RideApart Community Guidelines and Standards

Welcome to RideApart!

What is the RideApart Community?

At RideApart, we pride ourselves on creating an inclusive, welcoming, fun-loving community based on the following tenets:

• Motorcycles are rad.
• Motorcycles are for everyone.
• If it has two wheels and an engine (or motor) it counts.

Our goal is to build a place in our little corner of the internet where anyone who is passionate about riding—from the greenest greenhorn to the crustiest, bitter old vet—can roll up to learn, swap stories, ask for or give advice, and basically help enrich other riders’ lives. Think of it as an extremely cool bike shop that works on all makes and models, welcomes everybody, has some comfy furniture, some knowledgeable techs, a well-stocked fridge, and a handful of characters whose presence makes everything a little more, well, colorful. So, if you like bikes and you want to hang out with some cool bike people, you’ve come to the right place.

Sounds great! How do I become a member?

You just show up! Subscribe to our newsletter, comment on our articles, join in the conversations on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Do one or all of those things and you’re in. Doesn’t matter what you ride, who you are, or the current status of your bike. New to riding? Welcome! Want to ride but haven’t yet? Join us! Used to ride but can’t anymore? Come ogle these new bikes and talk about the old days. It’s that easy, friends. Honestly, if you’re reading this you’re already a member of the RideApart community so come in, sit down, and let’s talk about bikes.

Are there any rules?

Just like any club, RideApart has a handful of expectations of its community members. I know that we as motorcyclists like to pride ourselves on our outsider status and like to see ourselves as rule breakers and iconoclasts thumbing our noses at square culture, but there are still some basic guidelines we have here to make this a welcoming place for all riders. This isn’t ‘Nam, Smokey. This is RideApart. There are rules. So, without further ado, here they are.

• Everybody Be Cool: Look, we know that, as a group, we can get pretty passionate about our particular hobby horses. Whether it’s a specific OEM, a certain political or social cause within motorcycling, or a strongly-held opinion about different types of riding, we all have something we care deeply about. We get it. Joshing, ribbing, polite and passionate debate, and good-natured shit-talking are not just welcomed but encouraged here. However, trolling, flamewars, name-calling, threats, and other stupid internet tough guy stuff will not be tolerated here. Before typing out that long screed about why Harleys rule/drool or why you totally had to Layer Dan to avoid that collision, stop and ask yourself, “Would I talk to my own mother like this?” If the answer is no, keep it to yourself. If the answer is yes, well, you have a more interesting relationship with your mom than we do.
• HATE SPEECH WILL NOT BE TOLERATED: Hate speech may sound to some like a nebulous thing, but to paraphrase Justice Potter Steward, “We know it when we see it.” Using threatening language to denigrate someone based on their religion, skin color, race, origin, gender, or sexual orientation will not be tolerated in the RideApart community. Use of gendered slurs (calling someone a little bitch, for example) or the use of anti-LGBT slurs to insult people (like calling someone a faggot) will be dealt with quickly and harshly. Also, just to make it clear, racism isn’t just using the “N-word” or using other slurs for people of different origins. Dog-whistle racism is A Thing and we know what it looks like, so don’t try to be clever talking about “the ghettoization of our hobby” thinking we won’t know what you’re saying. We do know, and we won’t tolerate it. Since we are, above all things, fair here at RideApart, we’ll deal with hate speech with a two strikes policy.
  • Strike One: You get a stern warning telling you to cut it out from our moderation team.
  • Strike Two: We perma-ban you from commenting on RideApart Articles because you’ve clearly shown yourself incapable of being a productive member of the community.

That's it! Simple, eh? Have fun, be cool, don't attack anyone, and remember we're all motorcycle nerds here. Welcome to the club, and tell us about your bike!

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