As I know most of you are seeing changes on the top of the screen on the site...
As with any business to stay operational you have to adjust to the economic times. I'm sure most of you know that the economy is tough right now. Several of our long standing advertisers have not only stopped advertising but they have shut their businesses down. In an effort to maintain the site and continue to provide the services that we have for so many years we have made adjustments too.
We held off for many years partnering with Google or other companies for advertising. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Please give us a little time to get the formatting down so we can make changes to the ads on the top of the page. Functionality first and then we can work out the details of the ergonomics including placement, colors and size...
Our vision has been simple, provide a place for people to build relationships and become closer. We have done that and honestly for most of the members at no cost. Over the years we have accepted donations, we went for over 3 years recently without a penny going to the site. We did take donations for special projects to help members but no money went into maintaining the site.
I have already started receiving emails and PM's from people that are frustrated but the facts should be able to speak for themselves. We all know the motorcycle industry is in decline, many dealerships and parts companies are folding each week, if there is no money coming in for advertising then I must take other actions.
Over the years that we did accept donation we would get a few thousand dollars a year, no where near enough to pay for the servers, software and other expenses. We are doing what we feel is best for the site...
I will say this to those that are so upset, what has this site cost you and what have you actually paid in... I will not have this site be a paid for use site, I think that the vision for the site is to be open and available to all, not just those that can afford it. So taking the banners off for donating members isnt really an option in my opinion. We will work to make the banners more non intrusive and we can also adjust the sizes, but we have to have them...
For those that are not understanding and are going to tell me we have plenty of money have no idea what a site like this really costs to run.. We do the best we can do for the members... Do I really like having the banners on the top? Not really but what would you have me do? If there are no advertisers available wanting to pay each month then what other options do I have.
I do not want this next line to sound ungrateful but just adding up the numbers should tell you something.. To be a donating member all you have to do is offer a one time 10.00 donation. We have 762 donating members, many have donated much larger amounts over the years..
Lets for a second just say that all 762 members donated 25.00 that would still only equate out to 19,050 over 10 years or 1900 a year.
What I need from you guys is a little understanding, someone has to pay the light bill. Let us work out the details on the sizes and colors and things.. Work with us to make this place better....
I will close with this... To this day there are only a handfull of peope that know about a company that confronted us about 3 years ago to buy the site. They offered us a substantial amount of money for us to turn the reigns over to them. They had full intentions on changing the layout of the site and adding banners all over it. The company bought motorcycle websites all over the Internet and many have caved in and what used to be a growing site full of enthusiast turned into a faded forum... We have turned down several high 6 figure offers from companies over the past 3 years because we felt this place was worth more to us with the friendships and people we have met than the amount offered. I still get a couple of those types of offers every year... Guys we are doing what we can to keep the site open to do what has done so well for the past 10 years. We are not supported or subsidized by Suzuki, the mods and admins don't get paid and I don't make enough money off the site to pay my own bills. So please cut me a little slack with the banners, we are just doing the best we can to make things happen.
If on your part the toughest thing you have to do is deal with a few banners and MAYBE click on one you see interesting then I don't think we ask too much...
I will make this offer to you that are still upset....
If you have donated in the past year to support the site I will gladly work a deal to refund your money... I don't want anyone to feel like they have been ripped off from the site....
Captain...
As with any business to stay operational you have to adjust to the economic times. I'm sure most of you know that the economy is tough right now. Several of our long standing advertisers have not only stopped advertising but they have shut their businesses down. In an effort to maintain the site and continue to provide the services that we have for so many years we have made adjustments too.
We held off for many years partnering with Google or other companies for advertising. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Please give us a little time to get the formatting down so we can make changes to the ads on the top of the page. Functionality first and then we can work out the details of the ergonomics including placement, colors and size...
Our vision has been simple, provide a place for people to build relationships and become closer. We have done that and honestly for most of the members at no cost. Over the years we have accepted donations, we went for over 3 years recently without a penny going to the site. We did take donations for special projects to help members but no money went into maintaining the site.
I have already started receiving emails and PM's from people that are frustrated but the facts should be able to speak for themselves. We all know the motorcycle industry is in decline, many dealerships and parts companies are folding each week, if there is no money coming in for advertising then I must take other actions.
Over the years that we did accept donation we would get a few thousand dollars a year, no where near enough to pay for the servers, software and other expenses. We are doing what we feel is best for the site...
I will say this to those that are so upset, what has this site cost you and what have you actually paid in... I will not have this site be a paid for use site, I think that the vision for the site is to be open and available to all, not just those that can afford it. So taking the banners off for donating members isnt really an option in my opinion. We will work to make the banners more non intrusive and we can also adjust the sizes, but we have to have them...
For those that are not understanding and are going to tell me we have plenty of money have no idea what a site like this really costs to run.. We do the best we can do for the members... Do I really like having the banners on the top? Not really but what would you have me do? If there are no advertisers available wanting to pay each month then what other options do I have.
I do not want this next line to sound ungrateful but just adding up the numbers should tell you something.. To be a donating member all you have to do is offer a one time 10.00 donation. We have 762 donating members, many have donated much larger amounts over the years..
Lets for a second just say that all 762 members donated 25.00 that would still only equate out to 19,050 over 10 years or 1900 a year.
What I need from you guys is a little understanding, someone has to pay the light bill. Let us work out the details on the sizes and colors and things.. Work with us to make this place better....
I will close with this... To this day there are only a handfull of peope that know about a company that confronted us about 3 years ago to buy the site. They offered us a substantial amount of money for us to turn the reigns over to them. They had full intentions on changing the layout of the site and adding banners all over it. The company bought motorcycle websites all over the Internet and many have caved in and what used to be a growing site full of enthusiast turned into a faded forum... We have turned down several high 6 figure offers from companies over the past 3 years because we felt this place was worth more to us with the friendships and people we have met than the amount offered. I still get a couple of those types of offers every year... Guys we are doing what we can to keep the site open to do what has done so well for the past 10 years. We are not supported or subsidized by Suzuki, the mods and admins don't get paid and I don't make enough money off the site to pay my own bills. So please cut me a little slack with the banners, we are just doing the best we can to make things happen.
If on your part the toughest thing you have to do is deal with a few banners and MAYBE click on one you see interesting then I don't think we ask too much...
I will make this offer to you that are still upset....
If you have donated in the past year to support the site I will gladly work a deal to refund your money... I don't want anyone to feel like they have been ripped off from the site....
Captain...
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and give us feedback, there will have to be a compromise between the membership and what it takes to keep the data flowing... 
, surly you JEST !!!! This site is worth every penny I've donated and LOTS more. If for no other reason, seeing 
some of the DUMBEST people (AND FAT :omg: ) on Earth 
doing some of the DUMBEST things while wearing really weird cloths (or nearly NO cloths/ and did I say FAT) . It's like going to Wally World and just looking at their customers :duh: . This site is PRICELESS 
