Save our local shops.....and Bongo Fury

[mikeonb4c]

Is it just me, or has the Bongo Fury forum become moribund - a museum to the history of how Bongo Life started on earth. For a day or two now, there's been no new posts. And yet I suspect Bongo ownership is still at very good levels, and recognition of it as a classic has never been greater.

Me and my partner were at the cinema recently and there was a very striking advert, put together by high street store owners and putting across the threat posed to the high street as part of the social fabric by the big online retailers (represented as Giant Corps in the video). It irritates the hell out of me that the Googles, Amazons, Ebays and Facebooks of the world contribute nothing to our communities by way of tax or local employment. And yet (and despite Bongo Fury being i think a much better place to organise and research Bongo topics, get togethers etc) a number of Facebook Bongo groups have mesmerised the Bongo Tribe into using them, because Facebook (with all its huge resources) can lay on more glittery technology. But Facebook doesn't give a stuff about Bongo owners except for delivering them to a world of general advertisers and purveyors of fake news. Whereas Bongo Fury exists to cater solely for the Bongo needs of Bongo lovers.

Is it time to encourage members of the Lost Bongo Tribe back to the Land of Their Birth.

Spread the Word if you feel likewise, and a plague on the houses of the despotic, dehumanising and tax evading Giant Corps of Planet Online.

[g8dhe]

Times change.
At one time a system called CIX (it still exists) was all I needed and just a few BBS style forums, however whilst it had certain brilliant features it also lacked a few.
Then came the current crop of Social media systems, they brought many new features but also lacked many as well, however the one aspect that they have is ease of use - pictures and videos are simple and built in - and this is what attracts large numbers, now I have given up CIX and use FB and various Forum style sites, I'm sure it will change again in a few years.
Just trying to attract people alone, without additional - must have features, is unlikely to work as people are always reluctant to move along and learn "new" skills/methods without some obvious payback.

[Alkers]

I have also noted the lack of traffic in the forums as of late, despite my best efforts to get some posting going!

The appeal of the Facebook groups is the sometimes instantaneous responses but no-one uses the search function so it is literally the same 5-10 issues coming up over and over again - what does this switch on the dashboard do, my bongo failed it's MOT, what tyre pressures should I be using etc.

I haven't seen the advert you mentioned but a lot of the high street retailers have got a lot to answer for themselves as some of the price differences can be astronomical and you can no longer rely on a sales assistant having more than a very basic knowledge of what they are selling. Add to that, that the local autofactors etc are being replaced with the likes of Halfrauds and the online giant is only a marginally worse evil. IMO anyway!

[mikeonb4c]

All true and well said guys. The High Street landlords and rating authorities are guilty of failing to change (by reducing crippling charges) and governments by failing to change their rules to tackle tax avoidance by online retailers. Bongo Fury (and the High St) is guilty of not tackling change by investing quicker in the stuff that will pull in customers though a justifiable defence for many (and certainly BF) is they lack resources to do that. But....and this is the big but in all this.....there needs to be a better acceptance and lookout that not all change is good and it should not be allowed to happen regardless. The most visible one staring all of us (except Trump) in the face is climate change. And, like destruction of the social colony that is coral reefs, damage to the social fabric by destruction of the High Street is not good. And it can be stopped, if we have the imagination and the collective will. If you feel like throwing petrol on the fire and posting a link to this topic on Facebook...be my guest! As Mrs. Merton used to say on her show "Lets have a heated debate" (and at this point I'd have posted an image of her but its just too hard on BF - the reverse of FB!).

P.S. Here's a riddle. I was told that you won't see a wall clock in a supermarket (though i'd need to verify that). But if so, why would that be

[Tony x]

I couldn't agee more Mike.
Just as I've started to post more others are posting less - I thought it was me...maybe it is.
I'm on a few forums but only post on Bongo Fury and something called Ktmtalk ( where I post loads as I know much more about Ktm's then Bongo's)
Both forums are largely absent of the kind of bickering, punctuation police and abuse sadly found on many sites.

[TheLongRoad]

Maybe people just want the advice when they have a problem and don't use the board for 'banter'. Although I don't use Facebook I can see the appeal when the threads are enhanced with photos.

[Bob]

Good points, well done.

For the record I don't do Faceache or Twotter.

[TheLongRoad]

Another thought, I might be generalising but I don’t suppose you’re average Bongo owner is the type who goes around glued to a smartphone. Hence less active that the FB Twitter stuff.

[jimmo62]

Maybe we should be looking at how many people are reading and searching rather than new posts? I always start here when I have a question and problem and usually find the answer is already there - so I don't post to avoid annoying everyone with repeat questions. The knowledge and detail here is way beyond anything FB will ever provide

[helen&tony]

Mike...
Like the Kraken...you've rung my gong, and I've arisen from the deep...climate change...that's what we all do...stare at it...but we can do things to mitigate it at a personal level....I could list them, but everybody know what we SHOULD be doing, but we choose to leave it to someone else, and that ranges from how we use everything in private life to who we vote for. If we stopped voting for one of two parties and voted for Green government WORLDWIDE, one that manages our earth , and ensures general care and co-operation across the world, then we wouldn't be in a mess. If we watched what we buy, watched what we eat, and watched the way we use resources, then that's our contribution...Internet is one tool towards the future...we could do away with a need to waste resources going to a shop, and have our needs delivered, giving us more time to go out in our electric vehicles camping at weekends, with the time we've saved...we wouldn't need to take the vehicle to work, as public transport would take us
All this could have been here and now, if it wasn't for laziness, greed, and inefficiency promoted by apathy, so here we are grizzling about the technology we only need to embrace , rather than leave it until next week (that never comes)...That technology is already here!
Cheers
Helen

[mikeonb4c]

Great points everyone and great to hear from you Helen, and you touch on a point that for me is very relevant about BF: because it was/is so much easier to keep a track on what is being discussed (due to its topic driven nature) I always found great synergy and serendipity seemed both to happen. It made the collective intelligence and power to make things happen formidable in the Bongo Tribe. I'd even venture to suggest this played a major part in elevating the Bongo to its current status. Certainly, for me, Bongo ownership would have been unattainable without BF. In contrast, FB is one mess of a maze, with zilch knowledge base potential. And meanwhile BF is starved of oxygen. As said above, if even easy picture posting were enabled then it would help. But I would love to see David beat Goliath on this one, and that historically is what the Bongo Tribe has always been good at. The world needs more Bongo

[TheLongRoad]

I second the 'ownership' comment. Without Bongo Fury and its excellent resource of what to lookout for when buying a Bongo, I don't think I'd have been as confident when buying ours. Then as a home mechanic, the help I've received here and from the Bongo Shop have enabled me to undertake maintenance and improvements. Having folks on here with Bongos that have travelled 400,000 miles, or been welded up or had variuos parts replacd has been a great 'heads up' on potential issues awaiting my newer Bongo. Thanks everyone.

[Bob]

Very true.

I was realy wary of grey imports, not certain you could get insurance at a fair price, let alone parts...

This Forum helped loads, and still does.

[mikeonb4c]

Very true.

I was realy wary of grey imports, not certain you could get insurance at a fair price, let alone parts...

This Forum helped loads, and still does.

I was wary of you too Ben.....until we met for a pint

[Bob]

Ahh... Beer.

Proof that there is a Great Being, and he or she loves us and wants us to be happy.