Originally Posted by CaptMoto

Well if we do have a poll about silent members the question will be something simple like this

QUIET MEMBERS

Should they be allowed to just watch an never post?

Should we impose a deadline, after which their membership will be terminated?

The debate is endless:

I understand some people are naturally shy, others might have language problems and on the other hand, some are just simply not interested in taking part and only visit the forum to obtain the necessary info they require and then leave.

That is not to say that people registered by curiosity, saw that it wasn't of interest to them and never returned, becasue I know for a fact that 90% of our silent registered members do pop in regularly to have a look, learn what they need and then go back to their individual buisness.

Seen as this is a public forum, what gives me the right to impose a visitor my terms and conditions as to their membership? they don't pay me to be here and I certainly don't pay them, the interntet is free enterprise on the whole, unless you are buying into something you can pretty much scavenge for anything that might take your fancy, from free downloads to high purchases of services and products.

We had this kind of discussion in the previous incarnation of the XT660.com forum and I was one of those that insisted on motivating people into partecipating or get cut out and I saw the effect of that ultimatum didn't go down well and instead of making things better for the community turned the forum in a less pleasant place to be in than this is at the moment.

Low and behold people who just browse don't hurt me or you or you and so on, yeah it would be nice in an ideal world if they'd all come in and say hi my name is such and such and I'd like to meet you on rides and whatever, but then again you must realize some people also might probably be slighlty inconfident in riding their bikes like some of us do and might feel threathened to come out on a ride and be embarassed by the rest of the other riders who are more "veteran" in the matter.

Last year we went on a ride with 13 or 14 XT's and we had 2 guys who, were so slow that half way through the ride (after seeing a couple of other riders binning their bikes, don't even ask its past tense.....) said sorry but we are heading back, we thought this was a nice and gentle ride, and you know what? we were cruising at 60mph max!!! So as you see some people have a different perspective of a rideout and find it difficult to join in, come rain or shine, as some of us do.

I say let's see if a few months down the line there will be a need to cull members who don't post, after all, don't forget this new XT660.com is only less than 5 months old and its still in a phase of establishing itself within the internet realm, although we have: Yahoo, Google, MSN, Altavista, Jeeves, and many more other Search Engines on the payroll for scouting purposes, we are still a long way to go before we can call ourselves established as other major forums like the American ThumperTalk.com who is currently the world leader in the field. only problem is.... it's american and.... they don't do XT's

I welcome further suggestions even from those who don't post, maybe it might be worth hearing their side of the story as to why they prefer to remain silent.

Cheers