SimplexServi-Cycle.com Update

[admin]

  For those interested, this site was started 2 years ago by Bob Gurkin.  I just cleaned up the site and deleted all accounts that have been inactive for more than 1 year.  We started with about 5 members in the first month, and have grown to about 165 real members.

  When Bob started this, he did not think we would get much action, but I think we have done a lot to help the Simplex community come together to share ideas and to help each other.  If anyone has any ideas going forward, please let me know.  

I know several people on here have tossed around the idea for a simplex T-shirt, but no one has stepped up and done it.  I am going to pick up the ball and run with this and will have shirts available by the time Portland rolls around.

On another note, who's going to the Wollard auction? 

[Mike Sal]

Is Bob still around?  I've seen a posting from him in quite a while.  Did he ever sell his bike?  Yes, I think we've got a good group here. 

As far as Ideas, maybe we could use another "section" for non-specific or non-Simplex stuff.  It seems we cross pollenate a lot of our threads with different topics ("a rider" comes to mind).  This makes it hard for someone new to find that one trick or tip he might need to help his project.

Ya, I was one of those who dropped the ball on the shirts.  One of our members wanted to take on the project so I laid back.  I guess he never got the opportunity to further the project.  I still like the idea of a colored shirt w/pocket (not black) with a winged logo on the back & a small image of a servi-cycle on the breast.

I'm still on the fence about the auction.  If I can convince sonya that it's time to visit her brother again, we'll go.
Mike Sal

[Mike Sal]

Rick, going thru some of the data provided by Bob Kerr, I found that 2 or 3 of his bikes were already in our database (info I got from Bill Erikson....from the old Pat Williams data base).

Also, I'm puzzled in that Bob says the highest '56 model found is #15260.  He also states that the '56 has the brake light switch bracket on the top of the rear lower bar and the '57 models moved it to the bottom.  Yet, my bike is # 15249 and the bracket is on the bottom.  The Simplex old timers at Portland thought my bike was a '57 or '58 just by looking at it quickly.  When I got the bike, the widow thought her husband said it was a '56. 

Another problem I have with Bob's list is the way he shows rounded off numbers for the model year changes.  We all now know that Simplex didn't pay any attention to what frame and what motor they grabbed to feed into the assembly line.  I find it hardly likely that the dealers actually saw neat orderly frame & motor numbers at the end of each model year.

Another neat thing is that the Wollard estate has a frame that is only one number off from a bike owned by our member "vintage".  Wollard also had a couple other frames which were only one number away from each other.

I should have the registry updated in the next day or so.  Adding all of those Wollard bikes sure bumped the size of the list (well over a hundred now).
Mike Sal

[Ricks]

Just a quick note that I have renewed the site for another year. I am glad that the Simplex community has a place to hang out and share ideas.  We are now entering our 3rd year and continue to slowly grow. I wish we could get some of the old timers involved, but it just seems that they are a little computer shy!

If anyone has any suggestions for site improvement, please let me know.

Thanks to all for making this a success, and a tip of the hat to Bob Gurkin for getting this off the ground.

[Mike Sal]

I was working on an update of the registry to upload today, but talked to Jim Lokai this afternoon (he's in Ohio).  I sold Jim an old honda scooter last summer but couldn't find the title.  I finally found it today & called Jim to confirm his address so I could send it to him.

Jim is working on a '36 servi-cycle & hoping to have it ready for Portland this year.  He tells me he has around 25 servi-cylcles in various forms of completeness and 4 trucks.  He is going to send me the frame & motor numbers from his stash so we can add them to the registry.
Mike Sal

[Ricks]

I just renewed for another year!  I have been getting an ever increasing number of membership requests a day, with 99.5% of them bogus.  I wish I could figure out a better way to filter out these bogus attempts, but I am already using the highest level of captcha that is available with this software.  If anyone has a problem getting registered, read the first line of the registration agreement and your problems will disappear!!

I know it has been slow lately, I hope it is just the winter and that people are not working on their bikes much.   I can't wait for the spring!

[Ricks]

Just a yearly update that I have renewed the website for another year.  If we do not get more activity in 2016, this may the last year.  I just don't have as much free time anymore, and if only a handful of people are active, it just doesn't seem to be worth the effort and money.

That said, I look forward to seeing everyone a Portland this July, so get working on those projects!

[Ricks]

Update 2/7/17

Another year has passed and I have renewed us again.  I have changed some of our hosting preferences for a better price, so I have committed to keeping this site up for 3 more years.  We will be changing servers, which will happen late tonight, so we may be down for a short time.  I hope everything is up and running normally by tomorrow morning.

I hope everyone had a good year and look forward to more success this year.  

As happens each winter, the traffic on the site slows down, but usually picks up as the weather improves.  I hope everyone is busy working on their projects and posts something on their progress!

See you in Portland in July

Rick  aka Admin

[Ricks]

Hi Guys!

Just a quick note to let all our members know, now that the site is off life support and is healthy again, thanks to the heroic efforts of Dave, I have been negotiating with BlueHost to get a better rate.  As of this morning, we came to an agreement that will keep us here for at least the next 3 years.  I have changed our service slightly, but the BlueHost rep says we shouldn't notice a thing.  If anyone does, please let me know. 

Thanks, and I look forward to seeing everyone at Portland this summer!  Please stop by "The Hill", where Tom and I set up each summer, hopefully with Dave and Reese back this year after a 1 year absence. Look for the tent.

[Ricks]

The traffic on the site has dropped considerably the last few years.  I'l like to see more activity, but that doesn't look like it will happen.  I just renewed the site for 3 more years, but that may be the end of the run for me. If someone is interested in taking over, let me know. It would be a shame to lose all of the info accumulated here over the last 10 years!