IS THIS THE END OF BRAKEHORSEPOWER ? – Comments Please

[Mary Lindsay]

Philip, BHP does not compete with the new website but it adds an alternative way of communicating with fellow Morgan racers on topics of mutual interest.

I created and ran the previous version the Morgan Challenge website for many years until it was re-designed and handed over to Chris. The new website is very good, with lots of information, but it is one-way traffic, there is no ability to discuss and inform on specific topics.

Facebook is, along with the WhatsApp group, a useful way of communicating information about specific events but not everyone uses Facebook and the WhatsApp group is only available to invited members, mostly competitors. Posts on both of these are almost ephemeral in that you have to scroll a long way back in time to find what you are looking for. Also, the Facebook algorithms are sometimes changed which makes it even harder to find relevant content.

BHP has easily identifiable threads making it easy to navigate to what you are looking for.

We should not exclude those who do not "do" social media, they are often the people with the most interesting contributions!

If we encouraged drivers, crew and fellow Morgan racing enthusiasts to access BHP and contribute it would benefit the whole Morgan racing fraternity (and sorority!). Larry Emrick's post illustrates my point.

[Mary Lindsay]

Can someone tell me how it is hosted today ? Which system it's based on? I have a friendly online expert who might be able to help but want to know the IT start point .

Andrew, Andy Downes is currently travelling back home from Texas but I am sure he would be very keen to talk to your friendly expert and discuss hosting etc. I will message you separately with Andy's contact details.

It's a great shame that people don't use Brake Horse Power, a far better forum than the Whats App group, so why don't people use it.
is it because its 'software' of what ever controls the pages is old hat?
come on tell us why you don't use.

Barry, I agree that BHP is an excellent forum. I think in recent years people have become hooked on Facebook and WhatsApp. There are lots of forums out there run on similar lines but many have lost sight of the benefits.
I am sure that Andy Downes would be delighted to hear from anyone keen to take it on!

[Leigh Sebba]

A few comments
The new website doesn’t have a chat page ? Under forums it only refers to a private what’s app for drivers,and to this BHP
I look at ten tenths historic racing today, but that has fallen off, particularly since the sad death of Mike Bell.
The MSCC has its chat site.
And there is Talk Morgan which is quite active - perhaps that could have a competition / race section ?

[Mary Lindsay]

A few comments
The new website doesn’t have a chat page ? Under forums it only refers to a private what’s app for drivers,and to this BHP
I look at ten tenths historic racing today, but that has fallen off, particularly since the sad death of Mike Bell.
The MSCC has its chat site.
And there is Talk Morgan which is quite active - perhaps that could have a competition / race section ?

Leigh,
The MSCC is not known for being very competition minded and I am sure there are lots of interesting comments on the chat site but probably not of interest to those specifically interested in racing.
The great thing about BHP is that it has been going for many years and over that time there have been many very interesting and informative posts. It would be a great loss to have those disappear.We need to regenerate interest in BHP for those who have not visited before.
To that end I have posted this on the Challenge Facebook page:

Morgan Challenge
The Future of brakehorsepower?
Background
The brakehorsepower.net Forums and the original Morgan Racing website, mogsport.net, were established many years ago by stalwart Morgan racer Chris Acklam and have proved a very useful and interesting resource for the competition minded fraternity.
Although now superseded by morganchallenge.co.uk, mogsport.net is still up on Chris's own server and contains some very interesting historical information about the Challenge.
Chris hosted, administered and paid for the system for most of its life. When he expressed a desire to stand down Andy Downes volunteered to take up the reins and with it the costs. His financial contribution runs into hundreds of pounds which, understandably, he is now reluctant to continue.
Andy took it on because he values the current and historical information on it. He has invested his own money to keep it going. Andy is also a stalwart of the Morgan racing fraternity, he became part of the racing "family" back in the 1970s and has been a loyal and active participant in supporting it over the years. He has managed countless Morgan six-hour relay teams and Morgan 24-hour teams.
The present
With the advent of social media, Morgan racers have moved to other ways to communicate with each other. More recent competitors are probably unaware of brakehorsepower.net and don't use it at all. The usage and number of contributions have dwindled to the point that the Forums are almost dormant and a decision needs to be made regarding its future.
There are still some people who do not use Facebook or WhatsApp and therefore find BHP a good place to chat with like-minded folk and exchange valuable information and sell Morgan items.
Many of the topics have generated fascinating historical details and photographs creating a valuable ‘archive’ with details not easily found elsewhere as well as providing a dedicated space for the current Morgan Challenge. As a minimum these should be preserved, the contents are an amalgam of contributions from many different sources and would be almost impossible to recreate. Andy is researching how they may be saved and archived.
The future?
The time has come to decide what’s next; Andy would welcome your thoughts and comments to help determine the way forward.
Go to brakehorsepower.net to see what's there and comment on the topic "Is this the end of brakehorsepower? ".
Perhaps there is someone in the present Morgan Challenge community who would like to take it on?

[Barry Sumner]

Wow, I am staggered by the silence.
Even as to why someone finds it old hat - a relic of the past!
I recently attended a seminar that set out that the attention span of Generation Z was less than that of a goldfish, perhaps Generation Z has ascended the Morgan Challenge early.

[Mary Lindsay]

Yes Barry, I find it very surprising that there have been so few comments, especially as I put a comprehensive post on the Challenge Facebook page.

Even the BHP stalwarts seem to have gone silent.

Come on folks - use it or lose it!

[Bob Bull]

All of the replies are from long term members of the forum, which tells you all you need to know about it's users. I suspect that there are too many 'social media sites' for people to be bothered with something as specialist as BHP.

Personally I would be sorry to see it die, but so much in my own life has moved on or changed that I am resigned to more regretful happenings.

I would welcome any suggestions as to how to leave my Morgan archives for posterity.

Bob.

[simon king]

Ok, so I definitely now fall into the infrequent visitor/user camp. There's no particular reason - maybe I'm just death scrolling on instagram

With the above said, I think it would be a real shame if brakehorsepower were to disappear. As noted by others it is a fantastic resource. I would be happy to make a ££ contribution if that helped to keep it running (presumably the cost incurred is for the server hosting as it looks like the phpBB is free to use?). Others would hopefully feel the same. A gofundme perhaps? I've never considered how the forum was funded but don't think it should fall to one generous individual to cover the cost. Maybe it can be moved to another and more cost effective location? Could the forum be moved onto the same server that is hosting the Morgan Challenge website for example? Or where the MSCC website is hosted?

I also wonder if MSCC could be approached to see if they will fund the hosting since it doesn't seem to be a significant cost for the value this particular forum provides? I have been a member of MSCC for many years and since I'm not into the 'mainstream' activities of MSCC membership I wonder, what am I getting out of being an MSCC member? Would the MSCC funding BHP be a way of supporting/giving something back to the more motorsport oriented part of the membership? Would it be of more value to me to spend my annual MSCC membership money on a contribution to funding this forum instead? I think so. Could BHP be sponsored by a Morgan dealership? "brakehorsepower.net powered by ........."

There may be other things that could be done to improve awareness of the site, e.g. when posting on facebook/x/instagram/truthsocial /youtube a reference hashtag could be made to BHP. How about creating a BHP youtube channel where GoPro (or similar) videos could be posted centrally instead of them being done on individual accounts? As a collective the channel might start to generate its own revenue and pay for the forum itself? Some BHP merch/Ts anyone? In Miscellany for the the motorsport sections or historic register could they have a footnote reference each time to BHP?

I don't think the forum needs to die, it's too valuable a resource. Bob, to your point, I think BHP could be a great home to your archives (the how would be need to be decided). I'm not sure the amount of traffic need be a concern so much. I think the value is in the content (quality vs quantity) but getting more people to visit will hopefully generate the new quality content that will be of interest.

Just my thoughts. Happy to help if I can.

Simon