Rat Bikes! Pub Bikes Beaters! Frankenbikes!

What exactly is a beater and what exactly is the criteria for posting your bike in this thread; allegedly favouritism will be given to any old rusty machine, but is wear and tear, let alone systematic negligence really necessary for a bike to qualify as a beater?

A beater is generally a commuter/everyday/pub bike put together cheaply from the parts' bin, a rat is a good bike with good spec that is very well used, and a franken, well they're just monsters.

No washing or negligence doesn't count for anything IMO. Just because your commuter is covered in road paste doesn't make it fish or flesh, just a dirty bike.