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Terms and rules

  1. Synopsis

    1. Bay Area Riders Forum (BARF) was founded in 2002 as an online motorcycle community - a place to share your stories of motorcycling experience with friends, find information, learn from seasoned pros, contact each other to organize rides and activities, and discuss the latest motorcycling news, products and events. It doesn't matter if you simply ride to commute, tear up the twisties or rip it up racing. Maybe stunting is your cup of tea, or perhaps you're addicted to the track or the dirt or both! Adventure riding, touring, or mini bikes might hit your hot button, regardless of your specific interest, this site is for you if you enjoy your bike and, more importantly, you enjoy riding with others.

    2. We focus our attention on group rides, trackdays, racing, training, learning about our passion, social events, and other miscellaneous activities - as well as unbelievable amounts of time online getting to know each other. BARF is not about "us vs. them" - we try to get together with as many other local organizations as we can. Everyone is welcome here, as long as you share that one common interest - MOTORCYCLING!

    3. We strive to provide a moderated environment in which people can interact freely with each other. BARF is more than an online presence, however the rights and responsibilities laid forth in this document govern only the interactions on this website.

  2. Mission Statement

    1. Bay Area Riders Forum (BARF) is an online site dedicated to motorcycle riders in the Northern California Bay Area and beyond. Our focus is on safety, education and fun. If you share the love of two wheels, welcome and enjoy!

    2. Welcome to BARF! Enjoy!

  3. Rights

    1. Visitors have the right to find pertinent motorcycling information quickly.

    2. Visitors have the right not to be subjected to inappropriate graphic content.

    3. Visitors have the right to find relevant content in the forums they choose to browse.

    4. Members have the right to interact in a respectful environment.

    5. Members have a right to voice their opinions as long as that it does not conflict with another right.

    6. If such action is necessary, Members have a right to know why their Membership was suspended or banned in a timely manner.

    7. Members will not be held accountable for infractions preceding the adoption of applicable rules.

  4. Responsibilities

    1. Members will conduct themselves in a respectful manner. This is not to say that arguments and disagreements between Members are not permitted, simply that a level of respect is to be maintained in doing so. Members' posts should not contain malicious personal attacks, flaming, baiting, post whoring (posting with the sole purpose of increasing their overall post count), trolling, e-sniping, e-stalking, indirect attacks, and other such activities that are not conducive to a positive and productive environment. Personal threats will not be tolerated, and may result in a suspension, if not a perma-ban. Such posts will be acted on by interpretation of BARF Moderators.

      1. Bigotry makes for a divisive and unwelcoming environment for all riders. BARF views all people/ motorcyclists as equals in race, sex and more. Comments that encourage, include, or troll with divisive comments of such are subject to review and suspension. Tolerance on these specific issues are determined by the mod vote for suspension at the time.

      2. Political content creates a divisive atmosphere and should only be posted in the Political Forum in the kitchen sink. See the P-trap sticky for applications and repercussions.

    2. When personal disputes arise between Members they will take their squabble to Private Message (PM) when requested by Staff to do so. This does not apply to differences of opinion from which others will benefit (arguments pertaining to motorcycling technique, style, history, etc.); it is specifically targeted at those who actively engage in violation of Section 4.1. Such PM's are not to be posted publicly, nor will they be moderated.

    3. Members shall conduct themselves respectfully when in dispute with a Moderator. Verbal abuse of the volunteer staff may result in additional suspension.

    4. Members that smear or otherwise attack the site or moderators are subject to suspension and or removal.

    5. Members will not post other Members' personal information.

    6. Members will not start a thread with the intent of continuing the topic of a thread that was closed or removed.

    7. Members shall not post images containing, nudity, partial nudity, sexual acts, or depiction thereof, questionable images should be linked and not directly visible in a thread. This link, and if possible the thread title, should carry a warning that such material may be offensive to some. The general application being NWS = "Not Work Safe". BARF is primarily an adult community, but there are younger Members, and a vast number of Visitors that may come to BARF through links and search engines.

    8. Graphic images depicting violence are discouraged, with the exception of those that serve an educational purpose in the motorcycling community. Those that satisfy the educational clause should be linked and not directly visible in a thread. This link, and if possible the thread title, should carry a warning that such material may be offensive to some.

    9. Images found to be in violation of Sections 4.7 and 4.8 will be handled in the following manner:

      1. Images depicting strong graphic or questionable ethical content will be converted to links. Those links will be labeled with a brief description of what is to be expected if the link is clicked.

      2. Images deemed entirely inappropriate (pornography, graphic violence) will be removed.

    10. In order to ensure that people are able to find what they're looking for it is sometimes necessary to move threads from one forum to another. Posts made to inappropriate forums will be relocated. Members are encouraged to post informative thread titles that provide other Members insight into the content. Vague thread titles are subject to editing for clarity.

    11. Threads posted about current racing results where TV coverage is imminent shall not contain information about the result and will have the word "SPOILER" in the title.

    12. Members should not post copyrighted materials without permission of author or photographer as applicable. Links to other publications or materials are allowed along with a short introduction to the material.

    13. Signatures shall not exceed 10 lines and size 2 font, and shall not contain any hidden links that add users to ignore lists or otherwise dupe or harm other Members.

    14. Multiple accounts by the same user are not permitted. If it is found a member has multiple accounts all but the first registered account will be permanently suspended.

    15. Members shall not promote their business in fashion that can be considered SPAM. Postings of such material may be removed by the Moderators and an explanation will generally be provided, but not required. Repeat offenses may lead to suspension and/or removal. Advertisers are exempt and may post specials and/or information about their business.

    16. It is the responsibility of Staff to protect the rights by enforcing the responsibilities laid out in this document to the best of their ability. When there is a question regarding the rules they will either execute their best impartial judgment, discuss with other staff for resolution, or present it to the Official(s).

    17. Any gray areas not explicitly covered within the TOS are up to the Moderators' to address in a fashion protecting the interest of the BARF community.

    18. It is the responsibility of the Official(s) to act in a judiciary role should a dispute arise between Staff and Members. Disputes between Members are to be settled amongst themselves.

    19. It is the responsibility of The Official(s)to ensure that BARF adheres to the structure provided by this document. The Official (s) are also responsible for modifying this document, when necessary, to accommodate changes in policy due to unforeseen changes. BARF reserves the right to take immediate action to protect BARF's interest should the need arise and adjust this document to conform with those actions.

  5. Harrassment

    1. If unwanted sexual, romantic or other advances are reported, a member will be warned to discontinue their behavior. If the behavior is reported a second time, by either the same target or another target of unwanted advances/behavior, the offending member will receive a 30 day suspension. If a third violation occurs, the offending member will be permanently banned, without exception.
  6. Repercussions

    1. At any time, Moderators may contact a Member by PM (Private Message), email or other means and request that said Member no longer post personal attacks, bait or flame other members, post whore or troll. They may also request that a Member edit or remove a post due to text or images they posted, edit or remove an Avatar or title, or edit or remove an item in their signature. If a Member does not comply a Moderator may take action according to section 5.2.

    2. At any time, Moderators may edit or remove a post, edit or remove an Avatar or title, or edit or remove an item in a Member signature line if such content violates the Terms of Service.

    3. At any time, Moderators may temporarily suspend a Member's account for violating the Terms of Service. While suspended, Members will not be able to post to the forums or PM other Members, but will be able to contact the Administration of the site by using the CONTACT tab or emailing thebudman@kobza.com . After discussion with other Moderators, said Member account may be reinstated, suspended or banned as the Moderators see fit. The suspension tier is as follows: 7 days for the first violation, then 14, 21, 30, 60, & 90. A seventh offense will result in a permanent ban from the forum. An appeal to the Official(s) may be placed in writing within 60 days by the banned Member. Duration of suspension and number of offenses may be changed at the discretion of Moderators on a case-by-case basis.

    4. At any time Moderators may close or remove any thread, especially if they deem it has turned from a discussion into an argument. Upon discussion with other Moderators the thread may or may not be reopened or replaced. Any new threads that are started with the intent of continuing the discussion may also be closed or removed and action may be taken against the thread starter.

    5. Threads that are deemed Spam by Moderators may be removed at any time. If it appears the Member initiated the account for the sole purpose of posting Spam, Moderators may ban the account without discussion and without notification to the offending account. The account may be reopened at a later time if so deemed.

    6. Members who threaten Members or Moderators in any way (physical harm, property damage, legal action, etc.) may have their account suspended. Upon discussion with other Moderators, the account may be reinstated or banned.

    7. Members who abuse the BARF tools may be suspended. This includes but is not limited to: Repeated reported posts that are unwarranted, abuse of the Reputation/Mojo system, or other tools put in place to aid Members.

    8. Members may post in the Classifieds Forum after 30 days or once they've reached 25 posts elsewhere. All members posting in the Classifieds Forum shall conform with the Classifieds Forum Rules outlined there. Violators are subject to Section 5.3.

  7. Roles

    1. VISITORS: Anyone connected to the Internet and visiting the BARF website is a visitor.

    2. MEMBERS: Any registered Member of BARF whose account is active (registration complete and not muted or banned) is entitled to the rights of and subject to the rules of conduct at BARF.

    3. FOUNDING MEMBERS: Any Member of BARF who joined during the first year of the site.

    4. SPONSORS: Any individual or business that has a working relationship with BARF. Sponsors shall have the same rights as members and subject to the same rules of conduct at BARF with exceptions noted herein.

    5. STAFF: BARF's moderators, along with those who voluntarily accept being tasked with the execution of events, are representatives of BARF serving in an assistance role. These individuals are collectively referred to as Staff throughout this document by definition of the roles they play, but are not obligated or empowered as though official representatives.

    6. MODERATORS: Moderators are Members of BARF who volunteer to assist in the management and government of the Internet Forum. Moderators have extended capabilities on the Forum in order to conduct their responsibilities, however, the enhanced privileges of Moderators end with the execution of their Roles. They are not extended exemptions or additional leniency and, as such, are expected to act in accordance with the same guidelines as the entire Membership of BARF; they are entitled to the same Rights and are subject to the same Responsibilities.
    7. HALL OF FAME MODERATORS: Any former Moderator who has given service to BARF during the course of the site's existence. These Members are considered to be experienced in guiding BARF and are always welcome to join in with the Moderators on specific actions they deem necessary.

    8. OFFICIAL(S): The only official representative of Bay Area Riders Forum, at the time of this publication, is Dennis Kobza (budman). There are many who aid tremendously in the many aspects of BARF's functions, for which I am greatly appreciative, but none shall be held responsible or liable to any commitment on the part of BARF, nor shall BARF be held to any commitment on their part.

  8. Declarations

    1. The pictures and text posted by members of BARF do not necessarily represent the opinions or views of its founder, its Official(s), its Staff, or of BARF on the whole. BARF Staff will do its best to ensure that content on this website is inline with its guidelines but the ultimate responsibility for material within the forums of BARF's website lies with the poster, not BARF.

    2. BARF encourages its membership to interact with each other in an effort to reduce the anonymity frequently seen at online forums. However, unless otherwise indicated by BARF official(s), no activities organized through BARF are either implicitly or explicitly endorsed by Bay Area Riders Forum. This includes but is not limited to social activities, events, rides on public highways, rides off-highway (paved or dirt), and activity conducted on the website.

    3. Any content posted to BARF immediately becomes the property of BARF and is therefore protected by BARF copyright. BARF reserves the right to use any content posted for other purposes. BARF will make reasonable efforts to contact the originator of content it wishes to reuse and acknowledge their submission when possible. BARF recognizes the copyrights of others and will remove any copyrighted material if requested to do so by the owner of said copyright.

    4. BARF reserves the right to restrict or remove any commercial solicitations, group buys, or other promotions involving financial transactions, trades of services, or other forms of payment or bartering. Merchants are welcome to post promotions and sales but if the frequency is high enough BARF will ask that vendor to become an active sponsor to help support the site. Group buys will only be allowed when the merchant through which the buy is taking place is known.

  9. Privacy Statement

    1. BARF respects the privacy of its Members. At no time will BARF distribute email addresses or other personal information of Members to any person, business, or entity other than law enforcement officials. Only after validation of identity and justification of purpose will BARF release any information. BARF will not wait until being subpoenaed for information.

    2. BARF will not create or provide access to any tools that allow any person, business, or other entity to contact Members through any means other than the Internet Forum.

    3. BARF reserves the right to email Members at any time. This will typically be an automated email sent by a machine for the purpose of maintaining accounts on the web server, notifying Members of updated threads (to which they have intentionally subscribed), and upon activation of other automated system (software and server) triggers.

    4. BARF reserves the right to email Members updates and/or newsletters at a frequency of no more than once per month. A notice will accompany the mailing with a process for unsubscribing.

  10. Revision History

    1. September 17, 2003
      Slight revision of the Mission Statement.
      All other content is new and original.
    2. December 1, 2003
      Addition of commerce and group buy policy (7.4)
    3. December 9, 2005
      General revisions.
    4. November 24th, 2007
      General revision with implementation of new software.
    5. May 1st, 2008
      Harrassment Section added.
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