To Forum or not to Forum?

[richard100t]

I think I'll start my own forum too. Lets see about the rules and restrictions for joining my special forum

1) You must live in Northeast oHIo

2) You must ride a v11 Sport

3) The v11 Sport must be equipped with only the aftermarket accesories that I deem are " cool and necessary"

4) I would prefer that your bike be red, BUT I may grant a waiver if I feel that you're still worthy

5) You will have to swear a blood oath of loyalty to the v11 Sport northeast oHIo riders club and swear to never ride anything else under penalty of having your membership cancelled.

6)You may not wave to other riders of different brands of motorcycles! {ok I'm stealing that from the "other" bike club, but so what

7) There will need to be fees and dues paid to me on a monthly basis to cover all necessary costs...( I'm the arbiter of what is necessary)

 

I'll get back to you guys in a few months to show you how my new forum will be taking over the motorcycle world! I'll probably get so many new recruits that I'll have to turn some away, but hey... they can always move to N.I.

[helicopterjim R.I.P.]

I think I'll start my own forum too. Lets see about the rules and restrictions for joining my special forum

1) You must live in Northeast oHIo

 

Don't forget the security question for registration:

 

What's high in the middle and round at both ends?

[belfastguzzi]

It's snowing now in N.I.?

I think it's not snowing anymmore there in N.I. Go out and get a ride David!

Hi Antonio, I can do that ok

the issue here is about:

is it worth trying to enable a local 'community' to get together, meet-up, organise a few rides... weekends etc?

 

It's certainly easier not to try and to just carry on as 'lone Guzzi'. In that case, might as well be 'lone Aprilia'

– and for sure I'm not going to try to galvanise a local Aprilia community spirit/venture.

 

Part of the Guzzi thing is about 'community' and communal enthusiasm, isn't it? And all the better if that can be in real life, as well as here in virtual web world.

[helicopterjim R.I.P.]

is it worth trying to enable a local 'community' to get together, meet-up, organise a few rides... weekends etc?

 

It most certainly is Belfast. There is a collection of Guzzi riders in the Lower Mainland area of British Columbia that do just that via their own forum. We call ourselves Stradavaious (Strada - Italian for road - various - the many roads we ride).

 

We are planning a spring meeting at one of the Moto Guzzi dealerships and we expect to have the Moto Guzzi rep there and we'll have a couple of custom bikes on display and also some tech sessions (hoping to have Kiwi Roy show us his electrical upgrades) and have some espresso and ciambella's. After that we'll go for a ride and finish the day at a restaurant or pub.

 

It's worth it!!!

 

Here is the website: STRADAVARIOUS

[gstallons]

And I thought it had to do with violins ?

[helicopterjim R.I.P.]

And I thought it had to do with violins ?

 

No - but we do like doughnuts!

[Baldini]

...Part of the Guzzi thing is about 'community' and communal enthusiasm, isn't it? ...

 

I dunno. For me it's always been about the bike & the ride. I never have found that I prefered the company of Guzzi riders to others. Mostly I ride on my own anyhow, but when in company I am just happiest with riders I respect; for the way they ride & the attitude they have towards motorcycles & motorcycling - whatever their ride. I'd rather spend time in the company of a genuine, knowledgable & enthusiastic ...insert brand... rider than a rider on a brand new Guzzi that doesn't know his r's from his elba. But I enjoy this Guzzi board - perhaps because attitudes are informed by such varying locations, experiences of, views on & enthusiasms for other motorcycles, & motorcycling & life in general. I used to like the Aussie Guzzi forum for it's similar mix of independent thought & lack of an orthodox "forum view". Membership here doesn't seem to be limited to, or by, a single attitude, or geographical location: it's scope is far greater than it's name advertises.

 

KB

[Admin Jaap]

Baldini, you've hit the nail on it's head. The main reason why I didn't give up on this forum a few years back is that I just liked it too much. I never asked myself why, but you've nailed it: the mix of independent thought & lack of an orthodox "forum view". Membership here doesn't seem to be limited to, or by, a single attitude, or geographical location: it's scope is far greater than it's name advertises

 

Thanks!

[Baldini]

...Thanks!

 

No!Jaap! THANK YOU!

[belfastguzzi]

While I agree that Baldini's statement is true and well made, it is referring to a different thing than my query. Kind of a chalk forum and a cheese forum.

 

This V11 forum, by intention, is an international forum with an international core community, so indeed, 'Membership here [is not] limited to, or by, a single attitude, or geographical location: its scope is [wide-ranging]'. Yes: the primary base for this forum is the WW Guzzi Web.

 

What I'm commenting on & asking about is the difficulty of creating a focus that is VERY limited by constraints of geographical location and a very small range of potential community members: a forum, a means of communication, that is intentionally about the actual geographical base and has the intention of enabling actual meeting together of people, rather than primarily being a virtual community. And my question is, will a local forum be a useful tool to provide this focus? Or would it serve better to just have an online notice-board and leave it at that? I'm saying that it's worth trying something, because I don't know the answer (yet) but I'd be very glad to hear from other people & places about ways and means that have worked in their locality.

 

 

 

Yes, we can ride the rest of our days and never meet another Guzzi rider or another motorcyclist of any type and we can enjoy the lone experience,

however,

number one – we agree that a virtual forum is good not just for getting tech facts to sustain our lone rider-machine hobby, but for providing a means of being connected to a broad ww shared-interest community, with all that it provides in addition to facts and figures

and number two – we probably mostly agree that our forum-community experience is greatly enhanced and enriched by actual real-life meeting together on occasion, maybe annually (more or less)

 

and number three) I contend that personal enthusiasm is facilitated and enhanced by meeting to share experience and enthusiasm (particularly when it's a quirky minority marque like MG) – with compatriots. A very, very simple but real example of benefit is that when you are very busy all the time, making plans with other people and getting dates in a diary provides incentive and a mechanism to ensure that you actually get out for a decent run on the bike: instead of that activity getting pushed out by the great multitude of other pressing and competing demands on time.

 

So, how to help make number 3 (above) happen? For me, the 'Ulster' Guzzi meets were a first go – and were successful.

Then arranging a monthly meet was a second step – less successful, but still hanging on to life.

So now the question is, how to encourage and facilitate that (monthly) meeting? Hence the particular question, 'To Forum (locally) or not To Forum (locally)?'

I suspect that the answer will be that there are not enough people here to make the efforts to develop an infrastructure worthwhile – and the best that will be achieved is just a very casual meeting from time to time. Still, it would be great to hear from others about their neck of the woods and how they structure and support meetings, events and ride-outs, or as in this forum title, Meetings, Clubs & Events.

(Thanks Jim, for yours, from the frozen northlands.)

[GraeV11]

This is all interesting and especially for me who is studying design and preferences driven by experiences, social interaction and other influences. For me, I ride in a group of friends who all have different bikes ranging from big jap fours to vintage 2 strokes. We are all enthusiasts with varying levels of technical expertise and riding skill. We have constructive discussions and are genuinely interested in each others bikes. We do, of course, descend into piss-taking after a few beers but are firm friends and when out as a group we ride within the capabilities of the least experienced rider. We were friends before we were bikers. Do I need the same experience with other Guzzi riders ? probably not, but I do rely on you guys for you help and experience and am very grateful for it of course (not to say I wouldn't turn up at a convenient Guzzi meet, but that would be about the bikes not the people). I do ride alone most of the time and I am happy doing my own thing. I love my Guzzi and accept all its shortcomings because it, to me, looks good, sounds good, smells good (probably tastes good as well) and goes as fast and as quick as I want to these days. It also apes the LeMans Mk1 that was stuck on my bedroom wall throughout my teens. I am very happy that when we are out as a group the Guzzi usually attracts the most attention when parked up (even if it is usually from old guys with a dog on a bit of string) so nicely massages my ego. As you can probably tell I am in the middle of an essay and am finding it hard to reach some firm conclusions but I think I know where I am going with it. I hope you do not mind being studied ! One question, if you sold your Guzzi would you still come back to this forum and if so, why ?

[Baldini]

This is all interesting and especially for me who is studying design and preferences driven by experiences, social interaction and other influences...

 

GraeV11, you might be interested in: http://www.motoguzziclub.co.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9951 - or of course, you might not!

 

BFG, it maybe the nature of internet forums that they work for groups whose constituents are spread over large geographical areas & seldom meet, but that they don't work so well when membership is concentrated in a local area with ample oportunity to meet face to face? Maybe only a small proportion of motorcyclists participate in internet forums, & if you're targeting only one brand, in one location, the traffic might be very light? Perhaps something simpler - a facebook page? - as a means of communicating? Advertise the page/group/forum in Guzzi shop? Is that the forum you're thinking of changing into a Guzzi sport forum? Good luck whatever you decide.

 

KB

[Guzzirider]

I think a Facebook page is a good shout! Nice and easy to set up, and you can attract new members easily as the word spreads.

[al_roethlisberger]

I think one has to balance the need for a targeted audience with "critical mass" and for a subject like the "V11" Sport(based) Guzzi, how many forums can effectively be supported and be healthy and helpful?

 

In this case I think that a healthy singular(or few) forum is the way to go, with sub-categories for regions, etc. When you get everyone together in one place, you realize the benefit of that "critical mass" of knowledge versus having it spread over 100 different sites.

 

I wouldn't discourage someone from setting up their own regional or interest forum, after all it is a "free world"(more or less). But I think for "boutique" interests like small motorcycle marques and specific models, one "big" forum is the better way to go.

 

Although I haven't been hanging around for a while, I've often worried that this forum would go away as the V11 models got older. It would be a huge loss of information if it did, not to mention the camaraderie. I'm glad v11lemans.com is still around.

 

Al

[al_roethlisberger]

I think a Facebook page is a good shout! Nice and easy to set up, and you can attract new members easily as the word spreads.

 

 

For a local bunch of friends, I too think this probably is a good option as well.