Allright….my 2 cents, for what it’s worth
Read, or not, but these are my observations and opinions
I started here just before Tim died. Was he THE mover and shaker here? Without doubt!
There will never be anyone to hold a candle to TWN!
I joined when I was stuck financially with this bike after the end of a really bad relationship, and was bound and determined to not only ride it, but maintain it and connect with it.
I did my first solo oil change in my flannel nighty one chilly Canadian morning in my garage, laptop by my side for step by step instruction. It was so easy, I changed the drive fluid too!! I would not have attempted that without FJRForum. Confidence builder, at a time mine had been trashed to the lowest point in my life by the person that had introduced me to the greatest fun in my life, riding. (ok, 2nd greatest fun, LOL). I’ve since done lots of things, including wiring in my own battery charger pigtails. Go me! Ha! (I can build and plumb a house, but I can’t change a lightbulb without risk of personal injury. Me and electricity have an adversarial relationship)
Anyway, being, by nature, an irreverent smartass, at that time this place was like finding a home away from home. I would list names, but I’d hate to make an error of omission in my haste to write this. Back then, this place was chock full of smartasses, just like me. Like HRZ, sitting with my morning java catching up on the abuse sure to be flying about in thread after thread was fun, and certainly a welcome diversion from the inanities and stresses of life.
I’ve been a member here through some of the roughest part of my life, including the loss of both my parents. Being a single mom and alone, I could not exhibit weakness in my real life. Someone incredibly special reached out from here who had lost a parent as well, and those emails, that sharing and understanding, got me through. I don’t think that person knows just how special they are to me, but there it is…(ok, time to blow my nose…brb)
That’s just one example of the type of meaningful friendships I have stumbled upon purely by interacting in this medium. It’s not by a loooong shot the only one. The first time in my online life did I come to be touched by a stranger I never met (No, Old Michael….not THAT kind of touching). When Orangevale left us, that was huge for me. To think that someone who took those amazing photo’s that touched so much in so many of us could check out in that manner? I still think about him. I have one of his barn shots framed in my bedroom. That is the first realization I had that these “people” were not just blips on a screen. Happily, I had the chance to “know” him, in as much a way as I could through his photos and a few PM’s about those photos and the FZ6 his wife had (I had the exact same bike). His passing is something I will not forget.
Now, at some point there became a very concerted effort to permanently remove the fun from here. The admins threatened and harassed the people who were the movers and the shakers of the fun; giving them timeouts for rule non-compliance, making threats based on information they read in member’s private messaging through this site. Folks like beemerdons and Bustanut basically fought back, but only had limited success to try and preserve the essence of what made this place special. It was very clearly stated that this was to be a tech only site. The rest of us gave in and walked away. I guess one has to pick their battles, and the fun factor here was definitely at war with the powers that be.
To preserve and promote this place for tech only, or IBR concentric, in my opinion is the root of the demise. By and large normal people, recreational riders, ride the FJR. They are the ones that benefit from the tech, but that has been covered here ad nauseam. I hate to break this fact to anyone, but the FJR is a competent motorcycle, built by a proven manufacturer in tune with all the evo’s of technology available to them. I think after 17 years of this model being consistently manufactured with few platform changes that has to be the epitome of flogging that dead fkkn horse. I logged on 2 days ago for the 1st time in ages to see another tire thread top of the page…...I think my dogs jumped when I groaned out loud. **** me.
So, if we follow the admin rules and study the Bin-O-Facts and use the search before we post, what’s left to post????
Oh yeah…..finding out how my friends and loved folks are; talking about smokers, or meat jerky recipes, and bugging OM about………..well anything really.
He has that kind of face, erm, karma
*hops off soapbox, goes to make din-din*
b, with her signature: