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In early 1997 Bob Edwards purchased a 1983 Yamaha Venture touring motorcycle. Living in the small state of Rhode Island with few sources of information, he resorted to the World Wide Web, looking for any references about this rig. Soon he found a discussion board with many Venture owners who were feeling rejected because of Yamaha's discontinuance of the marque. Bob decided to start a webpage in hopes of meeting others in the same predicament. The "Yamaha Venture Webpage" was born in the winter of 1997. Later in 1997 Don Nelson of Texas (at the time), in a unrelated effort, started a discussion forum based on the Yamaha Venture Royale he had just purchased. The two websites continued to grow independently throughout 1997 into early 1998. In 1998, Jeff Cranfill, of North Carolina, was visiting these two sites that he frequented, looking for information about his Venture Royale when he had an idea...why not join Bob's webpage and Don's forum into a central gathering place for Venture owners? He presented the idea to the gentlemen, who, after a little prodding, agreed to join and become VentureNet, with a new domain of www.yamahaventure.net, and centrally located on one server. Jeff became the Host Administrator and also developed the VentureNet Listserv. VentureNet was well-received and flourished through 1998 into 1999. In 1999, Yamaha re-introduced the marque under a cruiser style, but still a full-dress touring motorcycle. VentureNet welcomed the new Venture owners with open arms. At the same time, the Motorcycle Touring Association increased their support for the Yamaha Venture. Talks progressed toward VentureNet becoming a chapter of the MTA and, in February 2000, VentureNet was changed to The Venturers, Inc. (a.k.a. The Venturers) and became the first Cyber-Chapter of the MTA. Throughout 2000 and 2001 the club grew at a tremendous rate, with over 600 members at the end of 2001. Along the way our Treasurer, Lloyd Kuhlmann, secured a non-profit status for the club, which required The Venturers to become an entity of its own, instead of a chapter. The Venturers, Inc., became an independent organization in the Spring of 2001. What started as a little one-page website is now the official home of The Venturers, with members in all the 48 contiguous states, Alaska, almost every province of Canada, and spread across the world to other countries. The Venturers look forward to many long years of serving its members. To reflect these exciting changes, www.yamahaventure.net became www.venturers.org. VentureNet and The Venturers are open to all, but our website is committed to helping owners of the Yamaha Venture, Venture Royale, Royal Star Venture, and the 2nd Generation Royal Star Tour Deluxe motorcycles. Consider joining us, we think you'll soon be saying |
