started this forum a few months ago, it's been kinda slow, but is starting to pick up. Just looking for a review and will listen to all suggestions you guys make as far as changing it goes.

www.crfhq.com

Really, the key to forums has really little to do with web design. I've seen a lot of forums and most of them look fine. But it's the way they advertise them that makes them a success or not. So start pulling some tricks out of your hat. Blogs, articles, working on your SEO, etc... Really you just need some good content to attract a few good members to attract a bunch of members and it starts branching out. I bet that's how this forum started.

i might start using this forum. I got a 08 crf 250r. One thing you could add if you dont already is a section for great dirtbiking spots.

Great niche and nice forum.

As mentioned above, the success of any forum is not depends on the design..but, marketing effort that u put on.

So, i suggest u boost-up your marketing effort.

Cheers..

Agree with all of the above. Work on content and SEO.

I'm not big on the grey background but who looks at that when go to a forum site.

Usability wise, I'd prefer to see your forum categories on your front page rather than make your members hunt for it. It may seem obvious and stupid, but that one second it takes your surfer to hunt for that "forum" button could cost you a new sign up. You also need to work on getting backlinks. Network with other related Honda sites and offer to promote them with articles and blog posts in exchange for links to your site.

I love dirt bike ! Theme is not good. You can get more colors.

I'd probably agree with the other guys that visuals rarely make or break the success of a forum. Its more to do with the level of interest and participation that make a forum work.

1) Try adding some polls. People like those.
2) I couldn't see any social media buttons like "Add me to Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon etc.
3) Content will bring users to the site. Community will make them stay. Try adding an RSS aggregator, some YouTube embedded videos, start a blog.
Anything to give people something fresh and compelling on your site.
4) I'm not sure what you are using to generate the forum but there does not seem to be a way to subscribe to posts or comments via RSS feeds. That is very important for Social Network sites.
5) You are bleeding Google Juice everywhere by not having a canonical URL. Your home page is variously described as:
http://www.crfhq.com/forum/index.php?autocom=portal
http://www.crfhq.com/forum/index.php?
http://www.crfhq.com/forum/

As far as some search engines are concerned those are all different websites.

6) I would replace the PNG format image with a JPEG in the header to create a crisper image. It looks a bit pixellated on my browser.