Is this site officially dead.....

[Davethegreat]

I love this place, dead or alive it's still represents friendships of like minded people vs f@rkn FB with it's senseless trivia tsunami, which quite frankly gives me a head ache after a few minutes, thus I do not go in there any more. It's a bit like walking into a massive shopping centre for your now famous "milk & toilet paper" and having to walk by all the non relevant outlets trying impress upon you to get some of their shit, regardless whether you need it or not

[javaman]

What do y'all mean theres no ride??? I ride more than ever now in fact tonight I'm riding to canberra on my old gpz750. Anyone want to catch up? I am doing canberra-putty on sunday. Leaving 5am ish

[billwest]

Not quite dead yet, but there isn't much activity on here.

I manage a similar forum, here, and it has been overtaken by FB. It now only gets the odd post.
That FB page is a "group" setup, which means that if you're not on FB (I'm one of quite a few), you can't see it, ie it is a bit of a clique.
In response I set up a forum topic called NFB (Non FaceBook), and it is only visible to non-facebookers. The rest (facebooker) are giving me flack over it, telling me to "get with the times", and complain that they can't see its contents.
I have worked in IT (including IT security) for a long time, am "with the times", and don't want FB.

Anyway, I have just returned from my almost annual 8000km ride Perth to Phillip Island for the MotoGP (Great Ocean Road, Great Alpine Road) on the rebuilt ZZR1200, which ran superbly. Every time I come home from one of those rides, I tell the missus "no more", and she simply says "yeah, sure". I looked for KSRC flag at turn 1, didn't see it.

And, I became a Grandfather for the first time, while I was away.

I care more about riding than putting up with FB crap.

[billwest]

The forum I manage(d) is gone, taken over by the pro-FB clan. They think they can do a better job.
I got shunted out of the webmaster's role.
If you click the link above, you'll see what it looks like now.
Gone is the message board with many write-ups for now.
More time for me .....

[MadKaw]

I was contacted by someone a few weeks ago who wanted to buy the forum.
Didn't want to risk it and didn't trust what they would do with it and the IP (user details etc), so said no.
With the funds raised the forum will be around for a few years to come, we just need to use it more.
Everything old is new again..

[Mister_T]

Everything old is new again..

Strange, I don't feel new...

[Kwakked Up]

Crikey, didn't know a forum was like a commodity that could be bought and sold Never really turned my mind to it I guess.

[javaman]

The forum I manage(d) is gone, taken over by the pro-FB clan. They think they can do a better job.

Some forums are still doing well for example KZRiders, Horizon Unlimited, advrider, etc.

Not sure why perhaps demographics

[James]

I was contacted by someone a few weeks ago who wanted to buy the forum.
Didn't want to risk it and didn't trust what they would do with it and the IP (user details etc), so said no.
With the funds raised the forum will be around for a few years to come, we just need to use it more.
Everything old is new again..

Thats a bit scary and a very big decision from you Dave. I appreciate you taking mine and all other members interests into consideration. Trust is a big thing and your decision shows how much we can all trust you to look after the best interest of all the members. Thanks mate.

[James]

And, I became a Grandfather for the first time, while I was away.

Congrats mate!

[MadKaw]

I was contacted by someone a few weeks ago who wanted to buy the forum.
Didn't want to risk it and didn't trust what they would do with it and the IP (user details etc), so said no.
With the funds raised the forum will be around for a few years to come, we just need to use it more.
Everything old is new again..

Thats a bit scary and a very big decision from you Dave. I appreciate you taking mine and all other members interests into consideration. Trust is a big thing and your decision shows how much we can all trust you to look after the best interest of all the members. Thanks mate.

Here's the e-mail I got..

Hello!

I am very interested in purchasing your forum! If you would be interested in selling and would like us to form an offer, I would love to chat and find out more information from you.

I have been acquiring and managing sites since 2001 and owned/operated many forums including JeepForum.com, HomesteadingToday.com, HomebrewTalk.com, Catfish1.com, GlockForum.com, RocketryForum.com and more.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you!

David Williams
Group Builder
forums@groupbuilder.com

This is from their site.

Group Builder is an online media company focused exclusively since 2001 on online discussion forum communities.

Since 2001 Group Builder has been active in the development and acquisition of online discussion forums. Group Builder has successfully owned and operated communities in a variety of verticals such as automotive, aviation, beer & wine, pets, outdoor sports, firearms, agriculture and hobby. We have acquired over 80 online discussion forum communities and currently manage over 30 including Homebrew Talk, Amtrak Trains, Soapmaking Forum, Rocketry Forum. These have ranged from 100k posts to 10M posts. In 2012 we did an exit of our automotive vertical, in 2014 we did an exit of our outdoor, firearm and agriculture verticals.

After our exit in 2014 we changed ownership then ceased buying forums. With the rapid decline of forums and the buyer pool drying up their future became hard to predict. However, starting in 2018 we began to acquire forums again with a completely new outlook. Instead of focusing on revenue and growth, our focus shifted to the preservation of knowledge. Forums are not dead, they have declined but there are still communities to foster and there is knowledge that needs to be saved. Every single forum has countless hours of knowledge invested into them by the community. So often we see forums just vanish, we have a list of over 1500 forums that are now offline that once had over 200,000 posts. Our goal is to acquire and preserve as many forums as possible, all the while doing our best to foster new growth all with limited ads and privacy intrusion. We find the addition of ads, Javascript and the like, can be the final death blow to a community. The sites we acquire have a good track record of slowing the decline in posts.

If you own a forum, we would be glad to speak with you about it. We will even acquire inactive forums or forums you have taken offline but saved the data.

[Smitty]

.. thanks Dave

glad you decided NO

[Possum]

IM BACK and im bringing people with me ! ..

I found this forum 10 years ago and I have made soooo many awesome friends that will last a life time. I have always found the information, the banter and the get togethers A1
Its more of a community here and people are real.

Yes some have found other avenues, some have stopped riding for what ever reason, so we need new fresh green blood.
Its a NEW YEAR lets do another drive and put stickers/tags under riders seats and start the conversation again.

I also had an idea... Could we provide our local Kwaka dealerships with a little package to give to new owners?
ie: with every new Kwaka sold, here's a sticker/ welcome letter to the forum for riding groups, intel and like minded banter etc... I don't know if it would be financially viable to include merchandise into this.. or maybe sell the idea to the dealers to see if they wanted to purchase a KSRC package to give to clients with their purchase??

Just some ideas to help us grow bright again xx

FINE PRINT...….
In full disclosure.. I have gone to the dark side and currently exploring the world of ADV on an AT, BUT I still have my Z, I will never sell it.. so legally im still welcome????

[Daisy]

... I still have my Z, I will never sell it.. so legally im still welcome????

I don't think there are enough of us left to make a quorum, so we can't vote you out.

[billwest]

Yep, stay put!