Where are the old regulars?

[Yamaboy]

I've noticed since the new forum is up that a large number of the old regulars are missing in action. B Rad, Doc, Magoo, Firko, Ajayvmx and many others have dropped out completely or hardly post at all any more.
I remember B Rads dummy spit and Nathans Firko assasination so they have probably faded into the ether, sick and tired of it all but geez, there are now more non posters or silent members than ever. What's scared these blokes off? Many of them were the heart and brains of this forum. Docs absense is especially puzzling. On the old forum he posted more than twice the nearest competitor. Am I missing something?

[AjayVMX]

For my part, it took me a while to find the new forum and re-register...

Also have been away quite a bit lately, to places such as Mid Ohio....

[Doc]

Ya show off AJay!! but half your bloody luck!! 

Yamaboy..I'm still kicking around but I must admit I'm not posting quite so much as I once did. I only recently rejoined the forum after a bit of time away due to a back injury which means even now I can't be online near as much as I once was.   
Towards the demise of the old forum I was also getting sick of the shit slinging and the tensions that seemed becoming more and more prevailant. A break from the forum (and computering in general) and a little change of lifestyle was in order and this is what I've done. I'm still around but when I haven't really been hands on with the bikes for the past few months it reflects in my lack of imput. I'm still here for the asking though simply not quite as much as I once was. Cheers Doc

[firko]

I'm much the same as Doc. I've had some niggly joint problems including some knee surgery but the main reason was that the forum was becoming a bit of an exclusive boys club that I didn't feel a part of any more. If you add the recent situation where my post was taken totally out of context and intent and used as a basis for some paranoid ranting I've backed right off. It's a pity really, Graeme has gone to a lot of trouble to keep this forum alive and the people who should be contributing, the fair dinkum vintage racers, have mostly dropped from the program over the years for whatever reason.

[Phil]

I was never a regular but I'd been a member of the forum for a couple of years with a number of posts. The one thing that bothered me and almost caused me to not reregister was the aggressive nature of a couple of the recent "newbie" posters. One inparticular seems to have it in for any old racer with a collection of bikes and his shit slinging has become quite tedious. I think a lot of the old timers have dropped out because they opt not to deal with these wankers. Lifes too short. This is a problem Graeme shouldn't have to deal with. This forum is for all vintage enthusiasts, not the "exclusive boys club" it's become. I'd be interested to hear the opinions of other older vintage racers who have opted out of the forum.

[jimson]

Most the time I spend on here is on the outside looking in as I have'nt got a big dirt bike past but its the oldschool blokes that make this site so great so please don't leave who will keep the young blokes inline,Graeme's got enough to do already.

[ianscr250]

the only way to stop the wankers as u put it guys is  have a moderator  that can help out with the site

i for one think the site is grate always has been and always will be some of the older guys as u mentioned   ok older then me will come back as they see fit others may look in from time to time   and some will disapear from the site but rest assured rain hail or shine there going to be the one next to you on the start line at the next race



thanks for a great site

[Graeme M]

I've been watching the members rejoining and so far most of the old crew have re-registered, but perhaps are not as active as they once were. To some extent that is the nature of forums - people come and go as they do in life. I know that the club profile of say HEAVEN is quite different now to in its earliest days when people like B-Rad and Mark Cotterel were the drivers.

I am still chuffed that the forum worked out as it did - up to the point I began it I'd watched several forums on similar sites in Australia wither and die. Quite what OzVMX had that the others didn't I don't really know. Maybe it was just the right time?

Now, I have always taken a pretty light stance on moderation. It is my opinion we are all big kids now and can cop a bit of abuse or crap. If someone was downright abusive or breached good taste then I would step in but you know I have only had to delete a few posts over the years we've been running.

Personally I've received a few abusive emails about the forum, and even the odd threat of legal action for comments made by forum members. But you know, I can cop that. If I couldn't I reckon I should give up bikes and take up quilting (apologies to any active quilters out there, of course!).

I know that sometimes it gets tedious if one member is constantly having a go at you, but you can always choose not to buy into it. And equally a lot of the time stuff is just misunderstood. And of course we are all getting older and crotchetier (is that a word?). But if you really have an issue with someone, drop me a PM. I may not do anything if I think you're being a drama queen, but I'll certainly have a look and a word if need be. I do try to be sympathetic to someone who feels they are being given a hard time, and I have stepped in when a club or organisation is getting an unfair serve.

What can I say? The forum has turned out to be THE online meeting place for Aussie VMX, just as I had hoped. I think we are all the richer for it, insults, criticisms and Turkish hackers notwithstanding.

Keep it up guys.

[magoo]

I couldn't have written it better myself Phil.

[husky61]

Firko and Phil hit it on the head , there were or are a number of over opiniated KOK heads rabbiting on about various issues for inordinate amounts of time , some people might find this issue innocuous and some might not . For some  (me included) it detracts from the pleasure of using the site , but having said that , that's life.   

[Tony T]

I'm here too, but much like Doc, a change in my motorcycling direction has come just as the forum changed.
What started out as being a plan to do a big ride on one of my old 550's next year, has turned into a huge event to raise money for charity. So that is already taking up a lot of time to set up.
However, my interest in vintage is no less, I've just got less to say about it. 

[All Things 414]

As a member of The Australian Retro Quilters Association I take offence to Graeme's referance that our fine members are being associated with wankers who disrupt Vintage Dirt Bike Forums!
I'll be contacting my solicitor this afternoon.........
Yours
Charles Edward Cross-Tich

[Doc]

Yes 414! I've not gone quite so far as you but I too have turned to the elders of my vintage quilting chapter for guidance in relation to the derogatory comments posted so recently in this topic!! 

oh for those smiley faces eh!  Someone may have misunderstood just how serious this situation is I reckon the smileys are and should be compulsory just so us cranky ol' buggers know when we can legitimately jump up and down and have a whine  how bout a group hug 

[yzhilly]

I'm with the quilters viva la revolution!!!

[Nathan S]

I find it more than a little odd that I'm (still) copping shit for expressing my opinions and apparently being negative, when the people handing out that shit are... hmm... let me see... Expressing their opinions and clearly being negative. Not to mention that my motives and intent were/are being badly (and apparently deliberately) misrepresented.

It's a forum. It's purpose is to allow the exchange views and opinions. This means that not everyone will always agree with your opinion - how you deal with that is up to you.

If anyone can find a single post of mine where I'm pointlessly negative and/or insulting then I'll apologise profusely* - I'm positive and enthusiastic about the sport of VMX and old bikes in general, and that doesn't change when I'm sitting behind the PC screen. Yes I can be an opinionated, stubborn bugger, but so too plenty of other forum members - and if we happen to disagree, then so be it. Surely we're all grown-ups who can deal with that?

So... to cut to the chase, I think people need to take a step back and think about what the forum can offer them, and what they can offer the forum.
Even if a forum was a deliberately cliquey group, it simply cannot be an exclusive group - so everybody is still welcome to read and contribute as much or as little as they wish.
It's true democracy, and this should be a good thing, not a bad one!

*This includes the old forums, if they still existed.