I'm not sure how to go on about this, but I will do my best :toung:
First of all, this seems to be one of the best pocket bike forums in America, unless Google sucks at finding other ones. With that being said, why is this forum so small and so inactive? There's threads that get 10 views and no response, plenty of good threads that have maybe 1 post, and even the great DIY threads some of them don't even get viewed and replied that much.
So my question is, what can we do to make this a better place? I'm sure some if not most of you are members on other forums, and this is by far the smallest forum I'm a part of. My Civic forum, a new topic is started and within minutes we have over 100 views and over 20 posts (just an example). I know we can't compare cars to pocket bikes, but after all it's a hobby, and things go wrong and people want to mod and fix their pocket bikes, I don't really know anyone that leaves their pocket bike stock, and in order to mod the bike you either need previous experience with a pocket bike or some sort of DIY guide to help you out.
I know I came here to find some help regarding the pocket bike as I was new to the game, but even after I found out the answer, I stuck around as I wanted to learn more and help newcomers to the pocket bike game to learn and not just treat it as a temporary hobby that in 2 months you'll get tired of it and leave the bike parked outside and then sell it on Craigslist. Since I joined, I've seen plenty of people sign up, ask a few questions and they don't appear back in here again, and I ask myself, why? Is it that we weren't friendly enough? Not enough information?
I think that we can all do something about this and help this forum grow, starting from the Site Staff all the way down to us. I think that we're heading in the right direction, but need to do more. The calendar idea is a great example, but it's not getting the kind of exposure that it should.
Here's a few suggestions that came to my head that might be able to help this site grow:
Some sort of Bike Of The Month (BOTM) contest. Users get to submit their bikes with a list of modifications for the first 15 days. Then after the 15th, users get to vote for the bike they like the most. The winner can get a special banner under their name saying "Bike Of The Month" and/or maybe some of our sponsors can throw in some sort of prize, either a sticker, gift card, etc. Then the 12 winners become part of the calendar. I think this would give more people an incentive to take a bigger part on the forums.
I think that the Classifieds/Market Place section should be re-worked. There should only be 1 place were to post the items for sale. If I'm not mistaken, now there's 2 different threads were a person can post their bike for sale which can cause some confusion and have people look around for parts. Only one thread for each would clear up some space and cause less confusion.
Create a sponsor/vendor section. I looked and didn't see this, maybe it's hiding, but why not provide stores with an incentive to advertise/sell their parts here. For example, in the Civic forum, a store pays a small fee and they can become a sponsor and/or vendor, which creates a win/win relationship with all the parts. For Pocketbikeplanet, even if it's a small fee, you get some money that can help pay for any events or other things that the money can be used for PLUS it helps the site grow. For the vendor, they get more exposure and the option of increasing sales. And for us, well we can get discounts and/or group buys, helping us save money.
VIP Option?? For a small fee, users can become VIP which can provide them with a bigger inbox, bigger avatars and signature, different color name, and maybe even create a VIP section of the forum, similar to the water cooler but with less regulations.
Pocketbikeplanet event: Could create an event sponsored by Pocketbikeplanet in which a track or even a parking lot is rented. Users from the site can go, meet new people and attract new users.
Sorry for the long thread, but I'm in New York and since I've been here I haven't found anyone to ride with or any events near me, and riding by yourself every single time gets a little boring.
I don't know if any of these suggestions will be taken into account, but maybe at least someone sees it and takes the time to read it, because I think making this site bigger will benefit everyone.
I know what you mean. They're tens if not hundreds of thousands of topics and posts on this site and maybe 1-5 new posts a day. To many time's I've looked for new posts and only seen my name for the last post. Some members have thousands of posts but only a couple a week. Why can't we try to help people more? I've seen a lot of topic's that ask questions about why their bike doesn't work and with not response. The least someone can do it give them a link to an answer. Is it to hard to get on once every day or two and look for some posts the help your fellow man? And remember, on the main forum menu where it says "Last post *Topic Name* by ***ser* at *time*", that that is not the only new topic or post in that section. Thank you for reading.
hey, I'm here every day. Anything related to Cags, i try to help out on.
Blue, I like your suggestion for "Bike of the Month." I know a couple of other sites are doing it, so why can't we? (We DO have the Calendar contest, which those other sites DON'T have ...)
Sponsor/vendor section would be a great help, gaining more advertising and revenue for both the vendors and the site.
The classified section needs a major rework, anyway. Remember how for a while, the Edit button was missing, and everyone started making double posts for corrections? Well, here's the score: some not-so-honest people were going into the classifieds, and changing prices on their ads, so the admins had to shut that down for a while to figure out a new solution. Hopefully, now that's been taken care of.
VIP sections are okay, but usually a pain. I've run into a few on other forums (not just pb forums), and they're not exactly user-friendly for the most part.
Event: YES. We've got all those racing groups listed - why can't we get something together somewhere, and have an event/race showcasing these little two-wheelers? I know that here in Tucson, I've got a track maybe half an hour away (Musselman P-1 Kart Circuit, great track), and there's the occasional run out there. Of course, we're also sharing the track with mids, supers, and full-on race bikes. Rialto Raceway in Southern California was the site of many a Mini Motorsports Mayhem race ... any idea what happened to those guys, and what's going on with the track? I know when myself and a few friends run at our local motorcycle shop parking lot (On Any Moto, Tucson, AZ - plug!), we get all sorts of people looking in and asking questions.
There's a LOT of people out there with bikes of all sizes. Isn't there a way to get some of the riders together and have an event to promote these little suckers?
I love the fact that you would take the time and effort to think about stuff that might help the site out.
I think the main reason things are slow around here is because of the 2-stoke import laws, Not to mention the fact that it's all but impossible to find a new mid-bike too.
No offense to the euro guys, But the china section has almost always been the most active.
But, We are not going away, We still have quite a bit of good threads / new members joining, But I wont say it's not been slowing down a bit, But then again it's been up and down in waves for as long as I've been here, And I'm sure as more new bikes become available more new users and threads will pop up .
So thanks again, And don't ever think I and the other staff members don't see and appreciate this type of constructive post.
I believe the economy is playing a big part in this.Sure to join the site is free,getting the bikes and parts cost money. Plus theres not enough onroad tracks and places to ride.(IMO)
It also seems like a lot of the creative and innovation is wilting away.(IMO)I believe that if alot more people were racing then there would be much more to talk about.But this falls into the economic sink hole.
I don't mind helping but when you get 10 or more threads asking the same Q's over and over again.Then that could put a damper on things also.Perhaps a bigger brighter search button or a better search engine i don't know????
The economy is pretty much killing the race scene in a big way.Plus another big thing i picked up on.The less the bikes cost the less people are willing to go to the tracks to race them it seems.Mainly the midbikes(china) on this site i have yet to see anyone post up a new vid of them rippin up a track or a lot.
Blue there are tons of racing going on up north.You'll just have to travel a bit.You got racing going on in Ma,NH,Nj,Md i mean tons.There's a track in up state Ny called cherry valley.Bro you should not be hurting to get i some track time in.Infact i'm moving my whole family back towards the north.So i can get in some more racing and be closer to the tracks where all the action is.
Since I joined the forum there have been 300 new members introduce themselves. I have been admin for 7 months. This number is increasing. I consider it important because I have found many of the best members take the time to do an intro. Those who come here just for help with a problem, or to sell us something will seldom do an intro.
We are averaging 75 posts/day and that's pretty good. I administer two sites that added together do not do as well. I admin a site that averages 125-150 posts/day but when I took over as admin there were no active members & the last post was over a year old.
This is a good site and there are a lot of good people participating here. It is growing at a steady rate. So, although I like to hear thoughts and ideas and there's always room for improvement...I really must take issue with the premise of this thread and must wonder where it's coming from.
I didn't mean to create this thread with a bad intent, but rather to see what could be done to make it "better". Maybe I'm just looking at the places that I shouldn't be looking at, but there's times when there's no activity going on. I posted a few threads that never got any answers, and some new users barely get any welcomes, sometimes threads get viewed but nobody bothers to answer them.
I honestly don't know why I decided to create it, but I just wanted to see if we could get this more active, where people can't wait to get on the forum and see what's new, rather than have it as a place to go when they are bored.
I think that events (both races AND showcases) all over the country are needed. Some states (such as mine) has no active minibike club or organization, and I'm sure local and state events could be used as an "introductory" to the whole hobby and sport. Regional championships can be held so that people on the East Coast don't have to travel to the West Coast for a championship race, then the top racers of the regionals can be pitted against each other. I'm not sure how the USMGP sets up their championships, as I have yet to see/participate their events (but hopefully I can this year)
I have a friend interested, he just needs to ride for a little bit to get a taste.
Promotional items such as stickers banners etc can be used to help spread the existence of both the sport and this forum. It is like how sticker graffiti artists get known: someone will someday see it and be curious as to how it got there, why, and who made/is affiliated with it. So there probably should be a Pocketbike Planet banner at events or something.
I think the Sponsor/Vendor idea would be great. However, what companies are currently selling their products to the US market? The only place where I can get my parts is probably Midsouth, but I'd like to have discounts/special items straight from the company. Group buys on bikes from the Vendor section can have benefits for the customer (in this case us) such as lowered prices (this is something that happens with parts etc on some car forums) and the company actually selling off quite a few bikes. It's a win-win for both sides.
With both a higher supply (and probably slightly cheaper too) of bikes and a heap of events going on at near the same time all over the country, I'm sure more people will be drawn into minimoto in the US.
Frankly I would like to put our membership council back together. I feel we are doing okay but there is always room for improvement and until we reach the point where new posts appear faster than a single person is able to read and consider them...we need to grow.
The council takes issues like this and begins hearing thoughts & ideas. Each is presented as proposals that are then debated. After all points of view are presented the issue is put on a poll and voted on over a week long period. At one time PBP had a large & active council made up of intelligent and independent thinking senior members. much of the improvements we made here was due to them.
The world of pocketbikes is a niche populated by a wide range of personality types. A forum dedicated to discussion of the hobby along with ideas for it's improvement and promoting public awareness/support should be a big part of our mission. I'd like to see strategies for getting existing facilities such as ATV trails, go cart tracks, other tracks, to allow pocketbike events. We need to gather information about how to form clubs & organizations to put on events & promote the hobby. So much to do here. I'm open to these ideas and will do my part. How should we proceed?
I think that events (both races AND showcases) all over the country are needed. Some states (such as mine) has no active minibike club or organization, and I'm sure local and state events could be used as an "introductory" to the whole hobby and sport. Regional championships can be held so that people on the East Coast don't have to travel to the West Coast for a championship race, then the top racers of the regionals can be pitted against each other. I'm not sure how the USMGP sets up their championships, as I have yet to see/participate their events (but hopefully I can this year)
I have a friend interested, he just needs to ride for a little bit to get a taste.
Promotional items such as stickers banners etc can be used to help spread the existence of both the sport and this forum. It is like how sticker graffiti artists get known: someone will someday see it and be curious as to how it got there, why, and who made/is affiliated with it. So there probably should be a Pocketbike Planet banner at events or something.
I think the Sponsor/Vendor idea would be great. However, what companies are currently selling their products to the US market? The only place where I can get my parts is probably Midsouth, but I'd like to have discounts/special items straight from the company. Group buys on bikes from the Vendor section can have benefits for the customer (in this case us) such as lowered prices (this is something that happens with parts etc on some car forums) and the company actually selling off quite a few bikes. It's a win-win for both sides.
With both a higher supply (and probably slightly cheaper too) of bikes and a heap of events going on at near the same time all over the country, I'm sure more people will be drawn into minimoto in the US.
All your suggesting has or is being done on other sites as far as racing.The biggest problem is the money. There are quite a few tracks that is willing to let this little bikes come out to race or practice.As i mentioned in an earlier post........The tracks just don't get the turnouts like many many years ago.Do i dear say it again. That's right money,you might not think that it doesn't have a direct affect on the site.But it does in every way as far as new members and old members.
I'm pretty sure once the economy pick up,so will the traffic on these forums.
By the way there is a national championship going on next month.At the middle Ga cart track.Winner takes the title so all you guys complaining about no tracks and wanna race here's your chance. Oh this is a USMGP event it's been posted up in the race section.Which has always seem to be the deadest part of this forum since i joined.
What i would like to know is,where in the heck are all the racers that use to be here?
As far as tracks, I know Englishtown has an event next weekend if I'm not mistaken, or something like that. I wanted to go but they require a full leather racing suit, plus gloves, boots, etc. I don't have all that yet, so I can't go. Most big known tracks have a lot of other events going on, so it's hard to have them make room for a couple of guys in a pocket bike. I don't mind spending $50 and ride on a track for a few hours, it's much safer and I feel that in that time period I can learn more than I can 2 months in the parking lot that I ride on.
Maico, I think the idea of a panel of a few senior members is a great idea, if I can say, those members should be active and with a great attitude with a lot of motivation to go out and make things happen.
The world of pocketbikes is a niche populated by a wide range of personality types. A forum dedicated to discussion of the hobby along with ideas for it's improvement and promoting public awareness/support should be a big part of our mission. I'd like to see strategies for getting existing facilities such as ATV trails, go cart tracks, other tracks, to allow pocketbike events. We need to gather information about how to form clubs & organizations to put on events & promote the hobby. So much to do here. I'm open to these ideas and will do my part. How should we proceed?
To start off and to keep costs down, especially now, I think that we could have an event at a parking lot/industrial area as long as we can find one in good shape. Many years ago, the first time I rode a pocket bike was through my dad's motorcycle club. They rented a few pocket bikes and went to an industrial zone and rode there for a few hours. It was a lot of fun even though it was a short and oval track made out of cones, and cheap for everyone. As long as everyone is responsible and cleans up after, I'm sure the owner wouldn't have a problem allowing people to ride around the lot in small bikes. In addition and correct me if I'm mistaken, most tracks require you to wear helmet/gloves/leather suit/boots, and some of us might not have all of that.
I really think that if we can get a few people to be serious about this and work to get an event, the ball will start rolling and won't stop. The hardest part will be to start and get the ball rolling.
I have 2 suggestions for the site that I think will help the site and the community grow in general First is do something about the horrible search engine this forum uses. Just an example.I'm trying to research the X7 midbike. So I try the search and enter "x7" no results?
Also a general regions forum. This would make it much easier for people that don't have access to a track or other sanctioned events near them to be able to find each other and set up some get togethers. If people can find each other easier ,their will be more competition. Competition takes research witch ads to the board activity.
It seems like there's a few more threads popping up, but most of them seem to be about the same general issue. I don't think the search issue is that bad, I was looking for some clutch information and I just put "cag clutch" or something like that and came across a few valuable threads, but most of them seemed to be talking about the same thing.
Maybe, and I know this happens on other forums, a rule can be established so that users with less than "XX" amount of posts can't create a thread other than an introduction thread and anything else that the moderators and site staff thinks they should be allowed to. I think this would create less clutter and less pointless threads to respond to every 5 minutes. In addition, it would encourage the use of the search button and looking for information, rather than expect the information to fall on their hands.
I think we have a good amount of very valuable users on this site that are doing their very best to help the newbies and at the same time keep tabs on other "Senior" members.
The main problem with the search function is that there's a minimum amount of characters needed for a search, so things like "GRC" or "DM" will not show up through search. I think you can't change that, so there's nothing much we can do lol (the min char thing is out of necessity to narrow searches, though).
I think for the "common problem" topics, we can have a topic that states the problem in the topic and has a set of solutions for that problem in the original post. That way, all the duplicate threads/answers will be in just one topic. Makes finding a solution to your bike's problems MUCH easier, in my opinion. We can probably have a subforum under the Shadetree Mechanics forum to house these "solution to X problem" topics.
Another one of my suggestions include a "tag" search/topic system, where the topic maker can add in tags for the topic so if someone searches by a particular tag, those topics will show up. Ex. I make a new topic, and I add in the tags "blata" "2.5" "cag". Those searching for any of those three tags will have that topic as a result in the tag search. There are some forums with this "search by tag" feature.
Pocketbikeplanet Growth 
