BlueLady has got me thinking...............

[Bill Rutter]

Remember her post about "going off to join a club that wants her as a member"? It was in a thread about the Annual Rally. Anyway, it got me thinking. These days there doesn't appear to be much going on as far as TC events go. Apart from Weston in June (which although good wasn't as well attended as previous rallies) there is nothing on the horizon for the rest of 2008 (Colin Hilliard and Terry Lee are recce-ing sites in Dorset in September with a view to a meet in 2009 - I hope to meetup with them for a couple of days). It seems to me that there is much more enthusiasm within the club for non-TC events such as the Dragon, Elefant or the SRX rally in Holland. Why do you think that is....is the Thumper Club in decline? I certainly miss our presence at the Shepton Show in February and enjoyed immensely the Crewkerne Rally in May 2004. But we seem to be down to just the one get-together now. Is it the recession?

[bullet350]

i'm not a member, but how about a few regional informal pub meets?
 
just an afternoon somewhere in the countryside, with some real bikes and a nice lumpy pint of old scrotum?

bullet350

[squirrelciv]

Thing is Bill who's going to organise these get togethers? What has been in the past has been organised by the same people with very little regognition and quite a bit of personal expense. Boyd has organised Stafford since I can remember. He posted a prompt on the events page asking if anyone else wanted to pick up the gauntlet and so far, no takers.
Also the H & S risk assessment angle clouds the issue too. I know it was a factor for me when I resigned as membership secretary.
Then there's the issue of getting people to come along. Steffan has laid open his place several times for a shed meet with few (if any) members going.
I've done a shed meet in the past. It cost me a small fortune (I paid for all the food & drink from my own wallet), but who else is prepared to do the graft, take the responsibility, and organise these get togethers.
Are you volunteering Bill??
The advantage of informal meets at pre-organised events like the Dragon, or Red Marley or any other show/ralley come to think of it, is we (the Thumperclub) don't actually have to do anything apart from turn up We have a great forum where we can natter, discuss and arrange to meet with no risk assessments in sight or forms or fees or responsibility.

[Bill Rutter]

I take your point Pat and if there was enough interest I could get something up and running around these parts. (I would need some advice on the H&S front mind) but it seems so quiet now. I can understand that things are getting a little tight for folk these days though. As you say Stafford doesn't seem to be attracting much interest (I did it once, for the day, but would prefer a stand at Shepton ). And there's the rub. All these other events that attract such interest seem to take place at the beginning (in freezing weather) or at the end of the season. What's wrong with July and August? I know it's peak time for families but there must be enough of us to sustain a regular event in the warmer months. Was taking the "Annual" out of Wales a mistake? I think it may have been. Given the choice, and with every respect to Boyd and SteveD, I would go back to Hay tomorrow. (and I loved Dent) Please don't take this as a criticism. I am the first to admit that I have never thrown my hat into the organising ring but I'd like to see the club moving onwards and upwards whereas at the moment it seems to be standing still at best.
 P.S. bullet350 where are you?

[mini-thumper]

Sadly Bill you have highlighted a situation that is slowly strangling this club. It has now become, by default, an internet only club with less than fifteen 'active members'. The replies you will get to your original question will be from the usual suspects, and even they are falling by the wayside due to apathy. Not that long ago this was a very vibrant club but it has, due sadly to inertia upon high, almost become extinct. It is a real shame and I know that these things have their time, but all the initial enthusiasm has now been lost; folks are voting with their feet and joining any of the other hundreds of excellent, active, well run clubs out there - I suspect that I will soon be one of them........

Thumper Club      RIP

Boyd   

[Steve H]

I would echo what Boyd has said above. As for membership I removed the pages from the site, because people werent getting anything in return for their money.
The H+S issue is an interesting one, in theory as long as we are sensible and try and cover off any risks  and assumimg we have insurance, it shouldnt be a problem. However, I have no idea whether the club currently has any insurance cover, and as such I would not be prepared to chance it and possibly put my home on the line should someone decide to claim damages and we are found to be negligent. This is a sad state of affairs but unfortunately seems to be the reality in 2008 
I intend keeping the web-site running as long as it is still used, so there will at least be a point of contact for discussion and informal meetings.

[andy230]

Well....

Thats a bit of food for thought chaps.

I have, for a number of reasons, become a "lurker".  Generally, I'll read topics of interest (to me), but I dont post so much now (ahem! bar those in my own rather inglorious section of the forum)

So I am guilty of not inputing as much as when I first joined up (2001?).  A number of reasons, how many apply to you?  Discuss.

a) Time:  I can't fanny around at work as I could as a phd student.  And I'm living with my missus now, and time is spent twiddling spanners in the evenings with the racer. Life changes.  Other things take priorities.  I am not now a 22 year old drunken idiot.  (hee hee!  Yes, I'm a 29 year old drunken idiot)
b) Necessity:  I am now more able to solve most of my own problems, so dont tend to discuss (tho I do still write stuff up for newsletters).
c) Rallies: I love them, but I generally use my bike to ride to work rather than rally.  And while I like a tour when i get the chance, but why don't I go so often?  Racing at weekends (well, not this year!) but other things begin to take precident.  I've had a great time at the ARs I've been to, and the odd stafford, or occaisional other meet.
d) The clincher I reckon:  At the time I joined, those halcyon days to which we refer, Graham, Steves H&D, Boyd, et al (sorry to those I missed, just a few names of many) were really putting in the time and the graft.  Big time, especially I suspect GC.  And no mistake.  And as "a taker" I was happy to enjoy the club.  But as Pat said, these guys can't be expected to run it forever.  and it would appear that no-one is too keen to take on the crown. And who would??  What did they get in return??

I hope this is not taken badly.  Its not meant to be insulting in any way to anyone.  It would only be my inability to express things eloquently which would give this impression.  Sadly, I think that (like many) I am "a taker" more than a giver.  Bar a bit of rabble rousing with the race project (and I'm grateful for all the help you guys have given) and a little scribble for the newsletter I haven't contributed much either.

hmmmmm.  gloom and doom?

a  (back to the shadows...!)

[Steffan]

It seems to me, that if the club is worth having it is worth doing something about, although I have to say that this list has lacked a certain sparkle lately. Who is responsible for the insurance? Where does this apathy on high reside? I didn't make the annual but then only three people made my last shed meet and one the time before - I was enlightened in enfield lore and got to play on one of the most beautiful bikes ever made - I was even offered to take it for spin- not bloody bad!! Numbers were a bit down this year..so what? Both times were fun and apart from people behaving very oddly the Dragon was a belter.

Get a grip fellas!

Some of us have marriages and kids that mean we can only get out when we get out. Which means  that we have to go with the flow.Some of us.. OK only Pat, hope to be the next Tim Henman . Boyd, when your bike went belly/gearbox up before the ironbutt it was Thumperclubbers that opened their hearts and offered you more bikes than you could ride. Is that a dead club?  A thumperclub contingent is off to Holland - that's good news..not bad. We all rocked up to the Dragon. Boyd did a cracking job on the annual by all accounts - where's the problem. If you want an event then be somewhere and tell everyone before hand and odds on someone will turn up. You don't need H&S to meet up with some mates "informally"

Since I joined the Thumperclub some years ago I have always found it less like a club and more like a disfunctional family, and that, in my opinion, is all to the good. I am a member of another club that specialises in section meets and rallies and it would bore the balls off a mammoth. Let's make the most of what we have and not right it off as worthless because we feel put upon.  

Steffan

PS Boyd,Carl wants to know why you're avoiding work? The trial was great, you missed a treat.

[guest24]

Do I count as one of the magnificent 15?

I do burble sometimes on some of the threads, and even start my own occasionally! But like Andy, time is precious and being busy with 2 jobs and 4 kids... Worse still, my main job is undergoing a restructure and outsourcing exercise (looking at 50% attrition rate to cheaper overseas labour) so if I am seen viewing non-work websites..... So here I am at 11pm writing this when SWMBO is already in bed - what am I doing!

I went to Crewkerne in 2004 and thoroughly enjoyed it. Most other rallies seem millions of miles away and the cost of fuel, time away etc make it difficult to go much to my chagrin. Worse still, my SRX is still waiting for me to fix it again.

Whats this business about insurance? If some mates come round for a bacon buttie, a cuppa and to poke holes in my wooden shed, do we have to be insured? I do hope not.

[themoudie]

Good evening to you All,

First of all, my thanks to SteveH for offering to continue to manage the web site. If you would re-instate the PayPal for the £6-00 fee, I would be only to happy to make the annual contribution.

"Inertia on high", is to strong a comment to make of people whose personal circumstances have changed. This club has always been a mix of disparate characters, with their own quirks and foibles, able to take a poke of humour each other or offer support to another who had taken a metaphorical beating.

I suspect looking at the same glazed expressions, talking alchoholic 'pants', over a tealight in the bottom of a bean tin, can loose its alure after a while, even for the most hardened 'clubber'.

The club and it's members and associates are always going to be in a state of flux and if this doesn't suit or can't be accomodated by peoples chosen life styles, so be it. To get hung up, bitter, negative and introspective will do no individual or the club any good. If you have dirty laundry, please wash it, face to face in a quiet corner, "OFF SITE". If you wouldn't write it in a personal letter, why should we read it here?

The ACU, BMF, BMWOC, DOC, CMRC and VMCC to name but a few, have all been here and moved on, we can if we wish, or stay between a rock and a hard place! Life is to be enjoyed, not endured.

I intend to keep looking in on the web site, put in my tuppence worth and may suggest trips or meets that I can accomodate. If you would like to meet up and say "Hello" fine, if not, it'll be no skin off my nose. I shall still wish you good health and a safe journey, for the rest of your days.

My regards and keep boppin', Bill.

[andy230]

although I have to say that this list has lacked a certain sparkle lately

Agreed mate, but its always peaks n troughs isn't it??  This may also be why for the last few months I've been lurking...

And yes, I think its worth saving, but isn't that selfish?!  Worth saving so that I can drop back in?  In order to save it (and I dont think its dead) we would all have to DO something and take the pressure off the "top tier"....

However, I do know that if it DID go belly up, I'd still be in touch with the folk I mostly chat to on threads.

Some electronically (I mean via email) and some I'd still see in person.  Tho its much preferable to have an email relationship than actually have to SEE you bastids!!    jus kidding...!!

a

ps.  the supermono forum (www.supermono.co.uk) isn't as active as this (nowhere near) but with "meets" every month over the summmer, maybe it doesn't need to be.  Mike Edwards recently put a post on there saying "why dont more guys reply".... I didn't reply.  Tho with all respect that forum has rather a different feel to it.  I feel its more serious, and a little more political.  Those very reasons are why I like this place...!

[themoudie]

Aye Andy,

You, lurking?  I was waiting for the chanty to be proferred for the next wee subby!

Maybe this is why you aren't holding the Annual Rally in the lock up next year.

"I paid £4.50 in London last night for a single whisky and coke (no ice, no extras, plastic glass) and as I got the meagre change from my proferred tenner, a cockroach scampered across the bar and into my drink?

Refund? Feckin forget it - I was arm-wrestled out of the place by 'Security'."

A quote from a Google search when trying to find out if my spelling of 'proferred' was correct!

Good night all, Bill.

[Steffan]

First of all, my thanks to SteveH for offering to continue to manage the web site. If you would re-instate the PayPal for the £6-00 fee, I would be only to happy to make the annual contribution.

Here here!!
and

Ditto!

Steffan

[guest40]

As with all clubs and associations, they operate in waves. This is just a low ebb and will again come up on the sine wave. It is imperative to keep it happeneing even if only on the internet, so the rise will take place. Bombing out now is a waste of time and freinds.. stick with it. it will come good again with new generations of thumperers..

Been there, done that.

re insurance.
May be a bit different over here, BUT we (Ulysses) run on the principal, that each rider rides their own ride and is responsible to him/herself only. The nominated ride leader indicates before the ride starts that he/she is now off to "X" and anyone interested is welcome to tag along to the same destination. If you get booked ..its your fault. If you fall off trying to keep up... your fault, as we dont expect anyone to ride outside their capabilities or law... the TEC is more than happy to ride on the same roads as the slower riders so no one is abandoned. The onus is always on the individual rider.
I suppose I'm preaching to the converted, but it may be helpful in getting things going.

PS Our branch is at the moment on the upward slope after a disastrous bout of "politics" on the downer run

[Steve H]

The club and it's members and associates are always going to be in a state of flux and if this doesn't suit or can't be accomodated by peoples chosen life styles, so be it. To get hung up, bitter, negative and introspective will do no individual or the club any good. If you have dirty laundry, please wash it, face to face in a quiet corner, "OFF SITE". If you wouldn't write it in a personal letter, why should we read it here?

I take on board your comments Bill, and am inclined to agree with you. However if people start asking questions about what is is going wrong, then there are likely to be uncomfortable answers, surely this is better than an uncomfortable silence.