Hmmm.... noticed a fair few new members under the age of 40 this week... lets hope they will participate in the action rather than being silent members                                                                                                                                                                             

carrying on from Emzeds posts, if they (or anybody of any age) arent intersted in the 'dating' side of things then why would they pay to come here ?  there are plenty of biking forums (although mainly model specific) which organise social 'stuff', facebook groups for organising rideouts etc..  i guess this place has a slightly different angle in that there are people (mostly female) who dont currently have a bike, so they can participate as they are interested in bikes/bikers                                                                                                                                                                               

So what folk are basically sayin or my interpretation of it anyway is:   You pay a fee to use forums, nod, chat, PM friends of a social nature, but if you like and would want to date someone, you have to pay an extra 'premium' fee??? Hmmmm confusing.                                                                                                                                                                              

I can't see how you differentiate from chatting on chat, sending PM's to someone who does the same but is a dating premium member....

Look, the cost is not unreasonable..... You get all the facilities if not more than any other , ok dating site....or social site..... The actual search engine, the information the amount of pictures the interaction for events...you look at any other sites....they would bill you extra just to see who looked at your profile.... People are just tight as fook sometimes... £5 a month.... It's a pint or a Macdonalds.....most probably piss that much away ten times over in a month....

All I am asking is, if possible and you are not too busy counting your pennies Ebinezzer see if you can interest some younger generations into bikes and into the BM group, they don't need to pay but just join....as I say I'm sure Mat would do some introductory thing for a week or so..... Gives em a taste ok they may stay they may go...but if one in ten stay....it's a win all around

And I do remember the young un sorting out a meet for the younger members and yup was getting a right hard time from the older people shouting discrimination..... Lol...can't win.... Fossils...;-)

  Oh I give up   Bomd Doctor, I don't see what's confusing about it at all   Johnny, you are either being deliberately obtuse   Or can't see past what you consider to be a "paltry" amount   A couple of pints or a McDonalds might be "nothing" to you   But to some folk who live in the "real" world it's an expense they can't indulge in   They have to make hard choices   As for the "Ebeneezer" crack     You might find yourself in in a similar condition of penury one day (your God forbid)   Then maybe you'll not be so quick to judge the financial position some of us find ourselves in   I'm only airing the views of those less articulate or forthright as me   When all's said and done, it's only an opinion                                                                                                                                                                               

What confuses me is how it will be policed to the fact a levy can be put on a PM from me to another party askin to meet up (date) if I was inclined to do so, when it is a private message that only myself and the other party will be privy to.   The fact that as a full member I get ALL the benefits of the site forum use, chat use, nods, PMs etc etc and now folk are suggesting that for a premium I can do the same, also confuses me.   Maybe I'm just simple.   The site works as it is in all aspects, why fix something that is not broken.                                                                                                                                                                             

If the subscription rate was set at £1 or £2 per month, with no 'free' membership, I can't see peeps objecting to paying such a small fee, nor can I see them being in any great hurry to go to the bother of cancelling. The best deal at the mo is a yearly subscription, but it's still a fair amount to shell out all at once. Hence, peeps are not re-newing.   Perhaps a new field could be added to profiles - interested in dating - Yes / No                                                                                                                                                                             

Firs of all if you are going to add to this topic i suggest that its read from the beginning before you do so...as with many topics in a forum they can veer off in a completely different direction than the intended one ...

A lot of people I think are looking at this from the wrong angle..

You will have many bikers out there of ALL ages young and older that are in some sort of a relationship NOT everyone is single ...weather it be dating, living with, engaged or married what ever way you want to call it out there ...when some of these people look on Biker Match with their partner sat next to them it can cause problems ...I emphasise on the SOME that mans not all ..so they wont bother to look any further as sh*te from the other half is just not worth it as most of us would know ... Thats why I personally think the name deters many people from joining ..Many people that have voiced their opinion on this topic are single ...hence why i think its looked upon from the wrong angle by some

I also agree with the comment made about cost .... Some people can afford the £50 in one go but many many people cannot ..It costs you more in the long run if you can only subscribe on a monthly basis You need to subscribe for the year to get the full benefit ..And like I said is impossible for some ..

An option or should i say an IDEA for the site settings would be...  the premium/dating site would be able to PM the next stage down would NOT ..This would give the ladies an extra added security buffer to stop a lot of filthy .. obscene and rude messages that some ladies on here have been getting ...The next level on the site would not need the PM facility as you have the chat room or rooms maybe.. and the forums to communicate with like minded people with a similar interest in Bikes and Biking etc ..If anything it would make it easier to "police" as only the premium payed members would have this facility ..Im sure that this is nothing to a computer whizz kid to set up ... We all know that there is a cost for running the site and are very happy to pay a subscription for the privilege to use it ...

The if it ain't broke don't fix it comment ....from previous comments in this topic.. it might be broke as it's not making any money allegedly ..so it might need a coat of looking at ..we all know it takes a lot of effort and commitment to run a site like this so please don't think for one minute that we don't and I'm sure I speak for many people when i say that we do appreciate all the hard work put into it by all the site team

Im not suggesting this for one minute on BM But as regarding PM's If you think that only you and the recipient are the only ones able to see the messages please be aware ..SOME sites and i will say it again SOME sites have the ability for the owner/administrator to look into ALL SITE CONTENT ....this might mean the PM's ...It is the case on another forum that i was on and this is fine in my mind as you agree to all terms and conditions when you sign up to these sort of things .. before you press accept ....

I will finish my 2p worth by saying these are the opinions of individual people and not things that are put in place already so there is no need for things to get out of hand as it's only a discussion ...  

First of all I wasn't being insensitive, annoyingly or otherwise.... If it appeared this way i was trying to be light hearted reference the Eberneezer gag and smily face in the post...so sense of humour failure..... and obviously I have bills to pay, kids to feed, the same as the rest.... I was on this site and paying when I was riding on a 20 year old bike running on fumes and canvas so don't presume you know someone unless you have walked in their shoes...... We have all seen hard times...

As usual this thread has gone totally of topic.... All it was intended for was to encourage members to try to get some younger people interested in biking, rally's and the site is a good medium for that.... It wasn't a debate about the cost of member ship, if you have a problem with the cost of it you have a choice..
1. Speak to Matt 2. Don't pay it 3. Go somewhere cheaper.... Believe me I wouldn't complain if it was cheaper but I keep in touch with my friends, see what's happening and meet up with those friends when I get the chance.... So I don't mind paying the £5 a month same as I didn't when I was broke..'in the real world'

I have nothing to do with the cost of the site....

I just see less and less youngsters coming into biking and thought we could make a little impact.....

Also if you are going to use obtuse make sure you don't fall into the category yourself.....

Now can we stick on the original topic please

Are there any younger members who would like to say what thay would like to see on events ? Or would like to put on an event I'm sure the rest of the events teams would be more than happy to help if you need it                                                                                                                                                                              

  XK it used to be 99p per week, when  it first began, and folk carped about paying that   I disagree about separating the social side of the site from the dating aspect, wouldn't that mean joining two sites to keep in contact with on-line friends who aren't interested in dating?     Apart from that, in my own personal experience, when a site is solely for dating it tends to be less friendly and the mail tends to be more of an adult nature.   Internet contact is just a modern way of 'meeting' other folk, for whatever reason, friendship, dating, or to meet folk with the same interests; personally I prefer to message on line than go to a pub  (if I had money I wouldn't go to the pub these days anyway, unless there was a good band on)    There's no difference, in MHO, in chatting to someone in a pub and doing it here on line so I don't see why there is a stigma to internet dating. It's a state of mind, to feel embarrassed about the title of the site, it doesn't embarrass me.                                                                                                                                                                               

There's a big difference between chatting online, where intonation is often assumed & text misconstrued, & chatting to someone in a pub or face to face, where eye contact & body language tell you everything Sandi..... just sayin'. For me, chatting with someone online rapidly goes flat if no plans to meet face to face are made, I can only cold-converse with a screen & keyboard for so long, even when someone is responding positively. ..... many people feel the same

Many of the young-uns either get out & about with their mates or are in free social network, open or closed groups & pages, on FB etc. .... Freedom of choice is what life should be about for all of us, shouldn't it ? There's a warm welcome here for those who choose to join.

Respect to all who will or wont, or can or can't pay .... or for whichever reason they choose to be on this site.

                                                                                                                                                                             

I must admit, I loooove this site as it is. I am mainly here to make friends and get to know more bikers, male and female. I don't have the chance to meet too many face to face, so this site is great for me personally, I have already made brilliant friends. The thing is, sometimes friendship might turn into something more... who knows, or you might meet someone unexpected and it quickly turns into dating. So I can't quite see how you can devide the two. Even if you are here to just make friends and socialise, circumstances might change... you never know... I love this site, because most people on here are bikers who respect others, you don't get that much on other 'dating' sites...   Maybe younger bikers are not quite drawn into this because they have their own circle of friends already, they might be out more often than us older ones lol I don't know.... I personally don't think there is anything wrong with this site as it stands                                                                                                                                                                             

I've just counted 12 of 70 people aged 30 and under on the browse newest members, thats 17% of the newest members (over what period I'm not sure, but I'd guess in the last week or so), so its obvious that the younger generation are joining the site, but maybe they just don't want to interact in the forums or chat, thats their choice I suppose.   To bring younger folk to the site all thats probably needed to be done IMHO; is directed advertising to younger age groups by the powers that be.   I also think there are various sites that also exist with more appeal to the younger generation such as 2WTT and BCF.                                                                                                                                                                             

Right im neither young nor old.......yet, but i see things from both perspectives, ive made friends on here both older and younger.   The younger ones do talk to each other through private messages but usually only hold an account open for few weeks till they have found peeps to go out for rides ect. most dont need the dating side because theyre young and off in town ect, as youngsters do.   Some youngsters dont bother with the threads much because..... (and please this is not coming from me but randoms I have spoken to, so dont bite my head off) they find its the older (cringe sorry peeps) bikers and more already established circle of friends that have their views/say on the threads. Now I can step back and say yeah but you can join in theyre all friendly enough, theyre good folk, some are a bit strange  but harmless   But to some youngsters trying to join in on random banter or discussions with (older) 'strong character peeps' that already have their own ways of communicating and interacting with each other on the threads is daunting, overwhelming  , and hard to get involved in. Reason for that is the older generation is not "with it"   Youngsters have their own banter and views of the world, its not until they have lived and learnt a little that they will understand the older hat (although some of the older generation are bloomin worse) So maybe a certain age limit thread/banter part of site??? with the sign stating "no oldies allowed"!!!!   A lot of youngsters are not into the rallies on events pages, because they have never experienced it, so maybe thats an angle to look at!!some of them do enjoy some of the meets, but again will tend to stay within own age group banter.   Im not making any suggestions on changing the site but just voicing some of the younger lots messages ive recieved. So please dont hate me or throw shoes at me   And p.s. i love all you oldies theres lot to be learnt from you, erm not all bloody politically correct but yer funny anyway                                                                                                                                                                                 

It's the rally side of it that we should encourage, a lot of younger ones would go but are reluctant for a number of reasons, I suppose the same as some of the older ones.... I was at first on here but once you take the plunge with some encouragement they realise that it is a good laugh and that we are a good way to meet up and travel and mix with..... I agree whole heatedly Crissy

OPINION OF A YOUNGER MEMBER Hello, Only just read this thread as i work long hours so haven't been on in the week. I originally joined the site because i was new to biking. Non of my friends are bikers so i came on here to meet some. I have set up some events just meeting at the local etc to try and meet some new people to go out with. The first one was very poorly attended. The second was better but still no youngsters came. The people that did come were great though and i had a great laugh all day. The thing that puts me off (don't bite my head off) is the bickering that goes on. Its generally just people misreading or misinterpretting others posts. Also when i did organise an event people were posting things like 'that sounds boring' and 'can't we go somewhere more interesting'. IMO if you dont want to come then dont. If you want to do something different thne organise it. I have enjoyed the site i've had lots of useful advice and met some great people but i won't be renewing when my membership runs out. I enjoy being on here but i just can't afford it anymore.   Thanks for reading                                                                                                                                                                              

Hey John thanks for not throwing a shoe at me
And thanks for input OMNF its exactly the same messages I get through xx   Ive already expressed forum views but if its the rally side of things you would like to encourage then here are some younger views on the whole rally scene, from their point of views. ( once again these are not my views i went to rallys as a child so i know them very well and love the whole atmosphere)   They view the smaller intimate rallies as full of hairy meaty gangs with back patches and fighting ect!!!   A lot of youngster do actually go to the more LARGER commercialised rallys, BMF ect because there is more there for them, they are more into new upcoming bikes, fancy leather stalls to make them look like power rangers, new bits and bobs thatl make their bikes super doooper fast ect and then added bonus of a erm a rave tent thingy (you know!!! the shit music that all sounds the friggin same) So youngsters do go to the rallies but times are changing and its just not for them at the smaller venues. There is still a vast amount of respect that needs to be given at smaller rallies where there are bike clubs ect, there are obviously some younger ones with knowledge of old school rules and will respect the clubs but I know that some of the older generation do not accept the younger ones with open arms at rallies. So its not just younger ones that have an issue!!!!    At the end of it all, we ALL share a passion for bikes, whatever style or speed we ride, there is just the socialising side of it!! So if your wanting them to be more involved on this site, think from their point of view!! but if your wanting to encourage them to more bike rallies then it will only be a minority of youngsters that will fit in with the smaller rallies anyway!!   LMAO!!!! no shoe throwing!!!!                                                                                                                                                                                 

Interesting Chrissy..... that part about fighting . In my experience it's the young-uns & the MCC clubs who are more likely to start fighting than 1% MC club members with nothing they really need to prove to anyone.

I guess hearsay & untrue rumours would stop a few finding out about rallies for themselves, but if people choose to believe everything they're told it's their problem & I wouldn't want to party with those anyway.

I don't have a problem with the "match" part of the name, but the term "biker" as opposed to motorcyclist is widely misused.

If it's not broken, don't try to fix it ..... just customise it :)

In respect Flat tracker, I never mentioned which particular clubs xx   And I agree with your statement, Its a shame there are views that its all about drinking and brawling, but in general everyone gets along really well and theres always some random madness to be had     Most younger folk just seem to enjoy the rallies which have a wider variety of stalls through day, different music, ect like mentioned in last statement. Just the younger generation I guess