faz
Sexiest Ex-Mod around!™
Newbie's guide to surviving BARF!
Hello, and welcome to this wonderful place we call BARF.
You may have just started riding, or may be a veteran with years of experience under your belt. In any case, if you are reading this, chances are, you are a "Newbie" to BARF. Here are some pointers to make your stay here more enjoyable, and to bring you up to speed on things around here.
Introducing yourself
If you are just lurking here, STOP IT! lol. Go ahead and say hello to the community in the Newbies section. Go on. No one will bite you. (Unless of course, you are into that kind of thing and are willing to pay for the services.)
Posting to the correct forum is important
Everything in the General section is motorcycling related. If it doesn't have to do with motorcycles, it doesn't belong there. If you have a technical question, go directly to the Garage section and post it there. Read the Classified rules before posting there.
Searching the forum
Chances are, your questions have already been asked and answered many times before, so do a search on the topic first. Things like which oil to use, which gas is better, how to wash the bike, how to clean the chain, etc. etc., have been discussed many times before. Search for them first using the link found around the top-right of the page..
[edit 6/6/07: Please see the snapshot of a search window with modified settings for best results at the bottom of this post.]
Kitchen Sink
Do not go there. Not for the faint of heart. It is a place to kick back and take part in non-motorcycling related stuff, you know, things like politics, people's personal interests, doggy anal sacks and stuff like that.
Do not take racial or other jokes that are thrown around here seriously. Chances are, the persons who are making such comments are from that racial background themselves and everyone else knows that already. Given most people here know each other in person one way or another, there may also be an inside joke going on. In any case, don't take things too seriously around here.
Post count under a user's name
It doesn't mean they are any good at motorcycling, or know what they are talking about. But it does mean that they have been around here long enough to know who is who, know the inside jokes, and are probably either pretty thick skinned or willing to help if they are still posting around here.
Treating other BARFers
Well, motorcycling world in the Bay Area is VERY small. You are bound to run into someone sooner or later. You may be stuck somewhere in the middle of nowhere and a person you just insulted on BARF yesterday may come to your rescue. Do not burn any bridges online. Treat everyone on this board like you are going to see them tomorrow night at a social event.
Ongoing jokes - don't get offended until you are sure it is meant to offend you
As a new member, you may find parts of what some people write or suggest in this forum as offensive or rather rude at times. Please remember, due to the local nature of this board, and the fact that most people have met one another at some point in person, that there are some ongoing inside jokes that may come as a surprise to an outsider or a new comer. These jokes are part of BARF's fun nature, and nothing more should be read into them.
For example, at the beginning I found pictures of riders standing in groups and all giving a
to be rather rude and offensive. But then I found out there is not much real meaning behind this, and it really isn't meant as giving someone the finger.
Female new comers may see a few "How You Doin'?" remarks here and there, which is again part of an ongoing joke, which basically makes fun of the fact that in most motorcycling forums, new female members are immediately 'leghumped' upon by fellow male participants. Most people who would post the "How you doin'?" comments on BARF are either happily married or have beautiful girlfriends to begin with, and simply do this as a joke. Do not take it personally.
MiniBARF
I use Mini Barf at work and at home, for faster upload and not too cluttered view. The difference between the Mobile view and the regular view is "/mobile" in the address link:
http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums
http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/mobile/forums
All you have to do to go from one view to another is to either add or remove the "/mobile" part from the address bar, regardless of where you are. You could be on the 5th page of a certain thread, and still can go back and forth between the views by adding or removing the "/mobile" from the address bar.
Signatures
Please read the rules and requests on signatures. Basically, no large signtures, and no quotes from other users in your signature without first checking with them and receiving their permission.
Using Private Messaging (PM) and emails
I have seen many new users, when setting their Options, choose to hide their email, or choose to set "Enable Private Messaging?" to No. Suggestion: leave the PM option ON, even if you want to hide your email. Also, modify your settings such that when you receive a PM, an email is automatically sent to you (by the system, not the user) to notify you that you have a PM. This is a great option that is a must. To view your PMs, click on the UserCP link on top of the page, then click on Private Messages link.
SPAM
People here do not like spammers at all. Even though you may feel like you are offering people some amazing deals on goods or services, if it comes across as SPAM, people won't like it, and SPAM posts are usually deleted right away. If you have a business you want to promote, or you have means of providing a service and making money from it, you are best to contact one of the moderators or budman himself, to see what it takes to become a BARF sponsor and promote your business through BARF properly.
Some threads that may be of interest to you...
Here is a thread about who is running BARF and why:
From Budman: A message about barf and where and why I do this.
The following thread has a ton of links/advice and How-To's with regards to maintaining your bike:
Also a sticky in Garage section
Here is a thread on where to get service manuals in pdf online??
Where to get service manuals in pdf online
Commonly used, but uncommon, terms
"Taht jsut jake mate!" means: that is just jacked up! Originated from a BARFer who didn't care about (or pretended like he didn't know) proper grammar or spelling.
"+101eleven1101!" means agreeing many times over.
"Damn Asians!" is a joke that a famous BARFer of asian descent started himself.
"How You Doin'?" is a joke, something that people will post into your threads, when they find out you are a female. It doesn't mean they want to go out on a date with you, or they consider you to be a sex object. Don't read too much into it, and feel free to either ignore it totally or answer in your own humorous way.
Use of smilies
Smilies bring a point across. Some common smilies that are used on BARF and may be misunderstood are:
means you are jokingly poking fun at someone
:finger is insulting
means 'what the fuck?' in a questioning sort of manner.
means lets laugh at this together
means you think you just said something funny
Hope this helps.
[edit 6/6/27: here is a good example on how to do a successful search:]
Hello, and welcome to this wonderful place we call BARF.
You may have just started riding, or may be a veteran with years of experience under your belt. In any case, if you are reading this, chances are, you are a "Newbie" to BARF. Here are some pointers to make your stay here more enjoyable, and to bring you up to speed on things around here.
Introducing yourself
If you are just lurking here, STOP IT! lol. Go ahead and say hello to the community in the Newbies section. Go on. No one will bite you. (Unless of course, you are into that kind of thing and are willing to pay for the services.)
Posting to the correct forum is important
Everything in the General section is motorcycling related. If it doesn't have to do with motorcycles, it doesn't belong there. If you have a technical question, go directly to the Garage section and post it there. Read the Classified rules before posting there.
Searching the forum
Chances are, your questions have already been asked and answered many times before, so do a search on the topic first. Things like which oil to use, which gas is better, how to wash the bike, how to clean the chain, etc. etc., have been discussed many times before. Search for them first using the link found around the top-right of the page..
[edit 6/6/07: Please see the snapshot of a search window with modified settings for best results at the bottom of this post.]
Kitchen Sink
Do not go there. Not for the faint of heart. It is a place to kick back and take part in non-motorcycling related stuff, you know, things like politics, people's personal interests, doggy anal sacks and stuff like that.
Do not take racial or other jokes that are thrown around here seriously. Chances are, the persons who are making such comments are from that racial background themselves and everyone else knows that already. Given most people here know each other in person one way or another, there may also be an inside joke going on. In any case, don't take things too seriously around here.Post count under a user's name
It doesn't mean they are any good at motorcycling, or know what they are talking about. But it does mean that they have been around here long enough to know who is who, know the inside jokes, and are probably either pretty thick skinned or willing to help if they are still posting around here.
Treating other BARFers
Well, motorcycling world in the Bay Area is VERY small. You are bound to run into someone sooner or later. You may be stuck somewhere in the middle of nowhere and a person you just insulted on BARF yesterday may come to your rescue. Do not burn any bridges online. Treat everyone on this board like you are going to see them tomorrow night at a social event.
Ongoing jokes - don't get offended until you are sure it is meant to offend you
As a new member, you may find parts of what some people write or suggest in this forum as offensive or rather rude at times. Please remember, due to the local nature of this board, and the fact that most people have met one another at some point in person, that there are some ongoing inside jokes that may come as a surprise to an outsider or a new comer. These jokes are part of BARF's fun nature, and nothing more should be read into them.
For example, at the beginning I found pictures of riders standing in groups and all giving a
to be rather rude and offensive. But then I found out there is not much real meaning behind this, and it really isn't meant as giving someone the finger. Female new comers may see a few "How You Doin'?" remarks here and there, which is again part of an ongoing joke, which basically makes fun of the fact that in most motorcycling forums, new female members are immediately 'leghumped' upon by fellow male participants. Most people who would post the "How you doin'?" comments on BARF are either happily married or have beautiful girlfriends to begin with, and simply do this as a joke. Do not take it personally.
MiniBARF
I use Mini Barf at work and at home, for faster upload and not too cluttered view. The difference between the Mobile view and the regular view is "/mobile" in the address link:
http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums
http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/mobile/forums
All you have to do to go from one view to another is to either add or remove the "/mobile" part from the address bar, regardless of where you are. You could be on the 5th page of a certain thread, and still can go back and forth between the views by adding or removing the "/mobile" from the address bar.
Signatures
Please read the rules and requests on signatures. Basically, no large signtures, and no quotes from other users in your signature without first checking with them and receiving their permission.
Using Private Messaging (PM) and emails
I have seen many new users, when setting their Options, choose to hide their email, or choose to set "Enable Private Messaging?" to No. Suggestion: leave the PM option ON, even if you want to hide your email. Also, modify your settings such that when you receive a PM, an email is automatically sent to you (by the system, not the user) to notify you that you have a PM. This is a great option that is a must. To view your PMs, click on the UserCP link on top of the page, then click on Private Messages link.
SPAM
People here do not like spammers at all. Even though you may feel like you are offering people some amazing deals on goods or services, if it comes across as SPAM, people won't like it, and SPAM posts are usually deleted right away. If you have a business you want to promote, or you have means of providing a service and making money from it, you are best to contact one of the moderators or budman himself, to see what it takes to become a BARF sponsor and promote your business through BARF properly.
Some threads that may be of interest to you...
Here is a thread about who is running BARF and why:
From Budman: A message about barf and where and why I do this.
The following thread has a ton of links/advice and How-To's with regards to maintaining your bike:
Also a sticky in Garage section
Here is a thread on where to get service manuals in pdf online??
Where to get service manuals in pdf online
Commonly used, but uncommon, terms
"Taht jsut jake mate!" means: that is just jacked up! Originated from a BARFer who didn't care about (or pretended like he didn't know) proper grammar or spelling.
"+101eleven1101!" means agreeing many times over.
"Damn Asians!" is a joke that a famous BARFer of asian descent started himself.
"How You Doin'?" is a joke, something that people will post into your threads, when they find out you are a female. It doesn't mean they want to go out on a date with you, or they consider you to be a sex object. Don't read too much into it, and feel free to either ignore it totally or answer in your own humorous way.
Use of smilies
Smilies bring a point across. Some common smilies that are used on BARF and may be misunderstood are:
means you are jokingly poking fun at someone:finger is insulting
means 'what the fuck?' in a questioning sort of manner. means lets laugh at this together means you think you just said something funnyHope this helps.
[edit 6/6/27: here is a good example on how to do a successful search:]
Last edited by a moderator:
Newbies! Thanks Yana and faz 