The World according to Lurch
(aka; the worst written rules ever)

Prelude:

CanberraRIDERS is the FUN social group to be part of. We don’t take the world too seriously, and as long as you can have a good laugh – you’ll fit in just fine!
Our main objectives are to organise rides and to have fun doing it. When we are not out riding, we are generally talking about the riding, the motorcycles, or just random stuff that keeps us interested.

Moderation:

Essentially CR should remain generally un-moderated. Not to the point where total chaos ensues, but for the most part, people will sort their own issues out.

I’ve put this up elsewhere, but here we go:

The FAQs:
These should be strictly ‘on topic’
This is a collection of reference material.

General Chit-Chat:
I don’t care how far this runs off topic. If people are happy to go from pudding to Facism in one thread, then so be it.

Bike Chat:
Roughly ‘on topic’. A few posts here and there is nothing to get your back up about.

Tech-Help:
As ‘on topic’ as possible, however roughly take the same approach as Bike Chat.

Learner League:
Without doubt the only forum that really needs to be moderated.
I want this strictly on topic, with zero flaming.

Geeks on Bikes:
Meh… its total off topic to begin with.

Events:
See rules for ‘Bike Chat’.
Once an event is over, posts may get split off and a new thread in the appropriate ‘Reports’ forum created.

Classifieds:
Meh – never had any problems, with exceptions of new members posting straight up. That’s about the only thing that gets under my skin.

What won’t be stood for:
*Extreme* abusiveness and flagrant sexist/racist etc comments.
*ANY* personal attacks.
But *do not* over do these rules. It has to be extreme.
You will generally find that most people will give as well as they take.

However:
Some humour is excepted in all forums. This isn’t, well, another forum.

One more rule:
*DO NOT* moderate threads/posts that you are involved with. If you are part of a discussion/argument/whatever and it goes to shit, remember to take your Mod hat off and put your ‘regular user’ hat on. Which means if you don’t agree with what goes on, report it to the other moderators. If for some reason ALL MODERATORS are involved, escalate it to me.

If you are not sure, ask.

I don’t like rules that have to be ‘overly’ enforced.
This isn’t play school; we don’t need teachers minding the play ground.

Signatures:
Please keep signatures simple.
Images should be no higher (width I dont care too much) than 3-4lines of regular text.
Advertising in signatures should be kept to a bare minimum. Only a single link and one line of regular sized text.

New Rule 1:
Keyboard Cowboys will not be stood for.

Rides:

When attending an event organised on CanberraRIDERS.

*CanberraRIDERS is not responsible for you. If you crash, hurt yourself, whatever; we’re sorry but we cannot help you on any legal basis.
*Any instruction given is done with the best intentions; however, do not blame us if it all goes pear-shaped. As an example; if you are attending one of our L&P rides; the senior riders will give you tips and ideas; however that is all they are. Do not take it all as gospel and it is *up to you* to make up your own mind.
*Beware the CanberraRIDERS is considered a ‘loosely affiliated group’. Essentially what that means is although we’re here… we’re not. CanberraRIDERS doesn’t actually exist as an entity. The website is here as nothing more than a conduit for communication.

When planning a ride on CanberraRIDERS:

I don’t think we need to go all anally retentive on this, but now that we are a lot bigger, and looking to be even more active than last year – I think we need to set some ground rules for planning a ride.

1) Where are you going?

In the first post please include a description of the route, and a Google Map.

2) Who’s in your crew?

Start collecting people’s mobile numbers.
It won’t take long to get most.
At the beginning of each ride, take a mental note, or stick something in your phone – a list of who’s riding with you, and if anyone is expected to head home early.
At least then when you get to a stop point, you’ll know who’s missing.

3) Tail-end-charlie.
Not a huge deal if you have done all of the above. So really only mandatory if you are riding with either a large group or a group that contains a lot of people you don’t know.
I would suggest at least asking for a volunteer…

I think the main reason this has come up, is that we cannot take for granted that people are going to know exactly what route you’re taking by just saying ‘we’re going for a lap’. I think we’ve out grown that a bit. People have now joined whose idea of a lap may be totally different to what we all knew it as. So we just need to start being a little more precise.

I reserve the right to update these as I see fit.
CanberraRIDERS is not a democracy.