Of late there has been some to-ing and fro-ing of remarks regards questions and there responses.

We all have to realise we are all of differing backgrounds and experience, as such our questions, whilst obvious to some are not so obvious to other forum members.

New members sometimes come on here for advice and are unaware of how the 'search' facility works until they have been on here a wee while.

Can we all take a deep breath and help our fellow riders, new or old. Most agree this is a friendly site and I for one would like it to remain so. A haven for riders of Silver Wings to hang out, swop ideas and be generally helpful towards our fellow members irrespective of experience. We frequently welcome new forum members with the offer of help to their questions. Let us just do that - help.

Thank you.

Doug:
Well said. When I first joined the ranks of the Silverwing owners on this site, I was warmly received and provided with a wealth of information that helped me figure out what I could do to customize my bike for me and my particular needs. It seems like the general tone has changed a bit and not for the better. It would be good to shift back to a more friendly, accepting place.

yes lets all act like we just met each other and remain civil.

Thank you for your time.

MaxB

I agree Waspie.
Sometimes it gets frustrating when the same question appears over and over. Maybe somehow we can direct new members to the Search function in their registration process.

Being sarcastic or caustic just scares off new members.

We all were virgins at one time or another.

I for one have never liked hearing newer members being told, "Use the search feature". Obviously anyone with a half a brain's worth of computer knowledge can see the site has a search feature. They could even save a step by going straight to google or bing or msn to find out an answer to their question. Could you imagine an official at a press conference constantly answering questions from the press corp with "Now folks, what did I tell you last week (or last year)? Look it up in your notes!"
What may seem like the same old question to you or I (like the "glazed clutch squeal") may be a big scare to a first time rider. Obviously they have a need to talk it out with a real, somewhat empathetic person who will play the role of a shrink and just listen and answer. That's why most join, otherwise they could just lurk around as a guest, never joining, and the search feature will still be there for them. When you think about it, probably a huge percentage of things written here daily, have probably been written here many times before. Imagine if we just saved our typing fingers and just searched. In time, there'd be no new conversations, no new human interaction--just automated answers simply from hitting a button. How sad.
As to the in-fighting: I was tempted to retort with the old phrase heard so often in the Introduction section---"Welcome to the friendliest Silverwing forum on the web". But the timing wouldn't have been right in those hot moments and the sarcasm would have just made folks madder.

I think the 'problem' of the SEARCH facility is that different forums have different ways in which they operate and for those of us who are less computer-literate, guidance is helpful.
For example, on the X9 site, in order to get a full search of the whole forum, one has to start from the Home Page and unless newbies are told that, they start from the section they're in and that only shows relevant posts in that section.

Thanks, Doug. I wish I was as diplomatic.

Sometimes the use of a smilie can show that it is a well meaning comment rather than telling someone in a harsh manner.
This has always been a problem with forums, the typed word doesn't show intonation.
One possible way to direct anyone to the Search feature would be to post a link to the Search saying something like "Try this, I found it be using the search function".
I'm not known for my diplomacy but I'm prepared to cut a little slack. It is when people keep asking questions instead of using the search button that gets my goat.
Cheers,

I don't think there's any in-fighting on here if you're referring to my little spat with bigbird yesterday, I'll admit I can be both sarcastic and caustic, and I do apologise if anyone took offence.
There's lots of things that wind me up about forums, people who join to pick the collective brain to solve their current problem then disappear for good without a word of thanks, members who don't have the courtesy to introduce themselves before asking for info. Requests for info about the Silver Wing v other scooters when all the info is already out there in magazines or on other web sites.

It's also irritating to read about the never ending quest to try and turn a fine maxi scooter into sports motorcycle. All this 'flicking it through the twisties' stuff is nothing but bull****, because no one will ever admit the limitations of their riding skills.

Anyone who has seen Victor Meldrew on the telly would expect you to be a grumpy old git - if you weren't people would think you were ill or something!

(please note use of smilie)

Cheers,

I really enjoy hearing what others have done to customize their machines for their own taste or needs and I certainly do not find anything about that irritating. There are so many very passionate Swing owners who have added all types of modifications to their bikes. I simply can't imagine why anyone would care if someone else gets a kick out of modifying their own swing to suit their own taste or needs. If you do not want to modify your machine, then don't, but it irritates the piss out of me to hear someone else try to tell me what I should or shouldn't do with my machine. Get over it. It is my bike and I will do whatever I want to with it just because it pleases me.

This is just my humble opinion, but if I'm joining a board to learn something, I want to respect all the hard work that GURUs (Anyone who knows so much more than I do that I value their input and opinion) have already put in providing answers. I think it would be disrespectful to not search for the answers among the knowledge already posted. Why should I expect them to go thru the effort for the eleventybillionth time to answer a question I could have searched for myself? They already spent their time. Now it my turn.

Dan

I would like to address a possible offense I may have caused which was mentioned above. I can't recall if I ever introduced myself on this forum before starting to ask questions, so here goes...

My name is Craig and I live in California US. I own a 2002 Silver Wing which I bought brand new in 2002, sold in 2009, and bought back this year (should NEVER have sold it). I retained some of my skills and knowledge, but I'm still re-learning the bits I lost. Since the time I bought the bike back I have had a few problems with it, and also determined that it needs a few improvements (after-market clutch for example). I have previously made several mods to the bike which I will now list in my signature like others have done. I will also create an album when I have the time to show all of the mods.

I previously visited another forum (location to remain unnamed) which started out absolutely fantastic. There were a few people who were a little bit harsh, but they often also had a lot knowledge which they did share. I learned to just let the unpleasant parts go by, and never respond in kind. Just not responding at all to an attack usually allowed the issue to just die down on its own, and allowed everybody to get on with their forum life. Unfortunately this was not the case with everybody. Sometimes a member would become incensed over a remark somebody else made (which may or may not have been personal), and would start a flaming war. This was extremely unpleasant, and started to happen more often. Over time I started to notice that fewer and fewer people were contributing to threads, and realized it was because they had left the forum. I ultimately did the same. I am glad to say that I have seen very little of this in this forum, and there seem to be a lot of peacemakers.

I have often used the search function in this forum, and I am trying to use it more often and get better at it. Sometimes the problem is that something is being referred to under a different name than what I expected, so I don't find it. Conversely, sometimes the obvious search phrase is so generic that a bewildering number of threads come up and I get lost. At least once somebody on the forum kindly suggested that I use search, and gave me a few possible search words to use. That was extremely helpful and not at all insulting. As a result I found a few threads containing the very information I was looking for. I hope that this sort of kind response to us search-challenged members will continue.

I have found this forum to be incredibly valuable, and most people have been friendly and helpful. As I (re)gain more knowledge I hope to be more of a contributor and give back to the forum. I just want to give a big thanks to everybody for making this a great place to meet with other Silver Wing owners, to find out information I need, and to have an opportunity to contribute in kind to others!

I agree with most all of the comments here. We have a forum known for being friendly and helpful. I think we want to keep it that way. If someone has an issue with what someone else said, perhaps a PM is in order.

Thank you Waspie for starting this discussion. I think it will help maintain the "Mission" of this forum.

Respectfully, Gar

Hello bigbird, If I was interested in sports bikes I'd buy one, but I'm into maxi scooters, and handling isn't a problem or even a priority, although comfort, weather protection, and storage capacity is. You can add all the bits you want, but that's a minor part of ownership that is overshadowing the riding, whether it's on your home patch or further afield. Sort the screen and your storage needs, and you're ready for anywhere.

'Many citizens of this planet do not have that luxury that we take for granted', you're right there, I spent a couple of months seeing abject poverty in Kenya, and toured quite a bit behind the Iron Curtain back in the day, Nowadays illegal immigrants and claimants from there and other countries are helping bleed the UK dry, not that you'd be aware of that problem being on the other side of the Atlantic in Canada.

As for your last point, I suspect you'll go for the 24gr sliders rather than the cross Canada tour. I'm not being sarcastic in saying I've never read any posts from you about travelling in Canada, and I'd really like to... honest!

Indeed, seeing more people join and contribute is a good thing. That is why, earlier in this thread, I expressed concern about possibly "scaring off" newbies that are worried about an issue that we take for granted, not engaging them enough by telling them to go look for the answer on their own. While this forum is not a business that would be subject to good "customer service", one realizes how irritating it would be if an employee answered your question with a remark like "Go look down the hall" or "It's somewhere in the back of the store, look for it, dude". If we don't consider the potential "consumer's" feelings they may just quietly lurk around, see what they want and just move on without even interacting with us. Then, possibly, as Craig said the end result maybe, new memberships will go down. Now I've said all this because my business background has been in customer service and membership, where we're taught all this is necessary for the company's survival.
Yet, here is where the analogy diverges: not all businesses live off of memberships, but internet forums need them to thrive. So the original concept of us keeping them coming in is imperative, I feel. And if we must bend a little to maintain that comfortable atmosphere then so be it.

There is an awfully bid difference between:-
"Please look down the third aisle and you should find that item halfway down on the right hand side" and
"We have them somewhere on a shelf, move your fat arse until you find them".

Some people aren't experienced with forums and a little guidance is all they need. Other times it can be the forum layout that is confusing, take Silverwing600 and BurgmanUSA as examples.

Well said. I agree completely!

Like many other folk I ride the scoot as my arthritic body struggles to get on and off 'conventional' machines. Having said that, I get just as much thrill/pleasure out of riding my recently acquired SWing as I have out of any of my bikes, now that I've gotten over the image problem I had.
I have just completed a 2300 mile tour in Europe, the Vosges,the Schwarzwald and the Ardennes using routes from a book by an American (Toby Ballentine). I got real pleasure from cranking the bike over on the hilly hairpin bends and I have to say that I was surprised (again) by how well the scoot handled fully laden with all my gear even on the standard suspension. The other two guys were riding BMW bikes, 150 hp and 110 hp and apart from the highways I had no problems with my performance. Scooting is here to stay !!!