Visordown
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Visordown.com is a web based motorcycle community, focusing mainly on British riders and UK issues. Biased presently towards racing, it is an example of how the progress in biking in the UK and its resulting attitudes have manifested themselves online in a uniquely British way.
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[edit] Biking culture background
The biking community is steeped in history - and humour, self-deprecation and irreverence toward authority. The attitude has evolved from times when motorcycles were simply a working man's way of getting about, through times of social change and increased importance of motorcycles to various groups and scenes, peaking in the late 1950s and early 1960s, with groups such as the rockers. With the introduction of motorways and increasing speeds, and with cars becoming more financially accessible as a mode of transport in the late 1960s, it was not until the late 1990s that biking regained its popularity due to its perceived ease of accessibility and freedom from authority. The result is that today motorcycling is such a broad community, that there can be no one tag placed upon it. There are those who opt for the laid-back lifestyle of social biking, those who are more hardcore riders who live for their machines and the opportunity to ride, as well as the more mainstream riders for whom it is both as well as an essential mode of transport or work.
[edit] History
Visordown as a web based community, is an example of how the many varying areas of modern British biking can come together. It is heavily biased toward racing but demonstrates how the progress in biking in the UK and its resulting attitudes have manifested themselves online in a uniquely British way.
The forums were opened in late 2000, created by a young rider Ben Cope - now a journalist. Many of the rival forums started in the dot.com boom were run by profit-making or commercial interest organisations, mostly by magazines. Cope recognised that most motorcyclists would not participate in such overtly commercial objectives.
VisorDown.com is therefore an alternative to allow a mass and diverse community of real British Bikers to show themselves with all their quirks and foibles — in a relatively unchecked manner.
[edit] Forum culture
The lack of censorship, much as that leads to in most areas of life, is resultantly due to the attitude of most motorcyclists a major asset to the forum. It's all very well blaspheming, but when you're a motorcyclist out on the road and need help, your fellow bikers will always stop - try the same trick in your Ford Mondeo, and you know no one will notice you: it's all part of the unique culture of being a British biker!
The result is a message board where few areas are left undiscussed, whether it's motorcycling, politics, entertainment, personal and private affairs and so on. Bikers care about the world around them, because as a result of sitting in the world and feeling it on your whole body, rather than cocooned from it - you are aware and a part of it. This has resulted in a membership that can be a tough crowd to break when you are new, though ultimately welcoming for those who choose to persist and recognise the community and biking's camaraderie.
Resultantly, Visordown is a UK-based forum revolving around motorcycles with extensive knowledge base of virtually everything, but with an attitude to match.
[edit] Development of biking scene
An interesting aspect of the online bike scene has been how the real world riders interact. Since the high days of the 1960's, biking become an activity enjoyed alone or with one or two friends. Riders would go to popular locations such as famous biker pubs and greasy spoons to have a drink, something to eat and admire the diverse collections of bikes that had turned up.
Often as a meeting point before a ride out into the countryside.
Few groups, termed "old gangs", have survived due mainly to the cliquey and old-fashioned attitudes. The emergence of the Internet and online biking forums, have led to an increased personal interaction between people with common interests in 2 wheels and beyond. Resultantly, there is a revival in people meeting to socialise, as well as to enjoy rides as groups. The irreverent attitude of British bikers shines through though, and this is rarely a downbeat affair, but a celebration of what brings us together — Bikes.
