The Blog and Registry are up again

Last week the Dave Moulton Registry was off line. It seems the web hosts servers were attacked, a Fire Wall prevented any damage to the server, but it deleted the bike registry files.

Fortunately, they have back up files, and so after a few days of trying, the Registry was back up on Sunday morning.

I have had some people contact me offering help with the Registry and Blog, I have yet to follow upon all the leads.

Looking at bikes for sale on eBay, I am amazed to see my brands listed as high as high as $3,000 or $4,000.00. which is far more than I was paid when the bike was new. These prices are NOT what they are worth, but they are listed at what the seller hopes they can get.

If you do pay anywhere near these prices, make sure the bike is in mint condition. Be patient and wait for the right one to come along. There are plenty out there, I built around 7,000.  

If you are selling and you are lucky enough to get three or four thousand, how about sending me a few of those dollars. (A twenty would be nice,) Because if it was not for me turning out a fine product to begin with, and for all the work I have done in educating and promoting the brand through this blog, and other platforms, that the bikes have any value.

Have aa great week. Dave

Thank you

I am grateful for all those who were concerned about my absence from my blog and the Dave Moulton Bike Registry. The Registry was down because the hosting fees had expired. I renewed it for a year, and it will be up later this week.

I need help, not just financially, I need someone to take over the Bike Registry and the blog. We are none of us getting any younger. I will be eighty-nine in a few months and time is becoming more precious. I need time to exercise, time to rest, and work on other projects, besides bicycles. I do not need to be sitting in front of a computer for hours at a time.

There will come a time when I will have no choice but to step down. It makes sense to me to not wait until that time, but to take over now while I am still somewhat coherent. The Registry and blog would be a good fit for a Bike Store or any other relevant business. Money can be made from advertising revenue, I used to do that, but it takes time to keep track of revenues and ad running times.

I have never charged for entering people’s bikes on the registry but relied on voluntary contributions. This has never worked, and just a handful of people are over generous to the point of becoming almost embarrassing.

I have put so many hours into these projects I hate to see them just disappear. I welcome your thoughts on this and other related issues.

For those who are concerned

I am eighty-eight (88) years old and in good health for the most part, the problem is, my eye sight Is failing, and my Parkinson’s tremor in my right hand make it difficult to type. I am working with a Neurologist to help with my tremors, and I am planning to have Cataract surgery to improve my eyesight.

This will take time, and for now I will have to put this Blog, the Registry and the Online Store on hold. The Dave Moulton Group Facebook was a good way to stay in touch with everyone but for whatever reason my FB account was cancelled, and they would not even correspond with me to rectify the problem.

I gave up on social media, there is so much nastiness and hate I don’t need it. I will try to post stuff here when I have something to say, and my limitations allow me.

Everything comes to an end at some point, with your interest and care a few of my bikes will last a little longer.

Thanks for your contined interest, take care.

Dave

November 2023, update.

It has been nine months since I posted here, so I feel I should at least post and update. It’s not that I have been idle since February, far from it. Some of you may know that as my bike business declined, I directed my creative thoughts to music, and in particular songwriting.

I bought my first guitar in 1988 when I was 52 years old. It took me a year or so to master a few basic chords and I started writing songs. As had happened before in my life, I was in the right place at the right time. I was located southeast of Los Angeles and Hollywood, and within driving distance.

I was realistic of course, this late in life I was not looking to earn a living playing music, but success is not based solely on money. I was a skilled engineer; it is what I did before I built bikes. I had no problem finding a good paying day job.

If one wants to become good at any art form, it behooves them to start out in an environment where the competition is the strongest, which is what I did. When other songwriters at a level above where I was at the time, told me my songs were good, it brought joy and satisfaction in what I did.  

Fast forward to the beginning of this year, (2023.) and my songwriting friends were telling me I should record my songs, if only for my close friends and family. The project started out as a normal 12 song album or collection on a single CD, then I realized I had songs in excess of this amount and finished with a total or 25 songs on two CDs.  

I produced a quality hard cover companion book of the song lyrics and the stories behind each song. The two CDs are stowed inside the front and back covers. If you would like an advanced copy of the book and CDs the cost for the complete package is $16.00. Postage is included in the USA. Email me at davesbikeblog@gmail.com, and I will send a PayPal invoice. Be sure to include your mailing address.

Thank you

I missed posting last week because of computer problems and had to order a new PC. This was an unexpected cost that I could hardly afford, and I appealed for help from the cycling community on the Dave Moulton Bikes Facebook Group.

Members of this group came though and made donations that covered the cost, for which I am most grateful. The forced down-time also caused me to do some serious thinking about the future of the Blog and the Bike Registry.

It is not so much financial help I need going forward, but practical help. This month I turn 87, and I am in good health for the most part, except for my Parkinson’s Disease. I can control the symptoms to a certain extent, but it does make typing increasingly difficult. It can sometimes take me 5 or 6 hours to write a single blog post.

Even if I live to be 100 what physical state will I be in? And at 87 that is only 13 years, and time becomes increasingly precious. I also have several other (Important to me.) creative endeavors I want to complete as soon as possible.

I need someone to take over the blog. It has been up for over 17 years and has excellent positioning on Google search. It would be ideal if it were linked to a business, or with effort it could be financially self-sufficient, or even show profit, depending how much time and effort one puts into it. I do not have that time.

I am constantly approached by people who want to advertise on the blog, but being uncertain of the future I do not take them up on the offer, also it would involve extra work in placing the ads and tracking payment.

If anyone reading this is interested, or knows someone who might, you can contact me without obligation. Also, practical suggestions would be helpful.

In the meantime, my sincere thank you for your past support.