Like many Usenet newsgroups, uk.rec.motorcycles has a long tradition of helping new readers (so-called "Newbies") to get the most from the group. Newcomers are given a friendly welcome, and made to feel at home.

Except when, of course, they deviate in the slightest from the accepted group behaviour, or if they ask stupid "where's the FAQ" questions, or if they have a funny name, or really sometimes for no reason at all. In which case they get mercilessly flamed.

But here at the uk.r.m. homepage, we know what it's like to suffer rejection, antipathy and scorn. So, we thought it'd be a good idea to have a page explaining some of the more arcane, pointless, and downright stupid aspects of uk.rec.motorcycles - don't worry regulars, we're not going to give everything away; just a few clues for the clueless. If you're not familiar with Net acronyms at all, then you'd best have a look at this, and probably this first.

One of the more tricky things to get to grips with for newbies is the amount of strange acronyms used by uk.r.m. denizens; many of which are in people's signatures. So, let's start the clue-train rolling with some explanations.

By the way, before you start you should be aware that - like uk.rec.motorcycles itself - some of these aren't entirely suitable for the under-18s, the faint-of-heart, and other soft bastards. We are bikers, after all.