As you may know, this is a question we’ve been working on for a while now. Almost two years in fact.

We started with the somewhat paradoxical notion that motorcycling is a social activity. Sure, you might go out for a ride on your own and maybe your bike is a monoposto and not a biposto but along the way, you might wave at some other bikers. In your backpack or pannier is quite probably a magazine to which the first page you turn is the letters. When you stop, you park next to other motorcycles, if there are any, not just because it’s a more courteous use of limited parking space but because you like the pipes on the machine next to you and you wouldn’t mind exchanging a word or two with it’s owner. Perhaps you just rode to the store to pick up a few parts but spent an hour talking to the sales guy about next years Harley range or how MotoGP2 may or may not be the next great racing series.

In short, if we motorcyclists aren’t riding we love to do the next best thing, which is talking to other bikers or daydreaming about our next bike or customization project. But this isn’t the surprising part.

What was surprising to us, at least when we thought about it, is that motorcyclists aren’t as tribal as we thought or, at least, are lead to believe. If you look at the current offerings on the web, they tend to focus narrowly on one type or riding or a specific brand. I’ve covered about 15,000kms this past year and of all the riding groups I’ve taken part in or observed, I think I can count on one hand the number of homogenous groups I’ve seen – It’s been vintage Indians out with R1200GS, complete with aluminum panniers (the BMW that is, though I’d love to see an Indian similarly kitted out), Harleys with Sportsbikes – assless chaps mixing with one piece leathers – and so-on.

Most of the magazines now also talk about the blurring of the lines between machines. Out and out sportbike riders are apparently discovering supermoto and even off-road as a way of improving control and getting kicks at more street legal speeds. I even read one review by an (i think) R1 owner who couldn’t stop gushing about how great a Victory motorcycle was, especially in the corners. That’s not to say I don’t believe it, but can you imagine reading something like that a few years ago? Much less anyone saying it out loud in public?

Because there is no “neutral” ground, there’s no place to go to really discuss those issues that affect all of us in a way that could make a difference. Loud pipe laws and lane-splitting legislation to name but two can affect every kind of motorcycle riding, but if we only discuss it in our pre-existing enclaves, how can we organize and be heard?

Of course, that’s not to say that on occasion, you don’t just want to talk about the best place to find carbon or some chrome to add to your ride. We all, after all, identify strongly with our machine. That’s a large part of why we ride.

And this is the conclusion we came to. We need to be all of the above. We need to create a platform that is capable of permitting users to talk with other users but also brings them new ideas and new concepts (it’s a large part of why you buy and read all those magazines). It also has to permit you to focus on your style of riding and your favourite brand(s) and machines but also ensure you’re part of the greater brotherhood of motorcycling. In short, we have to be most things to most people.

Oh, and we also decided we didn’t want to use outdated technologies. While forums might be great, they also don’t scale well and usually intimidate new users. There’ll also be no scrolling marquees here, no garishly colored links or layouts that came straight out of Microsoft Front Page. That’s not to say sites that look like that are bad, it’s just that we can do better.

And we think we have.

I’ll talk about the actual components another time but for now, I’ll say that we will be fully web 2.0 compatible. We’ll permit you to interact with any group of riders you want to and find information very easily. The information you see, by default, will be tailored to you based on where you are, what you ride and the friends you choose. We will be about all bikers and for all bikers, from Vespa to Victory, dirt to pavement to trackdays.

But most of all, we do want this to be your site, so please tell us what you want to see.

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