Breakdown by hour of day for 1st - 20th November. Click on th image for an enlarged view.

When the Blog’s web hosting was migrated to a new web hosting service a while ago the viewing statistics I receive altered so that it has become difficult to compare apples with apples.

You might recall that the Blog was getting 5,000-7,000 “unique visits” per week.  I was never sure exactly what this meant and I got other statistics which reported different figures (against a different definition or description)  so that the best I felt I could do was report the same type of figures each time, which were the ones which have now been lost.

The new figures are reported on a monthly basis and I haven’t had a complete month yet because they started part way through October.

However it’s pretty clear from comparing the other figures, which I still get, that the numbers are keeping up well, indeed there has probably been a sustained increase, even allowing for the likelihood that the recent burst of controversial articles about GWOCGB have also pushed the viewing figures up temporarily. continues………

Demoted to mere Web Designer

This will be of limited interests to most readers but I have decided to change the web hosting arrangements for this Blog so that from now on my Webmaster/Designer (and generally useful geek) Nigel Mackintosh will no longer be acting as web hosting agent.

Not that he’s fallen short in any way but Nigel has been subjected to some unpleasant and threatening earache recently in an attempt to intimidate him into pulling an Article from this Blog which I wouldn’t want him to have to face again, so I’ve made direct arrangements for web hosting, instead of doing it via him.

Nigel is a valued friend and I often consult him and not just about geeky stuff, but he has no responsibility for the editorial content of this Blog at all and no authority to make any sort of alterations to any of its content.  I’m the owner/editor, he’s the helpful geek.

Some of you may be aware that under UK Law a web hosting supplier can be held responsible for content which is deemed to be defamatory along with the author/editor once they become aware of the defamation.  As a result of this some UK web hosting companies have developed a reputation for pulling the plug on a website  just to be on the safe side – as soon as any allegation of defamation is made and without even bothering to check whether there really has been any defamation. This makes UK-hosted websites potentially vulnerable to manipulative and/or intimidatory attack.

I was once threatened with this treatment by Chris Hinds, the Chairman of GWOCGB for something I’d written, which struck me as a bit heavy-handed because I’m always willing to correct any error which is pointed out, but there you go.  I wasn’t on GWOCGB’s official Christmas card list even then so maybe a threatening approach from the outset seemed to him to be the best one to take at the time.  Happily that’s never recurred, possibly because I was able to make him look a little foolish for doing it.

This Blog’s web hosting was therefore transferred out of UK some time ago to avoid the risk of knee-jerk closure by the web hosting company.  But Nigel was still acting as my UK agent and his name was on the Blog as web hosting arranger.  He didn’t actually own the server on which the Blog lives of course, that’s not how it works but he was the fixer-upper.

An unhappy reader of this Blog recently took it upon himself to give Nigel a very hard time, threatening that an array of unpleasant things would happen unless the Blog article to which he had taken exception was pulled by a deadline which he set.  Happily no bolts of lightning descended on Nigel and nothing else has happened either since that deadline expired but it continues………

This is what you might call a thoughtful rather than a thrilling article, so if you’re keener on entertainment than club politics you might want to give it a miss.

I’ve been getting a bit more feedback than usual lately, for which I have been grateful, even though some of it implies criticism – in particular of the stuff I have been continuing to write about GWOCGB’s problems and club politics.

Fortunately there’s been plenty of positive feedback too but I learned to be self-critical in my riding when I did advanced training with the IAM and it’s something I’ve tried to apply to other aspects of my motorcycling hobby too, including writing this Blog.  I’ve almost always bounced ideas for articles off Winger friends before publishing on potentially controversial topics and sometimes gone as far as getting them to look at a draft.  I’m well aware of the responsibilities of access to a readership such as this Blog has built up.  I have Ian Duxbury as Deputy Editor too now, for which I’m grateful.

But a Winger, a friend, took the trouble to mention his concerns recently that I might be doing harm, so as well as taking that opportunity to pause, yet again, for serious thought about the balance I try to strike, I decided I would share with you some of my thinking about the role of this Blog – in particular relation to bringing the divisions and the unfriendlinesswhich has been prevelant in the UK GoldWing community to an end, which is hopefully what all of us would like to see happening.

My aim has always been to provide information and entertainment for the whole UK GoldWing community and, since GWOCGB has historically been the predominant UK GoldWing club and has also been suffering a serious decline in membership, news stories about GWOCGB have generally been newsworthy.  But dragging out the agonies or flogging a dead horse, if that’s what I’m now in danger of doing, wouldn’t score well with me, let alone with any GWOCGB Members I’ve been upsetting along the way, so I certainly wouldn’t want to do that.  I’ve tried to emphasise several times that it’s not the Club itself I’ve been criticising, or the many nice people among its membership, just those who have made such a mess or running the Club or who have been damaging it by their own poor behaviour towards other Wingers that they have been ruining a once great Club.

I would much prefer to see GWOCGB turn its fortunes and adapt its ways in order to become a friendly part of a friendly UK GoldWing community than any other outcome.  It’s going to be tricky to achieve that because the way things are going it seems more likely that GWOCGB will shrink to become an embittered and beleagured shadow of its former self.  That prospect carries with a serious risk of long  term divisions, rivalry and bad feeling among UK Wingers which we should all be willing to work to avoid and I certainly am.

But GWOCGB, or at least those who run it, have continued to show a lack of ideas and initiative and to be almost consumed by inertia – perhaps even to be stuck in some sort of delusional time warp in which they can continue to be unfriendly ((and continue to allow some of their Members to be particularly unfriendly) to other Wingers with impunity.   With only the merest hints of light beginning to dawn that change has to happen, there’s a long way to go before any hope of a turn in fortunes can arise.  And as I see it the inertia and the lack of ideas are still there in spades so the boat still needs rocking.

I don’t think I’ve gone OTT in that respect so far but it’s important that I listen carefully to the opinions of others about this sort of thing, and I do.  My underlying aim is constructive; I want to see the UK GoldWing community as a whole move into happier times and that includes seeing GWOCGB resolve its difficulties without a legacy of bitterness and resentment.  If I fail to strike the right balance my writings could increase the risk of such a legacy and I’m keen to avoid that if I can.

There will (hopefully, and soon) come a point when it will be time for me to stop being critical altogether and concentrate on being entirely constructive – and indeed I’ve already given quite a lot of thought to how a reformed or restructured GWOCGB can make a useful contribution to a universally friendly UK GoldWing community.  Can anyone realistically hope to continues………

Ian, looking even smarter than usual

I am pleased to announce that Ian Duxbury has been conned into – sorry, has graciously accepted my invitation to help out with the Blog.

Ian has been a Contributor for some time and has the badge to show for it!  He also has the necessary qualities of charm, intellegence, sense of humour and gullibility – not to mention girth.

Ian and I will therefore be sharing the editorial role from now on, which is why his Comments will now appear in a green colour, as mine do. Not sure why this happens, it’s a geeky thing.   I must remember to ask Nigel, our trusty Webmaster, some time.

A glimpse of what lies in store

Wingers who have started viewing this Blog relatively recently may not be aware how much worthwhile reading material has accumulated on it and how to access it.

Although some of the articles are topical and become dated many are useful for reference.

This is an on-line magazine so the Contents List covers all the back issues – right back to November 2009 when the Blog started.  Geeks would call it a Site Plan but Contents List is a more helpful description for mere mortals like us normal Wingers.

For example there are series of articles on motorcycling skills, accessory wiring and rebuild projects and many others.

The link to the Contents List is on the right hand side of the screen near the top.  Articles are listed by Category and the List also shows when it was written.

So if you’re new here, it might be worth browsing to see what you might otherwise not realise is there for the clicking.

Last week's viewing figures - click on the image for an enlargement

Viewing figures for this Blog are keeping up nicely, so thank to you, my readers for your continuing interest.

I get two different sets of figures, one from our web hosting company and another from Google.  They are not remotely compatible so as with all statistics, you have to take them with a piunch of salt.

The table of figures here is however from the same source I’ve always quoted when I’ve reported viewing figures, so you are getting a change to compare apples with apples.

The readership extends beyond UK although thankfully it is still mostly UK-based; since that’s the Blog’s main purpose.  But Hi There to Hong Kong, the Phillipines and Austr’salia; I hope you enjoy visiting, please keep it up and don’t be frightened of making Comments on Articles either.

Click on the image for an enlarged view

Thank you to all you Readers for your interest in this Blog, as reflected in the viewing rates, which have increased markedly yet again.

Last week there were just over 7,500 unique visits, which is a new milestone.  Visits have been running at about 5,500 in recent weeks, which was up 1,000 or so since the turn of the year, but they jumped by another 2,000 during this past week, presumably helped by the release of information about the new GoldWing Model.

This probably doesn’t mean that an extra 2,000 people found the Blog for the first time this week of course but there must have been a few new Readers, so welcome to you all.  The Blog was visited from 77 different countries last week which is quite something.

If you are new to the Blog you might want to browse the Contents List as well as reading what’s on the front page because quite a back list of articles has built up since the Blog was launched in November 2009, many of which could well be of interest.

There’s also a system of Categories which may help you to find what you are looking for and a Search facility, both of which you will find on the right hand side of the screen.

Comments on the Articles are most welcome, especially if you have something interesting or informative to say.  This Blog is an On-Line Magazine rather than a forum or a message board, so Comments are not automatically published and they may be edited – although usually only to correct typos and to help make them more easily readable, that sort of thing.

Guest writers are also most welcome.  Articles on any topic which is event remotely to do with GoldWings will be considered so tell us about your rides, your bike, your club, anything at all.  This is a non-commercial website so there’s no money on offer but if your article is published you will get a free “Contributor” badge as a token of thanks.  Articles are better when they are illustrated, so photos or other images are particularly welcome.  Writing style, grammar and spelling are much less important because I will always help out with those if necessary.  Please contact me with your ideas and offers – you’ll be guaranteed a fairly big readership of Wingers!

Even Harrods doesn't stock these exclusive items!

This Blog now has its own on line shop.  You can go there by clicking on the Blog Merchandise link which is on the Go To list on the right hand side of the screen.

Not that I’m planning to develop the Blog into a commercial enterprise of any sort but since the Blog now has a stylish Badge and many Wingers are fond of badges, I wanted to make it available.

There is also the Friendly Winger badge, which I also wanted Wingers to have the chance to wear, to show their own commitment to friendliness among Wingers, regardless of whether and which club they might be in.

So the Blog’s On Line Shop offers a simple range of badges and embroidered garments using either the Blog or the Friendly Winger  badges.

The garments will be supplied by Storm Embroidery of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, which is owned by Alan Mason who is a Winger himself and has been supplying regalia to the UK GoldWing community for years.  The Blog’s On Line Shop is a way of ordering regalia from Alan and pay him (directly) so that he can make up the order and post it directly to you.

It works in the same sort of way as on line shops you are likely to have used for other purposes.  If you are not comfortable with on line shopping you may order these items from him directly by telephone if you prefer; the number is provided on the Blog Merchandise Page, where the Shop is located.

I’m sorry the frequency of new reading material on the Blog has dropped off this past week or so – the picture explains the reason.

I’ve been re-building a gatepost, or rather helping in a very un-skilled labouring capacity. The old one had been leaning over further and further over the years and had become known as the Leaning Tower of Samlesbury.

I suppose we could have contacted the experts in Pisa to find out it it could have been saved but the decision was made to demolish it and take the opportunity to widen the gateway slightly to improve motorhome access.  No names no pack drill but a Winger friend of mine managed to clip one of the gateposts last year and dislodged its capping flagstone.  Fortunately the damage to his pride was worse that to the motorhome but he hasn’t tried to come to our home in it ever since then.  Just as well he picked the non-leaning post otherwise I suppose he might have finished it off prematurely.

Anyway I’ve been experiencing much harder physical work than I’ve been used to for many a year and stiffening up and aching in places I didn’t know could ache all week.  I’m relieved it’s now weekend and we’re having a break.  The bike’s sitting in the garage looking lonely and neglected but there’s a heavy frost and salt on the roads even though we haven’t had any snow, so that’s where the bike’s stopping.

It’s been a race against the cold weather building the new post of course and it will have to wait for its final rendering coat until the temperatures has improved quite a bit.  The new post has been given some decent foundations so it stands more chance of staying upright than the last one, which didn’t seem to have had any at all.

As you will see from the picture I was allowed to have a play with a jack hammer and I also used the shovel which you can see having a rest leaning against the post – although I wasn’t very successful with either and my contribution was little more than making the tea and cleaning the tools afterwards.  I did however do enough to learn just how physically unfit I’ve become.

But the new gatepost is up and the groundwork is finished, so there’s an enforced break until the cold spell finishes and the new gates are being made.  With enormous relief I can tuck myself into my favourite corner with my laptop on my knee and a cup of coffee to hand  and get back to the important business of boring you lot to death!

I have received the first batch of Blog Badges including some , like the picture here, with the word “Contributor” superimposed in red.  These will be presented FOC to anyone who writes a feature article for the Blog from now on as a thankyou.

I’ve also got a few plain Blog Badges (i.e. without “Contributor”) and these will be offered for sale as soon as I can sort out the practicalities of on-line sales.

These badges have come out far better than I was expecting.  The ’tiling’ effect of the bike’s image on the website looked like it would be difficult to do in embroidery.

But Alan Mason of Storm Embroidery in Barnsley has excelled himself and they look really good.  Alan is a Winger himself and has a lot of experience producing badges, polo shirts, fleeces and other regalia for GoldWing clubs.  He doesn’t bother with newfangled things like websites but  if you need any embroidery done he can be contacted on:

01226 231054

*