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

[VLJ_imp]

I was sort of involved in the discussion with Ulvetanna that Guth and EmptySea referenced. I didn't interpret anything Ulvetanna said as an accusation that Guth endeavors to bump up the forum's membership or post totals by trying to convince people to buy a CB1100. Not at all. In his own inimitable manner, Ulvetanna was simply discussing what EmptySea correctly just described as the ebb and flow of the board.

Unless I missed something, Ulvetanna neither stated nor implied anything accusatory, so I was surprised by Guth's angry reaction. Apparently Ulvetanna has a bit of a history here, and perhaps that has something to do with certain people's reactions to him. I don't know. I just know that I value his perspective, and enjoy his candor. A model-specific message board sans frankness and call-it-like-you-see-it honesty is really nothing more than an extremely lengthy brochure.

Along those same lines, I greatly appreciate Guth's efforts here. I didn't realize this wasn't mickey's board. Before I signed up here, I was under the mistaken impression that this site was mickey's love-child. No fault of mickey's there, either. I just assumed, incorrectly. Now I see that it's Guth's place, and Cormanus and mickey are his trusted lieutenants.

Good choices there, I must say.

Lastly, I get that the Powers That Be here don't want this place to become a mud-slinging smack board. No problem there. That being said, and I mentioned this to mickey, I do think that the language-nanny censorship here goes a bit overboard. It's just my opinion, and I'm not in charge. I will abide by the rules, yet they do seem draconian to the point of being borderline childish, as if Ned Flanders is conducting a Sunday school class for six-year-olds. An example I gave mickey is the word 'hell.' That word is not a curse. It's not an epithet. It's not an invective. It's neither vulgar nor crass. 'Hell' is simply and literally a proper noun, no different from 'heaven,' 'Laguna Seca,' or 'CB1100.' There is no reason such a word needs censoring, especially when used in proper context.

Anyway, that was my one and only nit to pick. Otherwise, this place kicks Assen. <----- just for mickey!

[Mscb1100_imp]

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..

That comment about the group hug is hilarious and a much needed relief to recent “tensions”

[bflint]

Thanks to Guth for starting this forum and to all who participate. You folks have helped me a lot

[flynrider]

Ulvetanna wrote: "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?"

To clarify. I called the 5 pages of comments "interesting". My point was after 5 pages of pro AND CON I had yet to see anything tangible mentioned that mattered to me personally that had any impact on my opinion about the CB1100. By all means, take the discussion up to 50 pages, that's what the site is here for and I'm not trying to discourage it. I did read every single comment.

I just checked on another motorcycle site. They have a thread going that's 151 pages long on 'steel cut oats'. Lets say there's 18 replies on each page (a guess). That means roughly 2,700 or so comments about steel cut oats. I'm ok with reading 50 pages related to the CB suitability/non-suitability for any given riders needs even if the outcome is I'm not changing my opinion.

BTW, this is one of the better discussions we've had going for a while....

I can relate to that! I often chuckle at the small details that some consider vitally important. Over the years, I've seen things such as color, spokes, tank shape and even turn signal size referred to as deal breakers.

I would be happy to own any year, color or variant of the CB11 because at its heart, it's a CB11. The little details just don't register with me (which is what makes these types of conversations interesting).

[VLJ_imp]

Ulvetanna wrote: "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?"

To clarify. I called the 5 pages of comments "interesting". My point was after 5 pages of pro AND CON I had yet to see anything tangible mentioned that mattered to me personally that had any impact on my opinion about the CB1100. By all means, take the discussion up to 50 pages, that's what the site is here for and I'm not trying to discourage it. I did read every single comment.

I just checked on another motorcycle site. They have a thread going that's 151 pages long on 'steel cut oats'. Lets say there's 18 replies on each page (a guess). That means roughly 2,700 or so comments about steel cut oats. I'm ok with reading 50 pages related to the CB suitability/non-suitability for any given riders needs even if the outcome is I'm not changing my opinion.

BTW, this is one of the better discussions we've had going for a while....

I can relate to that! I often chuckle at the small details that some consider vitally important. Over the years, I've seen things such as color, spokes, tank shape and even turn signal size referred to as deal breakers.

I would be happy to own any year, color or variant of the CB11 because at its heart, it's a CB11. The little details just don't register with me (which is what makes these types of conversations interesting).

Here are some actual "deal breakers" that made me shake my head and roll my eyes...

"The side-stand isn't in the best location. It's kind of difficult to deploy. No deal."

"No cruise control? I'm outta here." (Talking about a bike with a 125-mile range.)

"No self-cancelling turnsignals? NEXT!"

[LongRanger_imp]

The deal breaker for me is, "What, no fuel injection? No thanks." Luckily those bikes are becoming increasingly difficult to find. TW200 is one of them.

[VLJ_imp]

The deal breaker for me is, "What, no fuel injection? No thanks." Luckily those bikes are becoming increasingly difficult to find. TW200 is one of them.

Along with the XR650L, the KLR650, and the DR650.

Apparently, it's a dual-sport thing.

[Guth_imp]

I was sort of involved in the discussion with Ulvetanna that Guth and EmptySea referenced. I didn't interpret anything Ulvetanna said as an accusation that Guth endeavors to bump up the forum's membership or post totals by trying to convince people to buy a CB1100. Not at all. In his own inimitable manner, Ulvetanna was simply discussing what EmptySea correctly just described as the ebb and flow of the board.

Unless I missed something, Ulvetanna neither stated nor implied anything accusatory, so I was surprised by Guth's angry reaction. Apparently Ulvetanna has a bit of a history here, and perhaps that has something to do with certain people's reactions to him. I don't know. I just know that I value his perspective, and enjoy his candor. A model-specific message board sans frankness and call-it-like-you-see-it honesty is really nothing more than an extremely lengthy brochure.

Along those same lines, I greatly appreciate Guth's efforts here. I didn't realize this wasn't mickey's board. Before I signed up here, I was under the mistaken impression that this site was mickey's love-child. No fault of mickey's there, either. I just assumed, incorrectly. Now I see that it's Guth's place, and Cormanus and mickey are his trusted lieutenants.

Good choices there, I must say.

Lastly, I get that the Powers That Be here don't want this place to become a mud-slinging smack board. No problem there. That being said, and I mentioned this to mickey, I do think that the language-nanny censorship here goes a bit overboard. It's just my opinion, and I'm not in charge. I will abide by the rules, yet they do seem draconian to the point of being borderline childish, as if Ned Flanders is conducting a Sunday school class for six-year-olds. An example I gave mickey is the word 'hell.' That word is not a curse. It's not an epithet. It's not an invective. It's neither vulgar nor crass. 'Hell' is simply and literally a proper noun, no different from 'heaven,' 'Laguna Seca,' or 'CB1100.' There is no reason such a word needs censoring, especially when used in proper context.

Anyway, that was my one and only nit to pick. Otherwise, this place kicks Assen. <----- just for mickey!

Oh, make no mistake, this is definitely Mickey's board.

We all know that Mickey is the lifeblood of this place, I'm just the guy that got it up and running and turns an occasional wrench on the place (and not always with the greatest of success). But Mickey was indeed one of the biggest inspirations for me to launch this forum. I'll be honest with you all — when I launched this place I posted up over on the "the CB1100 thread" (the one on ADVrider forum) to let "the guys" know. I kept a pretty close eye on the member list to see if "The other ferret" had yet joined. I was actually a bit worried when the first day had passed and he hadn't signed up. By the time I checked in on the second day I was relieved to see that "The ferret" had become a member (man I would have been disappointed if "the ferret" had turned out to not to be one-in-the-same as "the other ferret", lol). At that point knew that things would start rolling. That's the honest truth and while I've told my wife this story, I'm not sure that I've ever told Mickey this before. (I hope your helmet still fits after this buddy.)

As far as the language enforcement goes, well what can I say? I realize that I can't tell you to just... well nevermind. Look, there are plenty of times amongst friends where my language is sometimes even an embarrassment even to myself if I stop to think about it. I try to work on improving myself in that regard. At times I'm about as sarcastic as they come. The thing is, my friends are right there with me and they know exactly how the words I'm using were intended (most of the time anyway). We simply just don't have that luxury online. Plus we have members here from across the globe (who work very hard to communicate in english for monoglots such as myself). This language can be confusing enough as it is. So with all of that in mind, I'd much rather be accused of being too conservative on this particular issue than the other way around.

After almost five years, this forum has a definitely established a certain "personality". Those that enjoy it tend to stick around and those that don't tend to leave. I wouldn't have it any other way (as long as Mickey and Cormanus agree that is).

[emptysea]

If we were allowed to curse here, we wouldn't see words like "draconian" or "invective" out here in the wild. LOL

Kidding aside, one of the benefits of the language policy here is that it does force us to be a bit more creative in our vocabulary.

And Mickey IS Ned Flanders in so many ways, the proof of which is that he will likely have to Google "Ned Flanders" in order to reply.

[Frulk_imp]

"And Mickey IS Ned Flanders in so many ways, the proof of which is that he will likely have to Google "Ned Flanders" in order to reply".

I don't care WHO you are, THAT there is funny*

I just laughed out loud so suddenly our purebred Jack Russell/Blue Heeler hybrid (anything else is just a dog) who was sleeping in front of the fire was startled.

*sentence truncated to abide by Neds language policy.