I agree with Redfish's view that there is more to the high quality of this group than is due to the moderators alone. No question that recruiting and interviewing would be unlikely to hire people of the quality of the moderators here but there is more to a group than an enforcer with a big stick. I have belonged to groups in which rudeness and other bad behavior were enforced by the members as a group without moderators. When someone has their posts blocked by virtually everyone and receives no communication, they have no choice but to drift. All of this speaks to maintaining the type of society in which one wishes to live. Most often people operate in reverse and expect everyone else to come around to accommodating them which doesn't work.
I also no longer own an ST although am still involved with them through friends and the desire to remain connected with a community of this quality. There are a few other groups which offer the level of discourse and technical found here although, KLRForums, and the old DSN_KLR650 groups are examples. The level of technical on the KLRForums, in respect to oil pressure management and oil consumption may be of interest to the more technical here, FWIW.
I recently departed two web groups, one KLR and one Brit sports car because of rudeness and or arrogant postings. Groups tend to reap what they sow, so to speak.
A thread of this type is very valuable because a social group must have some means to communicate its values and the aspect of that most often neglected is the communication of the positive. One of the most basic principles of managing people, IME, is to communicate approval for the behaviors which we value and so wish to have repeated. Seems like a no-brainer but few people seem to recognize that people are more likely to repeat what we want if we ask them. ;-)
