I started drafting something a couple of years ago and ran across it on my
harddrive tonight. Anyone want to expand, fill in details or submit memories of
the early days of the Internet GTS experience?
I'll try to assemble something for our Colorado Meet. Hey Don McLellan when
did you write your intro?
RADDical Revisitation: how the GTS came to the Internet
by Robert Wilson (drafted June 2000)
1995
December 12: I email Mike Weaver (first GTSer I've discovered on
the Internet). Mike was active on the rec.moto newsgroup and the
only GTSer I initially found. I wasn't a GTSer yet.
1996
March: I bought a GTS that had been sitting on the showroom floor
for 3 years.
April: Richard Lanouette, Gerben Verrips, Wendell Joyner, Mike
Coan.
March/April: Wilson Yamaha GTS Website first published. I scour
the newsgroup rec.motorcycles and Deja News (not the same as
todays Deja News, it used to be simply an archive of newsgroup
traffic) for GTS related info. Find Rob Chapman & Spitz downunder.
May: Joerg Alschwee (a fellow Kawasaki H1 survivor), Eric
Olbricht, Greg Christopher, Paul Kemp, Kelly Cash, Jerry Wills,
Andre Morisette, Brian Kearney
May 7, I receive my favourite gts feedback email of all time:
From: Tollot Kusessa \ Internet: ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
To: Robert Wilson \ Internet: ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Subject: (no subject)
Hey ass hole your bikes is shit my bike is harley davidson 2l
engine 200hp
May: Listed on Ronnie Cramer's Motorcyle List.
May 12: An engineering student at Dartmouth College, Gen M. Kanai
contacts individuals on the GTS Owners List asking about the RADD
system. He's researching alternative front suspensions for
motorcycles. I ask to publish his paper on the the GTS web page
when he is complete.
There are 26 recipients of that email, taken from my owners list.
Roll call;
Kelly Cash
Greg Christopher
Scott Francis
Mike Weaver
Joerg Alschwee
Darren May (an early Netscape employee)
Eric Olbricht
Wendell Joyner (became an active lister, 130 mile/day GTS
commute)
Peter Kropf (had a GTS website)
Pete Lindner (of wet leather fame)
Richard Lanouette (then living in Montreal)
Jon Crisler
Ren Doughty
John Congleton
Rich Gadon
Jason Kaplitz
Paul Taylor
Gerben Verrips
Trevor Simpson
, (& a bunch of Compuserve addresses I haven't deciphered, were
you in there Bob Taylor?).
June 19: Response to first message to my ISP requesting clearance
to start a GTS mailing list. Majordomo gts-1000@mbnet goes live
96.06.21??
September: Mark Bergman & Kevin Hawkins grace our list. 30 mail
list members out of 60 GTS's located worldwide. Alan Macias joins
& emails photos of his single-sided rear end (VFR) GTS graft.
Roger Van Santen, Iron Butt extrordnaire joins the list.
October 2: Mike Weaver (current admin) joins the list
1997
January 8: Shawn Pearsall's GTS Locator Map in production.
February: Joerg Alschwee informs the list that Krauser has gone
bankrupt ("kaput" as we say in English, gee these ESL (English as
a second language) guys should learn English better ;)
February 5: Kevin Hawkin's first Smart Ass comment (on the gts
list):
February 19: Maxine Featherstonhaugh, first woman of the the GTS
joins the mailing list.
April 2: ISP offers Listproc mailing list software for CAN$30. per
month. We emigrate to this superior software that has superior
administrative functions and allows digest mode.
April 5: GTS-1000 maillist Digest #1
October 24: Shawn Pearsall's one-upmanship of Kevin Hawkins:
Mike Weaver dons the Grand Poobah hat and takes gts-1000@mbnet to
gts-1000@elektro (another ListProc host).
