I restarted the DOC Kent branch last year and it's been pretty successful. We use forums and Facebook to arrange our rides and then get out on the bikes, even in the winter! In fact a couple of days before xmas we got out and I did knocking on for 150 miles across Kent and the South East. It's the internet that has allowed us to do this, but it is a double edged sword.
It would be nice if I could even get onto the main DOCGB main website to see what the membership charge is and what you get for it these days. AL
Join the ukmoc, they do a fair bit, and they also welcome naughty bikes occasionally, there's breakfast meets once a month and all sorts going on throughout the year, but they do prefer the monster variety lol
Ok, so how do you think Ducati UK should recognise an online forum then, if not doing it through the already existing DOC route?
This is quite an interesting answer to the question of why Clubs are failing; but don't you think it's almost self-causation? People want an instant fix of Ducati so they use the internet and don't attend the local Club meetings, then moan because nobody attends the local Club meetings... ad infinitum. A bit like people moaning that there's nothing of value on internet forums but never posting anything of value on internet forums themselves... We have a great regional meet in Essex, a great core of guys who meet "officially" every month in the pub and chat about everything and anything. We then organise rideouts, trips, tours, etc when we want to and even have a social scene outside of this as well because we're all mates. It's worked because we've all put the effort in. It's a shame that more people don't have the same attitude as I think there would then be a lot more groups like this around the country.
That's not my impression. I know Martyn Edwards, the President, well enough to call him a good mate & you couldn't meet a more helpful & welcoming guy. I also know a few other club officials & without exception they would go above & beyond to help out a fellow Ducati owner, club member or not.
As a DOC member I can see both sides of it. Everyone I've met in the flesh has been great and not full of themselves at all. But I have seen posts on forums and social media sites that can easily be read as being a bit elitist. That's the trouble with the Internet, it's not what's written, but how it's read.
club website has been updated and is a lot better but unfortunately nobody uses it however after being a member for quite a few years I will not be renewing my membership for the simple reason that there is no local branch and the club has nothing to offer me on a local level
