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Okay, okay, simma down nah! I've let you kick this dead horse long enough. No, I'm not KIC, or that sempi guy, or a troll. I'm a FRONT. There's a difference, thank you very little. A friend of mine found your site, found it interesting, and wondered (as I did) what the funds go to. He wanted to know but didn't want to get flamed (for good reason, apparently!), so I offered to do it for him. Why? Because personally, I don't give a $#!t one way or the other- I ride ratty vintage Jap chops. I'll likely never have a fancy bike like a Venture or Star, because I'm too cheap. LOL! So, my registration on this site was solely to carry that one question to you, and man, what a hot button! Seems like I hit a raw nerve, and I wonder if there weren't a few who thought to themselves, "Man, I'm glad someone finally asked, I've been wondering that for years!" Well, I'm your guinea pig. I think it's a completely valid question, and not at all out of line. You could be using it for a kitty for downed riders, or a swag bag from which you hold a raffle, or to fund the eats and hooch at a once-a-year bash (sounds like your Maintenance Days thing), all of which would be excellent and commendable. The point is, out of all the valid responses you could have given, what did most of you give? Manly chest-beating and ostracism. Way to go. I don't believe for a second the claims some of you made that one can only find useful information, camaraderie, support, or gatherings from a membership-fee site. I've been a regular on a number of forums, all FREE, that had an answer to every question, nonjudgmental tech support, and gatherings galore. The difference is that WE do it the free-market way: if you think it's worth it, chip in a buck or ten. If you don't, don't; it's your money. What you do here is more akin to socialism, without the 'guns poking you in the back' thing. But that's neither here nor there, my point is that what you've got here ain't all that special. So, anyway, go ahead and villainize me, call me names, close my account, whatever. We got our answer (in a very roundabout way), my work here is done. Rest easy, this is my last post. Sayonara!

Hey all, I had a quick question about membership dues. It would seem to me that, with 13,078 members, at $12 per member per year, that's $156,936 per year. WOW! Quite a lucrative business you've got here! I considered it was possible that, of the listed members, only a portion of them were actual paying members, and the rest were a rotating batch of trial members. I don't know how your member counter works. In any case, figuring on the extreme lean side, let's say that only 1% of that total, or 130 members, were paying crew. That would bring the annual funds to $1,570. Not bad for a gig that's essentially a hobby. Granted, that's not accounting for expenses (webhosting, cost of software, upkeep, etc), which, for your average vBulletin board (which are generally FREE access) should amount to about $50/month. That takes but a sliver out of the potential pot of dues coming in. As for the rest... where does it all go?