So, while I recover from the shock of getting back to the daily grind, I’ll leave you with the top 10 viewed posts of 2008!

1. Steampunk Motorcycles-even though I wrote this post a year ago, it is the most popular post of my site. The Steampunk movement has gained much popularity since then.
2. BikerorNot.com: bikers and social networking pt. deux-social networking sites are booming. It seems that every subculture has formed their own social community these days. Since this post was published I have received numerous emails informing me of yet another new biker social community and asking me to join or write about their site. I can only keep track of so many accounts these days and it makes me wonder if more is better.
3. Bikers and tattoos-Two of my favorite subjects! A brief history of tattoos in America and how they touch my world.
4. Bring Exile Cycles back to TV-the popularity of this post surprises me a little. Prior to this post I had read a myspace bulletin from Russell putting out the call to fans for some help. This year we’ve seen Russell on VH1′s Rock of Love and of course, that silly Comcast commercial that featured Exile Cycles, with an actor playing the part (instead of “hardcore” heavily-tattooed Russell) that confused so many people. Here’s hoping we see a lot more of him in the future.
5. Anatomy of the Kawasaki Vulcan-in the summer of 2007, Greg White contacted me and hooked me up with Kawasaki to test ride the Vulcan 900 Custom. I spent a few gleeful weeks riding this bike and this is my dissection of various elements of the bike in detail. Thinking back on the experience makes me remember how much I enjoyed riding this bike. And yes, the skinny front wheel felt safe!
6. Biker Movie Hell Ride in theaters August 8-this movie was all the buzz for us this summer and it came and went in the blink of an eye. It had a very limited release in theaters and when it finally came out on DVD it would be an understatement to say it is a love/hate kind of movie.
7. Slayer launches a line of helmets-*RAWK!* Rockhard helmets launched a line of motorcycle helmets emblazened with graphics of our favorite thrash metal band. They’ve since increased their lineup of bands that include: Lynard Skynard, KISS, Slip Knot, Motorhead (yes!), AC/DC and The King. These suckers ain’t cheap but if you’re a fan I’m sure they’re well worth the cash!
8. Garage Girls: a new site for women, or is it?-this was my initial review of Sara Liberte’s new online venture. I was as honest as I could be while reading through the site (maybe too honest?). So much so  that I actually received an email and blog comment from Sara letting me and everyone else know that the site was brand-spankin’ new and to cut her some slack. I revisited the site three months later and was pleasantly surprised at the changes that had been made and the fresh content that had been added. Props to Sara.
9. Video Tuesday: Harley-Davidson Dark Custom-this video accompanied the announcement of HD’s newest and coolest motorcycle. I also went on a bit of a tirade about how out of touch Bruce Rossmeyer is with a younger demographic.
10. My first motorcycle love-I’m so happy to see this post made it to the top ten! This is a guest post, written by my nearest and dearest, recounting the love of his first motorcycle, the experiences he had while owning it, and then eventually trading it in for a newer Road King. Definitely a good read. Hmm, that reminds me…I think I’ll bug him to guest post more often!

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?

BikerOrNot.com Review

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!

More biker social networking sites and insight

If you found this interesting please check out my first post on the subject of social networking sites for bikers Bikerworld, and my follow up to this post Bikers and social networking: the trifecta.

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.

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.

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!

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!