Riding in large groups

Personally, I have zero interest in riding with anyone else. Perhaps my wife if she decides to get a bike, but I ride so I don't have to deal with people. I'm not a real social cat anyway, I'll meet up with people at a destination and hang, but no group rides. If that's what gives you more enjoyment, have at it.

Clogging traffic, blocking intersections? Lots of people fly into a rage if you hold them up for 5 seconds, don't want to be a part of that, even if it is for a "cause". See this thread for an example- the parade could have been a fundraiser, memorial, "poker run", no one knows, and I think at this point it doesn't matter because they pissed off a bunch of people and put lives at risk.

I couldn't care less about miles, and I'd rather stay low-observable whenever I can. If I want to stop and look at a weird tree, or call it a day after 150 miles, I don't want it to be a committee decision or bum somebody else's ride because they want to keep going.

There are two people I like to ride with, everybody else annoys me in some fashion.

The only big group ride I ever enjoyed (went on a few before I figured it wasn't for me) was one of the last times the New Jersey Rolling Thunder ride went from Liberty State park into NYC through the Lincoln Tunnel and down the west side highway to the South Street Seaport area.

What was fun about it? Mayhem. Once everybody hit the Lincoln Tunnel it got loud and rowdy, and then the cops had all the side streets blocked going onto the west side highway...it was a free for all. Then after the speeches and stuff all the cops just disappeared. Burnouts, wheelies, all kinds of fun. Almost got hit by a flying broken HD drive belt, that would've left a mark.

The next time I went on that ride it was to the new Memorial on the Parkway, much more controlled and boring. Broke a clutch cable and bailed out of that mess.

Giant group rides are about narcissists mutually admiring each other. They have little to do with riding motorcycles.

Why do prey fish school, while predator fish swim alone?

I've ridden with large groups before and I enjoy the nattering and drinking afterwards. If it's associated with a particular model/style of bike, it's nice to see other people's farkles in the flesh too. Sharing mechanical knowledge and actually being able to point at/demo things is very useful too.* The actual riding itself though is, almost without exception, pretty gash even if the roads are great.

Main gripes are:
- Speed. Irrespective of your ability, the group speed either amounts to either a snail's pace, or a free for all and the group getting split up (which is just as slow as you end up stopping, doubling back to collect people, etc.)
- Fueling, especially people who start the ride without enough fuel to get to the first scheduled stop, or who later on pass up the opportunity to refuel, then hold everyone up when they run out.
- Lack of willingness/ability to filter. It's legal(ish) in the UK and the main reason for having a bike on our congested roads, so far as I'm concerned.
- Lack of willingness/ability to perform perfectly safe overtakes on vehicles not in the convoy.
- Not adhering to the drop off system.
- Pointless overtakes (changing position in the group, often dangerously, for no reason).

The best one I've been on was where it was divvied up into smaller groups of experience/ability and most people were honest about which group they should go in. These set off at staggered intervals. Timing was almost perfect so everyone arrived at the stops within a couple of minutes of each other. Fast groups waited joined the back of slow groups and rode at the slow pace, but this only happened twice and then only a couple of miles from a designated stop. The drop off system was also rigidly used. As a means of getting from A->B or covering serious miles, it was terrible, but as a thing in itself it was quite good fun.

When riding with people you know off forums, it's worth going just once to see the hilariously large gulf between claimed and actual riding ability. Some of the worst road riding I've ever seen has been from some of the people who brag loudest about how good they are. Smaller group rides are good; 4-5 people is often a good laugh and usually a nice group dynamic.

Group riding is something everyone should try at least once, but I'll never understand people who do the majority of all their riding this way.

*All these good things can be done at a bike meet without actually riding with any of the people there. This is my preferred social motorbike activity.

Sometimes but not always. Blk Betty has a point, was on a memorial ride for a buddy we lost last year. About 40 bikes mostly Harleys, all riders. We rode in groups of 4-10, fast and tight, meeting at predetermined stops along the way. Very high adrenaline and heightened sense of awareness. Ended up at a big barbeque and raised a bunch of money for his granddaughters education fund. A great day with a bunch of good guys for a good cause. No egos involved.

In general I hate group rides also, But the toys for tots run in Olympia Washington is fun, safe, and gets positive support from john Q Public. The route is barricaded, police escorted and controlled, with support from the Salvation Army, Firefighters, EMT's, Military, Scouts, volunteers, business, and the media.

Good media is not a bad thing. http://www.thenewstribune.com/2009/12/06/982580/motorcyclists-show-their-softer.html

I am typically very picky about who I will ride with. There are probably 10 or so people on that list.

I will on occasion to remind me why I don't.

Depends on the group.........

and this kind of a group usually doesn't have people that get their panties in a wad when a faster guy passes them. Every year I go here and get together with about 700 of my closest friends.

I am starting to lean in this direction as well, if I can't ride with my son or a couple of my mate's - max 3 people on the ride then I will mostly ride alone apart from benefits like "toy runs? etc. As an example there is a rally on the 27th around 700km from here and if my son cannot join me Im acing it

Having participated in a couple of 150+ bike rides, all I can say is congratulations, because you are obviously a faster learner than I am. Both rides were no fun and a lot of work for the same reasons you surmised.

I ride a cruiser of sorts, but I have to agree with you. Most cruiser riders I know are way too casual about good riding discipline, in my opinion. I only know two with whom I would be willing to ride. It's scary to ride with somebody who has twenty-plus years of accumulated bad riding habits and is unteachable.


I also do not care for the pirate social scene, but that's something for another thread.

* Edit: To be fair to the cruiser crowd, on the first of the group rides in which I participated, it was just one idiot who was a problem. He was supposed to be behind me and to my right, but every time we took a sharp right turn at an intersection, the imbecile would pull up alongside me and run wide. On the second ride, it was morons on sportbikes who couldn't follow directions and maintain formation; the cruiser riders were generally on top of things. *

I usually kick in money for the 'cause' of the ride. The cause is almost always worthy of consideration and donation. However, on the morning of the rides I'm already 100 miles away before they're out of bed. Those big group rides are a circle jerk IMO.

Group riding doesn't really appeal to me. So far I've been riding alone. Wouldn't mind having 1 or 2 more riders for company and help if something breaks, but that's it. (I do a lot of whitewater canoeing, and feel the same way about that. Paddling alone is not very safe, but once the group gets bigger than 4-6 boats (depending on the size of the river), people just start getting in each other's way.)

BTW I would love to have that tiger costume windmill posted above!

Group rides tend to be trains, with similar dynamics. Slow to start, slow to stop (and the latter is what really worries me.) I can correct for the noise and the egos, but not the physics. That's why this ol' boy chooses to ride alone.

I dont rmind riding in company with one or two riders I know and trust, I have done a few group rideouts using the BMW "drop off" system that were pretty successful, but I really dont like the idea od a procession, there are enough careless and distracted drivers out there without taking my own.
Stewart

This is something I get a laugh out of, from this forum.

Do you think it matters what bike your on? There are tons of bad riders. Around here more crotch rocket riders where shorts, and as far as the rest of the bikes level protection is about the same.

Of course it isn't the bike. It is people who are drawn to certain types of bike by image but get too wrapped up in the fun factor to remember that a moment's inattention is all it takes to have a disaster. Both squids on sport bikes and way-too-casual cruiser riders bring too much dramatic baggage with them for me to want to ride with them. In my mind, the difference is that the squids seem to spend more time practicing and improving their skills -- note that I did not say judgment -- than the typical cruiser owners with whom I am acquainted. Also, I am not going to have to worry about the squid for very long because he is going to leave me far behind.

One of my close friends just scares the be-jeesus out of me to ride with him: he's a great guy and he is actually quite sharp, but he zones out when he is on the bike and doesn't pay enough attention to what is going on around him. He scares me me about equally whether he is flying lead or wingman. In the lead, he will not hold lane position, but if you both have to stop for any reason, he will invariably change lane positions right before you come to a stop. When "following", he will inevitably pull up directly alongside, no matter how fast or slow you are going and will either be directly behind you or else crowding you from the side when you are trying to stop. He is out there to socialize on two wheels and to soak up the ambience, not to become a better rider. Yes, he rides a cruiser.

I don't seem to like enough people to ever be in a position to get into a large group.


I just seem to be in the majority here, might ride with a few close friends of similar mind and skill, but tend to prefer to be alone.

Depends on what kind of riders they are. Huge groups tend to get seperated. I like to keep my groups to a max of 10 people. That way the ride leader and tailgunner can control people with less confusion.