Well, since it might have been me that prompted RetiredGentleman to leave, I suppose I ought to weigh-in.
As was said above, he was opinionated, caustic and at times, condescending - to me and to many others as well - but he was also a highly knowledgeable and strongly contributory member of the XS650 Forum, particularly on electrical issues which plague these wonderful old bikes of ours. His technical input was invariably knowledgeable, authoritative and very clearly put and, I suspect, truly valuable to many people (me included).
However, what he did that prompted my angry retort to his insulting post was that he called gggGary, JimD54 and I - liars and named four other members as possible liars. In my view, that is well beyond what is acceptable conduct on a “hobby” related forum such as this and I said so - perhaps less diplomatically than might have been optimal. I must admit that I was also embarrassed that a fellow Canadian would do that - and I acted on impulse. We’re certainly not perfect, but in our country, it is customary to maintain a sense of decorum (except of course on a hockey rink) and calling people liars in public is simply not done - particularly in an international forum such as this.
Nonetheless, I regret that he has departed and regret even more that I might have tipped his decision in that direction - but I suspect he was headed that way well before the “Coldest ride” fiasco.
Anyhow, as many others have done, I would invite RG to return and would endeavour to not say another word about it.
Kind regards to all,
Pete
PS - I really like Peanut’s suggestion to glean the best technical advice from the archives as a resource for us all.