User talk:217IP

June 2015

Hello, I'm Dennis Bratland. I noticed that you made a change to an article, Kawasaki KLR650, but you didn't provide a reliable source. It's been removed and archived in the page history for now, but if you'd like to include a citation and re-add it, please do so! If you need guidance on referencing, please see the referencing for beginners tutorial, or if you think I made a mistake, you can leave me a message on my talk page. Thank you. Dennis Bratland (talk) 00:24, 22 June 2015 (UTC)

Hi Dennis! I actually already re-added the change with a source as you requested. Let me know if there any problems. Thanks for the heads up! 217IP (talk) 00:30, 22 June 2015 (UTC)

I'm afraid that fansites, forums, clubs, social media and similar online communities are not reliable sources. They are self-published sources. The kind of sources we use are reputable books, magazines, newspapers, journals, and professionally-written websites recognized as authorities.

Also, why is a slang term for a reinforced idler shaft lever the kind of thing that belongs in an encyclopedia? Note that we don't include how-to advice or maintenance manuals. I would expect that if the reinforced idler shaft were the kind of thing you'd see in an encyclopedia article, you would read about it in a magazine like say, Cycle World, which would give reasons why the idler shaft is important.

I realize the current version of Kawasaki KLR650 is very poorly written and includes a lot of unsourced detail and trivia that we would want to remove. At the moment all I'm doing is keeping it from getting worse. Please feel free to discuss further and seek the opinions of other editors at Talk:Kawasaki KLR650 or Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Motorcycling. --Dennis Bratland (talk) 01:28, 22 June 2015 (UTC)

Hi Dennis - thanks for your patience and explanations. I thought it was worth including the reference to the component as a "doohickey" because it is the overwhelmingly used nomenclature for the piece. I would argue most KLR owners know what the "doohickey" is and nearly none of them know what the "idler-shaft lever" is. Is that not grounds enough for including it? This source, which hopefully passes the test for a reliable source, also refers to its more common name: http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/blogs/20145-kawasaki-klr650-new-edition-first-ride

Would that link work as a source for my proposed update? I think it qualifies as a "newsblog" which seems to be okay. Thanks again! 217IP (talk) 01:47, 22 June 2015 (UTC)

Yes, Brian Catterson is a very well known writer and the Motorcyclist article is just fine. The fact that he brings up the history of problems with the counterbalancer and the fix, and the slang term, is exactly what I was asking for. Go with that source and it's all good. --Dennis Bratland (talk) 02:00, 22 June 2015 (UTC)

217IP, you are invited to the Teahouse!

Hi 217IP! Thanks for contributing to Wikipedia. Be our guest at the Teahouse! The Teahouse is a friendly space where new editors can ask questions about contributing to Wikipedia and get help from peers and experienced editors. I hope to see you there! Missvain (I'm a Teahouse host) Visit the Teahouse This message was delivered automatically by your robot friend, HostBot (talk) 18:37, 22 June 2015 (UTC)