Posting hints & tips

This club sees itself as a community. So, in the community spirit, we ask that you follow a few guidelines when posting on the forums.

How-to videos

There are two videos which you are required to watch before you post anything in the forums. Well, maybe we can't force you, but we are asking nicely and they are pretty funny.

• Posting And You
• How To Behave On An Internet Forum

Help yourself

If you haven't made any effort to find the information you seek before you post, you will most likely be ignored, or worse. Please check the FAQ, Member Profiles, and/or the Search page first. It is very likely that your problem or suggestion is just a rehash of prior posts/discussions.

General posting guidelines

Don't post under more than one username.

Don't make the same post in more than one forum.

Include as much detail as you can about you and your bike, especially concerning service/maintenance history.

Posts which are in bad taste, are blatantly argumentative, or have been posted a thousand times before are subject to deletion. Complaints about deletion will, at best, be ignored.

Subject line

Create a subject line that accurately describes your problem. Creating a thread with the subject "Help" may not get much attention. A specific title/subject line will likely get you the results you are looking for. If people can't figure out what you're trying to ask, they'll be more likely to pass over your post.

One way that we are different from other forums is that subject lines are also encouraged in responses. Someone looking down a thread and seeing "Re: Re: Re:" might not feel like clicking on your post to see what you have to say.

How to write your post

Write in clear and succinct English. Note that the Firefox browser has a spellchecker. Posting in IM style ("Textlish") will get you nasty replies and in most cases no answer to your problem. The more accurate your description the better. We can only help you if we know what your problem is.

You are the one with the problem, so give us a break by also telling us what you have done to try to solve the problem. Answering a suggestion with "I did that" is bad form and offensive to the member who took time to answer your post.

Answers

Answers are generally available within a short period of time, so keep checking on your post. You can elect to have answers forwarded by email by checking the appropriate box in Settings, upper right corner of the Forum Index page. Be aware of time zones. Other parts of the country/world might be sleeping while you are waiting for an answer.

Wait at least 24 hours. If you don't get an answer in that time, then either no one has the information, you didn't clearly state your question, or you posted on Super Bowl Sunday.

Do not bump your own post. Certain administrators are very touchy on this one.

If a suggestion solves your problem, let us know. Also, make your mother proud by posting a thank you note. If you fixed it yourself, we also would like to know.

Replying to a thread

Refrain from speculating. Speculating messes up or worsens the problem. Tried and proven facts are what you should provide.

If you write only one short sentence it will appear as a single topic line with the addition of "n/t" , meaning no text.

If you refer to a solution found elsewhere, include a link to the information posted. Do this by simply copying and pasting the link's URL into your message, with a space above and below it.

Editing your post

There is no need to post twice in a row if you need to edit. You can edit your post if you have some additional info by clicking on the little pencil icon shown to the right of the choice boxes below your post. You have 12 hours to edit any post.

Composing in Word

If you are writing a particularly long message and you want to save and edit it on your hard drive, compose in Notepad or another text editor (not Wordpad). If you compose in MS Word or Open Office Writer, then copy/paste, you'll end up with a lot of question marks that will make your post difficult to read. If you use Word, go to Save As, then save as Plain Text (.txt). Crimson Editor is a good free text editor.

Keep things work-friendly

Many members view this site while at work. Do not post anything which could get someone in trouble with their boss. If you think it might cause problems, put NSFW (not safe for work) in the subject line.

And finally

Be mindful that everyone on this board is volunteering, including the administrators. All effort here is donated for free. You'll probably find that you get more than what you pay for.