New forum ideas

[AlanColes]

Perhaps we should have a technical category, subdivided into engine, gearbox, clutch frame, wheels, etc.
Here members could post dissertations on some subject he feels particularly knowledgeable. However, discussion and comments would have to be limited to avoid pollution of the post, and having it deteriorate into insult slinging.

Hi Slick - I have thought about this before and it will have its problems. Mainly because who should be qualified and be considered an expert and give the advice? That's a fine line.

Jerry, some of it could be as simple as assigning a "Thread Moderator" who would be tasked with attempting to keep things on point and balanced.

For some technical areas things should be quite simply if we are dealing with facts versus ideas. For example, someone is interested in engine component weights -
http://www.accessnorton.com/norton-engine-component-weights-grams-t21317.html
That could be be under - Technical / Engine / Pre-Commando / Weights-Dimensions-Part#'s
or something like that. In such an example, the biggest job for the "Thread Moderator" would be ensuring the values were identified as being grams or ounces, etc.

I think a "Technical" section with sub-groups as above, might be a good starting test area to see how things work. No need to open everything up immediately, just one or two sub-groups of the greatest interest and see what works, what needs to be adjusted and what creates problems. Perhaps for example:
Technical / Electrical / Ignition / Commando /
and have a listing of all available setups:
Stock
Boyer
Pazon
Tri-Spark
etc.
There could be a "Poll" area at the top where people click on the system they are running and this would show how many are running what. Doesn't mean that the most used is the best, by any means, but it would provide an overview. Then with that there could be sub-groups for discussion of each system if desired.

Just an idea.

 

[Jerry Doe]

I will have to think about it a while.
I think it could get out of control real quick and create more work for Les and I, but maybe not. Stay tuned as sometimes I think for a long time

 

[Mark]

^^^^^^ Yep! keep it simple (and easy) Jerry. In the end, this is all supposed to be fun isn't it?
I really wish that I knew how to make a motorcycle forum make money. If I did, I would tell you.

I think that our bikes are kind of a boutique brand and there are just so many Norton (and therefore Norton owners) owners on this planet.
A niche market for sure.

Unfortunately because of that, this forum will never generate the amount of traffic that a Goldwing forum does. I'm sure that you knew that going in.
Maybe you could sell this forum to Motorcycle.com. They have acquired quite a few bike forums over the past few years.

 

[Jerry Doe]

Hi Mark,

Its not really about the money. I started the forum about Commando's at the beginning of the internet and its my love as you know. So long as I can pay for the dedicated server upkeep and pay my programmers when we do stuff I am happy, it works. I was offered a lot of money for the forum before Christmas by a large company. You will be happy to hear I said NO. This has happened a few times over the years. This is where I make money:

http://cpEngineerscorp.net
http://cpEngineersInc.com

Cheers

 

[Beach]

I think to make this site better we need more paying members, supporting the work of Jerry and this site...Out of this post alone 5 are paying members and 10 are not...Please, if you enjoy this forum, support it...IMO

 

[Jerry Doe]

I think part of the problem with getting more VIP members is some users get confused about the VIP registration form. Anyway although its pretty straight forward I decided to write a small tutorial on how to register. Does this make sense?

http://www.accessnorton.com/accessNorton-VIP-tutorial.php

Cheers

 

[AlanColes]

I think part of the problem with getting more VIP members is some users get confused about the VIP registration form. Anyway although its pretty straight forward I decided to write a small tutorial on how to register. Does this make sense?

http://www.accessnorton.com/accessNorton-VIP-tutorial.php

Cheers

I think that he;ps Jerry.

One thing that threw me off was that I initially got the impression that I had to use a different User Name and Password to become a "Paid" member versus what I using with my "free" membership. It might have just been me misunderstanding things, or it could be that for the uninitiated that portion may require slightly clearer wording. YMMV

 

[Jerry Doe]

Hi Alan,

Yes I agree. I think I might have fixed that. Thanks for the feedback