I opened up a pretty big can of worms when I tackled the subject of social networking for bikers. Back in August I wrote a post about Bikerworlds, the first social site I found geared toward the biker community. In October I wrote a follow-up post regarding BikerOrNot.com, which is another very popular social network (and also a very popular post for this site).

For part three of this subject matter I’m going to highlight a few more sites that I’ve found since I last wrote. One thing to keep in mind, not all of these sites are created equally. While a lot of them share the same basic idea and similar buckets of content, some are technically easier to use and more thought out than others. It all depends on what appeals to you in the end.

Motorcycle Syndicate: This site has been around since summer ‘07. I’m not quite sure what their member base is, but according to their site they “strive to be the premier interactive online community for motorcycle enthusiasts worldwide.” They also use other social networking sites to their advantage when trying to get the word out. You can also win a free T-shirt if you’re a registered member and help spread the word.

Hogstr: I got an email about this site a few weeks ago so I thought I’d check it out. Seems this site is a brand-spanking newbie, having only come into existence in the beginning of February. Not a lot of members or content yet and now that I look at it I’m not even sure if it’s officially “launched.” I see lots of profile pics with half-nekkid chicks on bikes, which kind of turns me off. I’m going to file this one under “wait and see.”

Harley Social: I think the title for this one speaks for itself, but this social network is for HD enthusiasts. It looks to have launched early this year and encourages it’s members to upload photos, videos and to post blogs. It’s a visually robust site, almost to the point where I don’t know where to look first, but the emphasis on this site seems to revolve around just having a good time.

Biker Nation: From what I can tell this site has been around since late 2006. Like all of the other sites it has forums, news feeds, blogs, classifieds, events, pictures, videos and music. It also has a “babes” section (if you’re into that sort of thing) and online auctions. For the amount of time this site has been in existence I guess I expected more. Perhaps they’ve been spending more time focusing on their heavily-tattooed, sister site Inked Nation.

If I had all the time in the world I would love to join all of these sites, but I just don’t. You can still find my profiles on Bikerworlds, BikerOrNot and of course, good old myspace.

Do any of you have a favorite social networking site that you use regularly?

A few months ago I wrote a post about Bikerworlds and the growing popularity of social networking with bikers. Well, I just discovered another social networking site for the biker world called BikerorNot.com.

My initial observation is that this is a hybrid born of hotornot.com and MySpace in the sense that you can build profiles and have lots of friends (just like myspace) and you can rate people who have uploaded their images (just like HotorNot). Investigating the site a little more and it also begins to feel like a biker dating site as well. The biker community tends to be brimming with a lot of sexual energy and this site seems to be spilling over with it. Maybe it’s all the sexy pictures!

In reading the two entries on the BikerorNot blog I realize that this is also a fairly new (and totally customized) site to feed the need for online biker communities. It started in September 2006 and by late August 2007 they had upwards to 10,000 members, 4 million page views per month and 5,000 unique visitors per day. Impressive numbers by any standards.

I decided to add a profile on this site as well and if you’re curious to see what it’s all about, you can visit me at bikerornot.com/rippinkitten. Who knows? You may end up joining, too!

In the recent years, I’d be remiss not to mention how important social networking sites have become to the average internet dweller. Sites like: Facebook, Friendster and MySpace are just a few of many and while they have a reputation for being skewed towards a younger demographic, the truth is that these sites are open to everyone of all ages.

When I wondered if there was a “MySpace for bikers” imagine my delight when I found a site called Bikerworlds.

Bikerworlds has been up for less than a year and boasts about 10,000 members. It offers a site chock full ‘o forums, groups to join, classifieds, polls, videos, galleries and ridelogs. One of the things they’ve really focused on is to make the community friendly and open to female motorcyclists.I created my profile back in April and I have to say that there’s barely a day that goes by that one of my BW pals doesn’t send me a friendly message.While the basic functionality of Bikerworlds is very similar to MySpace, it is different enough to set itself apart.

“Larry” is a cuddly, bad-ass of a teddy bear and the public face of the site. He has his own profile and when you join the site he is your first friend (and as I write this Larry is up to 5600 friends, give or take a few!). A sense of community is important to a lot of people, especially online and especially with bikers. They are a group often stereotyped, misinterpreted and undervalued. Their seemingly rough exterior actually houses extreme generosity and kind hearts.When I started this blog my intent was (and still is) to foster a sense of community among young women riders. While I enjoy the social networking sites, nothing beats the freedom of your own site to express your own views. There is such a good feeling when your tooling along some back road and you get that little wave from a fellow biker. This is my wave to my fellow online bikers.

Often on Tuesday I’ll show some cool advertising video or lost video memory. This time it’s a segment from a local motorcycle television show called theride.tv.

I don’t know when or even if they are still on TV, but when I had a different schedule I used to watch the show on Tuesday afternoon.

It’s mostly a half hour ad for Paramount Harley Davidson in Worcester, MA. There were some good segments about riding locally, some how-to’s and even this little nugget.

Mistress Carrie is a local radio DJ and fellow female rider here in Boston. She’s also one of my friends on the Rippin-Kitten MySpace page.

Hi, I know things have been quiet this past week. I’m here, reading emails and checking myspace. I haven’t been doing much riding recently for two reasons: the first is that last weekend I attempted to rejet my motorcycle in hopes of getting better performance. Everyone on the Volusia Riders board recommended it and I thought it couldn’t hurt. However, I must not have installed the new jet correctly and getting the bike running has been a bit challenging. After a few frantic posts there and some really good advice from the guys there I think I’ll be able to get it going. So, why haven’t you been able to get it fixed already? you may be asking.

Well, the answer to that (and reason #2 why I’ve been so quiet) is because I JUST BOUGHT A HOME! (*cheers, applause, hooray!*) Yes, it’s true. I’ve become a member of the landed gentry. So my life is in complete upheaval! In fact, I have to get out of here to go paint a room. But I wanted to do a quick update and say ‘hi’! Now I gotsta go!

Rippin-Kitten.com has been alive for almost 2 months now. I just want to take a bit of time to publicly thank everyone for continued support as I forge on with really trying to mold this site into something great. As of today 43,116 people have visited this site. Astonishing.

The official Rippin-Kitten myspace profile is gaining friends exponentially. If you haven’t added me as a friend, what are you waiting for?

And let’s not forget about my biker buds over at Bikerworlds (it’s a myspace for bikers!). Definitely a passionate, optimistic and good-hearted group of peeps. Oh, and someday soon you may see this blog (among others) featured as an RSS feed in their forums.

I’ve also made a lot of friends (and even picked up a stalker!) over at BlogCatalog.com. There are a lot of smart bloggers over there who are quite possibly some of the most supportive people on the world wide web. I never realized how large and diverse the blog-world really is.

If you haven’t done so already, make sure you get some Rippin-Kitten stickers while they’re hot! Response has been great so far! There’s a few ways you can get some of these bad-boys:

1. Send a self-addressed stamped envelope to:
Rippin-Kitten
c/o Frazier
P.O. Box 851
Salem, MA 01970

2. Next month look for me at the Laconia Bike Rally (details to follow!)

Again, I thank everyone for reading and caring about this site. Keep visiting!

I’ve just created a Rippin-Kitten profile on MySpace–go add me as a friend!