this coming from the man with a carbon PC111 bracket of course

if I pay up can I get a carbon roundall ? LOL


there are 3328 registered members on this board , anyone know what the full membership numbers sre ? just outta interest

I chose join...probablydoes what you want it to and without new peolpe there is a risk the club will diminish and the forum be affected

2 NEGATIVE VOTES WITH NO COMMENTS ?

hhhmmmmmmmmmm

Different view. I say don't join although I was a member for 4 years. I feel that the club thing is now out of date and that more regional messageboards are the way forward - a very good example is Ducati Up North. DuN isn't a club, it affiliates with all things Ducati so there's no animosity to other Ducati clubs/boards, they get advertising sponsorship to pay for the site and they organise some amazing events.

My problem with clubs is that they breed a certain type of mindset which is a little feudal to be honest, plus it can put some 'interesting' characters in charge of some hefty sums of money, allows them to enjoy patronage from Ducati and other organisations and in my opinion, generates a 'them and us' environment which Sharpy may have picked up hense the poll.

This messageboard is great but it doesn't need subscriptions to fund it - it could very easily be self funding through advertising and sponsorship without giving up any independence - again look at DuN if you want to see it in action. Most Ducati dealers and suppliers are happy to offer you a discount if asked for nicely - I have no problem getting one. You then ask the question what does my £20 buy? Well a very healthy bank balance in the hands of 3 or 4 people to do with it as they wish including last year spending over £1700 on stickers and God knows how much on a very poor magazine.

I love this club and everyone I have met in it who have become real friends and I hope have enjoyed my friendship in return. However, I have deep reservations about any type of club and the authoritarian culture they tend to generate.

Paying £20 to join doesn't give you the right to challenge the status quo, far from it :(

Sad to say - I haven't joined because I have an aversion to being a paid-up member of any bike club. My reasons for this are well-known and have been mentioned here before. Basically, by not being a paid-up member I am above the political nonsense that goes on (and there's been a lot of it here lately), I don't have an axe to grind and I don't have a right to express an opinion re. certain issues.

That suits me very well. I get on with the business of having fun with bikes instead. :)

Some people might think this is being unduly tight but, I believe I'm a net contributor as I do my best to help out with technical stuff, knowledge I have found re. my racing 800ss experience etc.

Best web site I have found
 

:mad: Well worth £20 and more for the advice alone, must save a fortune.
Unfortunately due to financial constraints I will not be Joining yet but as soon as things pick up I defenately will. Have to leve Bike off the road when MOT runs out on Saturday and will not be renewing tax or insurance.
Brian.

Only 20 quid. I'm sure you could use the DSC discount to get more bling.
Plus you get access to the members only area!!!

join.
its a top club.
I don't care what happens with my money. its only 20 bucks.
as long as the web is up then that's all I need.
it gives me so much useful info.
helped me strip my bike down to the chassis so I could paint it.
helped me put a new engine in when I wanted more cubes. and so on.
the money I must of saved by picking peoples brains who had been there and done that must be mega.
the parts I have come across to upgrade my bike from other members.
and so on.
just join.
other clubs are a bit like wearing a fake Rolex watch.

Whilst Henry puts some good points together, some of them bear challenging.

The magazine, Pronto, is only as good as the material that Club members provide for it. I'm sometimes in two minds about its overall value to the Club, but my feeling is that if I want to see more/better articles in it, I'd better get my finger out and write some. And maybe I will ...

Henry's re-hashing of the Club finances issue is not helpful here - I seem to recall that the Club accounts are published and whenever questions have been raised about what gets spent, the questions get answered, either sooner or later. Not to Henry's satisfaction, perhaps, but they are to mine.

The reference to the "feudal" nature of the Club management is a little mis-leading. It is possible to challenge decisions and the structure of the Management Team ... as you yourself know, Henry, after all you did it. I'm not going to say that the management of this Club is perfect, but it is good enough for me to have confidence in the MT, when you bear in mind that the alternative is for me to put myself forward for a MT position - something I do not have the time or energy for (even assuming I could get the membership's support!).

Perhaps everything that DSC provides in its current form could be provided via a different set-up, in the way that Ducati Up-North currently does. That remains to be seen and in the meantime, I support the Club.

Henry, I know that you have had a torrid time of it as membership secretary, and after you stepped down from it. I won't tell you that you're wrong to feel negative towards Clubs in general, and the DSC in particular, you feel what you feel based upon your experience. My own thoughts and feelings are based upon my experience with the Club, and it's been a lot more positive for me.

i vote for Loz....all those in agreement......