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May 15, 2017 11:42:55 GMT
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Hey folks, I'm just giving some thought to the next few months of work I want to do on Retro Rides, I'm planning to rebuild the home page as I've now moved hosts and it should work consistently again. I'm also giving some thoughts to content for the forum, and perhaps wider content (youtube, instagram etc.) ... I'd keep thinking of reviving the email newsletter to provide a digest of cool stuff that people may have missed too. Anyway, there is a little poll here for some types of content that we have on the forum, I'd love to know what you'd like to see more of. I'm sure there are a million and one things missing from the polls, so I'd love to hear some other suggestions to. Thanks  *** Edit *** Forgot to add Travelling Stories to the list :/ |
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Last Edit: May 15, 2017 13:24:26 GMT by HoTWire
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May 15, 2017 12:45:57 GMT
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I pretty much like it how it is, but perhaps the events reports section might be good, then perhaps it could have a section for event photos. Also, how about a motor sickle section?
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retrolegends
Club Retro Rides Member
Winging it.....Since 1971.
Posts: 3,726
Club RR Member Number: 94
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May 15, 2017 13:37:05 GMT
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Travelling stories would be a great addition for me, there's been some epic road trips on here over the years.
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1974 Hillman Avenger 1500DL1992 Volvo 240SE1975 Datsun Cherry 100a flying custard1965 Hillman SuperMinx Rock N Roller1974 Austin Allegrat Mk1 1.3SDL1980 Austin Allegro Mk3 1.3L1982 Austin Allegro Mk3 on banded steels2003 Saab 9-3 Convertible 220bhp TurboNutter1966 Morris Minor 1000 (Doris) 2019 Abarth 595C Turismo (not retro but awesome fun) www.facebook.com/DatsunCherry100a |
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tofufi
South West
Posts: 1,458
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May 15, 2017 13:42:41 GMT
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Travelling stories would be a great addition for me, there's been some epic road trips on here over the years. Agreed  |
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fad
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,781
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May 15, 2017 15:46:50 GMT
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I should have put the "Where's my f#*kin' Ham" Prague road trip in shattered mk2 'Rocco or the Vietnamese "Got the runs" run on here, or the Market Garden tour or my Icelandic South Coast cruise in a Subaru Legacy... Maybe I will do that later.
More tech stuff forms. Thats my strong point. And maybe some mythbusting or "don't be scared of electrics" stuff. Want me to start?
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May 15, 2017 15:50:11 GMT
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Would love you to. Electrics are terrifying for most people (me included), would be great to have a "tools you need" and how to use them type thing, starting at the most basic stuff. I'm hoping that when I have a site back up and running I can get these things formatted nicely on there based on the forum content, so people can come in and learn, and then pop in to the forum and asked questions |
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b3nson
Part of things
Posts: 886 
Club RR Member Number: 22
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May 15, 2017 16:08:38 GMT
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I'm always up for threads on roadtrips/adventures in any type of vehicles. And maybe a focus on really cool builds, there's so much great stuff in the Reader Rides section that I sometimes feel good stuff is passing me by!
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'99 Fiat Coupe 20V Turbo
'08 Panda 100HP
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May 15, 2017 16:39:03 GMT
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Stuff that always appeals : "make do and mend" threads (using a retro as a daily, grizz "other modifications" threads etc) technical (engine swaps - modern motor/ecu into an older car, how to wire fuel injection, megasquirt/jolt etc) road trip writeups. Stuff I look at sometimes : event writups / meetups / community events. Not for me (no broadband) - videos A couple of ideas : Maybe create a "other machinery" or "bike etc" sub-forum in the "other modificatioins section" ? Review cats? I think the MO says cats are always good, some folk above would prefer birds? Time to review the MO ? |
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slater
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,390
Club RR Member Number: 78
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May 15, 2017 16:43:16 GMT
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You know what, I'd really love to see more threads about people's modern dailys... ;-)
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May 15, 2017 17:10:12 GMT
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More tech stuff forms. Thats my strong point. And maybe some mythbusting or "don't be scared of electrics" stuff. Want me to start? Agreed. Have specific threads like TonyBmw's bodywork thread. Where everything learnt can be transferred over to any make or model vehicle.ie not just model specific advice. A body prep and paint thread Auto electronics thread Suspension theory Etc etc you get the idea. Where anyone can dip in and out to get the advice they need. |
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May 15, 2017 17:13:19 GMT
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would be great to have a "tools you need" and how to use them type thing, starting at the most basic stuff You'd need a whole forum just for @johnnybravo if you let him do it! |
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tdk
Part of things
Posts: 958
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May 15, 2017 17:17:47 GMT
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Travelling stories would be a great addition for me, there's been some epic road trips on here over the years. Some of us have written books about it! |
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markbognor
South East
 
Posts: 9,970
Club RR Member Number: 56
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May 15, 2017 19:28:08 GMT
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You know what, I'd really love to see more threads about people's modern dailys... ;-) Good job I've just started one for the Puma then :-) |
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,784
Club RR Member Number: 34
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May 15, 2017 20:09:11 GMT
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Thing is mark, at least you modify your dailys. Couple that with your tight budget and eye for transferable ideas, it does make interesting reading even if most people would not be turned on by the base car. I've read threads by you about cars that I consider to be utter dross and still I've enjoyed them.
I think what slater is getting at, and what I've also noticed, is there various late 90s/early 2000s cars appear on here with 'build threads' where they're stock cars with little to no mods and no intention to do so.
Ergo they fall outside of the 'Interesting' caveat that you qualify for, yet people are still putting them up.
I know previous policy was 'self moderating- if it's not interesting people won't comment so it will drop off' but I don't find that to be true. Hence I personally think readers rides needs to be slightly stronger moderated to keep stuff interesting.
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Last Edit: May 15, 2017 20:10:10 GMT by Dez
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May 15, 2017 20:40:37 GMT
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I don't think thats true myself. I enjoy reading about the Escort estate thats being done up by Mercdan68 and his son.
I find it interesting as he doesnt have a unlimited budget and he is turning around neglected old cars applying a bit of tlc and money in the right place and having fun .
I find stuff like that balances out some of the more full on stuff . The reality is a lot of us do not have access to lots of =equipment , space etc to do complicated work .
By having this thread do we think more of what we want will miraculously appear or is stuff going to start being deleted or canned because its not 'right' what ever that is ?
Genuine points for debate , not trying to stir etc .
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Rob M
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,915
Club RR Member Number: 41
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May 15, 2017 21:09:23 GMT
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I remember, years ago, having a meet up with others on this forum in a small field to the side of a pub somewhere off of the A11.
There were pics taken and it was a bloody good meet up with lots of cars of all types and modifications.
It got a write up on here and it was very well received.
I'm quite surprised that, all these years later, there are not more organized local meets, maybe by county, where every so often people could meet up, talk cars, take pics and just have an excuse to go out for a drive to one.
I know there are meets advertised but there is nothing that suggests its an RR meet up, a sort of owners club kind of thing.
TBF, I'm not THE most out going of people but if I'm going to go for a meet up with other members of the forum I'm going to be more inclined to participate, if that makes sense.
The RR gatherings are more centric, I'm thinking of satellite gatherings.
Anyhow......
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May 15, 2017 21:23:30 GMT
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While I love the roadtrip threads, and don't want to see any less of them, the fact they are slightly rare keeps them interesting. Thirty threads a week about going from Luton to Tewkesbury on the train and picking up a £175 Rover 200 and having a fault-free drive home would get stale quick.
Likewise event threads full of pictures can quickly be overwhelming.
The thing that really grabs my attention and which I never stop being interested in even after a decade or so on here is threads of either one stunning car (and while writing this that green Russian Lada 2101/2103 and it's "discovery" thread keeps popping into my head) or themed threads of something odd that brings up wild and crazy rides or other unique cars to look into. Like the Mad-Max style thread, or the still current founder-founded probe into a cafe racer style.
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May 15, 2017 21:40:44 GMT
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I don't think thats true myself. I enjoy reading about the Escort estate thats being done up by Mercdan68 and his son. I find it interesting as he doesnt have a unlimited budget and he is turning around neglected old cars applying a bit of tlc and money in the right place and having fun . I find stuff like that balances out some of the more full on stuff . The reality is a lot of us do not have access to lots of =equipment , space etc to do complicated work . By having this thread do we think more of what we want will miraculously appear or is stuff going to start being deleted or canned because its not 'right' what ever that is ? Genuine points for debate , not trying to stir etc . mercdan68 and sons thread is indeed great, however the Escort in question is modified, amd interesting and although not the oldest car the escort is retro! I agree, we don't all have tools/money/ability to do sone of the trully epic stuff that crops up here. But we can appreciate it! (I have one parking space, zero pennies and little skils myself!) And wait to get our grubby mits on a car that meets the true RR criteria. Not a 53 place corrola 😕 if we start putting up newer, blander and un mods stuff it will lose rr its, well, rr-ness. A 15 year old car is not retro yet, and posting about it as its all that you have isnt the point, you arent allowed on a rally-stage in a grit-lorry because its all you have! Really, more of the same, keep the ethos keep the friendly atmposhere (mot sure if yhats the right term!) and a few tweaks will do just fine! Yes to more 'satelite gatherings' amd mega yes to the specific trch sections as touted above as that would help no-littles like me a lot! i like this site, its the only online presence i have and i want it to stay awesome! Big debate here!! 😊 |
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Last Edit: May 16, 2017 8:10:23 GMT by s1105117
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slater
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,390
Club RR Member Number: 78
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I've said it before but the site is certainly turning into 'post retro rides'.. Its inevitible I guess as true retro cars from the 70 and 80s become big money the spirit of the original retro rides forum from 10-15years ago moves on to slightly younger and cheaper stuff. Its not that that's the issue. It just seems there is a lack of decent content full stop and what is here still is swamped under dross. Very few threads with interesting cars compared to the old days and alot of people asking how to fix thier 2000s era machines. Theres threads in readers rides for BMW minis and wibblepoo like that for god's sake! Totally not relelevnt. I agree some more moderation and more importantly some self moderation is needed.
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Thanks for the feedback so far folks. First things first we won't be deleting threads as a way to encourage the content listed above. Interestingly a lot of these comments hang together, the desire for less modern stuff/more older stuff in Readers Rides and featured in the general section, the desire to see/read/buy more "affordable" retro cars, the desire for tech features and that kind of material. All of these build a cohesive picture of a scene that wants to grow, but keep its heart, which is great from where I'm sitting. Re:The more modern stuff in Readers Rides, slater has the truth of it in that slightly more modern stuff is more affordable and we've always been fine with it in readers rides if it was modified/interesting. I need to check the numbers to make sure there isn't some confirmation bias going on. Since rmad split out the For Sale section I've been giving some consideration to introducing a split in the Reader Rides, but it is low on my priorities and not something I really want to do. I'll give a different solution that popped into my head when I was reading this thread a bit more thought and see if that will help, but yes standard modern daily isn't really super interesting. Re:Events coverage, someone pointed out up thread that it can be a bit overwhelming, and I know how they feel, I think a long stream of pictures isn't a great experience, and for people authoring the threads it can take ages to write them up. I've been giving some thought to this as well, I need to do some programming to hopefully make it better and easier for all involved. Fingers crossed I can find some time to finish this soon. Another thing I'll do from my own point of view is when I'm at events I'll make sure I take a number of pictures of the particularly interesting cars so they can live in their own thread as an aside to event coverage. I'm going to put up a poll for what we think of as 'affordable' as well, I know this will vary wildly for a lot of us, but it would be good to get some interest ranges so that I know where we're aiming at. I'll get on to a plan for the top three items asap, we may end up working with some partners on this kind of thing, but it is good to know what to aim for. If anyone wants to step in an offer specific help like fad did I'm all ears |
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