[webteam]

We previously had a policy of pretty much being self moderating and the only exception to that rule was to insist that there was nothing, abusive, unlawful or pornographic being posted.

Last year the website rules were updated to clarify the situation and to give examples of what was unacceptable behaviour. It is clear that simply updating the rules has not worked as a few message board users continue to abuse the forum rules and test them to the limit to justify personal and abusive attacks on each other.

This will be stopped!


Anyone who incites this kind of behaviour in the future will be banned from this board and the thread / post removed. There is no doubt this will arouse cries and opinions that this is censorship. We can assure you this is not the case but we are not going to have a debate on this issue as there is no way everyone can be appeased by this.

Please be assured that everyone is welcome to participate on the message board in whatever capacity or level of membership you choose so long as you treat everyone else the way you would expect to be treated yourselves (i.e. with respect).

We are of the opinion that anyone wishing to defend their “freedom of speech” to the point of libelous, abusive or threatening posting is not the kind of person who would be welcome on this board anyway.

The role of the moderators is to restore what we all once enjoyed, a club full of likeminded people with a common interest of creating a community where members have a mutual respect of each other, sharing banter, knowledge and generally enjoying each other’s company...and bikes!

We will be deleting any kind of potentially abusive, inciting threads / posts or anything that could possibly descend us back to where we have just previously come from and if the offender persists, they will be banned.

Please note there will be no public justification for closing, deleting or banning a member, I’m afraid you are just going to have to trust our judgment on this which is why we are here so please do not PM the Webteam or start a thread based on this as this will be viewed as inciting behaviour

Anyone can report a bad post or thread by sending a PM to the Webteam – click on the small warning triangle icon next to the relevant posting.


During the course of 2007, the MT has had to review its legal position with regard to the website and its usage. It is quite clear that there is a duty of care upon the website owners and operators to ensure that no libelous and/or defamatory comments are held on the system. Just two cases that appeared in the press this year have vividly demonstrated this; see http://news.bbc.co.uk:80/1/hi/technology/7056659.stm and http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2006/aug/08/news.newmedia2 for more information. The MT are determined not to allow a few people to put at risk the operation of the club website and the above strengthening of the rules and moderation processes are designed to ensure all members can continue to benefit from the message board facilities.