Group Riding

From BikeNomads

Author : Vibhu Rishi

Here is a small writeup on things to keep in mind while riding your bikes on the highway. I am only considering the roads of India here (left side drive).

Composition

Generally a leader is designated for the trip or part of the trip, and a drag. Most of the times, experienced people, who have done rides before, take up these roles. The remaining people take the positions in between. Its best to ride in a staggered formation. If you ride parallel, you have the tendency to talk to the other person - dangerous. If you ride in a line, you may not be able to see the other person behind you. Also, bikes are not really considered by the bus and truck drivers as being on the road. Going staggered makes the group appear bigger and other drivers take notice of it.

The Leader

Also known as : Point

He is the path breaker, and is the head of the group. You gotta follow the leader.

The leader needs to take care that he leads the group at a comfortable pace. If you see that people are falling behind, you need to slow down.

When overtaking buses and trucks on the highway make sure that you don't just squeeze into spaces. As an experienced person, you can easily do it, but a novice may be following you and may not be able to handle it.

Use your brake lights to effect. Don't unnecessarily use your brakes. Brake only when needed. This will indicate to the person behind that a decrease in speed is needed.

Use hand signals. We normally raise the left hand , palm facing front to signal a stop, or a drastic decrease in speed .. eg. when a herd of cows want to cross the raod ! Another one is a sweep of the hand signalling who ever is behind to take the lead.

The Drag

Also known as : Tail

Needs to make sure that the people are going on. Basically you need a drag in case someone gets into some trouble. Since you are experienced, you may be able to handle the situation. The Drag also tells people the common mistakes that they may be making. e.g. Falling back too much behind the leader. Taking the curves too fast..

Stopping

We use three long blasts of the horn with the left indicator on. Beeeeep Beeeeep Beeeeep. This signals the person leading that the person behind wants to stop. Start stopping only when the leader starts to stop. Stop off the road. The road is not meant for you to stop on, and its good practice to stop on the shoulder of the road. Also, don't stop on blind curves, but always where the traffic on both sides of the road can see you from far.

Speed

Speed is generally governed by the slowest bike. Since you are going in a group,resist the impulse to go off ahead of the slower riders.

If you are going in a group of powerful bikes , then its best not to allow slower bikes as it may make the trip a bit frustrating, going at the slower speeds.

Again, its advisable to ride at speeds lower than the max speed of your bikes. I have found that in our group consisting of Pulsars and CBZs, the comfortable speeds on the Highways is 80kmph, and off it is about 60kmph.

India has a lot of towns and villages along the highway. Its better practice to slowdown to about 40kmph as soon as you see an aggregation of people. Lifestock and people have a tendancy to take a stroll on the road just as you are gunning on it. Use the horn libreally. They will see your bike coming, but not move out of the way, but a horn is effective. Another thing I found effective (if your horn is not having the desired effect, especailly in crowded lanes), is to rev up your engine. An enfield revving up will easily clear a path for you ! ;-)

Tips for Overtaking

1. NEVER, overtake from the left on the Highway.
2. Make sure that there is available space to overtake.
3. Mostly we do rides at 80kmph, riding in 5th gear. This gear does not have much of acceleration power. In this case, drop a gear and then accelerate. This gives you better acceleration.
4. Remember, if you feel the slightest hesitation in overtaking, dont. Take your time. You'll get better with time. Don't worry.
5. If you overtake, make the overtaking process as fast as possible. After overtaking, slow down.
6. After overtaking, don't go to left immediately. This is to avoid any mishaps that could happen if your bike fails at that point of time.