Thoughts On Sub-Forum...

[baz elzebub]

Hi again, all! Had to start a new thread on a thorny issue,as my "XXX for sale" thread has been moved to 'Posts On Hold', wherever that is, and as I have also found that I cannot reply to PM's, here's my side of things, for what it's worth.

BobA & gang, the point I was trying to make was simply that although I posted a notice (to direct XXX enthusiasts' attention) stating my intention to place an ad on the correct forum, I found that I couldn't due to lack of subscription, so I carried on the comments and simply didn't consider the heading as "offensive" to paid-up members. Indeed, I didn't think anyone could even consider the thread as a so-called "stealth ad", otherwise I'd have asked interested parties to PM me, or would have posted a phone number. Obviously, that would have been a blatant abuse of the forum, and something I wasn't trying to do!

What I struggle to comprehend here is the total brick-wall attitude to a basic principle of possibly considering a sub-forum, in the For Sale section, for anyone (members or not) to advertise relevant machinery to an audience of true marque enthusiasts.

As I repeatedly stated, I have no problem with paying a fee for placing an ad; it's something we have to do in mags/papers/eBay/whatever, so why should it be different here? No worries on that score.

What I tried to get across is that, if there was a sub-forum for non-members' sales of bikes into the club/forum, therefore directed at the right sort of enthusiast, then surely you might consider that an enhancement, as an extra way of hooking more members as they firstly advertise then browse the rest of the forum, see for themselves how useful & informative it is, then join up? I found mine by Googling "XXX", got hundreds of results..and one led me directly to this forum's For Sale section, hence my sign-up. Granted, not all will sign-up (especially if they're just selling), but it's still a thought.

I first browsed the forum before I bought my 'XXX, to search out technical info & be sure of what I was looking for, then I browsed the For Sale ads, couldn't find what I wanted, bought a bike elsewhere, then signed-up on the forum. If I can do it, so can anyone else; the more, the merrier, eh?

Sure, it may be a bit awkward to police the sub-forum in terms of spammers, dealers, etc - but then again, if a dealer has a particular machine to offer, and a club member's looking for such a bike, then that's surely beneficial to the member to have the advert right here on the forum?

I'm also a member of the Pontiac Owners' Club Forum (Regional Club Rep & Forum Moderator, too), and we have a sub-forum ("Misc' Items For Sale") in which we can flog anything not POC-related, but it's on an automatic 28-day deletion, and ANY registered user can post in there for free, because it won't linger there forever & need hoovering out - so why not add such a facility in here, giving members access to machinery & items of direct interest so the member (or potential member) doesn't have to spend hours & days to search the web & filter-out all the rubbish?

So, what's so wrong with a small ad in a short-term sub-forum, say, free if just text, £5 with a picture, etc, etc. You might just get some good publicity, expansion, whatever, if it was considered & trialled for a while - what have you got to lose?

As I also said, I want my bike to (hopefully) go to an enthusiast who'll understand it and (with luck) appreciate it/maintain it, etc, as I would, if I was keeping it?

Equally, I know I won't be returning to the forum once the bike's sold (I am effectively retiring from bikes due to personal reasons), so I won't need to bother anyone anymore.

OK - let's see where THAT argument goes (hopefully not straight into the 'deletions' bin...)

Baz.

[Mervinh]

If someone appears on the RD forum wanting to sell a bike or pars that are going to benefit members we give them temporary membership for a month or until sold then switch them out again, this does not apply to dealers unless they are selling old stock at a fair price after shutting down or retirement, A trader offering us discount EG Opie oils/TSR vapourblasting, will get trade membership for free so they can post any special offers etc
Merv

[Lumiya]

Simple solution, the advert fee is £12 per year, it comes with a free years subscription just in case you ever change your mind and decide to buy another TA/AT. Still a hell of a lot cheaper than ebay, biketrader..etc...

Your post was removed as it was effectively an advert, if you wanted to contact the mods/admins you could have quite easily have used the Contact Us link as found on the bottom of every forum page

[baz elzebub]

Yep, that's fine, Kymmy - I can see that the Transalp side of things is set in concrete, and that MervinH's RD Forum has a little practical flexibility, but the PM point was that I had an e-mail notifying me that 'BobA' had moved the thread into some secret realm of 'On Hold Posts' or somesuch, and the PM system would not allow me to reply directly to him to ask if there had been any unread replies; no way of asking, eh?

...And as I have said several times now, I AM GIVING UP BIKING PERMANENTLY (FOR PRIVATE & PERSONAL REASONS), SO I WILL NOT BE BUYING ANOTHER TRANSALP!!!

Now, PLEASE - can you read the thread in the helpful spirit in which it was written, and stop badgering me about yearly subs????

Goodnight!

[GOG 007]

Yep, that's fine, Kymmy - I can see that the Transalp side of things is set in concrete, and that MervinH's RD Forum has a little practical flexibility, but the PM point was that I had an e-mail notifying me that 'BobA' had moved the thread into some secret realm of 'On Hold Posts' or somesuch, and the PM system would not allow me to reply directly to him to ask if there had been any unread replies; no way of asking, eh?

...And as I have said several times now, I AM GIVING UP BIKING PERMANENTLY (FOR PRIVATE & PERSONAL REASONS), SO I WILL NOT BE BUYING ANOTHER TRANSALP!!!

Now, PLEASE - can you read the thread in the helpful spirit in which it was written, and stop badgering me about yearly subs????

Goodnight!

It would appear that it is not only Goodnight, but Goodbye, the forum has rules to stop people like you posing a for sale item and then disappearing forever, the forum costs a lot to keep it up and running, so what makes you think you can come on here, post an add for free then bugger off ? If you want to place an add then its £12.00 as Kymmy said, what you do after that is down to you, but its a good social forum as well. Good luck with the Pontiac site thou

[Sharribee]

Baz if you don't want to subscribe then that's fine, your choice but there are members who do. The rules of this site are subscribe you can post in the for sale section and benefit from that if you opt not to subscribe then you can't. It's simple really, pay 12 quid to advertise, pm etc or don't. If you want to know about unread replies, pay the 12 quid and the thread will be restored otherwise it's unfair on those who do pay to support the site

if you want to discuss it you can reply to admin email at xrv dot org dot uk

[GOG 007]

Baz if you don't want to subscribe then that's fine, your choice but there are members who do. The rules of this site are subscribe you can post in the fit sale section and benefit from that if you opt not to subscribe then you can't. It's simple really, pay 12 quid to advertise, pm etc or don't.

Well said Nursey, Simples really ! heard about you diss yet ?

[Sharribee]

Well said Nursey, Simples really ! heard about you diss yet ?

Not yet it'll be June before I get results, in fact June 21st. Imagine that

[Mervinh]

Not yet it'll be June before I get results, in fact June 21st. Imagine that

that is gonna be a long long wait Sharrie
merv

[GOG 007]

Not yet it'll be June before I get results, in fact June 21st. Imagine that

Your be in Germany !