an observation

[old2soon]

        Talkin with my ridin bud-J T-the other day and I suddenly remembered a bit of something that troubled and disturbed me. 2 different groups of mostly V-twins-one a group of 4 the other a group of 18? ridin side by side stead of staggered. I Know this has been hashed over before but it STILL disturbs me. P G R the V R C C and Friends I ride with All ride staggered or I do NOT ride with them again unless they straighten up and PROMISE to ride staggered. As we All are aware side by side ridin takes away an OUT hopefully you may Not need but If you Do Need that OUT would be helpful in the Extreme if it was there when needed. I have like Zero idea how to get this idea out to those riders? that actually NEED too. RIDE SAFE.

[Willow]

MC groups and motorcycle policemen ride side by side.  The group of four may or may not be.  The eighteen is almost guaranteed.

I do ride staggered usually as that is how the people around me like to ride.  I seriously doubt the assumption that side by side is less safe than staggered for good riders.

[Moonshot_1]

MC groups and motorcycle policemen ride side by side.  The group of four may or may not be.  The eighteen is almost guaranteed.

I do ride staggered usually as that is how the people around me like to ride.  I seriously doubt the assumption that side by side is less safe than staggered for good riders.

Depends on your perspective.

If the issue is limited to the skill of both riders riding side by side or staggered as to safety, then the margin of safety is negligible.

But, if the issue is side by side or staggered in general public roadways then the safety margin is self evident favoring staggered. The skill level of the general public is questionable. More space is a good thing.

[carolinarider09]

MC groups and motorcycle policemen ride side by side.  The group of four may or may not be.  The eighteen is almost guaranteed.

I do ride staggered usually as that is how the people around me like to ride.  I seriously doubt the assumption that side by side is less safe than staggered for good riders.

The key word is "good" which I interpret to mean "experienced" riders.  If I remember correctly, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation says that riding staggered is the safest riding method.  

https://www.msf-usa.org/downloads/Group_Ride.pdf

Motorcycle Police riders are, in my opinion, highly trained as compared to the average rider.  They (Motorcycle Police) can ride any way they would like.

Now one has to define "good" or experienced.  Does it mean number of miles per year, number of opportunities for error experienced?

I have yet to ride with a group of riders that don't ride staggered but I will admit, I don't do a lot of "group" riding (group being more than three bikes).  

[mbramley]

 Everything I've read or course I've taken teaches staggered. For me it's simple math. Most roads I believe are about 9 - 10 feet wide per lane. I measured my Valk a while back for other reasons but it's close to 3 feet wide. If you are side by side that leaves 3 feet total road space left. One foot to berm, 1 foot between you and 1 foot to center line. That's not much for avoiding critters, potholes or the a-h taking his lane off the center coming at you. Highways are usually 12 feet but I still stagger.