This came to light as I am purchasing from a supplier I have never used before, motorcyclespareparts.eu. I looked for input but this web site is not mentioned at all here at vfrw. Does this web site today have threads rating various suppliers? If not I suggest a supplier rating forum. Maybe use something your host already has available like Survey Monkey, or maybe a posting thread? Allow participants to add supplier names, what we bought, and let us rate them based on pricing, keeping the buyer informed, shipping speed, general customer service, etc.
That would be great Knight. One thing Vbullitin needs to do though is to fix the search feature on this site. As is, it really sucks. Another issue here is that this forum is leaning far too much towards the entertainment value than the technical side. Good bad or indifferent, thats what has happened.
A survey would probably work if it was VFR-specific, e.g. best aftermarket seat, best tire, etc... but like Randy says here this forum is really more about entertainment rather than engineering. You would be better off checking out vfrdiscussion.com for a more tech focused forum.
The solution is to talk about nothing but technical shit and watch this place fold like an accordion. Riding motorcycles is the best form of entertainment possible IMO. We could burn a few books too. That's always cool. Back to the tech stuff.. Look to almost any technical question asked here. Some of the questions are so basic that the OP's really need to improve their general search skills. Other question are asked and covered in detail. As to vendors..Where is the line on this one? Do we really need to know what kind of TP to carry on a day trip with the resultant sales pitches, plugs, lists of TP from around the world or anecdotes about which is the best finger to use if the TP wasn't packed and the best nail clippers to have on hand for emergencies.. Dealers are covered. Like hell..Lots of bitching about dealers some of which should be closed down but many times never named. Kind of like pissing into the wind. A useless endeavor.. The irony is that the harleydoods have been doing this for years. "Dealers and Stealers" naming names and kicking ass. Then we got the dudes here that have all the good ideas with no followup and not much more than some fucking opinion as to what everyone else should be doing..
A cursory search of this site showed that this is version 4. Is that true? I looked up the product and version 5 is available and has improved search.
I can't say I really know. The search engine on this site used to work quite well but for some reason, a few years back, it really went to shit.