Resprays and repairs

[damo1]

What a fuckn joke, i cant beleave that this thread was deleted.

Its quite obviously not a comunity anymore it's all about the cash.

I cant see how trying to help someone else out is a problem.

[ALBI]

WTF ?? IM WITH YOU DAMO^^^^
hey si wots going on???

[sharky]

Every one else that wants to advertise services that makes them money or sell parts pays membership or advertising fees.
Why do you think you are different from the rest ?
Why do you think you are different from the rest ?
Why shouldn't the rules apply to you ?

[ralph]

It is a joke.
Just not a funny one.

[BANDITROD]

How do you lot think the guys that do pay to advertise feel about the advert they pay to support asf and keep it going whether it be rapid or ratedr and without those guys this place would be no more would you guys rather there be no asf cos that's what it seems to me we have these guidelines in place to help pay for the running costs of ASF ...it's not fucking free to run a website like this

[ralph]

Ok . how about some transparency then
How much money is this website actually loosing at the moment?
How much F'kin money will be enough
I would be happy to be a full member again if I didnt feel so pressured. If I felt like it was my choice.
Peer group pressure will work fine for the majority and I guess thats good enough for you so go for it.

[BANDITROD]

There is no pressure unless you are coming here to sell stuff or advertising your business I am not trying to make you become a paid member Thats your choice but if you want to sell a bike or parts in the future then I suggest you pay like everyone else does it's 20 bucks a year FFS

[sharky]

I wish I could advertise my business state wide for $20 a year....

[ralph]

Gonna answer the question ffs?

[Large]

quote:Originally posted by ralph

Gonna answer the question ffs?


Don't get worked up at Rod, try PMing Si and ask him the question.

BTW- The question was answered in december last year in the full members section. I'm not sure if the figures are still valid, so as above, PM Si.

Suffice to say, this site does not make money. It actually costs Si to run this site over and above any t-shirts and member fees he gets.

As Rod says, no one is being forced to pay up, but if you want to advertise in the for sale section, or your services, you need to put something back into the site in the form of money to keep the site running.

[JackTar]

A section cut and paste from the post Large is talking about.

"So that means we get $275 on a good month and now the fees are going to be $700 (from the $350 that they were) plus I spend hours trying to keep things up to date, checking for hacks and monitoring topics which means I waste time that I could be actually doing paid work."

As Large said not sure if this is still the same or even if it went up by this much but even if it didn't he was still losing money and working on the site when he could be building websites for cash instdead.

If you don't want to be a financial member then don't be, no one cares but don't complain when you can't access or post in the same sections as the financial members.

If you can afford to be on the internet you can afford to be financial, without even bringing up why the fuck the person who runs a forum that you use is answerable to you.

[BANDITROD]

Well I don't need to add to any of that

[ralph]

Thanks for the answers guys.
Someone wants my money. I just asked a question.
It all sounds a bit too......Hard.
Cheers.

[Redmohawk]

Nothing hard about this site at all , its just not a hippy love in commune. You got 10 times what you put in simple as that.

If your so short on cash that $20 is to much life must be hard, but hey I've lived for weeks on $20 in tough times so I know your pain.

I'm sure damo had good intentions , but you want to play you got to pay.

[Gix11]

The other mods don't run the site or pay any bills Ralph, they try and help me out to try and keep on top of things. The website costs around $1500 a month to run just for bandwidth and hosting fees (I'm trying to find a new way of running the website with the help of Sen at the moment). There are currently 234 paying members which averages out at $390 a month...as you can see, this puts me personally out of pocket by about $1100 a month. The way we try and reduce my out of pocket costs each month is by selling merchandise & allowing business's to advertise for a small fee (in comparison to other sites and heaps cheaper than magazine advertising). ASF started out as a hobby for me and I personally spend about 3 hours a day (once I get home from work) updating the site for which I don't get paid, in fact no one from the site gets paid, it's all done on a volunteer basis. We have 40,000 individual visitors each month come through the site and of that 40,000 we only have 234 paying members. We made a conscious decision not to have bullshit advertising within our site and try and keep the advertising relavent to what we do....you may have noticed that you never see an ad for a bank or an insurance company. It's not enforced on anyone to become a paying member but the simple question is, if you find the site useful/helpful is $20 a year out of the question? You want us to answer your questions, how about you answer the questions that were put to you by Sharky and Banditrod...


quote:Originally posted by sharky

Every one else that wants to advertise services that makes them money or sell parts pays membership or advertising fees.
Why do you think you are different from the rest ?
Why do you think you are different from the rest ?
Why shouldn't the rules apply to you ?




quote:Originally posted by BANDITROD

How do you lot think the guys that do pay to advertise feel about the advert they pay to support asf and keep it going whether it be rapid or ratedr and without those guys this place would be no more would you guys rather there be no asf cos that's what it seems to me we have these guidelines in place to help pay for the running costs of ASF ...it's not fucking free to run a website like this


Damo, I know you've been around since about 04/05 time and back then we had about 200 visitors a month to the site so it was obviously a lot cheaper to run. Now with 40,000+ a month and topics that date back to 2004, it's a different ball game and I can't afford to keep paying a few hundred bucks a month myself to maintain it. Like I've said, we try to minimise the costs involved and hope that you get a lot of value out of the site.

[Gix11]

quote:Originally posted by ralph

Thanks for the answers guys.
Someone wants my money. I just asked a question.
It all sounds a bit too......Hard.
Cheers.


Mate, I don't want your money, I never have. I've been a sucker all along and all I try and do is keep this site going. I lost $40k on the 09 AFR alone but I still crash on with this. A fair few just seem to think it's all about me taking, that still does my head in.

[nick76]

I reckon for the guys that pop in here,and post up most days,should atleast pay the $20 a year.
Most of us will happily go spend hundreds a w'end on piss alone,sure 50c a week isn't a big ask??

[chadams]

It is disappointing that Si has lost so much cash on the site, I just hope you were able to offset a bit of it on your tax mate. As for the site, biggest change I've seen since 2004 is the massive increase in "Keyboard Heros".... Too much talk about rubbish and not enough talk about bikes / builds / mods / rides / etc....

[Gix11]

Yea, Chad, I did that and then got threatened to be auditted by the tax department for making so little income and yet outlaying so much - personal savings don't get taken into account apparently? Thanks to a massive effort form Ben a all the guys that tried to help me out I knocked $10k off that amount with the fund raiser they arranged and I am truly thankful to them all.

[Iceman]

I think Chad hit the nail on the head there, this place used to be about bikes, now it's just facebook with a different banner.

[rod185651]

I'll put my hand up and take some responsibility for the site changing as I enjoy a banter every now and then especially after a few beers. I wouldn't have a clue what the percentage is but I do post a lot of non bike related subjects.
I have met and made a many genuine frienships due to this forum and I enjoy checking out the site regularly (more than once a day) because I have a genuine interest in what my mates are getting up to with their bike builds and sometimes just to talk shit.
If Si and the rest of the mods prefer, I'll happily restrict my posting to one dimensional bike related subjects.
This is a great Forum and I'm proud to be a donating member and buy as many shirts I can afford.
I've even used them as currency in the past when trading certain bike parts so SI gets a little something also.
Damo mate, if you were offering your services for free then I can see your argument, but surely you can't expect to advertise your business on here and not contribute a little to the site running cost?

[Fight_fan]

quote:Originally posted by ralph

Ok . how about some transparency then
How much money is this website actually loosing at the moment?
How much F'kin money will be enough
I would be happy to be a full member again if I didnt feel so pressured. If I felt like it was my choice.
Peer group pressure will work fine for the majority and I guess thats good enough for you so go for it.



Probably the most narrow minded, dickhead response I'v read in years! Congratulations mate! [xx(]

I agree the site isnt just about the bikes quite as much as it used to be, but thats not nessesarily a bad thing! We cant all be building bike after bike 24/7 so its a good way to keep in touch with some of the friends u make around here... I fuckin love this place and would be absolutely spewin if it it dissappeared so I do what little I can to hold up my end of the bargain in a hopes to get a few cheap laughs n see some fuckin cool bikes!

[Azrael]

quote:Originally posted by ralph

Ok . how about some transparency then
How much money is this website actually loosing at the moment?
How much F'kin money will be enough
I would be happy to be a full member again if I didnt feel so pressured. If I felt like it was my choice.
Peer group pressure will work fine for the majority and I guess thats good enough for you so go for it.



What makes you think anyone here owes you an answer?

Go take a shit woman.

[Jed]

Totally agree. As you can see by my sign in i'm currently not a donating member but have been which lapsed just recently. I buy T-Shirts etc when I can. This forum got me into Streetfighters and has been invaluable to me with building my bike. I have never been pressured to renew my memebership by anyone. I've just been slack. (Sorry Si, i'll be going to the bank this week). I'd personally hate to see the sight go under, and really enjoy the banter that goes on. I've been on other fighter forums and this is by far the best available on the web. Keep up the great work.

Cheers, Jed

[ALBI]

ok now i see why it was removed !!the add side of it , fair call !!

[damo1]

You know what dont worry about it, i cant be fucked with this arguement just delete this thread to and forget that i was trying to help some of the not so gifted or trained to paint.

This aint the community it used to be and unfortunatly i feel it's because of the moderators that are trying to treat this place like a business.

Sorry Si i get what you have done and i get what its costing you- but seriously people would be more inclien to contribute financially if it wasnt under sarcasim and shit that gets put on people for not being financial.

[sharky]

Theres no peer pressure or snide remarks The rules of the forum apply to everyone Ben, Kev etc all pay for the business ads All paid up members can sell bike parts Its very simple really . No membership = No selling.No fees = No ads.

[Fight_fan]

quote:Originally posted by damo1


This aint the community it used to be and unfortunatly i feel it's because of the moderators that are trying to treat this place like a business.


Think of it not so much as a business, more of a 'not for profit organisation'! And just like those annoying charities, if u want the little african orphans to eat n go to school u need to provide a small ammount of funding! Only here the CEO isnt takin all ur hard earned sheckels n running off with them, he's giving em back to you in the form of this site!
Im with Russ, I see no bullying tactics, just the honest truth mate! No smoke n mirrors here...

[Iceman]

And stop being such a post whore Damo!

[Gix11]

Damo, I appreciate what you are trying to do, but if you give other members discounted rates, that's great for you and the members, I'm not against that. But when you advertise on here for free that you're going to do these deals where money changes hands and the paying advertisers see this, then they don't pay to advertise here any more as why should they if other guys are getting it for free? So all the free and good will gestures end up with me closing the site because the little I get just went, and then who gets the good deal then? No site, no members mate.

Think of it this way, if you ran a paint shop and supplied all the paint, gear, electricity and anything else needed and then I came in and said "I have some mates that want their bikes sprayed so I'll use your paint and stuff and give them a good deal because I'm trying to help my mates out" would you feel a bit let down seeing as you pay for the rent and all the gear etc and I gave you nothing but expected to use your stuff for free? ....or do you think maybe, as you put it "No one works for nothing mate not even mates rates." Seems a bit hypocritical to me.

[JackTar]

quote:Originally posted by damo1


quote:Originally posted by ralph

If I felt like it was my choice.
Peer group pressure will work fine for the majority and I guess thats good enough for you so go for it.



I have felt exactly the same in the past.

Sharky and Jacktar being the main offenders from my eyes and thats one reason i refuse now to be a financial member now!

Yes now!! - i had been financial in the past but now its just me being stubborn with the pressure of cock smokers trying to push something they have come up with.

This site used to be about bikes not turning money- i get Si's forking the bill and would be happy to help if not for the pressure of others that are trying to flex their muscle jsut cause they can.


Tell me the last time I said anything to you directly about paying subscription? I fucking pay it and I don't advertise shit.

So you are just not paying on principal, way to stick it to the man. You are effectively making Si pay because you don't like either Sharky or myself. Way to go flog merchant.

Rod, don't worry about the banter or making non-bike related posts, I can't remember the last time I DID make a bike related post, fuck me there are people on this forum who don't even own bikes. Who cares it is a community not hells angels.

You say in one breath that you are doing it out of principal and in another that you're sick of people thinking they know what other peoples financial situations are. It's as simple as this if you want to advertise somewhere and it costs money then you pay the fucking money, I don't go into the servo to buy a pack of smokes and then complain that they don't know what my financial situation is you know why? Because I want the fucking smokes the same way you want to advertise.

[damo1]

I take it all on board and fair call by all- to some extent.

As i said pull this thread down.

I aint responding to it anymore i said my peice.

[Tony Nitrous]

Well, it was an interesting thread while it lasted......

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/7655/hate2e.jpg

[ALBI]

^^^how the hell does that bugger walk ???

[Large]

LIKE A BOSS!

[El_Hefty]

obviously he doesnt walk he just lies back and waits for the bitches'

Back on topic.

Havnt we been down this track with Damo before trying to sell bikes or some such?

I for one would love a good painter on this site, i mean i saw rods prize paint job haha that was funny. But for a decent job im happy to pay normal going rates if the vendor then sent what would have been the discount to Si.

As for not paying because you blame jacktar, well hello we all blame Jacktar and we are all aware sharky is a cunt. But Si has only ever tried to provide you, me and others with a great site freedom of speach and some fun, for fucks sake swallow your pride or keep on carrying on like a cunt your choice

[Shadowzone]

quote:Originally posted by El_Hefty

Si has only ever tried to provide you, me and others with a great site freedom of speach and some fun, for fucks sake swallow your pride or keep on carrying on like a cunt your choice


This site really is the last bastion of free speech in the biking community.

I posted some of the jokes from the Terorist Free Zone on another forum and almost got banned for it.

[sharky]

Least Im a fully paid up cunt :D

[BANDITROD]

Lol

[Spore]

As little as it's worth I've been a member for a little bit now and a lurker for longer, but all too often threads like this appear. For what it's worth, it's petty arguments like this that have brought larger 'orginisations' to it's knees. It would be a shame to see such an inspirational and knowledgeable community fall due to it.

Despite my absence on the forums I honestly can not remember a single day in the last few years that I haven't spent at least an hour seeing what's new on here.

Anyway I just hope that the members of this community can rise above it all and continue to provide an exceptional outlet and place of inspiration for all things bike related and otherwise.

Fuck I sound like a cock...

[hooligan]

when i put up an ad to sell my triple (that none of you tight arses were interested in)I got an email from an evil moderator telling me that unless i became a financial member again, i couldn't sell stuff.
I didn't get on my high horse about bullying tactics, because even though I didn't know about the new rules (i had let the membership slide, so didn't know about the new rules discussed in the members section)I paid up before I posted the ad because i felt like a cunt using the site to sell something without being paid up.
The email from said moderator didn't bother me, cause it made a lot of sense.
This site is a community, but what people conveniently ignore is that Si is a member of this community too. Making money off the site without putting money back into the site fucks over a member, by making Si foot the bill. Like selling something that you got for free, it's complete bullshit.

[Shadowzone]

quote:Originally posted by Spore

As little as it's worth I've been a member for a little bit now and a lurker for longer, but all too often threads like this appear. For what it's worth, it's petty arguments like this that have brought larger 'orginisations' to it's knees. It would be a shame to see such an inspirational and knowledgeable community fall due to it.

Despite my absence on the forums I honestly can not remember a single day in the last few years that I haven't spent at least an hour seeing what's new on here.

Anyway I just hope that the members of this community can rise above it all and continue to provide an exceptional outlet and place of inspiration for all things bike related and otherwise.

Fuck I sound like a cock...


I think you have a valid opinion. I didn't think you sounded like a cock. Fuck i've said dumber shit than this post. Actually I think I do daily. But that's Jacktar's fault...






quote:Originally posted by hooligan

when i put up an ad to sell my triple (that none of you tight arses were interested in)I got an email from an evil moderator telling me that unless i became a financial member again, i couldn't sell stuff.
I didn't get on my high horse about bullying tactics, because even though I didn't know about the new rules (i had let the membership slide, so didn't know about the new rules discussed in the members section)I paid up before I posted the ad because i felt like a cunt using the site to sell something without being paid up.
The email from said moderator didn't bother me, cause it made a lot of sense.
This site is a community, but what people conveniently ignore is that Si is a member of this community too. Making money off the site without putting money back into the site fucks over a member, by making Si foot the bill. Like selling something that you got for free, it's complete bullshit.


Couldn't agree more Hooligan. We all benefit from Si's generosity in more ways than it is possible to mention. Knowledge and Entertainment are the basics but really only the beginning of it. Have you made a mate or three from the site? So really, in the overall scheme of things, I find that because I get so much value for my money I'm a financial member. If you don't see the value don't fork out. It's a pretty simple equation when it's all said and done. I do what i can to contribute to the site because it has so much value to me in my life. If I didn't find it as valuable I'd probably not bother with the contribution. I guess it's all a personal perspective. And who cares if someone is a cunt? Ignore them and get on with the rest of your life. If you waste your life worrying because someone is a cunt or you don't like them you've given them an inordinate amount of power and control over you. Why would you let some cunt you disliked control your actions?

[Tony Nitrous]

on a more positive note:

I gave some bike related stuff to a member on here.
Never though of $$$'s, just passing stuff on to a Mate.
Member also acquired same items else where.
I was quite impressed that he got in touch and asked
before he sold anything on. I didnt want a share or
anything back, but it was nice to be asked.

Had Gitzy sending me parts and telling me not to worry
about paying when he found out it was my Birthday.

A lot of good folk on here.

[Shadowzone]

quote:Originally posted by Tony Nitrous

on a more positive note:

I gave some bike related stuff to a member on here.
Never though of $$$'s, just passing stuff on to a Mate.
Member also acquired same items else where.
I was quite impressed that he got in touch and asked
before he sold anything on. I didnt want a share or
anything back, but it was nice to be asked.

Had Gitzy sending me parts and telling me not to worry
about paying when he found out it was my Birthday.

A lot of good folk on here.




That my friend is courtesy.

[Tony Nitrous]

quote:Originally posted by Shadowzone

That my friend is courtesy.

Bought a 400/4 "basket case", spent several weeks rebuilding it.
Had a mate a bit down on his luck, ended up selling it to him for
what I paid +parts. No mark-up and nothing for the huge amount of
time and effort I put into it.

It was back in the paper next week at almost double.

That my friend is a CUNT.

Needless to say he's an ex-friend (not a ASF member)

[evil zed]

and that is no friend either. at the end of the day we've all got something from the site, be ot knowledge, advise, a fuckin good laugh or a ,ate or 2. i've been guilty odf not renewing when my last subscription ran out, but have renewed because i think the sute offers great value for maoney, and is one of the few sites i'v efound that cater for my kind of bike. pay up, you'll feel better and the sew on badge is cool too.