Cap needs some input...

[Blanca BusaLess]

I thought you quit, sold your bike and became a housewife.. Didn't I read that in a thread somewhere?

Quit? You can't make me! Meh!!!!
Ok between me and you, there is a BIG difference between 'its for sale' and 'sold'.
I ain't in no hurry.
And thanks for appreciating the input you asked for.

Don't you have some solar panels to make track the sun like I told ya?

 

[HappyWhenRiding]

I joined a little over a year ago and read and searched religiously for information on the Busa. However there came a time when I saw so many post that included political topics that I lost interest. I only came here when I had a specific question and then I went straight for the search function. Other times Google brought me here. When I rotated back and finally bought my 2013, I was happy to find that there were more posts about rides and other motorcycle related things. I would love to hear about where people are riding to and what they are doing to their bikes. What I don't care about is who you voted for.
This is one of the best places to get Busa specific information. That's why you have so many coming here but not posting. Can you direct advertisements to the individual user searches? For example, if I search the forum for the best helmet (subjective I know) would I get advertisements targeted with helmets?

 

[methodicreign]

I joined this site when I bought my Busa. like most other I didn't know much about it other then the hype we have all heard and that I actually liked the ride of it and the comfort it provided. I have learned more here and taken away more from this site then I could ever return. Of all the forums I have ever visited or joined this is the only one I keep coming back to, daily, even with my bike in the shop and me being 700 miles from home stuck in a hotel. The sense of community here is unparalleled in the internet forums I have visited.

A few examples of that; within the last month we have seen a prominent member, sadly, get (or start to get ) divorced, and the support for that member was incredible. Complete strangers myself included were going out of our way to help, whether it was a few kind of words (which he hated) or other forms of support that don't need to be explained, those of us that read the threads know what I am talking about. Never once have I came across a thread with threats, or horrible language, racial slurs, or any other forms of typical internet crap that makes most of us lose interest fast. I think the Busa plays a big role in that. Its not a bike for kids or squids, the faint of heart, or the irresponsible. I think the crowd of people that ride our bikes are generally older, (I'm 32) and not young loud mouth internet thugs. Where else can you see leather jackets, helmets, cameras, gloves and who knows how much other perfectly good and valuable stuff just givin away.

I've posted some pretty rookie questions and never gotten a bad reply, just straight forward answers from long time members that are not too good to help a newbie in the Busa world. I have nothing but respect for the members here, the community it offers, and I look forward to being a member for a while yet. As far as improving the site and regaining some popularity, that is a tuff one. We are such a knish market, not everyone wants a busa, if this were a 600cc forum there would be new members daily, but not all of whom would be a good fit in this forum either. I guess we as members just need to keep things new and interesting.

not much help Cap I know but I still wanted to extend my thanks and thoughts on the forum and its members.

 

[chrisjp]

i am on Facebook more because the "friends" that i have on there gives me a constant feed of topics im interested in. i get to see bikes...guns...and patriots. i come to the org to get bike news and see who is posting about whatever..jokes and general life. now most i care about on this forum are also on my Facebook...though sadly capt i noticed....you are no longer on my friends list...not sure when that happened...so i can only chat and learn about life with the 'other" doug king now. I realize that most folks who know me, met me, or have interacted with me on the org...quickly became my friends on Facebook and i truly enjoy seeing much more of their lives and feel more a part of their "extended" family. Then there is Bots....nuff said... lol... so how do we make the org to be more active as it was before Facebook really hit off? not sure... i did just think of one thing... on Facebook it is so much easier in my mind to "ignore" a particular persons views, even if it goes against what i believe in. i simply scroll past on Facebook. if those views are posted here in the forum...people tend to "react" more to them. not sure what generates this in a forum setting vs social media. maybe its the fact a "timeline" shows a bit of everything from everyone..as you scroll you easily pick up on what you want to read about, reply too...other wise...scroll.... on the org you go to sub forums and hope someone catches your interest on something you haven't hashed out before... so i guess to say the org is often the samo samo...nothing that grabs ya...maybe instead of just text threads... we can incorporate the "news" to have pics along with it...that in itself might add to the "click-ability" and peak interest in the responses. uploading or "sharing" videos links are more difficult as apposed to Facebook. if i have a website, movie, pic that is part of a link...facebook puts up information in addition to just the link. this also catches my interest ...makes sharing pics and videos and stuff much easier than going to advanced, uploading...waiting...or trying to embed ...ect ect... i know it may seem like rambleing but im trying to throw ideas out best i can.

 

[voodoolord]

I don't think FB has legs. I see a trend away from those types of sites unless we can get some privacy laws enacted and enforced. I have my bi-annual facebookathon which incidentally Im in right now which is getting in touch with friends and family I dont talk to often. Other than that one or 2 week period Im off FB for most of the year. I dont know the economics of the site or your revenue stream but I would probably batten down the hatches until it starts looking up again, maybe reinstate the donation option. I tried to donate but found out I could not, thats not good for the bottom line. Hope that helps a little.

 

[RYC1966]

Aside from the busa there are many people here that share common interests... it is not just a bike site...fb and others (sites) are something I do not use because at an old job required looking up peoples info to determine if they were responsible based on what they posted...funneling busa fans here is easy...it sells itself...the amount of info / tips / tricks/ people that would do something for a stranger is just not found anymore. I believe the younger crowd that don't know what a 35mm 110 film camera is kinda missed out...times change and now I feel old

 

[Blanca BusaLess]

Single topic site, low traffic.

 

[frisbee]

Im a big FB user but never knew the org had a page.I use it for completely different things . The org is for info that I can't get on FB . FB is fr talking and sharing wit friends and family that have nothing to do with Busas. I don't get the connection

 

[Sous]

Cap, you mention the difference between 2006 and today...that was nearly 8 years ago and in IT world that is two lifetimes if not more. There is no doubt the Org has and will have to change with the times, but we will prevail.

I do agree with the earlier post about being able to host and post pictures on the Org. I get around that by using Photobucket. Also, for the life of me I cannot figure out how to post a video on Youtube in the body of the message. I have tried more than 10 times and I work in the IT field for a living. This is not my point though.

We are going through a slow time, but the site will live on, if you allow it to or can sustain the financial burden. What else are our options beside moving to FB and having more activity? More ads, more donations, more subscriptions?

 

[Adam G]

I am new so I this activity level is the norm for me. I love the site and check it everyday. This sight is part of my overall busa owner experience. I support our sponsors whenever I can and get a lot out of the site, the people, and the knowledge.

Being new I do not have a lot of insight for you. The one thing that comes to mind is people have to be nice to the new posters. I lurked a long time as I was getting info while making the decision of which bike to buy. I saw some pretty sharp comments, primarily from one or two members, basically just being jerks and with a know it all attitude saying you are stupid for using that tire or your race pics are weak. That made me hesitate for a long time to post anything because I knew nothing and didn't even have a bike and didn't really care to get lit up.

I think the best things folks can do is be nice and helpful so these thousands of lurkers that are dropping by are more willing to put themselves out there for the first time and post. There is a lot of helpful members and comments so keep that up guys. Those that want to talk down to people so everyone else knows how awesome they are, restrain yourselves and I think that will make a difference. That is about all I can think of as far as a critique because overall I believe you have a really good thing going here.

Love the site, love the helpful attitude around here, and look forward to attending an event and posting helpful information as I learn more about it.

 

[Postal]

Hey Folks,
Let me just jump into my thoughts.. The past few years has really been interesting for the motorcycle industry as a whole. I know the oRg has been much slower over the past few years than it has been in the past and I have spoken to many companies that have seen the same thing. Many businesses have gone under and closed the doors and many are still struggling. I was curious last week on why the site has been so slow this summer and I wanted to run a test. We know that folks are using other social media to keep in touch with friends and family but not sure if members are just bored with the org or not enough time to do all the social media.

We typically see about 3,000 to 5,000 users on the site at any given time, Google drives a lot of traffic to us and we have literally thousands of links from other forums to us so some are busa enthusiast and some are just people linking to content here. I locked the site on Friday at 8pm to registered users which forced people to create logins to see the content. We had 150 viewers sign up over the weekend to get access so that tells me there are still a lot of people out there looking around above and beyond the normal daily members...

So my questions to you all,

1. What do we need to do to get the new folks engaged?
2. How do we get people to use the forum and not facebook.
3. Do you all feel the org is still a viable solution and should we keep pushing for more features and options?
4. If you were in my shoes what would you do?

This site is funded from businesses or advertising and the more interaction the members have on the site the more value we offer to those businesses. If people only views content on the site and never post pictures or content then advertisers see less benefit. We are through the busiest part of riding season and our revenue will start to go down in the off season. I simply ask that if you really like the site and what we have that you participate, post up and tell us who you are, tell us about your life events, stories, rides, pics of your bike something... This site is what you make it, my simple role is to provide a clean, civil and mature environment that is easy to use..

Let me know your thoughts...

Cap

I use the Org less because Rubb came back....... Da Bas***.....

 

[captain]

I am new so I this activity level is the norm for me. I love the site and check it everyday. This sight is part of my overall busa owner experience. I support our sponsors whenever I can and get a lot out of the site, the people, and the knowledge.

Being new I do not have a lot of insight for you. The one thing that comes to mind is people have to be nice to the new posters. I lurked a long time as I was getting info while making the decision of which bike to buy. I saw some pretty sharp comments, primarily from one or two members, basically just being jerks and with a know it all attitude saying you are stupid for using that tire or your race pics are weak. That made me hesitate for a long time to post anything because I knew nothing and didn't even have a bike and didn't really care to get lit up.

I think the best things folks can do is be nice and helpful so these thousands of lurkers that are dropping by are more willing to put themselves out there for the first time and post. There is a lot of helpful members and comments so keep that up guys. Those that want to talk down to people so everyone else knows how awesome they are, restrain yourselves and I think that will make a difference. That is about all I can think of as far as a critique because overall I believe you have a really good thing going here.

Love the site, love the helpful attitude around here, and look forward to attending an event and posting helpful information as I learn more about it.

Message me the names, you might be surprised on actions recently taken...

 

[captain]

ou mention the difference between 2006 and today...that was nearly 8 years ago and in IT world that is two lifetimes if not more.

I completely agree that IT and solutions have changed, we have changed forums 3 times in 8 years and increased servers 4 times... So we have grown and improved, each time adding features and options (Some features liked, some not ).. What I can tell you though is that in 2006 - 08 time frame the site was just bustling with members, not just bike things.. Folks posting up weekend projects adding decks and asking for questions, stories, discussions about everything just like you would find sitting at a table having coffee with old friends, I miss that...

cap

 

[GsxrBots]

Message me the names, you might be surprised on actions recently taken...

There is NO way you can't figure out who he's talking about....

 

[Chaney3000]

Well, I'm pretty new to the org. I am new to the Busa as well. I joined when I bought it. I do however have experience using forums so joining up and making an intro wasn't that big of a deal for me. However, I do see how it can be intimidating to join a forum if you are not accustomed to how things go.

Now, I'm a member of quite a few forums but I frequent only a few because some are better than others. I must say this is one of the better forums I have the opportunity to be a part of. The members make this forum a great place to be. Advice offered to new members and owners is a key to keeping new guys around. If the first impression is a good one, then they will more than likely come back more often.

Also, the politics need to go. Political views are to heated and will draw bad threads so to be fair no politics should be allowed.

On other boards I visit that I like we have things like "Chat Threads" where you can dicuss any and everything.

I really like this site. I've purchased from site sponsors and members here. I've got great advice and info from members here. I also am trying to get together and meet some of you guys so that says a lot.

 

[TallTom]

Message me the names, you might be surprised on actions recently taken...

Cap this brings up another thought. Perhaps a few people, make a lot of people draw back. They just keep their thoughts to themselves and shy away from anything they see from whatever few they feel is hurting their experience here. By you making a statement, to send you the names, doesn't help anyone else who may be seeing the same people doing the same things. I am not suggesting a public lynching type approach. But maybe an occasionally regularly scheduled review of members that have been found to be detrimental to morale or flat out abusive or obnoxious to other members and a recap of action taken. I have seen several examples that could be construed by a new member as an abusive personality.

I know that this site is based on freedom of expression and speech and such, but there is a question of tact and respect in this process. I have seen a few continually belittle any member that they don't like what they are saying. Dis-agreements are not the same as name calling, character assaults etc. You recently posted up a thread on religion. I rarely would even open a thread of this nature. But you started it. I wanted to see the caliber of that thread. Of course there was a LOT of viewpoints, some more adamant than others, but it was a discussion. A constructive one. And you, being the thread starter, did a good job of fielding those views without calling anyone out as a religious heathen. You expressed your views, of which I didn't agree, but neither felt less about each others character when our exchange was over. Even though I tend to disagree with politics and religion THAT thread made me realize that we should be able to adhere to basis of what you want in this site. An exchange about anything, civilly and constructively.

There was also a recent newcomer that came here stating that he was of the feeling that this website was primarily a core group of cops, ex-cops, and military. Somehow, however it was, that image was put out there about this site. If I was looking to join a site and that was the impression I had of the site, I would not join it.

Food for thought perhaps?

 

[omslaw]

Ease-of-use.

Doug, you know how busy I am...as I know you are, too. A lot of us are. FaceBook is "integrated" into my iPhone. Sure, we have ForumRunner, but with FB, I get immediately alerted with a pop-up on my iPhone, a pop-up on the FB web page and sounds, too. Bots mentioned it earlier, on FB, you're able to 'tag' someone in a comment/post/status - the person(s) tagged get an alert; they're able to respond when they are alerted to the tag. On the .oRg, I know we have the ability to 'subscribe' to a thread and get email notifications of a reply, but sometimes they don't come through or they are not 'instant' (it's the nature of email).

Uploading photos - this, too, is where it's easy-to-do on FB. I know part of that has to do with limitations of the phone manufacturers, but it's still easier with FB. Now, if we can figure out the FB integration, then posting pics to the .oRg from FB becomes easier...

Lately, with everything going on, I've been 'lurking' here more than I like, but to be fair, I'm also lurking on FB; I don't post a lot...it's mostly quick replies that I'm doing lately.

I digress... I don't have the magic answer, but I think if we can find a way to 'tag' folks and those tagged would get some sort of notification - email, SMS, or even a 'push notification'. Perhaps we look at Tapatalk again? (the app is free now) Maybe they have better notifications? Just my :2cents: but I think if we can find a way of tagging and 'notifying' people that they were tagged/mentioned in a post, there may be more interaction.

 

[VIPER]

Hiya Cap. I have been here since the org started basically. In 99 when i got my first busa it wasnt too awful long after that i joined the org. I was a shy guy and didnt post but maybe a few hundred times and kinda lost sight and track of the sight when i "lost" my busa. I can say back then when the org was newer it was not as freindly as it is now though as stated above there are a few over opinionated type A people that should be a little more gentle with there wording. Since i rediscovered the org a couple few years back i have had spurts of activity and slow downs a little but always here. I have worked nights and now days when there have been different people on at different times.

I agree with others that the site has become a little more difficult to find and use some functions. Though it was stated this is the price of advancement. The site has gradually become very ad heavy which honestly knocks some people out of surfing from work due to policies etc. The ads really slow the site down for many. Im sure folks have noticed the ads load first and perfect but the content seems to lag and sometimes not want to load without a second click or refresh. I am not coplaining im just adding info to your quest.

As for new folks i think the busa owner crowd is shifting to a younger generation as our machine is aging. If you look at the ads our busas are cheaper then alot of the other sport bikes out there of the same age. As a result the ownership age is getting younger. We all know what that means for the type of members that are going to start hanging around. If they come here and not to FB we will be lucky. Then once they are here and greeted and thinking this might be a cool sight our local gear nazis let into them and make it their personal mission to belittle them for not wearing gear the term squid comes to mind. Dont get me wrong. I am all for safety and gear and for education. But it doesnt have to be crammed down the throat and become a determining fasctor as to whether a member comes back.

Finally i love this site. I enjoy debates and learning. I enjoy all the helpful people and try to help with the knowledge i have gained on our machines in the past 20+ years. Not just busas but bikes in general. Cheers Cap. Cheers Org Carry on

 

[TallTom]

There is NO way you can't figure out who he's talking about....

I have no clue who is being talked about. And I have been a member here awhile. I don't come here everyday so I don't see the daily examples. But the people I saw months ago acting out of line, are the same people I see doing so now.

 

[Chaney3000]

Well, I don't have FB so I don't know about tags.