Forum Logo?

[james.mc]

........At the moment there are eight different models in hondas adventure lineup, and in my opinion they all should be included and also future proofing the logo from new models.

Clearly, I agree with Gareth

Its not all about the Forum Logo either.  There is a bigger picture here, which must be addressed.

Lets look at it from another perspective. 
We all want this forum to be active and vibrant.... right? 
We want new members to post and enjoy the experience plus add valuable information to the Forum... right?

With that in mind....

Does anyone here, at the Honda Adventure Riders Forum (considering the meaning of the name!) think that limiting the Forum appearance (Logo) and main boards to only 3 Honda Adventure tourers (one of which has been out for production since 2013? - correct me on the year of needed), is the way forward in the long term?

Stick with the Honda Brand sure, but why is there a limitation on models?  The ADV forum, which is very successful, doesn't do that.  What we have here is a hangover from when this board was only a Varadero only Forum, then the Crosstourer came along, so it ended up being a Varadero and Crosstourer Forum. Then the Africa Twin came along. Lets face it, the new AT is a different bike than the Vara and the Crosstourer, as its a true 50/50 on/off road machine, but the Vara and Crosstourer aren't in my opinion, yet the AT been added to the forum anyway. So why just the CRF Africa twin?
What about the other Honda Adventure bikes?  What about the Cross-runner?  Its on Honda UK website as an Adventure bike.  Or is this Forum all about big engined 998cc+ Adventure bikes only?

Right now, on Honda UK, as Adventure bikes are listed:

• VRF1200X Crosstourer
• CRF1000L Africa Twin
• VRF800X Crossrunner
• X-ADV (750cc Engine)
• CRF250 Rally
• CRF250L

Some might mot agree that the X-ADV is not an 'Adventure' bike.  But Honda think it is, so who are we to argue with them and come to a different conclusion.  They spend millions on research and development. We don't.
Some might suggest we add just the Crossrunner. Why?

All those bikes ( listed above) are marketed as 'Adventure' bikes by Honda themselves.  Therefore, if Honda have their marketing right, and they are rarely wrong in that respect, riders will surely have adventures on these bikes and take them to many different interesting places on and off road in true Honda Adventure Riders style. 
So, how about we let Honda dictate to us what they see as adventure bikes and we can simply accommodate those riders, that have bought into Honda's Adventure bike marketing, inn this Forum?  Honda spend loads of $$$& promoting their Adventure riding concepts so we can capitalise on that for nothing, other than our volunteered time, and bring them into the Forum as main forum categories.

If this is to remain a strong forum and promote itself as a HONDA ADVENTURE RIDERS FORUM, then lets welcome all Honda Adventure riders and their bikes, no matter what the engine size.  Not just a select few Honda ADV models.

With our current approach, what do you think will happen to forum numbers when Honda stops producing the Crosstourer?  The Forum logo will then have 1 bike in production and 2 out of production. It'll be time for a new Forum logo again!

You may be thinking why did I not submit a logo for the competition. I am not an artist and in this instance I am the customer and I know whats works best.

regards
Gareth

Hey Gareth,
Customer feedback, by way of positive or constructive negative comments, is is always welcome :)

Summary
I came back on onboard as admin, kindly invited by Stewart (SB), with me volunteering my time to try and inject life back into the Forum.  I actually want to add plenty of information, installation reports, servicing tips, gadget options on the CRF1000L as I add or experience them personally on my own AT. 

I'd like us admins to to switch things up a notch and create main boards for other Honda advertised Adventure Bikes. We have a clear board format that can be repeated, so its easy to add bike models.

We, as a community, must innovate and move with the times, the same way Honda does. Its the only way forward for this group.  If we live in the past, and resist change, then we're going nowhere, other than to an annual meeting that is named after a bike no longer produced by Honda.

regards
James Mc

[Nysse]

Where is the like button? 

[zebulon]

Some points:
Varadero end of production 2011, and of stock 2012 ( perhaps a few in 2013?)
Do not think Honda is always right, as when they present CT as Varadero successor....
Why do not add NC750X & CB500X? They are here in adventure bike too...
As participant of the 1st international AT festival (including all -old & new- Honda adventure bikes) I've seen X-ADV is not a real off-road adventure bike (as Varadero & CT &...)
After the bikes, us:
We are here because a common point (and perhaps spirit) VARADERO. I manage also French forum with all brand trails bikes; we have commons point on way to see travel, off roads tracks etc but the close we are, with ex-Varadero owners.... It's a fact . Why people keep their Varadero so long , and now switching to AT?
Then why not open the forum? It can be done , is the most important to have more members and loose our spirit? It can be a way.
Totally agree to change the logo, and meeting name !

[james.mc]

Varadero end of production 2011, and of stock 2012 ( perhaps a few in 2013?)

Yeah, thanks.   I was a bit vague recalling when it went out of production.

Why do not add NC750X & CB500X? They are here in adventure bike too...

I think we agree? Any Honda bike that is marketed as an Adventure bike should be included.  Not sure we should exclude a smaller bike, that Honda describe as an adventure bike, but we don't think so. Simply because, if the owner has bought into the Honda "Adventure label' and they are on this Forum they may switch bikes to a larger Honda ADV later and stay with the family
For the list I added I only used samples off the Honda UK site, but do not suggest that is the total list. 
Honda in Canada, USA, Australia etc are all different as are many other countries.  We could include what is listed around the world at ADV's on Honda sites.

As participant of the 1st international AT festival (including all -old & new- Honda adventure bikes) I've seen X-ADV is not a real off-road adventure bike (as Varadero & CT &...)

Are we only talking about Adventure 'Off Road' bikes here?  I wonder how many Crosstourer owners have actually taken their CT's totally off road?  Or Varadero owners for that matter?
To me, it's about the adventure of the ride and the trip, not so much how capable the bike is off road.  Most of the Vara riding I did all over Europe from The Algarve, Portugal, to the VIM's in Portugal, Poland, Northern Ireland and Sicily was on made up roads (some really crappy!) and a number of unmade roads mostly in Spain and Portugal.  The ride outs at the VIM meetings were all on roads for the four I attended.  I would suggest that most Varadero's and CT's spend about 98% of their lives on road.  Some owners will kit them out for off road adventures.
However, lets not escape the fact that many ADV bikes can happily be taken off road with the correct rubber if needed. 
If its got long suspension travel it's got a good chance for travelling long distances off road.
Something Pocket Rockets Road bikes will never be able to accomplish with any reasonable performance.

Some points:
After the bikes, us:
We are here because a common point (and perhaps spirit) VARADERO. I manage also French forum with all brand trails bikes; we have commons point on way to see travel, off roads tracks etc but the close we are, with ex-Varadero owners.... It's a fact . Why people keep their Varadero so long , and now switching to AT?
Then why not open the forum? It can be done , is the most important to have more members and loose our spirit? It can be a way.

I agree, there has been and still is a great spirit of friendship amongst the 20 odd years that Varadero's have been around and I'm sure that will go on for a while yet.
The hard truth is (gradually over time) Vara's will fade away as their number reduce.  Vara Forum member number will reduce and post a lot less.   
Many long term Vara owners will eventually/probably switch to newer similar types of bikes and (hopefully for the Forum) Honda ADV bikes. 
Older riders may downsize to a smaller Honda ADV bike because they find the bigger bikes too heavy to manage. 
Younger riders may start out on smaller ADV bikes that they can afford now, but later move up to bigger ADV bikes.  If the young riders are in the Forum at the start of their ADV riding on smaller bikes they will probably stay on the Forum when they move up to larger Honda ADV bikes.
I'd still have my 2003 MK1 Vara now, but I could not import it into Canada in 2013 due to Canadian market import restrictions.  It was 10 years old and needed to be 15 years old before I could import it.
Even with a more inclusive forum the Varadero type spirit will live on.  Those that have known each other for years  will still have a common bond, but new friendships will be made as well.

Totally agree to change the logo, and meeting name !

Me too and I suspect that, handled and presented correctly, a longer-term forward looking approach to the Forum and its Logo can be developed over time.

regards
James Mc

[SB]

The advrider forum doesn't really have a logo. The front page has a picture of someone on an old bike and that's it.
To be honest the format/layout of the forum is quite dull. It's the content that makes it interesting.

Perhaps what we need is a text based logo for "Honda-Adventure-riders" and then find a way of incorporating the logos of all the Honda Adventure bikes in a rolling or slowly changing image.

[zebulon]

The previous "where the serious adventure riders meet" was very nice IMO 

[james.mc]

The advrider forum doesn't really have a logo. The front page has a picture of someone on an old bike and that's it.
To be honest the format/layout of the forum is quite dull. It's the content that makes it interesting.

Perhaps what we need is a text based logo for "Honda-Adventure-riders" and then find a way of incorporating the logos of all the Honda Adventure bikes in a rolling or slowly changing image.

Yep!   Its a 'small' 'old' bike, but then again it's simple, has no perceived limitations (Other than it's not some rider in racing leathers, with a speed hump! blatting around a race track - no race rep bikes thanks!) and surely the depicted rider is having an adventure!.   So, the simplicity of the image makes the right statement IMHO.


I think this Forum has the URL right and the Forum name as well.
It portrays pretty much the same message as the ADV forum but limits its to the Honda ADV brand, which I think is the general idea we have in mind right? 

Now.  The logo.

Perhaps what we need is a text based logo for "Honda-Adventure-riders" and then find a way of incorporating the logos of all the Honda Adventure bikes in a rolling or slowly changing image.

Yep!  and that can be done.  Not sure about SMF, but a lot of Forum software packages have banner advertising built into the code where you can add a banner (can be a simple .jpg, .png, or even a multi layered .gif) the exact size of the Forum logo.  It can be placed in various places including page top.
Each advertiser has their own banner.  Banners rotate as pages are loaded by the user.
But the forum is not taking advertisers. Instead it is using the banners for itself.
It might mean that the first banner a visitor sees is the forum logo, or it might be a Honda ADV bike.  One click pf a link and they see another static banner and so on.

Failing that, I've made multilayered (rotating images) .gif banners in the past.  I'd Need to get the right software for my MacBook Pro OSX to do that as I used to do it on Windoze before.

That was the first image could be:

Without the bike model names under it.

The second image could list a bunch of Honda ADV bike models in text only.. although trying to get the right fonts for each model would be a real pain!

The third and following images could be bikes in action or outside cropped and resized to banner size.

Such as:

Notice they are all outside 'adventure'/action shots giving the feeling of adventure, as opposed to just a bike, no rider, white background.

Apologies if some of the images are huge.  Pulled them right off the net as examples.

My next question would be.. to Stewart.  What are the banner size limitations?

The original .gif file can be save in raw format with separate layers so that should models need to be added or removed, or someone comes up with a nice image, we can.  But the primary Forum Name logo/font layer stays the same always.  Then recompile the .gif into a new banner file.  In that way the banner is dynamic but still keeps the original logo at all times.

One could argue that this should be an admin only discussion at this level of detail but any member should be able to pitch in and add feedback I feel.

Thoughts?

[SB]

My next question would be.. to Stewart.  What are the banner size limitations?

From the hosting side there there is no size limit (within reasonable limits) but we have to be aware of the impact of large image files on the front page when accessing the forum on mobile devices or via a slow internet connections.

[james.mc]

My next question would be.. to Stewart.  What are the banner size limitations?

From the hosting side there there is no size limit (within reasonable limits) but we have to be aware of the impact of large image files on the front page when accessing the forum on mobile devices or via a slow internet connections.

I was thinking along the lines of similar width (pixels) to the current logo but possibly a little taller, but optimised for web use, so keeping the file size to minimum without loss of quality.  I have time over the next few weeks to develop some options.

[james.mc]

Switching to admin forum to discuss purely technical aspects of banner sizes and placement.

[zebulon]

why use Honda picture which are copyrighted? We have a lot of our own ! 

[james.mc]

why use Honda picture which are copyrighted? We have a lot of our own ! 

Yep!

Apologies if some of the images are huge.  Pulled them right off the net as examples.

I agree.  I mentioned in my post the images I used were just examples pulled off the internet to promote the the idea.  I wasn't suggesting we use any of those actual images.

The more I look into this, the clearer it is to me that the forum needs a single static image across the top.  No revolving .gif. Add some colour, and an image or two, that represents ADV type riding... Roads, tracks, trails, something like that at least. Keep it simple pretty much like all the examples I gave from the other forums.

Member comments of late are almost zero. Other than admins.. is there anyone else interested in this at all?   Looking for feedback.

[Nysse]

I am with you on this.
I like to keep things simple. The name of the forum are in the top left corner, I think that is enough.
Use the top right corner for generic adv pictures. If I understand you right it is'nt possible to pick picture that forum members have shared on the forum? Otherwise I think that would be nice.

Personally I am very fond of Tapatalk and think it is a good tool to use, but hey, thats me 

Regarding the types av bikes I am in favor of letting the other Honda adv bikes in to the forum. It is important to evolve to survive.

[MrKiwi]

As far as I am concerned VIM is an outdated and old name for an old bike that probably fits the type of visual and user (un)friendliness of this website.


VIM 19 has only a few Varadero's. Why restrict the name to one model of the of the Honda family? Time has moved on and if this forum can to that would be good...

[james.mc]

Nysse & MrKiwi

Many thanks for your input, which is pretty much how I feel also.  I would go as far as suggesting that zebulon and SB also feel that an upgrade in Forum approach to Honda-ADV is also due.  Please correct me if I am wrong.

Lets see what can be done.  I have another, much pre vibrant/colourful, idea for a top banner which will keep within the feeling of the original logo but do away with the three named models of Honda bikes. If its left as it is will only contribute to the slow demise of this Forum!    

What do you think of this as a general idea across the top of the page. Before anyone says anything -   No! We do not use this image.  No! We do not use the same logo.  We use our own image and our own Logo in white over our image.  Its got colour, more impact, and the logo style (white over the sunset image) is pretty neat.

Image Credit to: Erick Skinner of Lower Island Riding Club, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada.

Lower Island Riding Club

regards
James Mc