Then those people, that like those places, would not join - right? I'm really not understanding the undertone of anger in your posts.
It's amazing how a site can change over time. I used to love TT but their continual upgrades over the last couple of years have made the place progressively worse. I'm just shocked the owners can't see what they're doing. The business possibilities are mind boggling when you think about what they could have done with that site. Myself and a few others from CH are "members" at TT and we have access to the members only forum. It was a really fun place with only the best members of TT. But, it too is dead now! Simply amazing.
I have 3 bikes. A Husky, a KTM and a Honda. I'm all for an "other bike" forum. The folks on this forum are too knowledgeable to not utilize them for other brands as well.
I think one of the reasons this Husky place is special, is that it is frequented by Husky people. If other brands are allowed, those "other people" will come. Then what?... <TIC
I would like to see a place to talk about other brands here. I know and respect the opinions of posters on this site more then places like TT and I just like to read about all kinds of bikes. Other brand specific sites like Gasgasrider.org and ktmtalk have forums for alternative brands and nobody seems to mind. I agree about TT going downhill. I used to go there a couple times a day but now it is a couple quick looks a week.
I too support the "other bike" forum idea. I know I'm not alone when I say that Husqvarna isn't the only brand of motorcycle that I own. As for those who want to keep "non-husky" owners out, I believe the name and general nature of this site would only attract like minded people who are seeking Husqvarna specific information. The "other bike" forum, I would think would be frequented by members to ask for advice/information for their "other bikes." I mean I wouldn't google Honda S2000 forum if I wanted 350Z info. As for TT, I've been back on there a total of twice since the "upgrade." Used to go there twice a day.
A forum area for other bike marques at CH is an interesting idea - as has been mentioned a lot of people here own more than one make of bike and the folks here tend to be smart, erudite and broad - minded. So, if a member has (say) a KTM with a squeaky reciprocating flange doodad then chances are someone here will be able to help them out. No harm in that. On the TT thing: I find myself going there less and less these days - it's like stepping back in time to the dial-up days as it's just so buggy and slow to navigate there. I've certainly pretty much given up posting there as all I usually get is the Hanging Progress Bar Of Doom. Or perhaps Coffee is just trying to take over the world... Mwahahahahahahahahahaha...
I like this site the way it is! I want to talk,learn & listen about Husky's. I barely have enough time to keep up with this site as it is. This forum is specialized just like our motorcycles. Remember, bigger is not always better. Please don't be tempted Just my opinion in a selfish sort of way. No anger intended.
Mabye if you just did a "other makes section" instead of naming and setting up sections for each and every brand it wouldn't be so bad. I just think if you do set up each make into it's seperate section it may end up diluting what you have here; a GREAT HUSKY site. JMHO. I don't want or need another TT site; it makes my head hurt LOL.
I have been a adverstiser and forum sponsor on TT for 4yrs. Organized three events that raised a significant amount of $ to help keep the trails open. Just as I was starting to get a decent return on my time and investment. TT upgraded to this new format and my service gets deluded by companies that have not supported the sport like I have. I have noticed a significant drop in interest in each of the last two upgrades. What peeves me is that my competition gets the same consideration as me and they don't even support the sport !
Yeah, I can see a section called "Our Other Bikes" or somesuch being cool. No need for a bazillion sub-forums IMO. Would people object to non-Husky content in the existing ride-outs section for instance? A forum for other marques would be a good place to post news about new models from other manufacturers (which occasionally happens here already) as well as any technical queries members may have. [/$0.02]
I used to love TT, but I don't visit there much anymore either. I think they're trying to cover too many topics (PWC, sportbikes). I do like the "look," though...pretty clean and modern. My two favorite sections...classifieds and Where to Ride were revamped into less useful interfaces. The classifieds are irritating to browse now. Was TT bought out? I noticed that several sites that I used to browse suddenly got bought out (R1-forum, etc.) and are now smothered with ads and all look the same. I guess that's just the times. At least I still have Cafe Husky.
TT does have some features that I like. It lets me keep track of threads that I'm active in. I find that helpfull. But all the ads do turn me off.
No they were not bought out, but to the casual person it looks that way. It is popular for certain groups/corporations to buy forums and absorb them into their network of forums though, an entire industry is forming at the moment.... TT partnered with a company which also runs other sites... and those sites look and operate very similar to each other. The idea is the owners of TT still retain control of the forum. I've no idea where the exact line of who controls what is though, clearly the company they partnered with has some control. I would like to say I truly appreciate everyone typing their thoughts in a "non-rant" way. Cafe Husky is viewed by many, and a significant portion of the staff at TT are members of cafe husky.
Dean' on the other bikes idea I have some thoughts/questions. Thoughts 1. While it may be true that many of us own multiple brands, it would seem that Husky is the prefered marque. 2. Since we really don't have a problem discussing other brands, particularly those that belong to current members, is there really aneed to have a separate area to do this? 3. If we did have a separate area, that might encourage people that own different makes to join the Cafe solely for the purpose of discussing those makes and I'm not to sure that I want a bunch of 16 yr old YamaHonsuzskis invadeing the general forum. On of the things that sets this forum apart from others is the demographics of our members ( read that as "we are a more mature bunch"). Questions 1. If we did set up a forum for other bikes with the goal of trying to maintain the same atmospere as our Husky forum, shouldn't we do it on a completely different site? 2. If we were to set up a forum that handles multiple makes does that mean that I get a raise?
Sure! You get a 10% raise! Yes I realize that if we had a "Other Bikes" forum that would encourage people to join up just to talk about the other bikes, which would dilute the forum - the question is, would the topics, or behavior be diluted? Which is what you brought up. Yes I've thought about separate sites for other brands, I've thought about a lot of things. At this point, for the time being, I'll just let the notice I put up let people know it is ok to join to talk about other bikes. The real problem is where a "Other Bikes" forum would go. There really isn't a good place for it which would not disrupt the 'flow' of the site. Between the Husqvarna Bikes section and above the General section really doesn't appeal to me at the moment. And if were to be placed anywhere else then many of the posts would be put elsewhere. Perhaps when the PWC, ATV, Rugby, Basketball, and Left handed thimble collection forums are put up, a better place could be found.
Well I am certainly learning much from what is happening on TT and other forums at the moment. Things are changing for sure. Lots of good tidbits being collected with articles, wikis, and user reviews on many sites. I believe the basic problem is trying to get people to stop using the 'forum only' method of browsing instead of trying to augment the forum content. An example would be a Table of Contents sticky helping people find information vs a blog/article only - which also might be ok, but people cannot seem to find those readily. I wonder what that site looked like 2 days ago? There are no ads on the forums now. Dear Harmony Central Community, We will be shutting down the HC 2.0 forums Tuesday morning (May 18) at 3AM Pacific Time. The forums link in the top navigation bar will then become a straight link to the vBulletin forums. Jive search will be reindexed that night, and all 2.0 forum posts will be removed from search. Nothing will change for those using vBulletin already, but for at least the short term the community will have to live with two accounts, two profiles, and two log ins - one for the vBulletin forums, and for the content part of the site (articles, videos, etc.). We deeply regret any inconvenience to those who liked the 2.0 forums, and want to thank you for standing by our attempts to renovate the forums to include more functionality. Unfortunately, we cannot continue to maintain two separate forum structures. Based on comments from the community and the traffic stats, there is an overwhelming preference for the vBulletin forums. Although the problems with the vBulletin forums that served as a motivation to change them remains, we are working on solutions to these problems. Please bear with us if there are occasional system outages as we work on this. We also apologize for the short notice, but we want to implement these changes and fixes as soon as possible. The content part of 2.0 will remain, and several fixes in that section are being made concurrently with the forum switchover: News articles will now display properly once you get past the first page, the session timeout is being increased to avoid people being logged off during long sessions, and user reviews will display the overall rating and number of reviews. Additional fixes, enhancements, and updates are forthcoming, and we will keep you informed of these. We greatly appreciate your patience during this difficult transition to improve Harmony Central's reliability and functionality. Our commitment to creating a better site remains unchanged, and we will continue listening to the community in order to make sure that commitment takes the right direction. Again, thank you. We believe the worst is behind us, and the best is yet to come. -- Your Harmony Central Team
That is what I like about what TT is doing, the wiki's and tagging. If they can get the rest of the stuff so that the users like it. It will be great. Forums can be hard to search (especially big sites) and do not preserve information as well. Sticky's/FAQ work OK, but often content disappears (picture hosts) or information changes and it can be often difficult to edit old posts and make it all relevant and current again. It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out.
