Open letter to the newbies...

That's the way it's going, slowly but surely IMHO. Some of the old grumps seem to resent newbies moving in. At least that's how it seems at times.

As far as I'm concerned Mark you're more than welcome.

I call BS on this.

There are lots of old time GSR members that tend to support each other as one would expect from friends. This should not be confused with not helping new people coming into the fold. People are judged by how much they contribute and/or their attitude. If a newbie comes along, won't even bother to try to search out some info to help themselves then yes, some of the old timers don't bother to help and frankly, I don't blame them. How many posts about charging system and/or carb problems should the old timers contribute to? About 6000 of my posts here on GSR are in this Technical forum trying to help people. I'll continue to try to help but honestly, there are too many people that buy a 30 year old bike, don't do any maintenance to it, and then start posting basic questions that show they didn't even try to do anything to help themselves.

Notice the last sentence in my post - "that's how it seems at times".

Ed, I'm not trying to ruffle your feathers (or anyone elses). I love the guys here and like to think that I am part of this community too.

I just think that lately some folks here are getting a little 'catty' and 'narky' with the noobs. I get just as frustrated and will admit that I have made a few 'tongue in cheek' remarks (okay more than a few) aimed at the virgins. It just worries me that this forum may go down the road that a lot do and become an 'old boys club'.

I really respect a lot of you guys and the wisdom here and I even enjoy reading your crazed rants about religion, politics and the ways of the universe. I think that I've made some friends here and that's kinda cool I reckon.

Just my 2c, honestly.

I got my bike about 1.5 years ago and hadn't had one for 20 years prior to that (coincident with getting married to a nurse). So, this site was a gold strike for me. It took me a while to learn to navigate and to try to use the search function, but I'm using that more efficiently now.

In retrospect, I have had a tendency to ask questions without doing the homework in the search function, though it didn't occur to me at the time that it would be annoying. Even now, the answers to many of the problems I've had are so obvious that it is embarrassing. I have found that the manual makes a lot more sense when I re-read it after getting info from this site.

I can only offer my sincere thanks to the many of you who have responded so quickly and with such good advice. I've learned a lot over the past few months and I have become increasingly aware of how much I don't know. I'm grateful to have access to this body of knowledge.

Thanks.

[Nessism]

That's the way it's going, slowly but surely IMHO. Some of the old grumps seem to resent newbies moving in. At least that's how it seems at times.

I call BS on this.

There are lots of old time GSR members that tend to support each other as one would expect from friends. This should not be confused with not helping new people coming into the fold. People are judged by how much they contribute and/or their attitude. If a newbie comes along, won't even bother to try to search out some info to help themselves then yes, some of the old timers don't bother to help and frankly, I don't blame them. How many posts about charging system and/or carb problems should the old timers contribute to? About 6000 of my posts here on GSR are in this Technical forum trying to help people. I'll continue to try to help but honestly, there are too many people that buy a 30 year old bike, don't do any maintenance to it, and then start posting basic questions that show they didn't even try to do anything to help themselves.

But, But, y'know those noob questions that make you answer something you or somebody else has answered two or three dozen times already, ups your post count, for all you postw h o r es .............

No offence taken...by me anyway.
When I first started on this forum, I didn't know a regulator from a starter. I did know however, not to question anyone with alot of posts.

That's no guarantee of anything other than being a blabbermouth.

After awhile you get to know who is who and that most of these guys are very, very well versed in all things GS. And some of them drink to much caffeine or perhaps not enough....

Yeah too much. I'm a true insomniac.

I've only ever worked on one bike....mine. Alot of these guys and gals have worked on many bikes of all kinds. I got my feather ruffled a couple times, but took in stride and kept refining my questioning technique. Having the subject your asking about in your posting title helps greatly. I can answer some questions, but just skip the ones I have no clue about. I go back later and read them hoping to learn a thing or two.

We never stop learning Larry. Everyone has something to offer.

I'll stop now, I'm starting to sound religous.

..........As a "Noob" to this forum I get the feeling that it is the old boys club and "noobs" are not really welcome......

That's the way it's going, slowly but surely IMHO. Some of the old grumps seem to resent newbies moving in. At least that's how it seems at times.

As far as I'm concerned Mark you're more than welcome.

As a relative newcomer with little mechanical ability, I have to say that without this site, I would never have been able to rebuild my front brake calipers, cut and fit new brake lines, rebuild my master cylinder, or even attempt to replace my intake boots and rebuild my carburetors.

So I just want to say thanks to all the folks on this site who have shared their experiences with me. I have used the search function often and lots of times, if I see a thread covering something I know I'll need to deal with eventually, I save it to my flash drive.

I even take my laptop into the garage, which is why I once had to replace the keyboard after spilling brake fluid all over it.

Anyway, I'll plan on taking Ed's advice and making more of an effort in the search function.

I'm not at all offended that he suggests us noobs doing so. If I've asked the occassional dopey question, I plead guilty by reason of laziness.

I am not offended by this thread and I hope no one is offended by this post.

As a "Noob" to this forum I get the feeling that it is the old boys club and "noobs" are not really welcome.

If we already knew the answer then the search function would be much easier to use. And to that point, sometimes I don't even know what the thing I am asking a question about is called. These bikes are close to 30 years old, very few are still completely stock, therefore they we could do the exact same thing on two bikes and have completely different questions. A new thread addresses my problem specifically. It is all about me after all.

In closing, if I am not welcome as a noob, ban me for life and make the forum by invitation only. If that is not the case, lighten up. The forum is not going to run out of room for new posts.

No offence intended and none taken on my part. Just standing up for all the noobs out there.

Flame on.

2ish years ago I was a noob on here as well. I didnt know JACK or Sh!t about the GSs other than they were very very similar to the old Kawasakis that I had seen and ridden when i was younger. Id done some basic maintainence on my old CB honduhs, but carbs and valve adjustments seemed like a very daunting task, yet every post i read that was similar to the problems I was having with my 77 750B, the replies were generally "Clean the carbs, adjust the valves, check the charging system..etc" I at first tried to skirt around doing these things for the first week, reading alot, not asking much in the way of questions but simply trying things i'd read. It boiled down to having to DO THE THINGS that were being suggested. There simply isnt any other way around some of this stuff, and if you try to avoid it thinking it will be too hard, looking for some silver bullet fix, you'll only become frustrated and disheartened. There is no pleasure from motorcycling if you refuse to understand that the MOST important part is maintaining your ride. Whether you do it yourself, or take it to a shop. Its an expensive hobby/pasion/sickness (in some of our cases) The way to make it CHEAPER is to learn to do as much as you can for yourself. That, i came to realize quickly. So, i started delving into my manual, reading as much as i could on the board and other sites.

2 years later, ive rebuilt quite a few top ends, of just about every make of the 550 and up GSs, mine and helped others. I used to answer as many questions as I could on here based on MY experiences, suggestions of things to try etc, but not too awfully long ago, right around the time when gas prices peaked and EVERYONE was snatching up old bikes, there was a rash of noobs on here who simply REFUSED to listen to the people who KNEW better. I got fed up with trying to help when I would get told that what i was telling them "couldnt POSSIBLY be the problem" numerous times. I think THIS is what infuriates the guys who DO know the most. If you didnt want to know the answer, WHY did you ask? I still try to help when i can, and even still I learn something new about these bikes and bikes in general every single day. Tips, tricks, mods, etc. But it all stems from the basics. Get the bike running right STOCK first, THEN start modding till your hearts content. Dont assume that just because YOU think you did a good job on your carbs or whatever, that it CANT be the pilot circuit thats making your bike run like crap. Believe me, believe every one of the old skoolers here, we have done it, done it wrong, two or three times, only to learn the RIGHT way..and at least *I* never assume that just because i checked something once, doenst mean it ISNT the cause of my problems... We dont hate noobs, this site wouldnt exist with out new blood coming in. It would just be a bunch of guys with really nice running bikes blowing smoke up each others butts and shooting the chit. We NEED new blood, we welcome it because it means perhaps yet another one of these beautiful machines will be saved from a barn or a scrap yard and be on the road for another 20+ years. But PLEASE, just listen to what those who know are telling you to try, and dont assume, even if you ARE a trained certified race tech/mechanic. There is ALWAYS more to be learned...

I just wrote up my answers to the most common questions in a Word document so I can just copy and paste them here. Since bwringer did his piece on cam chain tensioners I generally don't post my instructions on that topic. His pictorial essay on it works great for people.

[duaneage]

I can't see getting upset at new people asking what we consider to be common or dumb questions. Help them anyway and make a few friends doing it. Might just pay dividends later when he lives near that 1000 Kat you always wanted and can store it for you until you pick it up.

If it bothers anyone that much just ignore the thread. Basscliff will welcome them with his mega welcome and we can get started educating him (or her)

I think all newbies get a warm reception here. I am on other forums where they are treated like Swine Flu patients for the first 49 posts.

Hi,

I was a noob here at one time.




As you can tell by looking at the upper right corner of this post, I've been here only a little over 2 years. You could still say I have a LOT to learn about GS motorcycles and motorcycles in general.

When I first joined, I read every link on the homepage of www.thegsresources.com . I have found that many newcomers here don't even know there IS a homepage where LOTS of information, background, and history can be learned. I bought a Suzuki Shop manual for my bike off of Craigslist. I read it. I plowed through pages and pages of search results in the forum. I tried to learn a great deal in a short amount of time.

You say you don't have the time to do this? But you want everybody else to take the time to hold your hand, write step by step instructions for you to read, take pictures for you to look at to help you? Well, OK then. That's exactly what I, and many others here, are doing.

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff

I took the time to educate myself in order to more clearly relate issues with my bike to the generous and experienced people here. When reading through all of those search results, I could tell that the same questions get asked over and over and over. If a question has already been answered dozens and dozens of times, why would anyone want to take the time to type it all over again? I can see that this would get frustrating. The people here really want to help. It's much more gratifying and rewarding when this community is able to help others help themselves. The GS "old boys" can't do it all. That's one reason why I started my website, to collect this wisdom, share it, and save these generous people from getting burned out answering the same questions and troubleshooting the same issues that they have been doing since the site was founded.

But I have no ego when it comes to what I know. All I know is that there is always somebody out there who knows more than I do. I learn something new on this site every day. Even if a member tells me something I already know, I look at that as reinforcement - both for me and the poster, and hopefully I won't forget.

We're only human and sometimes I get a little annoyed at posters with the "I don't really know what's wrong but can you help me fix it for free, right now" attitudes. I will try harder to show a little more grace. I will do my best to give back to this community that has been so generous to me. Let's work toward a kinder, gentler forum.

And to you noobs, please show a little incentive and try not to be so, uh,.... noob-ish.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

on the first reply to a constant question just reply with the acronym PUTSB and dont tell them they will more than likely be motivated enough to look it up and find that it means please use the search button and if not just tell them to search and you will find the answer

Now I know!

http://www.imeem.com/turner65/music/...-is-there-air/

Is there NOTHING that the GSR can't answer?

[Nessism]

OK, I've just read all the posts on this thread AND done a search and I still don't know...why IS there air? (Even Wikipedia didn't help!)

http://www.imeem.com/turner65/music/egdQOr84/bill-cosby-why-is-there-air/

[jpaul]

OK, I've just read all the posts on this thread AND done a search and I still don't know...why IS there air? (Even Wikipedia didn't help!)

Bill Cosby answered this back in the 60's. There's air so we can blow up basketballs.