Updated Vital MX Posting Guidelines

Some updated Posting Guidelines and suggestions from staff new and prior:

Hello all and welcome to the famous (maybe infamous) Vital MX Forums. This section is our most popular and as the title suggest, Moto-Related is the section for topics and discussions relating the sport and industry we love. You'll find things such as breaking news, race day discussions, rumor mill, industry questions, new rider questions and so much more here. If you look back at the forum main page you'll also find sub-forums for electric bikes, tech questions, a for sale section and much more. If you have a topic that isn't moto-related but you want to discuss with our community? Check out the Non-Moto section.

It's a big forum and there's a lot going on here but the admins here don’t like having to mediate disputes, clean up messes or having to "click" anyone. However, if you're struggling to be a good citizen, you might find yourself with a warning or a temporary suspension. If this happens, you'll probably receive an email explaining why and to talk about the next steps of returning to action when things are settled. If your account is locked and you're wondering why? Email me at MLindsay@vitalmx.com.

Ohh and a BIG note here. If your account has been locked and you create a new account, you'll quickly become public enemy number one. We don't take kindly to users who can't take their timeouts and if this is the case, a permanent ban of current and all future accounts will be brought into play.

Our forum is free but that doesn't mean we want all the crap you can dish out. We can get enough of that in real life, and we come here for fun, and to talk with like-minded motocross riders and fans. Let's try to keep it that way, there's enough toxicity in the world these days.

In the words of GuyB "Treat others the way you want to be treated. Don’t post things that you wouldn’t say when face-to-face with another person. Name calling, insults, and personal attacks are lame. So is keyboard bravery. We’d like the activity to be more like Bourbon Street at 2:00 AM, not downtown Baghdad at 2:00 AM. Time spent here should be fun for everyone, not a painful experience."

If you can't show other posters, riders, and overall industry peeps some level of respect without trashing them left and right, you may find your topic in the Dumbgeon. The home of all that has gone sideways.

Also in the words of the original boss around here, GuyB: "English is the official language of the forum, but we do realize that we have users from around the world, and English isn't always everyone's first language. On the other hand, we don’t speak txt. Spelling does count, as does punctuation, and the USE OF THE CAPS LOCK KEY for anything more than brief emphasis is not acceptable. If we need to decipher your post, you might be a target of ridicule. Posting while sober is also recommended. Don’t drink and type."

You'll find our forum doesn't censor the words you type but that doesn't mean you should test how far your vocabulary can go before getting the boot. Again, let's try to keep things respectful.

As for first amendment? Look, we're not here to drive a narrative or control what people say. But we are here to keep a forum worth coming to. This forum is private and we do reserve the right to delete posts as needed. We try to rarely do this, you'll see a lot of self policing amongst the long-time members and we try to keep it that way. If you cross the line however, you may find some of your posts missing.

How would one get their post removed or account instantly suspended? Racial or ethnic slurs are pretty much the obvious way to get the door, but we also don't accept sexist posts or any posts referring to the mentally challenged. What are some examples of shit talking or threats we won't tolerate? Calling other members dumbasses, morons, dicks, retards, snowflakes, bastard, etc...Do not call into question someone's sexuality or religion in a form of insult either. Look, it's simple really, don't use words or terms that would make someone punch you if it were a face-to-face conversation.

We're just looking for basic human respect from our users.

Also, Moto-related is a non-politics zone. Don't even try it. If you'd like to discuss and debate some politics, try Non-Moto. But be aware, non-moto has its own guidelines as well which you can find if you venture there. Also, COVID and vaccine related topics are 100% off limits in any area of the forum. These topics have drove enough people apart. Regardless of your stance on the subject, we don't want to hear it. We're here for the motocross stuff, not to hear you on your soapbox. If you really want to discuss it...go to parlor, Reddit, Facebook, anywhere but here. Be their problem, not ours.

Lastly, no religious discussions. Again, it's a topic that's just too polarizing to even attempt. Again, it has nothing to do with where your stance is, we don't condone the conversation in general.

Here are some suggestions:

If you’re posting on a particularly busy day (Saturday race days for example), scan the board for the topic you want to talk about. There are so many duplicates during a race, good stuff gets shoved off the first page faster than it should. The race threads on race days are a great place to bench race. It's as close as we get to a live chat. If you post a topic and find another user has replied with a link, they're likely showing you another topic of what you're looking to discuss that is already in progress.

One username per user. Even if you have multiple personalities, they’re just going to have to share. If you create second, third, fourth, etc accounts just to agree with yourself...we will find you and out you to the rest of the forum. Which will be followed by a ban of all your accounts. Seriously, we don't appreciate users who need multiple accounts.

Don’t post images that you think might not be acceptable, and especially don’t post those that you KNOW are not acceptable. No nudity, nothing with racism, etc.

If you think you know something, state it as an opinion. If you know something as a fact, let people know. But don’t make up stuff and post it. That’s just lame.

If you’re new, take a while to figure out the vibe of the board. Some of us have been posting together for ten years or more. It takes a while to figure out all the private jokes, potential pitfalls, and character personalities. Even if you’ve been lurking a while, don’t assume that because you think you know a poster’s personality or history, you’re free to heckle them on something. Make your own history…and make it a good one.

Add an avatar to your profile to personalize it. The stock graphics here are about as exciting as the stock graphics that come on your bike. If you need help, let us know. We tend to think that these should be you, or representative of you. If that's the case, we have a disproportionately high number of hot women who post here. Things that are too out there may get replaced with a photo of a donkey...or a clown. You've been warned.

Noob-bashing has something of a history here. We’re not necessarily fans of it (and having a stagnant pool of board veterans isn’t completely healthy, either)…but be aware that it exists. Having reasonably thick skin is helpful. So is posting good stuff from the get-go.

Signatures. If your signature at the bottom of your posts quotes someone from the board or references someone from the board, don’t be super-surprised if it disappears. If admins have to change it, they also reserve the right to replace it with something else. Also, large animated gif files slow the whole board down. Keep ‘em to a minimum, please.

Don't bring anyone’s kids or family into your battles.

If you've read the rules here line-by-line, and are trying to wiggle between technicalities, you're making it more work for us. That's generally not appreciated.