Hi Guys,
Old Fart her .. in the absence of anyone else .. I'll climb up onto the Soap Box ...
I've watched with increasing dismay over the more recent years as the Group's Annual Brum Bike Shed Meet has slid into a rather sad and sorry state.
I suggested and organized this event during the first few years .. but when I moved to live in Spain (after the 2005 meet) things kind of lost momentum.
Those of you that were around in those early years of the Gen 1 will recall how everyone laughed and took the p*** out of me .. telling guys how to get their bikes 'On the Line' for those Group photo shoots .. but the results were often very good. I introduced the Mars Bar Awards as a bit of fun and handed them out to those who had made some kind of extra effort to get there. Other groups were invited to join in and all of us enjoyed a few good days out.
These modern 'on-line' groups are good and they help people a lot .. so many people with so many different skills .. we can almost always get the answer no mater what the question .. because there will be someone who knows. I myself can recall asking how to tell the sex of Chameleon Lizards .. and getting the answer within minutes :o) I think we would all agree that having a guy like Mike GTX (Falcon) on hand has proved to be a very handy for hundreds of Fazer bods ;o)
However .. these International on-line Group ideas are not the same as the old type of 'hands on' Clubs .. back when a few Bikers in their small local area would meet up once a week, once a month or whatever, ride-out together and often hold other social gatherings as well That kind of Club required a different kind of input from everyone, they had their Committee's, their Leadership and commitment from the Members.
So .. if we recognise the differences and needs of our 'on-line' Group .. maybe we can start to understand a little about why the input of our members is so varied. We are spread out over vast distances, many of us are Silent Lurkers (at least until we need Mike ;o) lots of us can't (for whatever reason) ride into central England just to say Hello to guys who don't even use their real names on-line. We could all file past each other in the street and some of us would not recognise or know anyone!
Lots of guys are unwilling to spend their hard earned money on fuel to go anywhere outside their patch to meet a bunch of blokes they don't know.
A few guys might need to save that money to ride thousands of miles on a Holiday Trip. Holding any Annual Bike Meet in the UK in April is probable not such a good idea when considering the weather .. most (if not all) of us are a bit reluctant about setting off to ride anywhere on the bike in the rain .. it just ain't much fun, is it. There are f course always many reasons (and excuses) for not taking part in things!
This year 2010 .. there has been next to No Interest in the Annual Bike Shed Meet .. it's been a bloody crap year in lots of ways, the long winter and the general financial climate have knocked the old lets all 'Just Do It' factor for six .. we have other priorities, other needs and lots of uncertainties .. and we don't like getting the Bling Bling bike dirty :o)
I don't ride a Yamaha these days, I don't ride a Fazer Gen 1 (or 2) these days and I don't even ride a Solo Bike these days .. so me not being there will be no big deal whatsoever! I just happened to say (in passing) that I was going to be in the UK on Sunday 4th April.this year and if there was a meet in Brum on that day I would be there. It seems that this has been taken as the Only Sunday that the Bike Shed meet could be held, it's not! It's Easter Sunday, the Weather forecast will probably be crap and nobody (except two or three) has said .. Yes .. I'll be there! Also, as this years event has not been advertised by anyone at all so far over on the FOC-U Group side .. there are a few hundred 'Fazer Guys' who don't know anything about it!
Basically Gents, in my opinion .. it's looking very much like it's a bit of a non-starter for Sunday 4th April .. we had 11 Gen 1s at the very first meet .. so getting just 3 or 4 turn up this year will be very sad.
I started the first one and I would now like to suggest that you all have a re-think and consider shifting gear .. so that the Annual Brum Bike Shed meet takes place in May This Year and each year thereafter .. not April. May is only a few weeks later, its not Easter and it should be possible to pick at least one Sunday that is not a Bank Holiday. There is also a (very slight) chance that the weather girl will be in a better mood by then.
I fear (worry) that if this years event is a complete and utter flop it will be the start of an even more rapid decline of this Group. They don't make Gen 1s anymore .. but this does not mean that the a Group Gathering of Bikers needs to die its death .. I've attended on a BMW and a Honda myself :o)
If any (or all) of you think I'm talking total b******s .. for Neptune's (my God) sake stand up, step forward and say so! Coat, Door, Gone :o)
Cheers and as ever Stay Safe Guys ;o)
Trev The Polar Bear (Costa Blanca Spain)
Old Fart her .. in the absence of anyone else .. I'll climb up onto the Soap Box ...
I've watched with increasing dismay over the more recent years as the Group's Annual Brum Bike Shed Meet has slid into a rather sad and sorry state.
I suggested and organized this event during the first few years .. but when I moved to live in Spain (after the 2005 meet) things kind of lost momentum.
Those of you that were around in those early years of the Gen 1 will recall how everyone laughed and took the p*** out of me .. telling guys how to get their bikes 'On the Line' for those Group photo shoots .. but the results were often very good. I introduced the Mars Bar Awards as a bit of fun and handed them out to those who had made some kind of extra effort to get there. Other groups were invited to join in and all of us enjoyed a few good days out.
These modern 'on-line' groups are good and they help people a lot .. so many people with so many different skills .. we can almost always get the answer no mater what the question .. because there will be someone who knows. I myself can recall asking how to tell the sex of Chameleon Lizards .. and getting the answer within minutes :o) I think we would all agree that having a guy like Mike GTX (Falcon) on hand has proved to be a very handy for hundreds of Fazer bods ;o)
However .. these International on-line Group ideas are not the same as the old type of 'hands on' Clubs .. back when a few Bikers in their small local area would meet up once a week, once a month or whatever, ride-out together and often hold other social gatherings as well That kind of Club required a different kind of input from everyone, they had their Committee's, their Leadership and commitment from the Members.
So .. if we recognise the differences and needs of our 'on-line' Group .. maybe we can start to understand a little about why the input of our members is so varied. We are spread out over vast distances, many of us are Silent Lurkers (at least until we need Mike ;o) lots of us can't (for whatever reason) ride into central England just to say Hello to guys who don't even use their real names on-line. We could all file past each other in the street and some of us would not recognise or know anyone!
Lots of guys are unwilling to spend their hard earned money on fuel to go anywhere outside their patch to meet a bunch of blokes they don't know.
A few guys might need to save that money to ride thousands of miles on a Holiday Trip. Holding any Annual Bike Meet in the UK in April is probable not such a good idea when considering the weather .. most (if not all) of us are a bit reluctant about setting off to ride anywhere on the bike in the rain .. it just ain't much fun, is it. There are f course always many reasons (and excuses) for not taking part in things!
This year 2010 .. there has been next to No Interest in the Annual Bike Shed Meet .. it's been a bloody crap year in lots of ways, the long winter and the general financial climate have knocked the old lets all 'Just Do It' factor for six .. we have other priorities, other needs and lots of uncertainties .. and we don't like getting the Bling Bling bike dirty :o)
I don't ride a Yamaha these days, I don't ride a Fazer Gen 1 (or 2) these days and I don't even ride a Solo Bike these days .. so me not being there will be no big deal whatsoever! I just happened to say (in passing) that I was going to be in the UK on Sunday 4th April.this year and if there was a meet in Brum on that day I would be there. It seems that this has been taken as the Only Sunday that the Bike Shed meet could be held, it's not! It's Easter Sunday, the Weather forecast will probably be crap and nobody (except two or three) has said .. Yes .. I'll be there! Also, as this years event has not been advertised by anyone at all so far over on the FOC-U Group side .. there are a few hundred 'Fazer Guys' who don't know anything about it!
Basically Gents, in my opinion .. it's looking very much like it's a bit of a non-starter for Sunday 4th April .. we had 11 Gen 1s at the very first meet .. so getting just 3 or 4 turn up this year will be very sad.
I started the first one and I would now like to suggest that you all have a re-think and consider shifting gear .. so that the Annual Brum Bike Shed meet takes place in May This Year and each year thereafter .. not April. May is only a few weeks later, its not Easter and it should be possible to pick at least one Sunday that is not a Bank Holiday. There is also a (very slight) chance that the weather girl will be in a better mood by then.
I fear (worry) that if this years event is a complete and utter flop it will be the start of an even more rapid decline of this Group. They don't make Gen 1s anymore .. but this does not mean that the a Group Gathering of Bikers needs to die its death .. I've attended on a BMW and a Honda myself :o)
If any (or all) of you think I'm talking total b******s .. for Neptune's (my God) sake stand up, step forward and say so! Coat, Door, Gone :o)
Cheers and as ever Stay Safe Guys ;o)
Trev The Polar Bear (Costa Blanca Spain)
