I've been on this forum since the beginning, and there have been a few really good folks to come through here in my time, but I've been noticing lately a disheartening trend: Newbies come ask one question never add anything, never contribute just take away then we never hear from them again.
I'm fed up with it.
Here's my idea, newbs have to post 20 real contributions before any of us with the knowledge even give them the time of day. So you got problems with your rides, and you want instant gratification, FU man. If you post 1 time and its a question don't ask me anymore. I want to see pics of your rides and posts of your experiences so I can be entertained and fed. Once you got 20+ posts you can ask away. till then I dont see or answer any passers by anymore and I ask the forum to join me in this or this is how its going to be for a long time... a ghost town.

just a bump to make a point

I agree. I see dozens of people who write, "I'm new from Peoria and my 2006 Road King makes it hurt when I pee" and then I never see them again.

I was thinking of a tutorial. Like "If you're really a blood, what's more important, moving a sofa, moving a body or getting ice cream?"

(The correct answer is, "Frak it, newb, shove the body in the couch and fetch the ice cream back to me on the way back from the dump.")

Seriously--and I mean that seriously--I'd like to see this forum grow. But I'd like to see this growth with a dozen more guys like BI63 who know what a six-point deep-well is and can flirt with your wife while he makes you laugh.

The only problem with that is "I really loved that sofa". LOL



You and me both plus a bunch of others. Actually, I think we have a few of them already signed up, just one problem they haven't been back in a while, BTW where is B163 been? Hope he's doing all right.
Thanks for the solidarity, seems like you and I are the "gate keepers" for now, I for one have no problem setting the bar and keeping the standards as high as possible, you seem to do it naturally.

I didn't do such a good job this morning. I got up at 0530 and a spammer had already been here. Speaking of BI63, I haven't heard a peep out of him. I'll call him tonight, poor guy has to work for a living.

Spammer - Gone
I reported it.

I wish the same could be true with the Illegal Alien Problem.
I've lived In CA since 85, and what a shit hole it is becoming.
People don't speak English, crime - gangs - disrespect - is all rampant...
I actually walked out of Burger King because no one there spoke English well enough for me to order...

My building & contracting business is faltering because I can't compete against people that charge less - not because they work for less but they don't pay any taxes, business licenses, bonds, permits, insurance (auto or business)...
They actually make more money than me after I figure out how much a job costs to do legally and my expenses.

Example:
I charge 300 bucks to replace a window.
It includes:
cutting out stucco - removing the complete old window and attached frame - and installing the new window mounted to the framing of the house, new flashing, re-stucco and clean up of the entire job and painting the new stucco.

My next door neighbor just had his windows replaced. He was so happy he found a guy to do it for 250/per. His guy wasn't licensed, did a real shit job - never cleaned up the rubble from the stucco - got stucco all over the new windows (we tape off the new window and seal it in with plastic sheeting until the painting is completed and then we remove the sheeting to reveal a beautifully clean and new window)

Then he had this hack do plumbing and electrical work, long story short none of the work I saw was up to code... and I saw it by looking over the fence, cause instead of routing the plumbing under the house like it is supposed to be they just clamped it to the outside of the house...

I see the same thing here, and that's why I started this thread, when people become part of a community through the proper channels, the community prospers. When they get a free pass, no one does it right, they don't learn the language, be it English or the Building Codes. They cheat the system that everyone else has to adhere to. Inevitably, bringing the community quality of life down with them, and raising the costs of the legitimate members.

Since this is my refuge from the bullshit I have to live with, here I offer no quarter to the cheats.
SPAMMER GONE!!
TO THE NEWBS, welcome!! post some pictures, tell us of your adventures and be a part of our community, pay your dues first.

Well, I'm glad, sort of. You took my 'chew toy' away. At least we should be able to go to some of their sites and cause a world of trouble, false orders, cutting and pasting the spam to S/M sites, etc.

We're bikers, after all. Besides, the concept of 'vendetta' has stood the test of time. My guess is that unless we twist his nipples real tight he'll just sign on again with some new fudge-packing handle and we'll have to do this kind of defense all over again.

Maybe we could even have a contest for the best "Spammer Jammer" of the month.

There will be more there always is... sadly...

Sadly, you're right. There will never be "a war to end all wars." There will always be a miscreant stroking himself in his mom's basement spoiling other people's forums instead of actually working.

I'm trying to float an idea. Carol Burnett was the first person to successfully sue a tabloid, and we should do the same. Hunt these guys down, sue them for damages to your website and intentionally inflicting emotional distress.

Find their ISP and sign them up for every NAMBLA site. Tell Homeland Security that many of our members here are in the armed forces and there is a possible security breech. Find out if any of the websites they trashed are owned by the Mafia. If the spammer sells pork products post his links to Arab websites. Tell his mother.

Forty years ago we fought with ice picks. Now the fight should be in cyber space.

Oh, I wanted to add one thing and forgot, and that's our collective mindset when using a computer.

Many years ago forum members used to advise "do not feed the trolls." The idea was that if a troublemaker got onto your board that even negative attention gave him a woodie. I do not believe that is effective for trolls, spammers and bullies--nor was it ever a good idea in life.

First off, cowards smell blood. You let them in with no penalty, and not only do they get worst but they bring friends and/or give your site a bad reputation. I've even seen slumlord forum owners and petty moderators spoil a forum. You do not accept crap from drunken townies in a saloon, and you do not accept it in cyber space.

Being an a-hole should have consequences. One thing I've seen is a "troll hole." A special section is ceated where all of a member's posts go right into a section identified as a bin for losers. We should start one. In keeping with a bike theme, call it "Posers Parkway." Or 'Circle Jerkers Circle of Jerks.' When it gets full, just delete it.

We all know that a broken nose stops a dozen future fights. Just because folks act up on forums akin to their saloon behavior doesn't mean our response should be any different. It is doubtful these guys even own bikes, anyway. Bike owners act a certain way, and these guys are petty closet masturbators, not one of us.