Old boys club?

[BoyBurning]

Rob:

As an indicator, your join date suggests the longest you could have had a wanted ad up for is 3 and a half months. I know I am not alone in having searched for bits for much longer than that, and in cases, years.

It usually depends on what the part is, and the amount of effort you put in looking for it. I always search wanted ads before I post something for sale, and actually have a paragraph in my sales thread where I mention that anyone who can direct me to their wanted ad for something I have for sale will take preference over an expression of interest on my sales thread.

It is a major chance at times to be on the forum when a part is offered for sale that you need. I have missed items by stupidly not being on here 24 hours a day, and it's pretty galling.

That is my attempt to overcome this frustration in others.

There is no 'club' as such, but I have had some excellent and most sought after bits offered to me almost as soon as I have posted a wanted ad. I would definitely put some of those down to having been on here a while now and having built up a certain rapport with some members.

I wouldn't get too upset by it. No one will be intentionally blanking you, some people simply don't look before they post, or are contacted directly by people who know they have a part they want.

Again, as others have said - whilst the RB classifieds are an 'easy' and convenient place to look for parts, there are many many more places to hunt around.

BB

 

[RockiMtn]

hey Rob, sending you a PM with hopefully some karma you can make use of since you've been a top notch guy to deal with in the past!

 

[Anonymous]

hey Rob, sending you a PM with hopefully some karma you can make use of since you've been a top notch guy to deal with in the past!

Frank, does karma really work? Just joking, it works for me.

 

[We_are_Stevo]

I wouldn't take it personally - it's the same with any Forum. Look at how many actual Retrobike members there are as opposed to how many you see posting - it's definitely a case of 'the usual suspects...' where ever you go.

There's also a distinct 'inner circle' of the membership in the UK who 'make the effort' (I believe was the phrase used above?) to attend as many ride-outs/events as possible.

I, unfortunately, spend most of my time working at the expense of 'having a life!' You wouldn't believe the hassle I've had getting the time off to come to Mayhem (I can't seem to read that word without Imelda May coming to mind... ) but I've stuck at it and I'm riding!

...and I shall be there in the future, but the regular events are just beyond me - but not out of choice... :cry:

 

[Mr Panda]

I have missed items by stupidly not being on here 24 hours a day, and it's pretty galling.

BB

 

[muppetman]

I'm going to chip in as a relative newbie to the site...

I frequent a number of forums (car, tech etc.) and I've got to say this is one of the friendliest/most helpful forums I've found.

I picked up my Dale as a first project and wanted to get it back to factory spec so spent a while looking for the original Force 40 brakeset to replace the V Brakes that had been added. I posted a wanted ad, not expecting a great response given I was a newbie but within the day, whilst no-one had the parts I was after, I had some suggestions and even an offer for the rocker parts from one member if I managed to find a set without the rockers.

I got pretty bored looking for the parts, so I bit the bullet and bought a complete bike off eBay with the parts I needed (for far more than I should have paid, incidentally, but I got lazy!). Once I've stripped the bike of what I need, I'm gonna put the parts on here to see if anyone needs anything.

I could break and sell on eBay for more cash, but given the help this forum has given me, I want to give something back. I'm not really interested in making a few extra quid here and there (I appreciate everyone's financial situation will vary), so as long as I cover my costs and help someone along the way, it's all good.

Yes, there are probably a lot of deals done between members outside of the forum, but so what? This is a community after all - I haven't made it to a forum ride yet, but would imagine there's lots of buying/selling/swaps going on, which is what you'd expect - as a newbie, I don't find it surprising that it's not a "level playing field" - it's not, but that's life!