Just an observation.

[AdvenJack]

What A Picture!!!!!!!!!!

[ihrescue]

Why is it that you have a club filled with such amazing bikes, and many remain hidden in members locations?

Jorrow - it is a good idea. I am compiling a list of Forum changes I would like to promote and I will add this one.

Mike Love
AMCA Forum
Moderator

[ihrescue]

Looking at the total apathy of most all AMCA members regarding this forum, I don't see anything ever happening. I have brow beat my friends to come here and participate on this (our) forum, but I guess everyone is over at the AMCA Facebook page, exchanging brownie recipes.

Eric - I think one thing about the classic vBulletin forums is it takes a little effort to get familiar with using them, Facebook is nearly instant gratification. The platform was made for smartphones as well which just increases that instant gratification deal. I have tried to do moderation tasks for this forum on the phone and while its not impossible, it is a little cumbersome. The beauty of this and similar forums I am a member on like XL Forum, Jockey Journal, Garage Journal is that it has depth and more powerful self contained features. People may have tried to get into the forum and it wasn't intuitive. Heck I would be on the forum just to be able to follow build threads like pistonbulley, shakyjake, boschEv and others. Lets keep throwing spaghetti against the wall and see if we can get it to stick.

Mike Love
AMCA Forum
Moderator

[Steve Swan]

Eric - I think one thing about the classic vBulletin forums is it takes a little effort to get familiar with using them, Facebook is nearly instant gratification. The platform was made for smartphones as well which just increases that instant gratification deal. I have tried to do moderation tasks for this forum on the phone and while its not impossible, it is a little cumbersome. The beauty of this and similar forums I am a member on like XL Forum, Jockey Journal, Garage Journal is that it has depth and more powerful self contained features. People may have tried to get into the forum and it wasn't intuitive. Heck I would be on the forum just to be able to follow build threads like pistonbulley, shakyjake, boschEv and others. Lets keep throwing spaghetti against the wall and see if we can get it to stick.

Mike Love
AMCA Forum
Moderator

Mike, great points.

along with your comments about virtues of face book, now there are two JD facebook pages, one European and one USA. the facebook pages have all but killed JD Yahoo Groups. As a forum, face book IS NOT. great info gets buried quickly, searches are not easy to find things and between the 2 JD facebooks there are 2,018 members. many big name JD people are regularly on JD facebook. my understanding of at least part of the problem is an antipathy towards AMCA and dues.....? i know some guys have voiced liking CAIMAG cuz it's free..... myself, i can't imagine not supporting AMCA because it is the original voice and venue for old, older and oldest motorcycles and this forum is, imho, the best. Before facebook pretty much killed JD Yahoo Groups, i got much needed advice, support and experience shared with me. Now even JD grps members (including me) are on JD facebook. i get it that's immediate, easy to communicate via messaging, and it has been helpful to me. it seems a forum and facebook have their appropriate purpose. probably nothing to be done. what i also do know i got alot of tremendous help and encouragement on this forum when i was getting my '27 together and so i try to honor the AMCA and continue to participate on this forum with my appreciation. but then, i have also been known to be loyal to my own detriment.

[Green Indian]

Ditto Steve and Mike, let's improve this site. I'm not on FB nor do I have a cell phone, the AMCA forum is and should continue to be the first and best place for all lovers of antique motorcycles to come to for information, sharing and encouragement from each other.

There is such a wealth of knowledge that is freely shared that it reaffirms, at least to me, there are decent and helpful people out there making this crusty old earth a better place for us all.

[Steve Swan]

Ditto Steve and Mike, let's improve this site. I'm not on FB nor do I have a cell phone, the AMCA forum is and should continue to be the first and best place for all lovers of antique motorcycles to come to for information, sharing and encouragement from each other.

There is such a wealth of knowledge that is freely shared that it reaffirms, at least to me, there are decent and helpful people out there making this crusty old earth a better place for us all.

speaking only for myself, i have no complaints to bring to the table nor improvements to suggest, but then when it comes to cyber-communication such as this forum i have no imagination how to recognize any improvement is needed. speaking only for myself, i find this forum extremely easy to navigate, and loading pictures, but that's just me. the type of work i used to do forced me to use computers beginning 1987, and although my anxiety levels used to border "over the top," i've found my persistence with trial and error has given me the ability get along. the important thing with loading pics on this forum is knowing how to reduce pixel size. on the other hand, and it's sad, i still haven't figured out how to easily load pics on caimag. i did it a couple times, but then it's been so infrequent that i forget what i did to make the pictures appear. regarding this forum, i love the build threads, some of the general chatter and the fantastic fellowship. for me, when i think back to the "good old days" when we used letters and telephones, having a forum is like being at the controls of a spaceship.

[shermanpup]

Can I get a seed from the Money trees you guys must have ? Hell a bolt cost $100.00 now, a washer is $7.00

[exeric]

Can I get a seed from the Money trees you guys must have ? Hell a bolt cost $100.00 now, a washer is $7.00

Most every bike I have had, has been built from parts, or mis-matched-mangled basket cases because whenever my money tree sprouted fruit, it went to buying a house, fixing the damn house, or the wife The 1916 Excelsior above started as a worn out motor, trans, gas tank, and badly twisted fenders. I found the rest over years of scrounging, and letter writing for the missing parts (pre internet). The 2 Hendersons I now have were in even worse shape when I started. The toughest bike I've done (still doing) is the 1911 Flying Merkel twin. As Bud Cox used to say about early bikes; "You could have started 30 years ago, or 30 years from now; it's still going to be a hard job." Having said these things, I have had a ball, and wouldn't trade the process for anything. I've learned a lot, and met the some of the best friends I have ever had. I think a person can still do a historically rare, and valuable bike the hard (but affordable) way. Doing that would require learning new skills like painting, body work, welding, wheel building, etc. etc. but the reward for doing that is the gratification of learning new things, and getting a handle on a hitherto mysterious trade.

As I said before, I am disappointed with the experienced members of the AMCA who do not participate here, and have chosen not to share their knowledge. When one of them bitches and moans about the state of the AMCA, I give them the stink eye and tell them they have the crying part down. When a member has a problem, this is a great place to start a dialogue, and throw some new ideas out there. Criticism is healthy, but sharing knowledge is even better. . . . Did I stay on topic? I'm pretty good at wandering off the path

[ihrescue]

Did I stay on topic? I'm pretty good at wandering off the path

Great comments Eric. Thanks for sharing. Sometimes it is more about the journey (process) when it comes to these classics. Its been on my mind about how to affordably obtain a real classic of these antiques. I got started late. tired from a career and bought a rolling basket case that was a year short of the "antique" requirement, an 82 HD XLH. Took me a couple of years to get it back to OEM but when it was complete I couldn't wait to get the next. The next is still a work in progress, a 1977 XL that came with a 1983 XL (complete and original) with a disassembled engine. These were a real barn find. So when I get them done or sometime between now and that completion I will find that true classic antique motorcycle.

[DanM]

When I launched the JD user group on Yahoo, I had actually hoped to learn how to make a webpage. I went to the webmaster where I worked adn he said, why do that, start a Yahoo Group. We had members finding and joing month after month. Pix, parts shared, advice, it was beautiful.

But then guys started reading about Yahoo closing, Groups enging, they had glitches, pix gone, links gone, and got nervous about Yahoo Group. I didn't hve time, experience, or wherewithall to figure out what Yahoo was going to do, so one of the guys offered to make the Facebook page, and said sure, do it. But as Steve points out it is not quite the same, or maybe its just more to learn. But we did have for example, albums created by different members sharing their pix. I don't see that on Facebook.

I see that actual "Forum" pages such as this CAI, Hydraglide Panhead Flathead, Silverados, Ducati (any kind of "Forum") these are set up to store files and docs and photos. They are segmented into sections, create chains which keep the communication in order. this is a good great place, but yes, for some reason we don't have as much activity as seen on the other sites.

And back to Jack when I said get a complete bike.... As Eric does it, if you like it, and you can stomach it, you can start with an engine or part of a bike and go to meets, get on the forums, post ads, and make it happen. But not everyone is cut out for that, and from my experience with one teen bike, I suggested the complete bike approach. And skills. Can you weld, create, etc? Or do you need to farm out? If you could do these things then it make more sense, but if you are going to get the frame made by some one, and fenders and tank made by some one, I still think the cost of the complete bike is going to be competitive.

Oh Well, talking in circles here!!!! LOL

[ihrescue]

Good comments Dan. I have started a number of different social media venues in Yahoo and Google Groups as well as Facebook pages, Twitters, etc. Some were successful and some weren't. Often it takes some critical mass of people to get and sustain discussion. It either has to be a group of people with a passion and need to share communication or a big number of people. You are right it does take a good amount of regular work on a forum. Yahoo is still going strong but Facebook is set up to be easy and offers near instant gratification for finding like minded people. So it has really reduced the other older Internet forums. Each forum has its strengths and weaknesses. The AMCA Forum which provided by the forum platform vBulletin is a little tough to get a comfort level but once you learn your way around I think it is good. We seem to have an average of 5 to 6 people join per week and of course they need to be AMCA members this in its own right is a self limit. AMCA allowed anyone to join the AMCA Facebook page and in the beginning before Facebook created ways to better vet people requesting membership it was difficult to figure out who was right and who was not. I was helping out as an admin before coming over to moderate the AMCA Forum and it was difficult because we were seeing 100 or so new member requests a couple of times a day the majority of which were not interested in motorcycles, let alone antiques. But you had to go through each request to make sure you didn't get any trouble making trolls. If we can increase membership and promote use here at AMCA Forum I think it will be even better.

Mike Love
AMCA Forum
Moderator

[brettxlch]

What A Picture!!!!!!!!!!

Nice bike.....AHHH i can only dream.....

[exeric]

Careful what you dream for That bike beat me from pillar to post over the 25 years I have spent building it, and rebuilding it. However, I rode it around the neighborhood today and it does run good, and with the restoration years behind me, I can say I love that bike. I will also say it is the most reliable old bike I have ever owned and it started today on the second kick, but that is typical of it's performance. I'm sad to say that it is soon to have a new owner, but a good friend who I'm sure will give it a good home.