A note about this forum, it's history, an apology and an announcement

[Ulvetanna_imp]

Thank you for the post, Guth.

You and the moderators do a great job of making this a pleasant place. There are a few of us who either fall into the category of "pompous/know-it-all" and a few who fall into the category of "defensive/thin-skinned". I count myself in the latter category. The vast majority, including you, The Ferret, and Cormanus belong in the "inquisitive/tolerant/enthusiastic" category. I can only aspire.

I do want to make one comment on the issue of activity herein, the stating of which will solidify me in my self-appointed category:

I do not believe that anyone is posting here to increase the amount of activity on this forum. That is an assertion that some people, well one person, has made on more than one occasion:
"That really emphasizes the true irony of the goal of increasing the activity and post count. In the last few weeks some folks have put a sincere effort into increasing the conversation level, but at the same time, some have expressed sentiments that much ado about nothing is a bad thing."

The whole premise is ridiculous and stating, or even implying, that Guth would try to convince someone to buy a CB1100 to increase traffic here is not only ridiculous, but insulting.

In the end, the activity in this forum (or on this forum. not sure which is correct) ebbs and flows. It's been flowing about VLJ's test ride lately, but then will ebb for awhile, with just a few posts from The Ferret and other jackasses who like to ride in the cold (aka EmptySea). Cormanus will post about some amazing ride in Australia maybe in March/April and in between there are a couple of major bike shows that will bring forth a small trickle of chat. And then there's MotoGP whenever the heck that season starts (don't tell me. I do not care). When spring comes to North America, there will be more flowing as new people join our ranks and ride reports from people who think they know how to tell a story (aka EmptySea).

Yes, there will be an ebb and flow and I hope it continues just that way for many years. Thanks Guth, for making it thus.

I am thrilled that you didn't sell this forum. This forum is the very reason I have my cb 1100 2013. You are a rock in a stream . I have been on other forums and also have seen their decline, mainly because of conflicts with the originators or moderators. Please keep up the great work to keep this forum on it's true north .

"You are a rock in a stream" "..to keep this forum on its true north" <-- beautifully descriptive, those. I may use one (or both) in an upcoming Seat Time report. Fair warning -- you will not be credited if I do.

So, to clarify, first, I never at any time suggested Guth was trying to convince anyone to purchase a CB1100 to increase the post count.

LOL! I was trying to do that! Or rather, I was making an effort to participate in a conversation started by VLJ, who evinced a keen interest in purchasing said CB1100.

Now let me get to the irony part.

It was member Frulk who noted the thread on the suitability or non-suitability of the CB1100 for any given rider's needs resulted, after five pages of chatter, in his maintaining his opinion that he REALLY, REALLY likes his CB1100.

Thus, we've got five pages of possibly useless banter, at least for some members! I found that ironic and funny. Because, really, who cares if it runs to 50 pages? Aren't we all just trying to have some fun talking bikes?

On the topic of creating conversation, I am sure I suggested the Ferret was good at that because Guth wrote this:

I'll start this post by taking a moment to apologize to Ulvetanna for recently making a bit of a "peppered" statement (as he put it) about him that was uncalled for. It's not an excuse, but I'd note that he recently managed to really to get under my skin by implying that I would try to convince someone to purchase a CB1100 just to crank up the activity level on this site and that has stuck with me. The reality is that nothing could be further from the truth. Just to be clear, I don't care about pushing up the activity on this site nor am I worried about the number of active members we have on hand at any given time (as I've previously noted). I started this forum simply because I wanted to create a place on the web where people that enjoyed the Honda CB1100 could discuss the bike (along with other motorcycle-related content as it turned out). If we don't happend to have much to talk about at times then that's okay.

At one point not long after I started this forum I was contacted by a company that owned multiple other powersports related forums. They wanted to purchase cb1100forum.com from me to add to their network of sites and keep me on to help manage the resulting product. The amount they offered me wasn't mind-boggling, but it was enough to make me think about their offer. Sill, I turned them down as I felt that if I did so, in no time at all this this forum would quickly become heavily infested with advertisements everywhere. Perhaps more importantly, with someone else calling the shots, I was worried that this place might just another flame-riddled forum like so many other out on the web — the kind of forum where few people participating manage to treat each other with respect. That's just not the kind of environment that I personally wanted to be investing my time in.

Later on I was contacted by a couple of businesses about advertising and ended up with a some site sponsors as a result which I appreciated. But I ended up pulling the plug on that as I never wanted to turn this site into a business — I'd rather just maintain a simple, straightforward, low frills, low drama place where other like-minded individuals could come hang out online and talk about motorcycles (and of course the CB1100 in particular). I honestly never really wanted to accomplish anything more than that when it comes to this forum. Since I'm not doing this for the money, I'm not concerned about the volume of activity on the site. End of story.

I'd also like to note that I will soon be posting a banner (by my own choice and suggestion) indicating that Samurider.com has been named as "The official aftermarket parts supplier to the CB1100 Forum". Besides the fact that I just think it sounds sort of cool, the reason that I'm doing this is because it is the one place that I personally would like all people who are new to this forum to know about. As anyone who has already dealt with Mr. T realizes, no one works harder at providing excellent customer service than Takashi (the owner of Samurider.com). Not to mention that Samurider's dedication to the CB1100 is beyond impressive.

That's about all that I wanted to get off of my chest. I truly hope that all personalities on this site, old and new alike, will continue to get along as well as we have to date. Whether you like to ramble on at times like I do, or you tend to keep your contributions short, sweet and far-between, it's all good with me as long as it's offered up honestly with the thought that we are a small, respectful and well-knit community unlike so many other forums out there on the web. In a lot of ways, the quality of character exhibited by so many on this forum reminds me a lot the CB1100 itself. I suppose that shouldn't come as a real surprise.

All the best,
Guth

But it was the Ferret I was referring to, and it seemed to me that post was very obviously in jest. You must be referring to my post about the Ferret actually going out and doing 100 mph+ to see what the bike was like. You have to admit that was surprising!

No matter what anyone else did, or why they did, it I personally returned to this forum for the specific reason of increasing the chatter, no matter what it was about. I took almost a year off the forum and anyone can easily check to see that my first most recent posts came on the heels of the "Skinny Posts" thread.

That said, I just read this:

This is an exceedingly well moderated/managed site. However, that's only part of the appeal for me. The other reason it appeals to me is the memberships self-imposed decorum limits (as Redbirds so appropriately alluded to above my post). There's no doubt in mind that I have more in common with this bikes ownership circle than one of the other makes I own. And there's also no doubt in my mind that in a communal setting I'd probably hit it off with most, if not all of you. On that note, on 3 everyone move closer to the monitor for a virtual CB owners hug. Yes, you too Ferret, this is not considered cheating on your wife..3-2-1...I said CLOSER Ferret!

About site activity: You know, we don't do too bad in that regard when you consider we're a small, niche model, motorcycle ownership circle whose forum site allows almost no discussion of anything not related to it, or not directly to motorcycling in general.

Rboe alluded to another motorcycle site he used to (and I still) frequent that is run like a campfire setting. Folks sitting around a fire discussion whatever (though the site DOES NOT allow politics). If we were to do that we WOULD have drama and the administrators would be a lot busier. On that site I occasionally weigh in on some non motorcycle threads that I have interest in and to make up for my lack of practical knowledge and participation in mechanical threads.

This is the CB1100 Forum, created for a somewhat limited production, niche bike with a narrow appeal to (as it turns out) an ownership that still understands the meaning of respect, politeness, and common decency. I don't want to enlarge our 'Circle of Trust' just for increased activity because the overall experience would more than likely be less stellar than what it is now..

I agree with Frulk.