Even with this week’s warmer temperatures, the mess on the roads and the ice in my driveway kept me off the bike again. I do however take a daily pilgrimage to the garage to make sure the bike is still there and doesn’t forget me.
With all this snow and ice and cold, you may ask am I getting cabin fever? You bet! What is there to do to keep in touch with the riders of the world without leaving the safety of my living room? Without bike nights at the Lube and Lonestar, it’s not easy to find other riders to talk with about bike stuff. Or is it?
When not riding or writing, I like to spend time online learning about the Burgman and other bikes. It’s much warmer than hanging out hoping for someone else to be crazy enough to ride in this weather.
As I was poking around on the Net looking for information about Burgmans and other new bikes for 2008, I stumbled upon a blog. Burgmanusa.com. This site is very well designed once you figure out how to register to become a member.
Reading the blog, I discovered that there are a lot of people out there who ride this step-through motorcycle. All summer long I thought I was the lone scooter rider. In Erie there were 1,000 bikes and one scooter. The largest group of Burgmans I had seen all summer was four, and that was at the Quaker Steak & Lube bike night in Bloomsburg.
So who could possibly be posting on this blog?
Out of curiosity I joined. I posted first to the forum, introducing yourself. In one day, there were 26 people who viewed my first post.
Perusing this new-found blog, I was pleased to find that there are people all over the world that ride the Burgman. There were people from Australia, South Africa, Italy and states all across the USA. There were even several people that hail from good old Pennsylvania. I have already heard from a reader in Tunkhannock regarding my post.
I e-mailed the owner of this blog to find out a few things about the blog and its owner. I was quite surprised to find out that the owner is Bryan W. McFalls, a 38-year-old man stationed with the Air Force at Ramstein AFB in Germany. He’s not a total blogging machine; in fact he tells me that with his wife of 15 years and four sons, he keeps quite busy offline.
I wondered how he got started on this idea to connect Burgman riders around the world, and he told me, “I bought my first Burgman back in Aug., 2003. The only ‘forum’ for the Burgman was a spot on Yahoo Groups. I disliked Yahoo Groups format, so I decided to make my own site.” Anyone interested in this site will find it informative and fun.
The site contains information on all types of Burgmans, or is that Burgmen? It includes a shop for after-market products, which is a good thing since I couldn’t seem to find too many on my own. It also includes several forums divided by topic, a photo gallery, member’s profiles and a great FAQ section.
When asked for pointers for others who would want to start a blog, McFalls’ answer was very clear.
“Keep it simple and go for QUALITY not quantity,” he said. “I keep a pretty tight and polite environment on the site. It works for the majority. I have received MANY compliments from members who belong to other forums. They have said that BurgmanUSA is one of the BEST run forums on the Web.”
Bryan tells me that he has a simple philosophy for life.
“At the end of each day I ask myself: ‘Have I done at least ONE thing to make this world a little better for someone?’ If the answer is YES, then I can go to sleep comfortably,” he says.
Perhaps that is one of the reasons the blog is so successful.
He also believes that perception is everything.
“My favorite saying is: ‘Perception IS Reality! (If people perceive something to be a certain way, then it IS that way. If it’s not what you wanted to convey, then change their perception.),’” he says.
My perception of the blog and its owner is-outstanding.
I’d also like to take a quick moment before I end to thank two people I met during my travels last year for a very special Christmas present. Karen Martinelli and her son Galvin Duesher who were featured in my column “We Are Not Alone” were kind enough to take extra time to drop off a little present for me. Thanks guys!