Are biker forums dieing out?

thewatch

Where's everyone spending their time online these days? I've noticed most forums that I like and in the past were real lively are now awful slow and a bit boring tbh.

I'm not on Facebook so I dont know if thats where its at now. Im not a desperado online all the time but it seems to me the old forum I'd tune into that were fun and informative are just full of watchers and guests now. Nothing moving, no opinions, very negative

Anyone else notice it?

Zipppy

yep
and its not just biker forums...lots of forums for sport, leisure etc are suffering.
TBH im not sure where everyone has gone.
FB is a factor but not the root of all problems.
Most discussion on biker forums used to be bike issues or advice needed on buying. Perhaps all questions have been asked at this stage..

Max Headroom

Zipppy wrote: »

yep
and its not just biker forums...lots of forums for sport, leisure etc are suffering.
TBH im not sure where everyone has gone.
FB is a factor but not the root of all problems.
Most discussion on biker forums used to be bike issues or advice needed on buying. Perhaps all questions have been asked at this stage..

Strange question from someone who hasnt posted here in nearly 2 years....

Plenty of live discussions going on....

P.C.

Interesting.

Hotblack Desiato

Advice on buying - that's it - few people have money to spend so there's less to talk about.

Wonda-Boy

I find most people just browse/Troll etc and dont post much at all, just take it all in and leave without saying hello.

gerrowadat

FB has done away with a lot of forums. I run one for airsoft and it's dead, so is the one here on boards.

the other biker forums were a wash for me. biker.ie seems to be full of head the balls, and irishbikerforum never enabled my account and then deleted it a week or so later.

Zipppy

As a 'discussion forum' Boards itself seems to be doing ok though?

thelawman

i was on a few of the road racing forums, but they have all closed over the last few years, biker.ie isn't up to much, and the lads "in control" are partly to blame, sure here is grand, so far,

Richard tea

I find boards.ie to be a useful place for bike discussions. I find in biker.ie you have to go through a ritual of slagging in order to get a question answered.

For a bike specific forum like 400greybike I find it terrible for replies. Dont get me wrong there are some knowledgeable lads there but you can be waiting weeks for a reply.

I dont have facebook so cant comment on that. Are there facebook fan bike sites??? is there a dedicated cb400 facebook page?

Max Headroom

With google theres very little need to ask questions on boards....theres a lot of guys that ride bikes who dont have a clue about their bike ....i find this section is more about chat than real info....

P.C.

Max Headroom wrote: »

With google theres very little need to ask questions on boards....theres a lot of guys that ride bikes who dont have a clue about their bike ....i find this section is more about chat than real info....

QFT

Max Headroom

P.C. wrote: »

QFT

...too old to understand this new language....but i can strip yer engine down in 15 mins.....:p

Richard tea

P.C. wrote: »

QFT

Yiz have me confused with the POA and the QFT's:p

I find boards great for getting an irish point of view on problems and fixes. I find on foreign forums they can have different terminology & names for parts etc etc. Its useful to ask a question from a native speaker

biko

Max Headroom wrote: »

...too old to understand this new language....but i can strip yer engine down in 15 mins.....:p

QFT = quoted for truth
It means he agrees with everything you said.

Mr Sheen!

Max Headroom wrote: »

...too old to understand this new language....but i can strip yer engine down in 15 mins.....:p

So can most ppl . . . It's the putting it back part LOL

Max Headroom

biko wrote: »

QFT = quoted for truth
It means he agrees with everything you said.

PHEW...i was worried he was calling me something to do with men that frequent The George.....:o

Wonda-Boy

Yeah but will someone from google fly over and help you out with a service or if you badly stuck with an emergency!

Richard tea

Wonda-Boy wrote: »

Yeah but will someone from google fly over and help you out with a service or if you badly stuck with an emergency!

QFT:p

Max Headroom

Richard tea wrote: »

QFT:p

Why The Face................:D

Cienciano

Boards has the advantage that it covers so many topics. So you can be in talking about kate middletons arse on AH, best burrito in dublin on the regional forums and then take a look in here to see what's happening.
Reddit is similar, it covers so many topics that it's easier to spend more time on and jump into the motorcycle section.
The main criticism of boards I see on other forums is the mods, but lucky we have decent ones on motorbikes. But bad mods drive people away from a site.
I take the odd look at biker.ie and it's the same old posters thinking it's hilarious changing a subject line to something gay and calling each other "fags" if they disagree. I think IBF is dead, as far as I know facebook has taken over that one.

chickenbone

I find biker.ie a grand forum, bit of craic to be had and a lot of good advice and info. Definitely the busiest forum around for an Irish perspective. I don't do fb but I think it's killed ibf, and global is just pathetic. If I need a bike- specific answer I'd usually check the brit-based forums.

Pugzilla

Can't stand biker.ie anymore.....

This is the only decent irish forum left.

Max Headroom

Pugzilla wrote: »

Can't stand biker.ie anymore.....

This is the only decent irish forum left.

Isnt Biker.ie the one thats full of fags and gay's..................:D

NO OFFENCE.................

josh59

Richard tea wrote: »

I find boards.ie to be a useful place for bike discussions. I find in biker.ie you have to go through a ritual of slagging in order to get a question answered.

For a bike specific forum like 400greybike I find it terrible for replies. Dont get me wrong there are some knowledgeable lads there but you can be waiting weeks for a reply.

I dont have facebook so cant comment on that. Are there facebook fan bike sites??? is there a dedicated cb400 facebook page?

I joined one FB page for the CB400 but it's mostly pictures of their bikes in places where the Superfour is actually officially sold e.g Thailand, Philippines etc

terrydel

Irishbikerforum still going. Not busy but its there.

Pugzilla

I think it's a reflection of the irish biker community dying out in general.

Not many young bikers around.

minidazzler

Forums die usually by organic means because the regulars who like each other tend to congregate and communicate through Facebook groups and real life means. I've seen dozens of forums go the same way from loads of different topics. Pits rarely a malicious way to kill a forum though I've seen that too, but after a certain point the lifeblood of a forum, the regulars post less because they just discuss whatever with their forum mates through other means

CJhaughey

Pugzilla wrote: »

I think it's a refelction of the irish biker community dying out in general.

Not many young bikers around.

This is the truth, most people riding bikes are in their 40's they started out when cars were expensive to run and insure.
These days the cost of running a small car is much cheaper and the hassle and complexity involved in the graduated licensing scheme has driven many young people away from bikes.
An undoubted media bias against Motorcycling in general has stopped any movement towards bikes unless you are really really interested in them.
Just look at motorcycle sales in the past 10 years and its pitiful.
This is all reflected in forums being very quiet.

KT10

I think its down to 2 things:

1. Facebook - time was I'd have IBF and Biker.ie open all day in seperate tabs and I jump in at various times throughout the day. Now, most people spend all their day on Facebook so the forums aren't getting as much traffic so I'll check in maybe once in the morning and know not much will happen in the next 24 hours.

2. Viber/WhatsApp - I'm now at the stage where I know the lads I get on with, and we have various chat groups on these messaging platforms and thats how we arrange spins/trips away etc. removing the need for a forum.

listermint

Pugzilla wrote: »

I think it's a reflection of the irish biker community dying out in general.

Not many young bikers around.

Speak for yourself :P

I only bought one there last year, as did my buddy.

There are several people in the office I would describe as actively looking into getting a bike. None of these people owned bikes previously.

Pugzilla

listermint wrote: »

Speak for yourself :P

I only bought one there last year, as did my buddy.

There are several people in the office I would describe as actively looking into getting a bike. None of these people owned bikes previously.

You live in the Pale, so that doesn't count.:D

Feck all of the students have motorbikes in my college with the exception of myself and possibly 3 others.

TheArtOfNoise

Its always gonna be a minority thing, the 2 wheel life but still I ain't complaining...

Wonda-Boy

In fairness biking is not for everyone....hence the low participation compared to four wheels.

Cienciano

Red tape is definitely a turn off. The licencing system for cars is easy. Provisional, do your 12 lessons then go for the test. For bikes there's all sorts of shíte and restrictions.

arybvtcw0eolkf

gerrowadat wrote: »

FB has done away with a lot of forums. I run one for airsoft and it's dead, so is the one here on boards.

the other biker forums were a wash for me. biker.ie seems to be full of head the balls, and irishbikerforum never enabled my account and then deleted it a week or so later.

Same here with the Martial Arts and Self Defense forum, dead and most moved over to FB.

P.C.

Two bleedin great threads in here the last days.

One about 'keepin it real' and one about willy waving.

:rolleyes:

CJhaughey

Cameron Shapely Moth-eaten wrote: »

Same here with the Martial Arts and Self Defense forum, dead and most moved over to FB.

Maybe the younger generation have moved to FB but on some forums I am registered with its mainly older people and they don't seem as enthusiastic about FB as Forums on BB's
It really depends on the target audience IMO.

Richard tea

Anybody here on http://bikers.boards.net/

Its Delboys Garage forum. I find it good

Cienciano

P.C. wrote: »

Two bleedin great threads in here the last days.

One about 'keepin it real' and one about willy waving.

:rolleyes:

And who's stopping you starting good threads?

P.C.

Cienciano wrote: »

And who's stopping you starting good threads?

The same people who are stopping you from starting good threads.

Cuddlesworth

There is now a generation of people who state they don't use the internet but claim they use facebook daily. So yeah, forums will shrink or stagnate in the future. Facebook itself is losing ground to more involved instant messaging apps like viber/whatsapp. Why post something, when you can say it.

Heathen

Just my 2 cents....

I have always been a huge forum user for anything i am interested in... But as soon as i joined facebook a few years back i slowly started neglecting forums and found i was just going to facebook for any questions.... ended up forgetting about forums all together.

I stopped using facebook and deleted my account about a month ago and have found i am on forums every day now, and loving it!!

fb is good for a quick answer to something but forums have permanent answers and great tutorials, i am happy to be back in forum world

H

sleepysniper

This is where it's at lads & lassies - always something happening on Reddit

P.S. Be sure to check out the "Related Subreddits" on the right hand side also.

Zascar

Yeah reddit is good, we get some of the content posted here which I only think is a good thing!

Cienciano

Zascar wrote: »

Yeah reddit is good, we get some of the content posted here which I only think is a good thing!

Definitely, anything interesting is worth a post here.