WRENCH,
RIDE,
REPEAT
REOPEN
We’re excited to announce that we’re back, baby!
It’s been a roller coaster few months but thanks to you, we made it. No only have we been working on the XV750 GIVEAWAY BUILD but we’ve given the space a fresh new layout with some very exciting new equipment onsite.
Before we get into all the juicy details, we wanted to give you all some massive love and thanks for  chipping in, digging deep and getting us through the lockdown. There’s still a recovery period for the space, but things are very positive. Each and every contribution made an impact. So, THANK YOU.
Now this is a long post – so to make sure you get the info you need – you can click through directly to each section that is relevant:
REOPENING & NEW BOOKING SYSTEM
OTHER SHORT TERM CHANGES TO THE WORKSHOP
OUR FANCY NEW WEBSITE & YOUR NEW DIGITAL TOOL BOX
NEW WORKSHOP FIT OUT
XV750 GIVEAWAY BUILD UPDATE
WORKSHOP REOPENING & NEW BOOKING SYSTEM
With COVID-19 restrictions easing, we can finally get you lot back into the workshop and on the tools.
For the next little while we’ll be utilising an online booking system to mange the amount of people on-site at any given time, helping us to easily comply with social distancing measures and track who has been on site and when. It will also help us manage our time better so we can ensure we can focus on projects that will help us cover some of the associated costs from the shutdown.Â
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Firstly and most importantly, there are no booking charges, the space is still completely free for members to use. This is simply a time and person management tool.Â
– You’ll need to book any visit to the space online at least 24hrs in advance.
– Bookings will be hourly slots, and you can estimate your time on site. However, if there is another booking after you, you will need to ensure that you are wrapped up 15mins prior to the next booking. If there are free bays, you can stay.
– You can cancel your booking within 24hours notice, but those with consistent non-shows or short notice cancellations will be restricted during social distancing times. This is to ensure people are not missing out – however, we don’t feel like this will happen.
– You MUST make a booking via the online system. Not via messager, email, letter or carrier pigeon. ONLINE ONLY.
– Members are required to clean, sanitise and ensure the space is tidy after each visit, ready for the next person.
– Only current members will be able to make a booking. If your membership has expired, you will need to reactivate to make a booking. Access to the booking page will be restricted
– At this stage, you MUST BOOK in advance, you will not be able to rock up and utilise the space without a booking.
– You can have up to five bookings active at any one time.
– If you need to change times or dates – CANCEL the booking and REBOOK online. You don’t need to let us know.
WHAT EXACTLY IS EACH “WORKSHOP AREA” AND WHAT IF I NEED TO USE MULTIPLE AREAS ON THE SAME DAY?
- DIY BAY – 3 out of 5 Bike lifts are available. This is to ensure social distancing requirements are met.
- FABRICATION AREA – This is the back left area with work bench and all the machinery inc welding, lathe, drill press etc
- GENERAL WORKSHOP VISIT – This is for those that don’t specifically need a lift and can leave that booking open for someone else. This could also be for a Club Permit appointment, a chat about a project, etc
… and Yes, you can still use the workshop in it’s entirety during your session, the areas are simply to prevent 10 people wanting to come in and use the fabrication area at once.
WHY CAN I NOT ACCESS THE BOOKING PAGE?
 If you cannot access the booking page and are getting the following message:Â
OH DAMN. THIS AREA IS RESTRICTED TO MEMBERS ONLY.Â
It’s because of 1 of 2 scenarios:
- Â You don’t have an active membership.
Click your MEMBERSHIP & SUBSCRIPTIONSÂ tab to see details - We stuffed up our data import…
If your membership should be active but it says it is not, or there is not one listed in your account, email us and we’ll manually link it.
Â
While our vision has always been to keep Kommune as casual space where you can simply rock up and wrench anytime, this system will significantly help us manage our time and the amount of people on-site at once ensuring a safe and compliant space for everyone and we really appreciate you working with us to make this work so we can get back up and running efficiently.
READY TO GET BACK IN?Â
OTHER SHORT TERM CHANGES THE WORKSHOP
VOLUNTER & TRAINER ASSISTANCE
Please view 99% of your time at the workshop as un-assisted for the short term. We’ll still be there to answer questions and help you learn, however we need to comply with 1.5m distancing between persons. This also means that 1-1 sessions are currently unavailable, but we are still happy to take on servicing, repair and fabrication jobs for our trainers to carry out on your behalf to keep your project progressing.
TRAINING COURSES
We’re confident we’ll be able to arrange group training courses again very soon. We’ll keep you updated as soon as the courses are live. But, both Courses & 1-on-1 sessions are currently on hold.
CLEANING & SANITISING
We’ll be taking extra measures to ensure the space is clean with additional cleaning rosters being put in place. It will be your responsibility to clean all tools, equipment and surfaces you used after your booked session. Each area will be set up with Sanitisers, gloves etc.
SOCIAL CLUB EVENTS
We’ll get the social events back up and running as soon as permitted. We’re assuming it will be within a few weeks.
Again, we know some of this is less than ideal, but it’s only for a short time, so please bare with us.
NEW WEBSITE & YOUR NEW DIGITAL TOOL BOX
With the changes and implimentation of the booking system, we  figured it was a great opportunity to rebuild the website to make everything Kommune related MUCH easier to manage.Â
EASILY MANAGE YOUR MEMBERSHIPS, STORAGE & BOOKINGS
While this is just V2.1 we’ll have more functionality live soon. Our goal was to enable you guys to manage your Membership & Payments, Workshop Bookings and storage subscriptions, plus help you keep track of 1-on-1 sessions and Training Courses all in the one place and make it super easy.
You can now manage your automatic renewals, see exactly when your fees are due, and even swap between memberships tiers.
ONLINE PARTS ORDERING – FINALLY!Â
Best of all: when the new eStore is launched shortly, you’ll be able to grab all your parts and consumables online and have your member discounts automatically applied with default shipping coming straight to the Workshop. This will ensure your parts orders are turned around as fast as possible. We’ll have all our suppliers products listed online, with dedicated members-only areas for when our sponsors and wholesalers offer group-buy deals.
The eStore is currently offline, while we finish importing the last of the products.
JUST A LITTLE NOTE…Â
On the odd chance that you notice any Membership or account errors, just let us know. We’ve migrated to a complete new backend and whilst the transition was relativley smooth, sometimes weird things slip through the cracks. Just shoot us an email if your membership tier or date etc doesn’t look right.
NEW SHOP-MATES AND A FRESH NEW WORKSHOP UPDATE
With all the “free time” (yeah, right!) of lock down, we decided it would be the perfect opportunity to give the Kommune a fresh new update to make workspaces more efficient and make way for our new shop-mate and machinery.
MORE ORGANISED AND DEDICATED AREAS
DEDICATED FABRICAION AREA – The left rear half of the workshop is now home to our dedicated fabrication area. All the machinery is now better laid out and more efficient to use. This is for all the dirty work such as welding, cutting, grinding and machining. We ask that members keep all the dirty work in this area, where possible.
WASTE RECYCLING – This is a big one that we’ve been wanting to get sorted for ages! All the waste and consumables are now in one area with dedicated drums for:
- Waste engine oil
- Used Oil Fitlers
- Brake Fluid
- Coolant
Important note: we can not dispose of waste fuel, and it MUST NOT be mixed in to any of these drums. It has to be taken off-site and no jerry cans are to be stored on-site. The whole explosion thing, ya know…
OFF-SITE STORAGE – We were lucky enough to snag a shared-warehouse in Clifton Hill for long term off -site storage. We’ve ditched our little storage unit and now have the ability to house long term projects where you only need limited access. This also means we’ve made a ton more room in the workshop and also gave us the push to do a massive clean up. Long Term Storage is avilable for $89 per month
NEW MACHINERY AND SHOP-MATES
CLEAN ZONE & PROTOYPING AREA – This one we are particularly excited about. We’ve got some new shop-mates who have brought with them some very impressive new machinary… an OPTIMUM F150 CNC Machine. This is a very impressive bit of kit and means we now have the opportunity to work with Michael to make true custom parts for builds. The CNC is pretty hard to miss and is house in the rear right area. This area is to be kept as a “Clean Zone” with no grinding, sanding, welding etc. This creates a perfect area for design and assembly with the new divider.
You’ll see Michael around the space most days and we’re excited to see what opportunities this creates – make sure you introduce yourselves.
Note that the machine is not for members to use, it’s kinda complicated… and a little expensive…so let’s leave it up to the pros.
NOT SURE WHAT A CNC DOES?
XV750 GIVEAWAY UPDATE
HOW MUCH LONGER UNTIL YOU CAN WIN THIS BUILD?
The epic virago giveaway build is still in progress, our man Luke Steiger has been working on a heap of fabrication work and we’ve also completed majority of the electrical. As soon as we got word that we could reopen, we shifted focus to getting the website and workshop ready to roll to get you guys back on the tools.
You’ll see some quick progress on the build as soon as we are back in the workshop, as this project will be crucial for us to recover from ol’ mate rona.Â
We can’t wait to see you all bnack in the workshop and for some rides! Get online, book some sessions and come hang out… we miss you!
– Jimmy G & Nina G
