The begining

Message

blinkey501 · #1 Post by **blinkey501** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 3:50 pm

Just wondered how Ridersite began...Who why what where.
How it became the falco forum etc.
It would be nice I think for members new and old to know the story?
Admins......

lazarus · #2 Post by **lazarus** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 5:00 pm

Is it the Falco forum?

blinkey501 · #3 Post by **blinkey501** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 5:36 pm

lazarus wrote:Is it the Falco forum?

Don't know is it?

D-Rider · #4 Post by **D-Rider** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 6:00 pm

Briefly (cos I'm in a rush)

Ridersite and Aprilia Ridersite (and a few other Ridersites) were set up when the dinosaurs roamed the earth.

Aprilia Ridersite (ARS) became very Falco dominated (but not exclusively so)
Back in 2006 ARS lost our sponsor and hit a bit of a funding crisis - would we charge, would we look for another sponsor etc.

At that time Kwackerz (and Sam) were strongly involved in Ridersite but had their fingers on the pulse of both sites.
Ridersite's membership had declined somewhat.

Tim proposed a merger - Ridersite (non-marque-specific) would become an umbrella site for Ridersite and within it there would be an Aprilia section that the ARS members could inhabit (and also stray into the rest of Ridersite).

Rich (Falco9) and myself were elected as moderators of the then ARS and after we'd voted and accepted the proposal to merge the sites it was all setup in Jan 2007.

The rest is history. Ridersite is still the top-level forum and Aprilia Ridersite still exists as a block of sub-forums within it.
People with no interest in Aprilias can choose not to even see the ARS if they don't want to.

The real lines between the forums have (rightly) become blurred as we all learn to play together. This has carried over into the running of the wider forum as some of us that have come in from the "Aprilia Heritage" have now joined the admin team for the whole of Ridersite.

Yes there are undoubtedly more Falco riders on here than riders of other bikes but it isn't a Falco forum.
It is a Forum with an Aprilia section and that section contains a strong Falco presence .... but that's it.
Some would say it's the best forum for Falco riders in the UK - others would say it's the best in the world.
I don't care, it's Home - and if we can have a good laugh and provide help and assistance to our fellow riders, then that's great.

I'll leave it to someone else to explain the distant past of Ridersite.

For the past of Aprilia Ridersite, you can still visit the archived old forum from links we have on the present forum ..... or here ..... http://www.jahlis.net/ars/index.php

blinkey501 · #5 Post by **blinkey501** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 6:31 pm

D-Rider wrote:Briefly (cos I'm in a rush)

Ridersite and Aprilia Ridersite (and a few other Ridersites) were set up when the dinosaurs roamed the earth.

Thanks for that dude. I bet you were around back then

Aladinsaneuk · #6 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 7:23 pm

He taught them how to walk

fatboy · #7 Post by **fatboy** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 7:33 pm

Very well put D-R !
And thanks again to the adimin and mods that make this the top forum that it is

D-Rider · #8 Post by **D-Rider** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 7:49 pm

blinkey501 wrote:
D-Rider wrote:Briefly (cos I'm in a rush)

Ridersite and Aprilia Ridersite (and a few other Ridersites) were set up when the dinosaurs roamed the earth.
Thanks for that dude. I bet you were around back then

LOL .... close enough! ..... though it's Snappy that rides a Raptor !

I joined ARS on 19th July 2005 (very soon after I got the Falco) but didn't join Ridersite until the merger in Jan2007.

There are those about with longer records on each of the forums than mine.

#9 Post by **mangocrazy** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 8:47 pm

D-Rider wrote:There are those about with longer records on each of the forums than mine.

But not with the post count, I'll wager...

Ridersite to me is the way that bike forums should run. It's self-regulating in a way that no other forum I've been party to has been. It also makes me happy to contribute to its upkeep, unlike other sites, because of the lack of heavy-handed moderation and prescriptive rules and regulations.

If Carling did motorcycle forums...

BikerGran · #10 Post by **BikerGran** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 9:16 pm

There used to be a post in the archive section that decribed how RiderSite began - but I can't find it now. I think I'm definitely one of the oldest inhabitants - Tim was there of course, in fact he dragged me in after I accused RS peeps (on another forum) of being geeky! And Sam, goes without saying!

Googling, the oldest RS post I can find is this one from 2004 - lots of names I know from when I joined but I'm not sure whether I joined before or after this post!

https://ridersite.com/viewtopic.ph ... sc&start=0

Kwackerz is the fella who knows - wonder if he still has a copy of the original "how it all started" thread? But he seems to be a little busy atm!

robbier6 · #11 Post by **robbier6** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 7:57 am

I like history

thanks D_R for the insight, it's good to know how it evolved.

Paulh · #12 Post by **Paulh** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 8:59 am

I joined it before the AprilliaRS days - was largely an SV650 based forum at that time.

BikerGran · #13 Post by **BikerGran** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 12:18 am

Interesting - I don't remember it EVER being an SV650 forum!

Paulh · #14 Post by **Paulh** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 9:59 am

Wasn't that it was a specific SV forum - its just that I remember there being quite a few SV owners on it in the days when Hammy was moderating the site, which is how I found my way here.

In those days Renegade were actively marketing SV650 systems and minitwin racing was taking off so maybe thats where my impression comes from.

Sure Kwackers will be along in time to put me right though.

BikerGran · #15 Post by **BikerGran** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 9:19 pm

Yes you're definitely right about those, but I don't think there were all that many.

I do remember being woken from sleep at Brands by a Mille with twin Renes being started up right outside my tent - at about 0630am!

That would have been the weekend of the 'Party in the Paddock' - were you there then?