UPDATED 7-13-12: NEW MEMBERS, PLEASE READ: A Message from Dr Honda.

[Dr Honda]

Hi Guys,

OK... most of you know me, and I try to give help whenever I can. Also... it takes a lot to get me upset, but in the last 2 months... I've gotten a bunch of PM's from people with only a few posts to their name, and are asking questions ranging from VERY basic maintenance, to common issue questions.


SO....

If you only have a few posts to your name... please do not PM members for basic questions. This is a chat board. We all learn things from reading posts. The only reason to PM a member is to ask a personal question, or to ask something that may not be seadoo related. There is no reason in the world for a NOOB to PM a senior member to ask....

1) What kind of oil should I use?
2) Where is the water leak?
3) I have Tempo hoses and the ski doesn't run
4) My beeper is dead.
5) How do I winterize/summerize my boat/ski
6) What kind of spark plugs/gap should I have?


I'm sorry if I'm coming off a little harsh, but I'm getting tired of PM's with basic questions from new people who think they don't need to make a post.

FROM NOW ON... I will simply delete PM's that are basic questions, from members with low post counts. (under 10 posts)


With that said... if you are a new member... and you have a valid question in a post, and you aren't getting any response... you can PM me (or other senior members) a link to the thread, and we will try to help.


Thanks for understanding guys.




******EDIT*****UPDATE*************


Hi guys,

It's a new summer, and new problems. This time it's not all just PM's... but it's in the forum.


SO.... If you want help from me.... you must use proper English, grammar, and punctuation. Also... this is a FREE chat board, and there are people here who spend their own PERSONAL time to help people out. SO... DO NOT bump your thread after only a couple hours. We all have lives, and sometimes we just aren't here to take questions. Not to mention... when I log in... the first thing I do is look for posts with 0 replies. Then... I look for posts that I've posted in with updates. So basically... if you bump your own thread... it no longer has 0 posts... and it's going to get skipped over.


Here again... I'm not trying to be harsh... but I just got into a pissing match with a new guy (via PM's) because of everything above.


Basically... if you aren't nice... I'm not helping you.

 

[hypersniper2010]

well i know that over this weekend i may have rubbed a few of you the wrong way for my impatience and would like to extend my sincerest appology. i didnt mean to come off so rude. this is a very informative forum with alot of good people. ive just been having a real bad week and vented on here. i will keep my venting to myself from here on.

 

[brandon32689]

ya i could see were that would get enough is enough, Dr honda knows his stuff and i almost see every post of the day is answered by him when he gets the time. People just have to remember that he and all of us have other jobs and toys, and can get to it when they get a chance.

 

[Crofoot50]

Hi Guys,

OK... most of you know me, and I try to give help whenever I can. Also... it takes a lot to get me upset, but in the last 2 months... I've gotten a bunch of PM's from people with only a few posts to their name, and are asking questions ranging from VERY basic maintenance, to common issue questions.


SO....

I you only have a few posts to your name... please do not PM members for basic questions. This is a chat board. We all learn things from reading posts. The only reason to PM a member is to ask a personal question, or to ask something that may not be seadoo related. There is no reason in the world for a NOOB to PM a senior member to ask....

1) What kind of oil should I use?
2) Where is the water leak?
3) I have Tempo hoses and the ski doesn't run
4) My beeper is dead.
5) How do I winterize/summerize my boat/ski
6) What kind of spark plugs/gap should I have?


I'm sorry if I'm coming off a little harsh, but I'm getting tired of PM's with basic questions from new people who think they don't need to make a post.

FROM NOW ON... I will simply delete PM's that are basic questions, from members with low post counts. (under 10 posts)

Hey Doc
As I told you you do Alot on this Forum including PM's and I know we apreciate ALL thehelp you give and how quickly you Respond but I would not think ANY Member would think your requests are unreasonable. Sometines you have to POST it to get the word out.

PS Do I get a Free Pass this weekend since I purchased a part from you LOL

 

[seadoosnipe]

Dr. Honda has a really valid point. The difference between him and I? I just dont' answer the PM's. Does that sound rude? It really shouldn't. There are somewhere in the vicinity of 38,000 members in the forum. And when someone has a problem with their ski/boat, and they are really wanting to get it out on the water, their post is the only post they see. Their post is the only one they think is important enough for an immediate answer.

The biggest problem I see in the PM's I get, the answer is already in the forum. So many times, I get questions from members that are redundant. They have been asked and answered a million times and for the most part, people come in and want an answer fast, without doing any reading or using the search engine to maybe find their own answer.

PLease, do not use PM's for a way to solicit an answer from one of the forum's mechanics! If Dr. Honda, myself, Chester, bills86e, or any of the other highly qualified mechanics are helping you, please be patient and wait for a response. There is more than one person in the forum who is looking to fix their problem, whether it's the motor, or pump.

I'll be making this a sticky and hope that all members who come into the forum, understand this is not posted as being rude or arrogant to our members. It's being informative that we can't be everywhere at one time and can't answer or help 10,000 people in 30 minutes.

Thanks for your understanding.

 

[Dr Honda]

To everyone above:

Thanks for understanding... and, I don't have a problem with people sending me PM's. You can vent all you want... or even ask me questions on how to bleed the brakes on your Ford F150. And, if you had a bad day, and need an answer quick... I will be happy to help you keep your sanity.

My issue is with new members who obviously didn't try to make a post, or try to search for an answer.

 

[flowmasterman]

I guess I was one of the people you are talking about, I got my problem with not being able to post a thread fixed and that was the only reason I PM'ed you because I had no other choice and that was the reason I signed up to the forum was for answers, So I am sorry if I upset you, but also THANK YOU for helping me

 

[Dr Honda]

Honestly... it wasn't any "ONE" person. The problem was... this summer... I've gotten a lot of basic stuff from new members.


I am always happy to help... just make a post first... and if you don't get the answer needed in 24 hr's... Feel free to PM me.

 

[bigJake]

:redface:

To everyone above:

Thanks for understanding... and, I don't have a problem with people sending me PM's. You can vent all you want... or even ask me questions on how to bleed the brakes on your Ford F150. And, if you had a bad day, and need an answer quick... I will be happy to help you keep your sanity.

My issue is with new members who obviously didn't try to make a post, or try to search for an answer.

aw Doc you're makin me blush :redface:

Snipe, I agree with what you are saying. One issue though, I'll admit I never really spent alot of time trying to figure out how to efficiently use the search engine on this site, but I have found it difficult to find what I'm looking for. Either zero hits if too specific or 1000 unrelated hits if not specific enough. I've even tried searching for threads I know I've read in the past, putting in the posters name and key words I know were in the post but I still couldn't find it after 20 minutes of trying differnet options. As someone with 30 years of experience in software design I would strongy suggest the forum owners put a little effort into beefing up the search capabilities. Also, something I mentioned to Doc a few weeks ago is that there are alot of really great threads with great pictorials, eg, rave cleaning, how to rebuild carbs, how to do a compression test, etc (the gray fuel line bogging issue thread should be a must read for every newbie) but newbies don't know how to find them and the same questions get asked over and over every day. What oil should I use, How do I clean my raves, etc. I've asked just about every newbie question there is in the past couple years (and how to bleed the brakes on my F150 - Thanks Doc!!!) and you actually very patiently answered most of them for me when you were more active. The idea I had was kind of like a simple tool that would have a list of those most common issues or questions that you could select from and would take you directly to those educational threads. That seems like it would eliminate a large percentage of the redundant newbie questions and free you guys up to concentrate on the more complicated questions. As posts get submitted that have good info the moderators could just add them to the list of common problem links. Maybe what I am describing is what the How To Tech Articles section is supposed to be but I think most people, including myself totally overlook that section. Maybe it should be made more prominent. I've been on the forum a few years and I have no idea how to find a list of Stickies? Bottom line, There is an incredible wealth of information available here, it is just not really obvious or easy to find. Just my 2 cents.

 

[hfgreg]

Just a tip on searching the site for you guys. The built in search software pales in comparison to Google's. What you can do is go to Google and type this in verbatim:

YOUR SEARCH TERM site:seadooforum.com

Just replace YOUR SEARCH TERM with whatever you are searching for. It will be a lot more accurate in finding what you are looking for :cheers:

 

[RFoster130]

Just a tip on searching the site for you guys. The built in search software pales in comparison to Google's. What you can do is go to Google and type this in verbatim:

YOUR SEARCH TERM site:seadooforum.com

Just replace YOUR SEARCH TERM with whatever you are searching for. It will be a lot more accurate in finding what you are looking for :cheers:

Works like a charm. i always use google to search the site.

 

[bigJake]

Just a tip on searching the site for you guys. The built in search software pales in comparison to Google's. What you can do is go to Google and type this in verbatim:

YOUR SEARCH TERM site:seadooforum.com

Just replace YOUR SEARCH TERM with whatever you are searching for. It will be a lot more accurate in finding what you are looking for :cheers:

thanks Greg, great to know. That will make things so much easier.

 

[hfgreg]

We are looking to build Google search into the site in the near future. I'll let you guys know when we get this taken care of.

 

[Sink]

I did a post on how to search this site but.. it went away with the dead posts with 1 reply... The search does work well... do a search for my search post maybe???

 

[bigJake]

yea i saw that a couple days ago, but i think you even noted in your post it doesnt handle a multiple string search

 

[blackbirdbrain89]

We are looking to build Google search into the site in the near future. I'll let you guys know when we get this taken care of.

have u guys ever looked in to moving to vBulletin® Version 4.1.5. my other bord is using and i seems to work well with search saves post

 

[hfgreg]

We are using the equivalent now.. The built in search works well for longer stringed single keywords. If you are searching for a term like 02 xp you won't get much on the forums search but you would get a ton on google.

 

[griz400]

.........................

 

[96spxpos]

Well, Im just getting to this thread now...

I checked back in my msgs, and yes, i did PM Doc about a "water leak" problem, that day when this was posted, so it was obviously aimed at me...

Let me tell ya...I bought my first ski, after having 3 crotch rockets and dirtbikes my whole life, and for once, felt like i got ripped off cuz i didnt take the proper steps on buying a ski....
I was impatient and didnt give my post enough time to generate answers, but I did get the problem worked out...and gained a wealth of knowledge through this forum in the meantime...

so I'm sorry all, was new to ski's and new to forums and this one has by far been the most helpful...

And DOC, the reason i DID come to you, is i DID browse alot of posts from you, and it literally seemed like you solved EVERYONE'S PROBLEMS...

So i came to you, feeling the info you would supply would for sure solve my problem...

So I'm sorry for any inconvenience...but from all ur help, my 96 spx P.O.S. is no longer a P.O.S. (for the time being, anyway)

 

[Seadoobuddy]

Don't feel too bad 96xpspos - I also pm'd dr honda yesterday although it wasn't about a basic issue.
I'm sure he gets dozens of messages a day. I'll glad he takes the time to answer us.:thumbsup:

 

[Dr Honda]

I try to answer PM's within a few hours. Sometime's I get too busy at the shop.... but I try to get to them once I get home.

96xpspos... If I missed your PM... I'm sorry. I'll go check now.

EDIT****************

I can't find a PM from you

 

[96spxpos]

Here it is:
copied from: Aug 14th, 2011 5:30pm

Re: 96 spx taking on water
All of them have balers. If the tubes are missing from the pump... you are pumping water in through the bailers.

Also... since you are new... you need to make posts, and not PM people when you need help. If you want direct help... my shop fee is $65hr.




actually, the ski is still taking on water, hence the flood, fixed the actual leak from when driving, (it was the tuner pipe weld plug having a hole in it, as well as a spare one i had, same hole, same place,) but as far as the beilers, mines a 96 spx, and I have the two bailer pickups on the bottom of the ski, with the tubes heading up the back, but when i looked at my schematic, it didnt look like there weer two bailer tubes inside the venturi nozzle as it showed for other models....

and even tho i cleaned the hell out of my two bailer pickups and tubes, i dont think theyre doing a good job for some reason...

 

[LouDoo]

Pet Peeve

I don't understand why some members with hold their location. We're not child molesters here, your location helps us understand your problems better. It can give us an idea of how much the ski is used and what type of usage (fresh vs. salt water).

Come on guys if you don't want to give your city, state, give us a general idea, ie: Southeast, Northwest, etc. I saw one today earth and another one crestline. If you want information from us then you are going to need to give us a little information about your location.

Lou

 

[Seadoobuddy]

:agree: with you Lou. I saw one about a week ago that read USA.
If not in the USA please list your city and COUNTRY.
Please also list your ski or boat year and model as well.

If possible, pictures are worth a 1000 words and will save a few postings for you as well.

 

[seadoodoopartsofcf]

It can be stressful dealing with people with crazy questions...btw doc where is the sea doo muffler throwout bearing located?