial/ interesting? Maybe then we'd have a good mix.
I also agree with what everyone's said, don't read the trivial topics if you're not interested - but, you've (Matt) also set up a forum that says 'General Chat - Anything goes' so what's supposed to go in there ?
& yep Jackie - over the years I've been on here, it does go in fits & spurts.
IMHO I think it's a nice mixture & a bit of an ice breaker.
I'm glad to see some of the junk go.
I know you don't have to read it but sometimes I just feel turned off from the site due to it and therefore don't contribute at all.
OK.. point taken. But lifes not worth much without a few giggles and can be a right bugger if you take it too seriously. Anyone know of a Biker -Giggle site ?? (or is it sacrilage to put those two words next to each other??)
I'm with Louise, in the respect I love bikes and the biker lifestyle, but I don't know much about bikes (prob fit on a pin head !), so I find it difficult to add to bike related topics - I'm adding to Rusty's thread because we are discussing it and I'm finding bits out for myself - a good place to start
As for the junk - there's gloop (soppy stuff, do we really want to know this? only my opinion mind........) and then theres completely silly stuff, like my game thread, a complete waste of time but for some reason keeps getting posted on. Apologies if I've annoyed anyone posting this thread, haven't heard anything that I have mind, so let me know I think the funny threads are a good way to get to know one another before meets - a lot of my friends on here have been made this way, and personally I like the spontenaity of this forum and the fun side too. There are a few out there that are sooooooooo boring - this is a refreashing change !
Maybe if everyone who hasn't posted a topic for a while could post a thread thats of interest to them,then we could all join in ? I'd like that, I'd also like more bike related topics too, so I can learn more by researching and then start adding to threads more
It goes through phases - I've often signed in, taken a cursory glance
at the boards and thought there's nothing I can even be bothered to
click on, let alone contribute to.
Doesn't make me leave though - I just chat to the friends I've made via
PM. Or if I really want to get on the forum, I'll post a new discussion.
This week's a good point in hand. I've not been able to access the site
for a week (DNS issues), and when I got back on, there was nothing of
interest to me. I'm not interested in the games, riddles, paintballing,
how long who's been seeing who, events/rideouts I can't attend etc etc. Not a
problem. Other people ARE interested, join in and keep the discussions
moving. That's what's important.
Hardly something to spit the dummy and leave over.
That said, I'd probably leave if it was all strictly bike talk - so hypocrisy is alive and well! There'd
be no point for someone like me to be here. I'm only here for the
social side and have nothing to contribute to discussions about
riding/mechanics/tyres etc etc.
Matt,why don't you be more specific? then let us also decide,I agree with WB and others here regarding diversity,apart from the biking aspect other topics keep the site busy and interesting imo