group riding

[Jim]

This is why I don't ride in a group anymore.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/nov/14/motorcycle-club-trying-to-regroup-after-crash/

[RedValk]

while i can hear arguments for not riding in groups....and there are several arguments....this particular incident wasn't so much about riding in a group...as it was the first car driver doing a careless act...then the second vehicle...the drunk....swerving into the bikes. Had one been riding solo, it could have happend too...it just would have killed one (or two if you had a passenger)...instead of multiple folks.

But again, i can definitely hear arguments against some aspects of group riding.....just saying THIS INCIDENT, doesn't appear to have any bearing on that subject...but more on stupid cage drivers doing stupid things..........

just sayin'.........

oh, it's a SAD situation. Too bad one of them didn't go after the original car that started the chain reaction.

[Spirited-6]

This is why I don't ride in a group anymore.

Sorry to say but, you could have been in your "cage" at that time.  Wrong place / wrong time. You never know !!!!

[fudgie]

Should read 'thats why i wont ride in CA anymore'. 

[Sneaky Snake]

I can see that 21 bikes in a group as possibly contributing to the accident.  Typically a group of bikes rides staggered but closer than cars following one another.  If another vehicle trys to pass the bikes, it will have to pass them all at one time since there's not room to get back in between the bikes.  A group that large should run as several smaller groups but what's to say that they weren't?? 
Still the Honda Civic should not have passed  if he coulldn't do it safely.  The drunk in the Dodge is obviously also at some fault for not maintaining control of his car.  I learned in defensive driving years ago - "Go Right!  Right off the road if necessary".  Hitting a fixed object is better than hitting another vehicle head-on.  If the Dodge had skidded "Right" into the desert  that would have been the extent of the accident.
Chris

[fudgie]

Hitting a fixed object is better than hitting another vehicle head-on. 

I diagree. 2 moving objects absurb impact and rebound off of each other. A stationary object will not. I thought the same thing years ago till my scientist cousin told me different. I forget the equation or what he showed me. Also working the streets proved the theory to.
Jumping to the ground is gonna hurt worse then jumping to a pillow.

[Skinhead]

This summer, my wife and I were riding with a large group of fellow MI riders on our annual ride up to St. Ignace.  We had a group of at least 20 bikes, some with trailers.  We were traveling north along the lake on MI 23, a 2 lane road with an additional passing lane occasionally.  Our group was running at least 60 mph when we weren't held up by other traffic.   I was traveling about in the middle of the group, and when we came to the passing zone, we as a group took the left lane to pass a slower moving car.  Just as I was approaching the slower car which was traveling in the right lane I looked in my mirror and saw a minivan towing a trailer with 2 jet skis on it running balls out in the right lane trying to pass all the bikes, which were already in the left (passing) lane.

As this AHOLE rode up on the bumper of the car in the right lane, he switched to the left lane right in front of me, I hit the binders and his trailer cleared my front tire by 6 inches as he pulled in front of me, went around the car and back into the right lane and continued to pass the bikes (which were now traveling about 70 to pass the slow mover).  The Ahole got about 5 bikes ahead of me before the passing lane ended, and then pulled into the group.

When we all got stopped at a light in the next town I pulled up beside the Ahole and asked him WTF? and started cussing up a blue streak.  I asked him why he tried to kill my wife and I and he said, "You guys have been running 35mph holding up traffic for miles"  BS!!  AS most of you know, Valk riders rarely hold up traffic, yet alone travel below the posted speed limit.  Just because this F--KTARD was in a hurry to get up to his cottage, he broke the traffic laws (passsing on the right, improper lane change, failure to yield, ETC,) and almost killed a few of us.

The light changed before I could yank the dude out for further discussion, and he drove off.  But that is why I prefer to ride in small groups as opposed to large ones.  

As Romeo says, "when we ride in these large groups, we take a couple of highly maneuverable motorcycles and turn them into a semi"

Not everybody thinks we're cool when they see a large group of motorcycles.

[big turkey]

This is one good reason they tell Truck Drivers in Training.

When confronted with a head on collision,,,,, to ride right, right off the road if you have to.

Can save your life in some cases.

Just a thought.

Not a Judgement.

Ride on and ride safe.

Big AL

[John Schmidt]

When I used to ride with the GWRRA group here in Orlando, they used a bit more sense in their grouping. To ride in groups of 10-20 bikes is absolutely foolish, you're asking for trouble. In groups of that size, our chapter always broke them up into smaller bunches of 5-6 bikes....no more. That gives other drivers a break in case they want to pass, and it's a lot less dangerous. The groups would take off a couple minutes apart, leaving plenty of space between them and still be in view of the group in front. And...don't ride side by side, ride staggered in case a rider has to swerve to miss debris or whatever in the road.

[musclehead]

This is one good reason they tell Truck Drivers in Training.

When confronted with a head on collision,,,,, to ride right, right off the road if you have to.

Can save your life in some cases.

Just a thought.

Not a Judgement.

Ride on and ride safe.

Big AL

yep. although most of the time if I had to swerve off the road with my rig I'd be saving someone elses life not my own. survivability in a head on in a semi is not assured but I'd rather be in my international then on my honda 

[Rowdy]

  I agree - riding in a group is very nerve racking. Not relaxing
Not so bad when you have a police escort 
I Ride with a club, and we do a lot of veteran related events and funerals

But I've seen a lot of bad things happen ridding in groups,    personally I like to leave a large gap between the bike in front and constantly watching the bike behind, and use hand signals.

Rolling Thunder this year we where a group of 10 trying to catch up to a group of 100, was not escorted, during a lane change, all of sudden all I could see was a sea of brake lights, however one in the group of 10 was concentrating on staying close behing the bike in front of her and did not see the brake lights of the other bikes soon enough - wham

Watched bikers run yellow / red lights to keep up with a group, not good, some like to stop for red lights others prefer to try to stay with the group - not good - seen some close calls and some bikes loose control trying to stop

Group of four riding a tight formation had a dump truck pull into their lane, 3 of the bikes where able to avoid laying the bike down but the 4th rider was to close and lost control while avoiding the other bikes. He did not see the event unfold soon enough.

Riding in groups with different experience levels really scary  watched a guy go off the berm and into the ditch, herd about gal trying to keep up with others lost it in the cornor - 

I prefer groups of 4 or less with very large gap

[hubcapsc]

personally I like to leave a large gap between the bike in front and constantly watching the bike behind, and use hand signals.

I don't ride right on my buddy's tailpipe either when I'm riding with groups...



I think I almost killed Wimp and Joe, though, when our lane disappeared on the busy approach
to Tybee Island... at the last second I saw the merging lanes and threw up a hand signal...
after dark  ... good thing the guys behind me knew how to take care of bidness...

-Mike

[DIGGER]

I rarely ride in a large group of say 6 bikes or more.   When riding in a large group I feel trapped....not free to make my own driving choices.  I'll do it if it is a group riding somewhere for a social event like out to eat but if any kind of distance is required I just can't bring myself to get in line and not only ride in a certain spot but also worrying about the guy behind me so close to my bumper.   In my riding carreer I've been rearended twice by fellow motorcyclists.   Once while crossing the Mississippi bridge the guy behind me and his wife were looking down river when the car in front of my put on his flashers and started slowing down and my friend and his wife swerved to miss me and raked down my right side and tore off a piece of my fairing on my old BMW 750 but niether of us went down.  Again in BiG Bend Park a herd? of Javelina Hoggs crossed the road in front of me and I had to slam on the brakes and the friend behind me raked down my right side and took off my right foot peg and highway pegs.  Niether of us went down.  However...have you ever tried to ride long distance missing 1 foot peg????   Sucks.  JMO though seldom do you see a large group of bikes riding that aren't holding up traffic.  I used to like the way the BMW Club of Houston rode together.....they had a destination for the night and then they rode in small groups or alone and then would party that night.

[fstsix]

Large group riding can be dangerous, Couple of us sat at breakfast and decided NOT to do this fundraiser, So we went on another with the BMW riders this day, we heard about this accident before we got home at the banquet that afternoon, we all looked at each other and thought the same thing..rookies!! http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/local_news/blackstone/smithfield-toys-for-tots-motorcycle-run-crash

[czuch]

I dont like large groups either.
 I ride well to the rear and even behind the chase vehicle if I think its best.

[grizs50]

What a great reason to close the boarder!

[CISE]

I rarely ride with anyone nowaday - let alone groups, but when I started riding in 84 in Toronto, Ontario called the CGWOA (Canadian GoldWing Owners Association). We used to have large Sunday rides, not uncommon to have 20 to 30 bikes, more if we were meeting other chapters.

But the club safety rule was "NO MORE THAN 7 BIKES IN A GROUP". Each group had to have a saftey space between themselves and the one ahead - usually 3 car lengths (or 6 seconds if I remember correctly). We always had vehicles passing us and do so safely.

When I moved down here in '93 I started riding with the GWRRA - and they never seem to care about group size, everyone rides in the same group. That is one reason why I rarely ride in groups any more, I do not feel as safe as before.

I guess too my riding attitude has changed - back in 84 I rode defensively (trying to ensure I had a way out just in case) - now I ride paranoid (I assume everyone is goign to try and kill me out there). Sounds strange, but I still reaaly enjoy riding

[GiG]

Should read 'thats why i wont ride in CA anymore'. 

Should read: "That's why I won't ride in Indianna anymore" , FudgeMan.
It was just last June, riding in a group of 8,
when I saw you rear-end a Triumph...  

[Oss]

Most of my riding has been alone

Luckily G-man has been willing to do a few of the long hauls, like the last few Inzane's we went to
(Tennessee twice and Michigan) as it helps keep you sharp to have another bike in the group.

Ive done some ground zero rides with many thousands of bikes and it was nice seeing the traffic stopped for us but so many MC riders either dont care about safety or dont know about it

Most important rules to me in group is the rear rider is the one who starts the lane changes if possible and also ends the changes.  When a MC rider cuts off a car and slows down and I cant pass I get pretty steamed,

The other rule to me is you are responsible for the rider BEHIND you.  This rule is the golden rule to me and I just wont ride with folks who dont follow it, unless we agree ahead that we will have places where the group will stop and that someone will wait on all places we turn off a road

Its a sinking feeling when the bike behind you is not there anymore and you have to go back and look for them

[fudgie]

Should read 'thats why i wont ride in CA anymore'. 

Should read: "That's why I won't ride in Indianna anymore" , FudgeMan.
It was just last June, riding in a group of 8,
when I saw you rear-end a Triumph...  

Shhhh! I was rubbing dirt off my tires. 

[fiddle mike]

This is why I don't ride in a group anymore.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/nov/14/motorcycle-club-trying-to-regroup-after-crash/

Reads to me like group's road captain fell down on the job.   

[donaldcc]

   I read that the guy that caused the accident did go off onto the right shoulder and lost control of the car and swerved back across highway and hitting cyclists.

   Several days before that I took a 220 mile ride part of it about 30 miles north of where this accident happened.  It was Veterans Day and being a vet, I thought I would treat myself to some apple pie.  I headed off through the mountains to a small town called Julian that is supposed to have some of the best pie anywhere with surrounding apple orchards. Pie was great as was the ride.

   About 1/2 of the ride was through mountains and the rest desert.  I came up on 12 motorcycles taking a ride and they were going a bit slower than I usually ride in mtns.  I could probably have gone by them but the pace was OK so I hung out in back for about 40 miles until we went different directions.  The problem was about a dozen vehicles ended up behind us.  I kept a careful watch because if anyone tried passing, would be danger.  Right behind me was a pickup and he is the reason I didn't just goose it and take off.  He kept back a good distance from me and I think was the reason some other driver didn't "go for it".  It seemed like he was acting as the "protector".   good for him.

  On Sunday I will be meeting 3 buddies on the coast to ride on Pacific Coast Highway for 3 days unless a big storm comes up.    Should be great.