Total Motorcycle Community Forums

2010 (still can't believe it's 2010!) marks the historic (can I say historic for something 10 years old?) 10th anniversary of Total Motorcycle!

Thank You
Let me say right off the bat, we couldn't have been here without your support by joining, posting, visiting and telling others about TMW. You are Total Motorcycle's most important resource and I thank you for your support in the past, present and future.

More than just a web address

http://www.totalmotorcycle.com; I've typed that web address in what has to be a hundred thousand times or more. But Total Motorcycle is more than just a web address, it's really grown to be a virtual personality that is proud to have helped milllions of people around the world. Just like a 10 year old child you have seen it grow, develop and get bigger all these years and like a 10 year old child it has a lot of growing, developing and getting bigger still to come.

Total Motorcycle sure has taken on a life of it's own these past 10 years and I am very glad you could be a part of it, no matter when you first typed in (or clicked on) the http://www.totalmotorcycle.com URL!


A bit of site history:

Total Motorcycle has sure grown since 2000, from a very small website called "100% Motorcycling Page" hosted on free-servers to "Total Motorcycle" serving 1.2 Terabytes of great information to millions of visitors each month (that's 255 full DVD's worth or 833,333 floppies for those older).

Total Motorcycle's startup (I believe) was unlike many mega websites out there. I didn't start TMW for money or to make profit or to sell things on, even today, TMW doesn't sell anything directly. I started Total Motorcycle purely because I wanted to reach out and help as many people as possible with some friendly, helpful and useful advice about motorcycling. I was also determined to offer it all 100% free. Many people saw the value in that and visited, wrote, requested and asked for more, and that's what we gave them then and we still do today. I will have to post some photos of the original site (early stuff) so you can have a smile and laugh at it (and I'll go hide in a closet when you see it...haha).


People first, Profit last.

I've always believed in helping people and those that join our TMW community believe the same. By offering a uniquely friendly environment that's helpful and supports motorcyclists and motorcycling worldwide we have all made Total Motorcycle the top information and education motorcycle website in North America (stats wise) for the past 5 years. But stats aside, I also wanted to help the motorcycle businesses out too, after all, they are there for all us. So for over 10 years, Total Motorcycle has offered very low advertising rates (much too low really) to give the motorcycle industry a leg up, to help them be successful and to bring our growth and success to help them out too. Many tens of thousands of businesses around the world have avertised on Total Motorcycle because of these great reasons.

In conclusion. We don't make a lot of money, but we help a lot of people. People (in my opinion) are more valuable than money, so Total Motorcycle is very rich in people.

Over the past 10 years Total Motorcycle (has it been so long already?) has provided some outstanding resources and I look forward to providing the same very high quality resource, completely free of charge, to you, for another 10, 20 or even 100 years to come.


HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TOTAL MOTORCYCLE!


Some Stats

Want some facts that will blow your mind? (Toot Toot warning!). In 10 years Total Motorcycle has had...

2.1 BILLION HITS.
58.8 MILLION VISITORS HELPED.
476 MILLION PAGE VIEWS SERVED.

Impressive when you consider we did 33% of those numbers just last year (2009) alone.

So TMW is helping a huge amount of people each year thanks to TMW's great helpful and useful resources, forums, guides, books and very importantly our friendly community members posts too.



Footnote: How Total Motorcycle has affected my life

I don't post that much about myself on Total Motorcycle, maybe it's because the site Total Motorcycle represents me so well in person.

Total Motorcycle. When I think of the site I don't think of myself being the "one" or the "head honcho", I think of myself as just another cog in the wheel, an important part of the site but not any different than any other community member. I do realise I created the site and I'm very proud of that fact and very proud of how many people Total Motorcycle has helped in the world. But I always do my best to give credit where credit is due and Total Motorcycle wouldn't be as friendly, useful, helpful or as successful if it wasn't for YOU.

So back to the question. Total Motorcycle has given help to millions of people, including me. I've learned so much from it I could appear on Jepoardy! But I'm definately not a celebrity (not yet anyways..haha). Although people seem to think I'm "Mr. Total Motorcycle Guru" and ask me all types of questions only the motorcycle gods would know (like "do you know the exact value clearance on a 1943 Harley-Davidson....") but if I don't know the answer I'm not afraid to say so or point them to someone (or somewhere) they can find it.

I start work, M-F (I do work Sat/Sun depending) at 7am and stop around 5ish pm, I get up at 5:45am. I work from home and Total Motorcycle has become my life/job. I do not own or run any other sites than Total Motorcycle believing that you get out what you put in and I want to put in 100% for Total Motorcycle. I have and have had many volunteer staff over these past years that are irreplaceable and bloody awesome to say the least, these are my moderators and a few product reviewers as well.

The Total Motorcycle Community Forums are awesome eh? The people are just so friendly and don't bat an eye at helping others. The TMW community has always been such a friendly helpful place that I look forward to visiting, reading and posting on a daily basis!

Total Motorcycle doesn't make a lot of money, but that isn't important to me anyways, helping people has always come first in my life, not money. But thanks to Total Motorcycle my wife and I were able to put a small downpayment on our first starter home in 2004. And we were able to buy our first new motorcycles in 2007 thanks to Total Motorcycle as well. Before this we had $860 and $900 28 year old bikes. Total Motorcycle has also helped us pay off our debts as well. So helping others (IMO) is a good karma parth to take.

About me... Let's see, I was born in 1971, I'm 6'4" tall, brown hair, brown eyed, caucasian male. I love to joke, smile and laugh (and of course, help others), I love riding, adventuring and exploring. I'm Canadian and have lived all over Canada...Ontario, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Yukon, British Columbia and my current home Calgary, Alberta. I've been married since August 17th 2002 to my wife Andrea (sunshine229 on here) and have no kids (yet) but kids do love to be around me so I've been told I'd make a good dad.

Total Motorcycle has been a part great of my life for a long time and I'd want nothing less than to have it a great part of your life as well.

Thanks for visiting these past 10 years and for many more to come,

Mike Le Pard
aka. Total Motorcycle

Please tell us....

Q. How Total Motorcycle came into your life and how you might have benefited or been helped by it.

Q. What you see for Total Motorcycle in the next 10 years.

Please feel free to post your comments and shout outs.

HAPPY 10th ANNIVERSARY TOTAL MOTORCYCLE

Q. How Total Motorcycle came into your life and how you might have benefited or been helped by it.

A. Jeez, it's been so long now I can't remember how I found this site. I joined back in early 2005 and promptly got into a peeing match with a few people about Harleys, I remember that. Some things never change, eh? But TMW has been a great source of info over the past five years and I have definitely learned a lot from others who have posted here. There is an unlimited amount of experience to draw on here and it has helped me become more informed as a result. I've even met and ridden with a few members, too, thanks to this site. Some of them I have yet to meet, but they have become friends just from online correspondance and even send me cookies once in awhile.


Q. What you see for Total Motorcycle in the next 10 years.

A. I think TMW will just continue to grow, attracting more and more quality members along the way. It will get to the point where this site will become THE place to go for anything motorcycle related, sort of an online combination of all the best motorcycle magazines from all over the world at your fingertips. Manufacturers will be coming here first to launch their new models, as TMW will become the most effective way for them to reach as many people as possible. I think it will also become a political force, not in the sense of elected officials in various levels of government in different countries, but as a platform for all of us to voice our opinion on motorcycle related legislation and as a means to bring about changes in how our lifestyle is treated by governments.

HAPPY 10TH ANNIVERSARY TO TMW!!!

Q. How Total Motorcycle came into your life and how you might have benefited or been helped by it.

I was lucky enough to come across the old forum while looking for people to ride with in the Calgary area. Back then Mike had a great collection of local motorcycle rides and I could tell that he was a real rider who truely loved what he did. It didn't matter that he didn't have a flashy bike (he really didn't in those days ), but there was more here for real riders than anywhere else on the net. The forum was just getting rolling in those days and it was great fun starting multiple new threads to help draw interest from passers by. It wasn't long before what Mike had grown this place faster than any other site that I have been to before or since.

My wife and I have been lucky enough to make some great friends here, and both Mike and Andrea have become a major part of our lives. The bikes are a great part of all this but the people really make this place.

Q. What you see for Total Motorcycle in the next 10 years.

Fame, fortune and the penthouse suite in the Burj Dubai. A motorcycle site with true global reach is rare but TMW has it and will continue to grow in this way. This has always been a place that welcomes all makes and riding styles and I don't see this changing.

Oh, and the hidden Biker Babes forum will finally become socially acceptable and accessable to the masses

Happy B-Day TMW!

It,s just like a Brit pub

Loud over here

shy over there

talking about others quietly in the corner

pretending to be a Biker , when you know you are not, (we know though)

drunks talking "poo poo" at the table

and the real guys at the bar, quietly having a dop and relishing in the true friendship and camaraderie

Oh and don't forget the flirting, that's good

and the foreign guys, they can be fun, oh and the clowns, like Verm

plus all the tech advice and riding tips

oh and the ride reports and new models and parts advice

and the "pee" taking

and

and

and

and

and then we all go home with some new friends and a number or two and feeling just that little bit better about ourselves than we did when we logged on.

I been around a little while, go away and then come back, but the welcome is always there

Thanks Mike

personally I hope you get stinking rich, just don't change OK.

I'm here because SAPaul made me...

Mike, I must say.. I'm touched... By your humility, and your modesty, and your outlook... I only stumbled upon you guys a few weeks back while looking for the price of newer bikes out of curiosity, but I'm glad I have. Your efforts seem sincere and selfless, so with utmost sincerity, thank you

It's uncanny, I am also 6'4", and Mike (great name), but born in 81,not 71. Oh and also a proud Canadian ta boot!

Q. How Total Motorcycle came into your life and how you might have benefited or been helped by it.

Stumbled upon it... but I know it will be a great resource for entertainment and perhaps more in my life to come for many years.

Q. What you see for Total Motorcycle in the next 10 years.

Not too sure yet, other than time passed reading about the new found hobby I love.

Mike's wife here... my name is Andrea (or some call me "Mrs. Total Motorcycle")

I am so proud of Mike and all that he has accomplished over the past decade. He began TMW when we first moved to Calgary. I was going to be attending the University and Mike was going to have to look for a job in our new home town. When he didn't find a job right away he thought he would give web design a shot. He built this motorcycle website and it has continually grown year over year since that point.

Mike truly puts his heart and soul into the website and the community. He really does feel that all of you are friends and he always wants to do the best for everyone. He is one of those unique people who cares much more for others than himself...which is what makes the site so great!

Thanks to each of you for your continued support of TMW. I know that Mike appreciates every one of you for the contributions that you have made. As a "family" you have all built a special place to share.

Congrats Mike and TMW for this huge milestone! May there be many more years of fun ahead.

Andrea