Fuck Off Advrider

I quit the Advrider forum today. I’ve been a member since 2006 (or maybe it was 2008, I don’t actually recall), with around 1700 posts or so, mostly on climate change, politics and current events. I’ve racked up thousands and thousands of so-called “likes” due to the type of intelligent content I’ve posted, but today, I told them all to fuck off and I mean it. Fascist behavior by moderators and some members has had me calling it quits, but this isn’t the real beef I’ve got with this site.

Last year, I lost the largest sale of my career because of capricious moderator behavior on Advrider. I had worked up a huge quote during the pandemic and had prepared this quote for final acceptance by a customer. If accepted (and I believe it would have been), this would have been around $40,000 net to me. During this same time, I bought a near-new computer from a Advrider forum member, who promptly shipped the unit to me. Upon receipt, all business records and software was placed on the new system (everything), but the computer hadn’t been connected to the Internet yet. Nor did I change the password, when it arrived, it was still on.

Meanwhile, there was a COVID thread in the Advrider Inmates forum (members forum) that I had briefly participated in (using the old computer and browser). The discussion (during spring of last year) was about COVID-19 and how this was affecting people. I posted a short comment (paragraph) and a link to an external article that outlined the rising COVID-19 death rates. I logged off the forum and didn’t check back in for a few days. Unbeknownst to me, this post got me near-immediately banned off the entire site for inexplicable reasons (there are no rules that say you can’t do this, other members had posted similar links without any “punishment”).

The new computer had been shut down by now (it was the weekend) and when I went to turn it back on, I realized I had not written down the password. No problem, the forum member I bought it from had sent it to me via the Advrider boards private messaging service, however, I was now unable to login at all, being inexplicably site-banned by a board moderator with no explanation. I could not contact the computer seller either, all the records (communications) had been through the forum private messaging service. I didn’t even have his name anywhere else. Unable to access the new computer for several days, I was now unable to meet the deadline given to submit the final quote proposal, and lost the sale. My old computer had already had the drive wiped of the business records, so this was of no use to me either (was planning on giving that system away).

I wrote to the Advrider forum owner once I regained site access and explained the problem. There was no response. I kept my peace about this event, telling nobody, but after a year or so went by (now 2021), there were two forum threads in the past month (August 2021) discussing “bad moderator” behavior, and in both of those threads (about a month apart) I finally shared my story. Now I was subjected to member derision and blame. It was “my fault” for not changing the password (obviously, but that’s not the point and never was). Nobody, not one person, addressed the site-banning issue or even considered what it means. The point here is I was site-banned for no reason. Some members told me it was “against the rules”, but there are no rules about this. I asked for these “rules” and got nothing.

Capricious moderators on Advrider have gone after lots of people and alienated more then a few. Each time a member posts a complaint, the members ignore the complaint and go after the board member with derision. Happens every time. This time, it was very costly (roughly a year’s income). I have heard from other members in the past who are extremely well-known but totally disgusted with the board behavior.

Advrider members pride themselves on their independence and anti-fascism stance, but bizarrely they support moderator behavior that punishes “offenders” without valid reasons or posted rules, which is fascism in practice. I’ve requested someone show me the rules where a link isn’t allowed in a post and there has been nothing but silence. This shows me that this is simply made-up bullshit, it doesn’t exist. But this also shows me that the members there are complete frauds – they don’t give a shit about bad moderator behavior that may cost someone their livelihood and they’re certainly not the anti-fascist that they claimed to be. It’s all a pretense and empty words.

I’ve not had any other problems there, but this was a doozy. I had an excellent reputation as both a buyer and seller, having bought tons of parts and gear there. I reiterate – this is not about me not changing a password (I know I screwed up, but I hadn’t even used the system online yet. It would have been changed before connecting the system to the Internet). My assumption that I would still have forum access, having done nothing wrong, and access to the private message that contained the password to the computer was taken away arbitrarily and capriciously (without any cause) and I was wrongly site banned for no explainable reasons at all. Nobody has come forward and offered any explanation or apology, proving that they simply don’t give a fuck. Nobody expects to be suddenly site-banned, and in this case, the timing could not have been worse.

What if this had been a life or death issue? A stranded rider seeking help? Happens all the time – riders post urgent messages to the forum. If they’d been site banned like I was, what would or could have happened?

None of the moderators bothered to explain why this happened, or address the story I’ve now finally told there. This tells me that they really do not give a shit about their members, or what their bad behavior may cost someone else. Their all frauds.

Last year, I learned of Lonewolf’s house fire (he lost everything, and I mean everything, melted the metals into slag) months after the fact. He was a board member here many years ago when I was running the Survival Acres forum. I sent him $3000 with no strings attached to help him out. I’ve done that with a lot of people over the years, putting deeds (instead of empty words) to work where it was needed. It’s not the first time I’ve helped him either. He was instrumental in many of the early board posts and numerous ones on this blog too in the early years. He’s no longer a member here but that didn’t matter, his need was obvious and profound.

2020 and now 2021 has unveiled quite a lot about people, on and offline. The Plague of Stupid has fully arrived, and so has the army of fascist fuckers that think they can bully their way around and abuse people. We are seeing truly terrifying and costly bad behavior everywhere. You can’t trust anybody now, no matter what they “say”. Watch what they “do”. If they don’t admit wrong doing, or deride you only for yours when they are just as guilty or even more so, watch out. I’ve admitted my mistake publicaly (profusely) but it did no good at all. Apparently, I am the only one at fault here, which simply is not true at all.

So basically, this is a fuck-you to Advrider. I own a whole bunch of adventure rider motorcycle domain names that I had considered using one day for my own use. I don’t know if that will happen, but I will certainly never sell one of these to the assholes over at Advrider. I’m absolutely done with these pricks. They’re generally ignorant and self-righteous fucks that blindly believe that the power that they wield over their members gives them authority over everyone else (absolutely not true) and use this power capriciously. Nobody needs that website and can find the riding and motorcycle information and membership(s) (if that’s what you’re looking for) elsewhere. Advrider has developed a bad reputation for mistreating people and I’m not the first (now ex) member that has noticed this (or suffered for their stupidity).