Deadly accident(last time i ride with large group)
Just left a veterans day bike run prematurely. Hundred of bikes traveling down parkway which they had closed down for us. Going maybe 75 . I'm near the back . Bikes slow down drastically and low and behold 3 bikes in an accident. One up the hill on the side still standing as i think the front wheel was stuck in the dirt. One poor fellow laying face down and he looked broken, I am not 100 percent but i am pretty sure he was gone. Those big packs are so dam dangerous !!!
I agree with you to a point!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Kdarmy
That is way I ride alone 99.9% of the time.
Most riders I watch can't even come to a stop without having to put both feet down. The access to my local Harley dealership for example (not picking on the Harley crowd...) has no left turn access to it, so if you're coming up to it in that direction you have to go to the light and do a u-turn onto a 2-lane road...Its pathetic how many are not able to do this, either without having to duck walk their bike thru it, or by having to pass the light entirely and make a turn into the plaza and come back to it....I have no desire to ride with these kind of riders....and to just join a large group, which I'm sure there are plenty of these type mixed in with it...No Thanks!
Keith
Small groups like 4 or 5 and ride staggered and no hot doggers in the group and you can have a pretty successful ride. But just putting 50 bikers together that have never ridden with each other is an accident waiting to happen. One exception to the large group rule is a club of bikers that has ridden together many times and know what's expected of them. I road with such a group when I had my M109R and the group was the Chi-town niners a club out of Chicago. They were precision at its finest, I would ride with them anywhere, we would get to a stop and two of them would break off and stop the cross traffic while the rest rolled thru and they did that everytime there was a stop. 45 bikes just kept rolling no matter the situation, stop light, stop signs and the group rolled on without a hitch. If a car pulled into the middle of the group the next guy ahead of the car would signal the guys behind until they got everyone back in line and the car eliminated from the goup. I was impressed with their methods and just safety conscious way of dealing with traffic and keeping the group safe.
Solo (or close to it) or no-go
I did a couple large rallies with 450+ riders. What a mess. On one run the guy in front of me was a maniac and wound up crashing into a ravine. A few of us pulled over and found him and the bike covered in dirt and leaves. We got him back in the saddle and he took off like a nut case (didn't even thank us).
Another time I was in back of someone who rode in the center of the lane vs. the staggered side-by-side arrangement the entire run. Very frustrating. Its the 80/20 rule for me now: 80% solo & 20% with a riding partner I know well.