Is the site healthy?

Hey Taffy,
It's easy to be polite when you are heavily armed ! I would offer one explaination perhaps it only applies to me, but here goes.... economics. I haven't been on much lately (last year or so ) mostly because I haven't been riding much, money being tight and all, hence I'm not tearing up much equiptment and haven't needed advice. It's hard to be excited about dirt bikes when you are stressed not knowing where your next job is coming from, and sometimes logging on to the site just bums me out because I'm not riding as much as I want to. No reflection on the site or it's members. I do know that Jason is working with newer technology and I have noticed that every time I do check the site additional content and improvments have been made, I'm sure it's a time devouring process and I know he always tries to immplement suggestions, X2 on the video section, I CANNOT get enough of those crazy canucks ice racing ! Giant brass balls those lads have. Well there's my .02
Later
Ron

Perhaps its a good time to revisit seperating the generations. Each generation has its own issues and the people that know how to fix them. By grouping them it should make it easier to notice posts that need attention and attract the people who can answer them. Put another way you won't have to pick through everything if you are only interested in the 01-08's.

I don't have a third generation model and consequently have no hands on knowledge regarding them ,but I do on the first two generations. Since I don't own one I don't have a huge interest in them mechanically speaking so for me all of the 09+ posts are just trashing up the place making it harder to find the real interesting stuff :lol: :lol:

First of all the "site" as it were is healthier than it has every been. For those that did not read about it, the old "software" had not been supported in years, and, it was only through the vigilance, dedication, and hours of work that Schwim kept the old forum format going. And it was after the umpteenth time that old format crashed that Schwim got the new software and server going to support this site. And although we had a great contribution for that first month, I have a good suspicion that was not nearly enough to cover the costs of this upgrade, I suspect that there is indeed an unreported contributor of a great degree that made this, and the continuance of this site possible. A big thank you goes out to this individual. I'm pretty sure I know who you are, but, just as I would not reveal the true identity of any super hero, I will not reveal yours either.

You know Schwim does this sort of thing for a living, web design and support, and as some of you have mentioned in this post about being burnt out on Husaberg's, can you imagine doing web site design and maint. for a living and then keeping up with this site? Only you do this as a labor of love not for a living. And, as another pointed out, the site keeps improving little by little.

Some have pointed out having a video section. I think it would be great too, BUT, that would mean Terra bytes of storage capacity. I suggest you use the vimeo and youtube insert thingies at the top of the topic reply boxes to insert your link to your video of choice, that's what they are there for.

And yes, I would love to see the site stat numbers as far as new members, hits per day, posts per day, and click through stats to those who advertise on this site. A comparison from say 2008 to 2010 if that's possible.

To Ron's point, correlate that to the decline in the economy, the "real" unemployment rate, not the rubbish that the government puts out as the governments' rate does not include those who have run out of unemployment benefits. Another good comparison would be to compare the alleged site traffic decline with the decline in sales from the motorcycle manufacturers, and the aftermarket companies decline in sales. Yes, I think that would be rather interesting indeed. I have a hunch that the demographic that makes up the typical Husaberg enthusiast is fairing much better than the demographic that would represent sales of "other" bikes. Just a hunch......

The reliability if of the new bikes is down right amazing. Of course there have been a few issues here and there, but by and large the new generation bikes have very little need for rebuild or problem solving when compared to the two previous generations. Think about it, there were some electrical problems that were traced to cracked porcelains on spark plugs, loose ECU plugs (who knows how those got loose but no problems since), an extremely limited number of pre delivery contamination of fuel tanks on some 390's. And most recently a thread concerning the fuel injectors, and the bike not starting quickly when hot after it has been sitting (working on this problem myself at the moment but the bike still runs great) If one compares this to a lot of other off road motorcycles these stats become even more astounding.

A good case in point is Dustbites tour bikes, (2-450's & 2-570's) 500 hours before needing any real attention, and then it was just piston and rings for 3 of the 4 bikes, and one needed a cylinder as well. And more recently one of his 570's needed an injector. Not even the need for a valve adjustment per se, just the replacement of the exhaust valve shims as they seem to wear, not the valves or seats. Simply amazing!!

Pretty amazing stat for a first year run of a new model line of motorcycles. Think back on all the different problems that the 01-08's had, cracking center cases on the 01-02's, 15 -20 hour valve adjustments up through the 03 motor and 40 hour intervals beginning with the 04 models, main bearing failures on the 650's, etc etc. But, really by about 05 or 06 most of those problems had been solved and it was down to tuning.

While I was writing this post, I see that Husabutt has come on and posted another point that I was going to make. And that was an idea that I had some time back about separating the bikes into the 3 generations of bikes, each with their own tech section. As I pointed out to Schwim at the time, I would be glad to go through every single thread and move it to the appropriate generation section. Again, to Husabutt's point, this would make it easier to find solutions to each generation of bikes problems. And it would also illustrate once again the bullet proof design of the new bikes.

So now you don't have the traffic of folks looking to solve problems, or needing advice on their bikes as fit, finish, and tuning from the factory provided documentation has steadily improved. Most markedly with the introduction of the 2004 model and the production of that model year forward being moved to Austria, and the addition of the Kokusan ignition and FCR carb added to the line of bikes made for huge improvement in reliability and tuneability, which you Taffy had a lot to with-Thank You!

It seems that there are a lot of posts about getting the set up right on the new bikes as far as spring rates go, and getting the right gearing.

As far as moderators go, for the most part the site needs little moderation other than some tidying up to put posts in their correct place as far as content is concerned. As most of the contributors here are respectful, and tactful. This was noticed by a lot of our sponsors for FR 3 and ultimately led to them wanting to be involved in this enthusiast based function of people who enjoyed their motorcycles, provided solutions to problems, and were not throwing their bikes under the bus so to speak. It is a rare occasion that any of the moderators have to step in and take action when someone spits the dummy and is no longer playing nice in the sand box with the others.

If anyone has some specifics-as in threads/posts where you think the moderators could do better please post them here in this thread so that we can learn and move forward. If no one ever says anything then we will not know.

And to your point Taffy, it is the people that are the "X" factor. If no one is posting about the pre 09 bikes, it is the owners of these bikes that are not posting for one reason or another. My guess they don't need something, or choose to no longer participate for whatever reasons are their own. Bushy continues to post with helpful information that can be used in both the newer and the older bikes, most recently his gearing excel sheet, what a great tool!

OI Dale !

that excel sheet came off the old chaingang website, it was a free download at the time. its no longer linked on their new site. I don't have the patience or state of mind to work succsessfully in excel

I think What Taffy would like to see ? is the people who know a lot and are testing new stuff to post it up. I know and he knows there is a lot of development going on ATM with all kinds of things but its not on the open forum.

that is fair enough on the part of those who choose not to post it and I'm as grateful as all hell that some of them share what they are doing with me.

I do know for sure they would not share if I didn't post anything.

so the x factor could be improved greatly if even only just a few more people made even only 1 post per week, thats not much!

forget the navel gazing !

forget the navel gazing !

just ride, fix the bikes or tell us about both

the site still has the most Berg users, info and Berg associated stuff on the whole web

all other sites still defer to UHE for Berg info

you have built it...............they have come

and are still reading & watching

just dont stress if its a little passive

IT IS A GOOD THING IF THE BIKES CREATE NO ISSUES :twisted: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

this site was so important for others like me who jumped into the deep end buying a bike that knowone had,but from 04 models onwards there is very few problems only general matinence the same as any other brand.
now its probably not a necessity like it was when you bought a husaberg.
the owners doc is a fantastic tool that i'm sure we all use,but at the same time taffy,it has killed the conversation,in now that we don't have to ask so many questions anymore.
hey remember husaberg use to manufacture motox/enduro & supermoto @ 3 different capacity bikes 450/550/650
last year husaberg was only manufacturing a 450/570 enduro bike.that in itself has to have a negitive effect on the people visit the site.how much is there to talk about on a 450/570 enduro bike?
i know taffy,dr-c ,bushy,myself & others who are fairly mechanically minded are a little un-stimulated the lack mechanical imput,but that can't really be helped,not all of us are brought up the same way.the people on this site is just a typical cross section of any community.
if you want a bit more stimulation you could go on thumper talk/ktm talk,of course, it is not specialised like our husaberg site,but they have many more numbers & with that goes more knowledge & more ideas,even if it is on other brands.i personlly don't go looking on other sites,mainly cause i don't have time to browse all day,but if bushy sends me a link to something he finds interesting on another site its probably a sure bet i too will be interested.
sorry i can't really add too much interesting stuff for the mechanically minded as late,cause i really haven't had to do anything to it ,appart from fine tune & blast through the bush whenever i get a chance.
keeping the husaberg going is only a very small percentage of the mechanical work i do.
probably one thing we all should do,is to take more videos/photos of different rides that we do & post them up.
its always good to see what other people ride in,different climates & different landscapes etc.
a couple of posts spring to mind from a while back, one i think was cyphers 4am ride & another was dale eo's huskys grave site in the middle of nowhere.
if we can catigorise the 3 different era's of bikes on the forum, i think that would have to be better.
downloads & classifieds is another that spring to mind.
just my 2c ..weed..
& where the hell is the spell check ,now i look like the redneck country bumpkin like i really am :mrgreen:

another is www.speedtalk.com

navel gazing is good for ideas :twisted:

one example http://speedtalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12924

Taffy is perhaps right, in that we need more threads, how about a definitive one on
crank, counterbalancer, bearings etc, if it works out like the last one it should
keep the site busy for quite some time. LOL

Cheers spanner

spanner said:

Taffy is perhaps right, in that we need more threads, how about a definitive one on
crank, counterbalancer, bearings etc, if it works out like the last one it should
keep the site busy for quite some time. LOL

Cheers spanner

Click to expand...

feel free to start one.

The fact is though that there are only a few people on the site that have the technical interest and knowledge to into the detail that these in-depth threads require, so the really 'technical' threads are always going to be thin on the ground

most of us are happy as long as our bikes start, go, stop reliably and give us a laugh.

Doesnt mean they're not worth doing as sometimes they are an interesting read even to the layman (me)

The "Latest Posts" section on the Homepage is definitely not latest. They are all stuck on my computer.
I see the same ones every day and they are from weeks ago.
I will lso repeat some good suggestions.
Who's online right now?
Is there just a number who is in the lounge? And if someone will the name be revealed?
Bikes and parts on the Homepage. Does anyone want them?
Same Gallery pictures day after day after day. If there are no new can we get a rotation of
something. Anything.

Pollo

Ok guys, I'm new to Bergs and this site but I gotta say...hang in there it's awesome! I have a 08 and as a newbie to off road but not bike or mechanics I have a ton of questions. Oftentimes don't start a new thread because I figure I can do a search for the info and not bug everyone about the same old questions seen before. Fine, but boring, not as much fun as posting and the back and forth banter from everyone.

I've been on Advrider.com for years as a dual sport rider and it's almost too big now. But I do like a good flea market and would love to see a rider tips area.

Oh and about gearing... I do have a question... :wink:

Hey all!
Just to make a squeak from down here at the bottom of the planet. There are many extenuating circumstances that bring changes to the traffic volumes of any UHE, many have been mentioned, economic global downturn, with huge impact to the motorcycle industry, also to the individual, a lot of the effects of this (although the shock wave is purported to have left the beach) are still emerging.
New product.
I am sure there will be problems emerging with this model, the closed loop EFI is a first, and the subframe,look at the space shuttle, the most sophisticated electronic devise on the planet,say no more.
There has been unprecedented interest in the new model .When I take the new blue and yellow to an event ride, or the 2008 berg, for that matter, into the existing sea of sushi inspired, yellow, red , green, and dark blue machines, everyone wants the Jens Elmwall explanation of the motor, erogos and sub- frame .But hey, that’s part of the point of difference that berg riders recognize. Riders of every dimension want to offer there 10 cents worth on the perceived value of the bike, either to compare and justify their current ride, or out of genuine enthusiasm for the brave new technological step.
Many know nothing of Husaberg, or the history of the bike .Of those that do have a concept of the history, it is so wrong and distorted by rumour. All the people I encounter with a genuine interest in Husaberg I direct them all to this site .It is a ‘touchstone’ that caters to all levels of interest. It also saves hours of explanation and ride time.
Also the fact that Husaberg has left the mx boys out of the loop with the new enduro orientated machines has created some bitterness, here’s the evidence:

http://www.motocrossactionmag.com/ME2/d ... 41D4B63B72

I am sure that will be rectified with time. You don’t invent a five legged horse and put it straight to race, you strop it around the paddock first, figure out how it going to go to the toilet, and whether it will embarrass you in public on race day, first.
The owner’s document is monumental and answers so many questions, from what I have heard, many punters jump on and off without posting or joining. Possibly a bit intimidated the level of expertise and afraid to offer an opinion. The level of expertise on this site, is, I think, unprecedented. You get a fast technical response, that is the right one first time, or leads quickly to a solution (unlike so many other DB forums). From the newbys I have spoken to there seems more reluctance to post an unqualified opinion or just share new experience. Maybe this is a, by design, or a site culture filter.
With a foot in both worlds, pre 2009 and post, I jump to posts from both ends. I like looking at historical mechanical problems, who knows when they will become mine. With setting up and riding the new bike I am hungry for expert rider/rider experiences and set up, on the new machines in all areas. You can read/watch definitive tests all over the web with the level of expertise on this site I though there would be more comparative studies.
If you haven’t read Dales 570 set up experience in Race and Ride your missing one of the best pieces of moto journalism on all fronts in the last year. Mate, thanks for the hot start tip, with flicking the starter fist to initiate a pump revolution, before hitting the starter, works on my bike almost every time.
In my experience, Taffy is responsible for the best jetted bergs on the planet. Thanks for the jetting kit worth its weight in gold.
Thanks to those that have dedicated hours to the site, to me it’s at minimum a good read, at best invaluable.
PS…….. FS riders posting on youtube keep those rides and wheelies coming awesome!

I give up, what is LDC ?

Layed Down Cylinder ?

from reading that review it sounds like a Load Dog Crap with PDS shock (Pile Dog Sh!t)

Thanks Bushie. See you are Knowledgeable!

I reckon the site is healthy by the way, but I guess I wouldn't know as I am just a newbie with a LDC.

bushmechanic said:

Layed Down Cylinder ?

from reading that review it sounds like a Load Dog Crap with PDS shock (Pile Dog Sh!t)

Click to expand...

The main thing i cant figure about the new bike. why the hell did they made it so heavy.

yeah the layout of the engine does make it feel heavier when your picking it off the floor but compensates by making it feel alot lighter when riding but thats just as well because all up it is a bit heavier than the competition.

other than that you gotta take into account that the mxa test is comparing the bike to the current crop of 450 mx'ers where any enduro/xc bike is going to get stuffed.

interesting read though.

Hi guys!

I've been buried in a year-long home rehabiliation that is almost complete...

I think the site it healthy. Schwim has done a great job modernizing the site. If I recall, he was awesome at dealing with the old code issues of the previous generation web code, that is why/how the old site lived so long. I think it'll be a matter of time before we start seeing some of the older features come back as he starts to work his way through the mud. We could do without a video section. At this point in the evolution of the web, it is not necessary. But, a button at the top of the reply post section that would seemlessly allow us to embed a youtube video would be nice (can we do that now???). Can/did someone create a UHE specific site on youtube like http://www.youtube.com/UHE or similar?

Anyway. I think most people are just fighting to feed themselves, and don't have the spare mental energy to mess around on the UHE these days. Certainly applies to me. They will be back, I'm sure, as time goes on. Frankly, I'm very happy that we still have a place to visit, even if it isn't what we remember. The same old guys can still find the same old guys, if they need to. And, YES, I miss Dale. I personally don't care about any of the in-fighting that used to happen, or even remember much what any of it was about. But, I wish he would chime in too more than he does.

And, yes, I'm going to agree with another point suggested. Separate the models into generation. It's about time it happened. Being a 1st gen guy, I'd love to find all the appropriate 1st gen stuff. Plus, maybe that would make it easier for Json to get that archive back to us (I think it still exists, right Schwim???, please say yes). Even if we dumped all gen 1 stuff into a single gen 1 heading, I'd be cool.

My point, I'm still here, reading regularly. Not posting enough, but still here and reading. Viva la UHE!!!!

-Parsko

Did UHE loose a bit of healthiness when all the new LDC people turned up?
Is there 3 sort of factions?
Old skool pre 09 Berg dirt riders. Core original UHE close knit group.
Supermotard boyzs pre 09.
LDC riders with not much Husaberg knowledge. (growing band of noise makers and Drive Bye's)

Davo said:

Did UHE loose a bit of healthiness when all the new LDC people turned up?
Is there 3 sort of factions?
Old skool pre 09 Berg dirt riders. Core original UHE close knit group.
Supermotard boyzs pre 09.
LDC riders with not much Husaberg knowledge. (growing band of noise makers and Drive Bye's)

Click to expand...

I recall that it was discussed here previously that an apprenticeship on a Gen 1 or Gen 2 should be compulsory to be allowed to acquire a Gen 3. :cheers:

Steve