Forum decline

[XSTime]

Forum activity ?
I’ll admit that I strayed away last winter and joined XS groups. On FakeBook.. thank goodness I came back around after all the obvious scamming and deleted damn near every online venue that was on my phone lol.
Yes, I’m still on here (the one and only)
I even log on and contribute or ask for help every once in awhile

 

[650Skull]

650 Garage

 

[Raymond]

I hear ya. I don't understand how to navigate ButtFace at all, but then I still use a flip phone and cash so maybe that says a lot about me.

I've never been on Face Pack and I've never owned a mobile phone so dunno what that says about me.

I use the net to look up a lot of stuff - news, geography, planes, ships, history, help with DIY projects, any and every topic and wherever that leads but I don't spend my life on-line and I ain't a joiner, just really those three m/c groups.

For some reason, the World out there is far more important to me than social media.

Though in some little ways, life is getting harder for an analogue human in a digital world.

 

[JOHNDADDY]

The knowledge base here and good gentle humor makes this such a great site.
It's amazing how much I've learned about a bike I thought I knew so well.

 

[kshansen]

One other winner is the arboristsite.com
Even a no nothing, firewood hacking, chainsaw butcher like me is allowed in.

Yep that is another I'm on, think I saw a post or two recently from a gggGary.
It does tend to lean heavy on the pro side of things but like you say they don't attack even those like me who only play with homeowners type saws. I actually bought a used saw from one of the guys there.

 

[gggGary]

Yep that is another I'm on, think I saw a post or two recently from a gggGary.
It does tend to lean heavy on the pro side of things but like you say they don't attack even those like me who only play with homeowners type saws. I actually bought a used saw from one of the guys there.

Even with different user names I was pretty sure there was an XS650 guy or two hiding over there.
Super interesting reading stuff from the old xs650 garage that @Shelby dragged up from the dead. Trav doesn't get enough props for saving all that history from the ashbin! Gordan Scott, some still active here, cough @5twins @650Skull have their fingerprints all over that site.

 

[jetmechmarty]

I had a dotheton account. I forgot my password. Changed my email. Locked out. I reached out to admin. No response. A shame. I went to some of their events. I met some folks. All much younger, but still very good.

XS11.com was much like this forum. Tight. The had lots of rallies. Two are still going. I have a pile of tee shirts. The group has mostly aged out and/or died. The forum owner quit on it. (Maybe he died) It still hangs on as XS11.club. It’s a shadow of its former self.

Like my church, too many old people. No kids.

 

[gggGary]

 

[jetmechmarty]

View attachment 264540

I wonder how many show up.

 

[650Skull]

.

Even with different user names I was pretty sure there was an XS650 guy or two hiding over there.
Super interesting reading stuff from the old xs650 garage that @Shelby dragged up from the dead. Trav doesn't get enough props for saving all that history from the ashbin! Gordan Scott, some still active here, cough @5twins @650Skull have their fingerprints all over that site.

I can honestly say I had next to nothing to do with XS650garage. I did join once but lost the password and never bothered to reset it. Did have one discussion about using an XS400 rear wheel on an XS650, was given the plans for spacers for the 650 sprocket to the 400 wheel. Think I got the plans to make the front 19" mag fit the rear.

I was more involved in the 650Rider. Think you may have the 2 confused, 5Twins and Griz were the Garage. Kings.

 

[Shelby]

The knowledge base here and good gentle humor makes this such a great site.
It's amazing how much I've learned about a bike I thought I knew so well.

Been a huge help for me. Really wish I had pics of my original '82 XS650. I mean I DO. Somewhere. But even if I knew where they were I'd have to scan them in from film. Phones and cameras were not integrated devices back then. We're talking back in the day when my hair was BROWN instead of silver and purple and my computer didn't have a hard drive. God that makes me feel old. (The hard drive, or lack thereof, not the hair).

 

[Shelby]

Some forums that were very busy 5 years ago seem almost dead. Dotheton was always getting new posts and threads a few years ago, now some of the busiest threads go without reply for weeks to months. And it's not the only nearly dead forum that I used to frequent. Therangerstation, sohc4, and caferacer seem equally dead.

This forum still gets a fair bit of traffic. Posts on facebook definitely get more comments, but most of them just repeat what others say. It seems like facebook 2/3rds of the responses are negative, and the rest are a mixed bag of "you should have done it this way!" Or the few comments that are actually relevant.

It does seem like facebook has taken over the newbie questions that get asked repeatedly. "What oil?" "How do I do the most basic maintenance item?" Etc.

I ended up here because every question I asked Dr Google, she sent me here first. Never even saw hits from any FB groups. Which tells you something... Ya'll kick ass at having REAL answers to head thumpers.

 

[gggGary]

I ended up here because every question I asked Dr Google, she sent me here first.

Duck duck go, the same.

 

[Shelby]

This forum survives because of the membership and passion for the bike of choice. Also we are generally (but not solely) older enthusiasts that care. Further still all topics are valid for discussion and all are welcome to comment. Help and support is here for all who need and ask; and all questions are treated seriously and answered by people with years of experience. Of course many other topics are covered, it’s not just about the bikes.

In my view not all forums offer what XS650.COM has.

None that I've found. And since I can't trust my memory (which wasn't all THAT great in the 80s and 90s -- and I kinda lost the last half the 70s... ) I've spent a lot of time online researching, I've spent a lot of time here. Ya'll are a font of great information and confidence boosters.

 

[jetmechmarty]

None that I've found. And since I can't trust my memory (which wasn't all THAT great in the 80s and 90s -- and I kinda lost the last half the 70s... ) I've spent a lot of time online researching, I've spent a lot of time here. Ya'll are a font of great information and confidence boosters.

Those of us that gather together live and in person also never fail to have a great time together.

XS11.com was awesome. We had rallies XS East, XS Southeast, XS North, XS West, an annual trek to Key West in the winter. Those were all fantastic experiences. I rode my XS11 a lot of miles to attend many of these. XS East survives, as does XS West. XS Southeast survives as the Vintage Yamaha Rally. The numbers keep getting smaller.

 

[bosco659]

One other winner is the arboristsite.com
Even a no nothing, firewood hacking, chainsaw butcher like me is allowed in.
It's huge, dwarfing XS650 but they have a good structure so guys of like interests can hang in subforums without annoying those with different professional needs. Pretty strong moderation with different standards as needed by subforums. They have a political subforum, visiting there helps me understand why Trav wants nothing to do with it.
There are couple good Home machinists forums once you get over the rejection from practical machinist. Went there, got sent packing LOL.
PS the xs650,com group on FB was started by Trav. and has pretty good moderation (not moi).
Don't forget the 650 Society FB group either.

I agree it’s a great forum too. I’m still a member but rarely go there now since my chainsaw collection has shrunken to only one saw - we don’t have any trees left. lol

 

[Shelby]

I just don't understand the Facebook XS650 forums. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but where is the tech section? How do you Search? How do you find all of your previous posts? Etc., etc., etc.

Exactly. You can't find what doesn't exist.

 

[toglhot]

The problem with any forum/group, whether on Facebook or stand alone, is the self appointed experts who will tell you a better way of doing the job, or critique you for not using the tools or methodology they would have, and then there are those that are just plain nasty, lots and lots of them.
Sometime ago, I posted on the aluminum engine brackets I made, then a guy on one of the forums, copied them and started advertising them for sale. A short time after I made some top engine brackets and the same guy started making them and advertising them for sale. Not exactly why I posted the builds, I posted to give others an idea on how to make them. I don't think he'll been knocking Jeff Bezos off his throne anytime soon, but good luck to him, at least someone benefited from my post.

 

[ssjody]

I would consider myself a newbie to this forum but I'll have to say I have felt more like part of a family of folks with similar interest here than all the FB groups I'm involved with combined. I've got a brand new Harley sitting out in the garage right now but when I go to the garage my sights immediately go to my Yamaha. But it's not just the bike that's the draw for me. Yeah, I bought one new when I was young, the 1st new thing I'd ever owned and it was a big deal. I love these bikes, and they invoke a lot of really special memories for me, but finding a group of individuals that have a like minded appreciation for something most folks would deem insignificant has been liberating for me. Thank you xs650.com for making me feel welcome. Damn sure don't get that on RoadGlideNation. I could buy 4 or 5 really nice Yamaha's for what I have invested in that cookie cutter Harley and that's starting to sound real appealing...

 

[Ratranger]

Yeah, I would agree the facebook groups seem more contentious than this forum. It seems atleast 1/3rd of the responses are negative. And once you have that first negative response it gets dogpiled with all the people that just parrot the same thing.

This forum has less negative responses unless someone sees something that will cause problems. But they aren't just jumping on the bandwagon of calling it bad, they point out the issues and ways to make it right.

I will say sometimes the OP on something just creates the negativity. Either through responses being unnecessarily personal, or reading in something that isn't there. Some forums and groups are just out to get anyone who doesn't follow the cookie cutter "builds" where everyone uses basically the same parts in different colors. Harley groups seem super defensive, and get mad when anyone points out something other copanies do better.