Suggestion: Community shared resources such as a trailer.

This will end in tears. And tantrums. :ermm:

Do you know what went down last time there was a community gazebo? Lives were shattered.

:w00t:Crikey O’Reilly!!! Perhaps we also need a FAQ page to help us newer members know when we are stepping on dormant landmines!!

where’s the fun in that? :smiley:

[quote]
SimoninEssex (15/03/2013)

+1
Two offers of trailers available to lend for no charge.
Can’t argue with that!

It’s a good point about a subscription, it would help the team behind the scenes and support the members with various things during the year. I’ve just joined Focus ST OC as I’m pickin up a Focus ST this weekend and as a forum member it’s free, but if you want the club discounts and access to useful parts of the site/forum you pay £6 for 6 months or £10 for a year - I paid for the year and I’m glad i did already - club member discount (20%) off insurance got me the cheapest quote by far with all mod’s listed! (Sponsorship and group buy schemes set up by the club with suppliers - good for both parties!)
The site functionality and mobile usage is very good, which is funded by the member fee’s and sponsorship which would help the owners in a big way to develop LB rather then out of their own pockets and £10 a year is the equivilent of a bad burger down the Ace - so money better spent anyway! Lol

I know me and Symonz looked at this for a while as we both needed a trailer a year back. I can imagine it getting a little awkward though to have a ‘community trailer’.

Maybe just a sticky thread with people to contact and what they have/what they can do?

I wouldn’t mind lending my trailer to an established forum user. What proportion of cars have tow bars though? That was more expensive than my trailer and they aren’t borrowing my car too!

do you want to buy a van Sean?

Isn’t it just better to leave things as they are? People needing help/wanting to borrow things just post up and others help out - so many people come and go if we all chipped in to “own” equipment it would be very difficult to track who had the right to use it and stuff would inevitably get lost. The arguments about it on here would be phenomenal (just remembering Gazebogate)

**** you people and your gazebo!! :smiley:

I like the idea, and to forestall the damage/stolen aspect, as was put forward from another forum, simply have a deposit system.

If you can spend £150 on a track day, you should be able to put down some money for a trailer to use for the day, and tyre warmers would be a good idea too, and a little tool box perhaps. Make it a track day trailer for the purpose of helping people out who want to do a track day.

Also you don’t need a special licence to drive with a trailer, just a full licence and a brain. Though you may need to mock up a licence plate to hang on the trailer. If that is what you meant?

I would personally love to use a trailer and tyre warmers for track days, as currently I only do track days within a reasonable riding distance (after 6-8 hours of track day riding).

I don’t really see myself doing it enough to justify the purchase for myself and nor do I have any place to store a trailer. I may only do 1 or 2 more track days than I currently do, perhaps more once I am working and no longer a poorly student, but if that is spread out over the community to be 10 people and therefore 20 times a year. That will pay for the trailer in the first year with anything else going towards additions (such as tyre warmers) and towards charity from then on.

I like the idea :slight_smile:

Wasn’t really much of an argument though was there? Yeah I was pissed, and do think if you say to someone, sure you can have X, you should stick to it and not change your mind unless you have a good reason, not just to suck up to people you have known longer, have some balls and stand by what you say.

As to who could use it, it is pretty simple.

First come first served.

Not difficult. You can keep a thread going on here where people could bagsy the item for use on a particular day, and if they are the first to post for that date…they get to use the item.

Not difficult to administer in that sense.

The bigger problem will be storage and holding of the deposit and collecting the money for charity.

The biggest problem I can foresee is where something is damaged and/or lost and someone is in the position of withholding a deposit.

That could be tricky.

Yeah, I’m not a fan of deposits and contracts for something like this. If people want to fill in paperwork and pay deposits there are already companies that rent these things. To my mind it would be a community resource (shared as something would be between mates) and whilst there are some that could afford to pay deposits etc there are others that couldn’t afford that but still need the resource. The charitable contribution and care of the resource should be on the honour system (IMHO) and if people fail that in some way then they will be pissing off a community of big ugly bikers, so that should take care of that.

As some have said, I’m not sure it is needed, it might be too much hassle and perhaps this isn’t the right resource, but I just thought I’d float the idea.

Definitive guide save all the bulls**t about towing

Guide Towing with a car Not what you’re looking for? ↓
Printer friendly page Part 1: Driving licence rules and what you can tow Part 2: Car towing weight and width limits Part 3: Towing equipment safety standards Part 4: Towing an American caravan or trailer Part 5: The car and trailer practical test Part 1: Driving licence rules and what you can tow The rules on what you can tow are different depending on when you passed your driving test.

Licences issued from 19 January 2013From 19 January 2013, drivers passing a category B (car and small vehicle) test can tow:small trailers weighing no more than 750kgtrailers weighing more than 750kg, where the combined weight of the towing vehicle and the trailer isn’t more than 3,500kgIf you want to tow a trailer weighing more than 750kg, when the combined weight of the towing vehicle and trailer is more than 3,500kg, you’ll have to pass a further test and get B+E entitlement on your licence.

You’ll then be able to tow trailers up to 3,500kg.

Licences held from 1 January 1997If you passed your driving test after 1 January 1997 and have an ordinary category B (car) licence, you can drive either:a vehicle up to 3.5 tonnes or 3,500 kilograms (kg) Maximum Authorised Mass (MAM) towing a trailer of up to 750kg MAM (with a combined weight of up to 4,250kg in total)a trailer over 750kg MAM as long as it is no more than the unladen or ‘kerb’ weight of the towing vehicle (with a combined weight of up to 3,500kg in total)
For anything heavier you need to take a category B+E driving test.

Licences held before 1 January 1997If you passed your car test before 1 January 1997 you are generally entitled to drive a vehicle and trailer combination up to 8.25 tonnes MAM.

This is the weight of a vehicle or trailer including the maximum load that can be carried safely when it’s being used on the road.

You also have entitlement to drive a minibus with a trailer over 750kg MAM.

Towing heavier combinationsIf you want to tow heavier combinations, you’ll have to first apply for provisional entitlement to the new C1+E entitlement. You’ll then have to pass the category C theory test and C1+E practical test.

Once you’ve done this you can drive vehicles and trailers with a combined weight of up to 12 tonnes MAM.

Nice idea but i dont see it working wither.

Don’t get me wrong, always happy to help where i can bu i would only ‘lend’ (me not being there) my trailer to mates as they are the people i can trust to look aftre my gear as much as me. It all comes down to trust and i can’t trust people i don’t know. Cinical i know buts thats the truth.

Stu

Good idea Simon and shows you have the right spirit.unfortunately not everyone shares that spirit and at some point it would be abused and cause more arguments.
As others have said best to let people post what they need then those that can help and feel they trust the person concerned can reply.
You will find people may be willing to lend to done people but not others.
Also from gazebogate it seems storage will always be a problem.

you can also check peer to peer rental sites

for example http://uk.zilok.com/

It’s a nice idea but the only way to achieve is quite complex.

First those wishing to have access to the trailer would have to put in some money towards the cost of the trailer. It would then have to be insured by London Bikers in order to prevent any issues with theft, damage etc. So you would require further contributions on an annual basis. After this you’d need some form of calendar accessible to those who have paid towards use of the trailer allowing them to book the trailer for the required period. However this won’t prevent any in-house bickering which will occur as much as we are all pretty gentlemanly/ladylike to one another. I can see it all turning rather sour when the trailer gets damaged and someone has booked a trackday the following day.

It could be like zip car. A zip trailer at the end of every street. Ready for the time when you need a trailer. :Whistling:

If I needed a trailer I’d need two other things first…a car with sufficient oomph to pull one…and a tow hook :slight_smile:

TBH if a bunch of people want to buy a trailer between them why not but don’t drag the rest of us into it! :stuck_out_tongue:

Hey Simon,

I think too many people have become hung up on the word ‘trailer’ here.

All in all, people on here becoming more of a community is an excellent idea, so hats off to you for suggesting it. I think somewhere in all of the suggestions that have been made there will be a happy medium that works.

So lets work through this and see if we can get some constructive discussion going.

Paying to use the forum:

This is fine provided it isn’t compulsory and you get something for your money (discounts on things like insurance, breakdown cover, van hire, tyres, accessories and so on).

Standard membership to the forum is free and you get access to every section of the forum.

VIP membership, an annual fee to get the above mentioned discounts.

Shared resources:

Maybe a section on the forum dedicated to helping people. So if you need something, you can post it in there.

And then also a sticky in that part of the forum for people to post up what they have that they don’t mind lending or other people using, be it tools, trailers, gazebos or space to work on bikes. For example, I have space, a welder, lots of tools, parts washer, hydraulic press, vice and so on.

And finally in that section, a feedback thread. So if someone comes to use your stuff, they’re respectful and take care of it, then they get positive feedback, if they don’t they get blacklisted and no one helps them again.

It’s a shame there are so many negative and cynical people on the forum, but I’m sure they have their reasons. I also accept that there are people out there who will take the p1ss, and this is a fact of life, but, if we can have a group of like minded people who are happy to help, then it really could make a difference to a lot of people, and for that reason alone, this is an excellent idea from Simon.

And as I said, if there are any people who want to take the p1ss out of the resources made available to them, they’ll only do it once.

Nothing wrong with a bit of altruism and sharing stuff you don’t need/use.

At the risk of sounding a teeny bit negative :slight_smile:

I see two issues with a ‘VIP’ subscription.

Even if it is voluntary it immediately separates those who can afford it from those who can’t.

And there then remains the question of how the subscribers would decide what to spend the subscription money on…trailers or tools…and where to keep them when bought.

I think someone suggested buying a clubhouse at one point…that’s a great idea…but is it really feasible paying for it with a sub?

Maybe start canvassing the more well-heeled contributors to this site who could afford to buy a clubhouse outright with this years bonus. :wink: