Who cares about the members?

[mraf]

So I log onto the board this morning and what pops up in the ad banner??... an ad linking to the Super Brace website. And out of the kindness of their heart giving all the 1st Gen members 15% off the price of one of their braces at $143.95. That works out to around $122 bucks. Wow!! Such a deal!! What gets me a little ticked off is I've been having fork braces made for the supporting members of this site for $67.00 and that includes shipping for about 4-5 years now, and at that price barely covering my time and the money laid out up front. Why? For the good of this board and it's supporting members. I also did this with MAC mufflers and Odyssey battery's when that's all there was available....Again, laying out a bunch, and not making a penny. So where's the support?? I guess it really doesn't matter any more..... It's just very disappointing. I wonder what the future holds for this place??

 

Likes been said money talks the rest walk. My 86 came with one but if I was looking yours would be it. Whatever you do don't leave this site. Between you and Yammer its a race for how many Ventures 1 man can have.

[Condor]

That ad has been here for a few weeks now and it has already been discussed. SuperBrace is one of the few companies that still make a product for the first gen Venture and should be applauded for still supporting the bikes that many here ride. They were the very first to offer the much needed fork brace for the Venture and have been doing so for many many years now. Yes, their price is higher than the alternative but they are also a business with employees to pay, overhead and etc.

 

They offered to pay a very small fee and offer our members a discount and I thought it was a nice gesture on their part. I have never stated that anybody should buy from them instead of from Condor but there is an option.

 

This is nothing that I haven't also done to myself. I am a huge fan of Diamond R Accessories. I was making and selling center stands for the RSV but Diamond R also offered one. Theirs was much more expensive than mine but had a nicer finish being chromed and etc. I did not feel cheated if somebody chose to purchase their product over mine and I did not feel that the membership here was not supporting me in that case.

 

It is not about not supporting the member vendors. It is about giving the members options and not being afraid to let the marketplace work.

 

Everyone has an opinion Don, but I think you've missed point in expressing yours. It's called member support. I don't need a lesson in marketing and merchandising, I've been down that road many times in the last 50 years. But like I've said before and I'll say it again...

It's your board....

 

[utadventure]

I find it hard to believe you are going to lose any sales to them if the member knows about your product. I for one didn't know you made them.

 

I believe that Jack's point is that IF someone wants/needs a fork brace, they likely aren't going to go looking for someone on the site that might provide it at a reasonable price when a banner can lead them to, or recommend, an outside vendor.

 

I don't know the answer but I think I understand the frustration.

 

I didn't know Jack or that he had braces available when I paid full price for the Super Brace I have on the 86.

 

Dave

[pmelah]

Jack one of my neighbors now has a 1st gen i was looking it over and noticed a supperbrace on it i had to get on here and look at what you offered and low and behold its an exact image of a condor supperbrace i did meet the po and he said he got it from a friend who orderd it from this site and he recomends it highly i told him i am a member of this site and already have plans to order one when my situation gets better he said your brace makes a world of difference and you cant beat the price he passed this on for you Thank You he is now a goldwinger lol

[Riderduke]

I for one always look at Member Vendors when I need something for my bike..... Then I go to the section Venturerider Vendors section....... I have a new battery coming from Skydoc that should be here today:banana:. I could have driven 25 miles down the road and just picked it up for $10 less.... but this way I didn't have to leave my house and its on the way..... also its supporting other members.

[etcswjoe]

When I click on a banner ad all I get is a white screen with

Blocked right in the middle.

[Phoneman1981]

Interesting. I learned a lot from reading this post.

[rickardracing]

So I log onto the board this morning and what pops up in the ad banner??... an ad linking to the Super Brace website. And out of the kindness of their heart giving all the 1st Gen members 15% off the price of one of their braces at $143.95. That works out to around $122 bucks. Wow!! Such a deal!! What gets me a little ticked off is I've been having fork braces made for the supporting members of this site for $67.00 and that includes shipping for about 4-5 years now, and at that price barely covering my time and the money laid out up front. Why? For the good of this board and it's supporting members. I also did this with MAC mufflers and Odyssey battery's when that's all there was available....Again, laying out a bunch, and not making a penny. So where's the support?? I guess it really doesn't matter any more..... It's just very disappointing. I wonder what the future holds for this place??

 

 

Well, your not trying to make a living and support a family or employees with your product. Super Braces probably are. I paint on the side for extra cash. I do it as a hobby also, but I want compensated for my time. I don't mind helping someone out every once in awhile by throwing out a bone, but you would not believe how many people want a paint job for the cost of supplies and expect it to be a 99 point show finish. I take pride in my work and try to make sure it's as awesome as possible, but it also takes the fun out of it too. If a company is still making parts for an old bike and offing a discount, be happy with it.

[Evan]

 

Everyone has an opinion Don, but I think you've missed point in expressing yours. It's called member support. I don't need a lesson in marketing and merchandising, I've been down that road many times in the last 50 years. But like I've said before and I'll say it again...

It's your board....

 

 

Love you Don but IMHO, this is a fair comment. Seems to me that one of our challenges is to help new members become aware of the amazing amount of both member provided technical write ups and offers like Condor's. That does not mean that independent vendor offers should not be included.

[friesman]

Jack, I care about you and a lot of members on this site, and I do agree with your idea of support.

 

We should support our local members first. if we dont, they wont do what they do best, and that is help the rest of us that need guys like you to keep these scoots running like they should and keep improving the the bikes performance.

 

Thanks for what you member vendors do for us we do appreciate all your work, and I will always check the member vendor area first before buyinganywhere else.

 

Brian

[Brown Angel]

I love mine!!!! I got it from Bongo Bob but he told me that it was yours and I love that beautiful thing!

[fixit3546]

I don't look at the adds.....

[Huggy]

Well we have to look at this realistically Condor, the members WILL buy from you first as they are going to get a great product at a more then reasonable price!!! Now on the other hand these ads help Freebird offset the cost of running the site. I'm sure it was not intended to draw customers away from you. In fact when they see the quality and price of your brackets as compared to theirs why would anyone NOT buy yours? Just my .

[Marcarl]

Now I would be happy to see that ad,,,,, $122 WOW!!! that means I saved about $50 when I bought one from you and it didn't even break,,, well not yet anyhow.

There's 2 ways to view ads, one is negatively and the other is on the positive side. I think you have taken a bit of the negative side and that is natural,,,, hey you make an excellent product at a very reasonable price and here is an ad on OUR site posting an alternative. Well so be it, it does not say, "don't buy Jack's brace" it just says, "hey we sell the Super Brace".

May I suggest you maybe go a bit positive, contact Don to see what the cost of the banner would be worth, add that to your cost and put up your own banner. That way maybe some more 1st genners will see what you have to offer and not miss out by not being informed well enough or think about looking in the classified first.

Just thinking.

[Dano]

Maybe I could make a little extra $$ for my services to friends like Jack out on the road when they need my help......(been WELL paid back for that!)

 

Oh, I'm just NOT like that.....

 

I bought my brace for the long gone 1st gen from Jack because I know our members make an excellent product, just like the "Diamond cut", front chrome grills for the 2nd gens, Squeeze and mine starter clutch replacements (oops, self-serving ad there!!) and all the products made available from our members here since all they want to do is help others out because of the rarity and difficulty in finding GOOD parts to put on their bike.....

[Condor]

Maybe I could make a little extra $$ for my services to friends like Jack out on the road when they need my help......(been WELL paid back for that!)

 

Oh, I'm just NOT like that.....

 

I bought my brace for the long gone 1st gen from Jack because I know our members make an excellent product, just like the "Diamond cut", front chrome grills for the 2nd gens, Squeeze and mine starter clutch replacements (oops, self-serving ad there!!) and all the products made available from our members here since all they want to do is help others out because of the rarity and difficulty in finding GOOD parts to put on their bike.....

 

Thanks for all the kind thoughts guys, but no, I'm not mad... just disappointed. Like all the group buys I've put together over the years, I did it for the members, and make very little, if anything doing it. A couple of times I would have lost money if it hadn't been for a couple of hero members making a 'donation'... Personally, I don't give a damn about this website, but I do care a lot for it's members and their common love of Venture MC, and that's why I do what I do. One more thing. I don't produce a thing.... All the group buys were put together with a supplier. I ain't that talented...

[Freebird]

Ok...I have sat back and just let this go even though I still don't entirely understand the beef. The reason I don't understand it is because Condor has said many times that he does this for the members and makes little to nothing on these things and in fact, would have lost money a couple of times. That being the case, I honestly don't know why he is so upset because of an add from another reputable vendor. Not to mention the fact that he has gotten more exposure from this thread discussing the ad than he had ever gotten without it.

 

I was willing to just let it go and add no additional comments until this last post in which he says " Personally, I don't give a damn about this website, but I do care a lot for it's members and their common love of Venture MC." Now to me, this website IS the members here and without this website, he and the rest of us would never have heard of or met many of the friends that we have made. So to not give a damn about this website is an offensive remark to me after the many years and hours I have spent getting it started and keeping it going.

 

I'm done with this thread. If anybody wants another comment from me about this they can send me a PM. Had Condor sent me a PM to begin with instead of going off here then perhaps it could have been resolved in another way.

 

I tell you what, I just marked Condor's membership paid in full for an additional 5 years. That should come close to compensating him for any money he may have lost on these items that he was making no or very little money on. I'm sorry this all happened but I am now done with it.

[XV1100SE]

....I tell you what, I just marked Condor's membership paid in full for an additional 5 years. That should come close to compensating him for any money he may have lost on these items that he was making no or very little money on. I'm sorry this all happened but I am now done with it.

 

Outstanding. Class act. Kudos Don.

 

Think it boils down to a member selling something and the site advertising a competing product. Sort of like adding a banner advertising the "other" Venture site.... a Ford dealer advertising for GM....

 

Great site, great people... that's all that matters. Support member vendors, then suppliers that support the site.

[mraf]

 

I tell you what, I just marked Condor's membership paid in full for an additional 5 years. That should come close to compensating him for any money he may have lost on these items that he was making no or very little money on. I'm sorry this all happened but I am now done with it.

 

Nice play. I do give a danm about this site. Without it the winters around here would be unbearable. Now that being said who do I have to slam to get on this gravy train? :rotfl:

[Venturous Randy]

If I did not give a damn about this site, I would not be on here multiple times a day. I have always felt very fortunately to have stumbled on to this site and to have met some really great people. I have helped others and I have had others help me. I have met friends that I would never have met that I talk to routinely. I have had members visit me and stay at my home and hope this will continue. All of this started because of the dedication of Don in having a site that has always been within the context of a very family friendly site.

I, personally, do not have any issue with what Don did and if anything, it brought a lot of attention to what one of our members has to offer and it let others know to check what some of our members do provide. I do not see this as a win/lose thing, but as a win/win situation.

RandyA

[CaptainJoe]

Thanks for all the kind thoughts guys, but no, I'm not mad... just disappointed. Like all the group buys I've put together over the years, I did it for the members, and make very little, if anything doing it. A couple of times I would have lost money if it hadn't been for a couple of hero members making a 'donation'... Personally, I don't give a damn about this website, but I do care a lot for it's members and their common love of Venture MC, and that's why I do what I do. One more thing. I don't produce a thing.... All the group buys were put together with a supplier. I ain't that talented...

 

Actually you do care abut this website Jack,

 

Member since 2006..Kind of says it all...

 

 

Why else would you care so much about what happened to US?...

 

PM Don, and fix this difference of opinion...

 

Communication is everything....

 

CaptainJoe

Edited December 16, 2013 by CaptainJoe

[cowpuc]

If I did not give a damn about this site, I would not be on here multiple times a day. I have always felt very fortunately to have stumbled on to this site and to have met some really great people. I have helped others and I have had others help me. I have met friends that I would never have met that I talk to routinely. I have had members visit me and stay at my home and hope this will continue. All of this started because of the dedication of Don in having a site that has always been within the context of a very family friendly site.

I, personally, do not have any issue with what Don did and if anything, it brought a lot of attention to what one of our members has to offer and it let others know to check what some of our members do provide. I do not see this as a win/lose thing, but as a win/win situation.

RandyA

 

HERE, HERE!!

[syscrusher]

I just clicked on the SB ad and found a list of reasons why I should have a fork brace and an illustrative video as well. Very convincing. I'm now thinking that a fork brace may not be a bad thing and I may start shopping around for one or I might just buy one from SB. If I do discover Jack's product the price will likely grab me. I already did know about it but I wanted to show how the SB ad could help to sell Jack's brace, which needs a catchy name like the "Condor Control Clamp" to help compete with "SuperBrace".

 

The thing is for any of the banner ads a member may sell a competing product. Jake Wilson, Cruiser Customizing, etc. have large catalogs and some items likely could also be purchased from a member here too. If I wanted to start selling tank bibs or even a line of leather items is it reasonable for me to ask Don to pull the banner ad for Ace Leather? It's just too much to ask that care be taken to protect the member vendors from perceived competition, BUT, how about a link to member vendors underneath the banner ads? Maybe since they do provide an important aspect of the service that makes this site great, maybe linking to them should be given a top-level presence?

 

Except for the difficult ones, don't link to them.

[Trader]

Ok....Don said he is "done with this thread"....so.......

 

What do you think of the drug addicts who supply guns to those child molesting republican clergy who are so obviously mis-guided in the way they represent their religion? The government really should do something but they have to get out of Afganistan before they have the manpower because there is so much corruption in politics they have misapplied funds and are bankrupting the country.

 

I think that just about covers the hot spots.

 

Oh yeah....1st gens are faster...but I think that comment is allowed.

 

hee hee

[Sylvester]

Yep time to close the thread. I feel frustration on both sides and a group hug is in order.