[phamilyman]

Interesting, good to read/revise.

But seriously, 10 years and 20k km wonlee? Thats less than many of us do on two wheels in an year.

@Techno: That is called the Sweeper.

Even otherwise, something I learnt and used well back in college days, was to keep in each other's RVMs - stay like half a km apart, but enough that the other guy can see your lights in his RVM. And if he can't he stops. So does everyone else like that. That is the best form of self regulation. (courtesy gujarat bullets club)

[highwayblaze]

Someone mentioned that the more experienced person should lead the pack. Well i disagree. its always advisable to have the newbies in the front to avoid having them run into your rear for any reason. i've seen this happen on several occasions where the newbie would give the motorcycle too much gas and not being ready to handle whats coming their experience not enough to help them slow down in time before running into one of the riders in the front.

[straight6]

Originally Posted by highwayblaze

Someone mentioned that the more experienced person should lead the pack. Well i disagree. its always advisable to have the newbies in the front to avoid having them run into your rear for any reason. i've seen this happen on several occasions where the newbie would give the motorcycle too much gas and not being ready to handle whats coming their experience not enough to help them slow down in time before running into one of the riders in the front.

I agree because most newbie's and even some experienced, ignorant guys dont get into the habit of keeping two fingers on the front brake lever at all times. When they panic, its too late as they usually cant find the lever and that fraction of a second is all thats needed to crash or to prevent one.

[DKG]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

But seriously, 10 years and 20k km wonlee? Thats less than many of us do on two wheels in an year.

Its a Honda VFR 800 and I use it only on Sunday mornings for leisure riding, which is why its done only 20k over 10years

[DKG]

Most group rides end up with the more skilled riders leading as people new to the sport cannot keep up. Basically this applies when the bikes are all superbikes. Its impossible to ride these bikes at higher speeds unless you've ridden long enough and are comfortable doing so

What we do in our group is we allow some of the speed junkies to stay ahead, lesser experienced riders hang in between and atleast one senior rider is the sweep trailing the group.

This works quite okay.

But the problem invariably arises when amongst the people who lead you have one or two people wanting to stay ahead at all costs.

In group riding a simple rule is also to never lose sight of the rider behind you in the rear view mirror.

This has a cascading effect of enabling the entire group to stay together and prevents the group fom breaking up.

In terms of the distance followed one should follow the 2 second rule (ie regardless of the speed at which the group is passing a rider passes a point 2 seconds after the rider ahead of him passes the same point. This basically implies you increase distance between yourself and the rider ahead as you ride faster.

Also the guy who leads the pack has to realise that if he accelerates and moves ahead, its more work for the guy behind to make up the distance, even more work for the third guy to make up the distance, even harder for the fourth. So when you are down in the group it becomes a mammoth task to speed up and make up to the rest ahead. This is called the domino effect and invariably less skilled riders start taking chances to speed up and end up riding at speeds well in excess of the leader to catch up, often riding beyond their limits causing an accident.

[Technocrat]

@DKG: Nice points

@Techno: That is called the Sweeper.

Whoops thanks for correcting

Hits, We do the same RVM thing but this becomes slightly difficult when you are in ghat section, which we have in plenty around Pune & hence a fast sweeper.

@others: Atleast on highways newbies can not take the lead as they dont know what speeds to maintain & putting them in front of the pack may be hazardous. To ensure that they dont bump into you, all the newbies must be briefed about the rules before the ride begins.

[phamilyman]

actually, the one thing we tried, but with limited success was to make the slowest dude the leader (a la The Goal, the bible of OR/MBAs).

That ways, he's constantly prodded by the faster guys and he acts as a feedbcak for the faster ones to slow down

[straight6]

Originally Posted by DKG

Its a Honda VFR 800 and I use it only on Sunday mornings for leisure riding, which is why its done only 20k over 10years

Have you kept it stock so far? Since you have it for so long I'm guessing you are the first owner.

[DKG]

Originally Posted by straight6

Have you kept it stock so far? Since you have it for so long I'm guessing you are the first owner.

Yes its still stock. Toyed with the idea of a Two Brothers, I believe the V4 sounds like a small block V8. Will do it someday

Bought it new in Dubai in 1998, was the only red of three VFR's that came in the first consignment. I still have its original steel container (like a mini shipping container) along with a video of it first being unpacked you know the small thrills

[bblost]

Cruisers, Custom Motorcycles & Choppers - Motorcycle Accessories, Reviews, Tours, & News at Motorcycle Cruiser

Goto Riding Tips

One of the many good articles is Group Riding.
Read them all.

IMHO: avoid big groups. if need be split into smaller groups of not more than 4 riders.

[DKG]

Originally Posted by bblost

IMHO: avoid big groups. if need be split into smaller groups of not more than 4 riders.

I agree small groups are more manageable. In our group its now more of the friendships that have developed over the past two years and so its impossible to suggest small groups. At the very least we are a min of 12 to 14 riders and sometimes more.

Besides what I see happening is that even though its a large group, as we've been riding together for quite sometime, everyone seems to be more understanding of each other's riding style and you don't see people getting affected easily.

The problem does arise when a new rider joins as he needs to find his place in the differing styles and may risk pushing himself too far

[straight6]

Originally Posted by DKG

Yes its still stock. Toyed with the idea of a Two Brothers, I believe the V4 sounds like a small block V8. Will do it someday

Bought it new in Dubai in 1998, was the only red of three VFR's that came in the first consignment. I still have its original steel container (like a mini shipping container) along with a video of it first being unpacked you know the small thrills

Trust me you will not regret the Two Brothers! Its my favorite brand of exhaust for bikes and they are just brilliant. Just fitted shorty's from Two Brothers on a friends '07 Busa and DAMN! You have to hear it to believe it.

So I'm guessing you got the bike on TR from Dubai?

[DKG]

Originally Posted by straight6

So I'm guessing you got the bike on TR from Dubai?

Yes I did. The customs officials here in Hyderabad (in 2007 you could clear a bike in Hyderabad) simply refused to believe the bike was used. It had 6000 kms but they insisted I install the battery and show the mileage.

I had narrowed down on a VFR after riding a Blackbird and a Valkyrie extensively. A friend from South Africa who was a hard core biker recommended the VFR would be just the machine to have, something I wouldn't get bored with for years. Ten years down the line, I still love it. It truly is a fine all rounder. What an engine the V4. In fact Soichiro Honda once proclaimed that the best configuration for an engine was a V4 and I can see what he meant. The torque is simply addictive. Having said that I am a huge fan of the inlines too.

Sadly I didn't bring my Landcruiser which too I had bought new and used extensively, miss that beast. She was a LHD and it would have been a nightmare trying to use one here, almost 6 feet wide!!

I gather you are a biking enthusiast too from your av. What do you use?

[straight6]

Originally Posted by DKG

Yes I did. The customs officials here in Hyderabad (in 2007 you could clear a bike in Hyderabad) simply refused to believe the bike was used.

I gather you are a biking enthusiast too from your av. What do you use?

What do you mean by "you could clear a bike in 2007 in Hyderabad"? Cant you do it this year if you were coming down?

Yes, I'm crazy about bikes. I used to have a CBR 600 Hurricane 2 years back, now I ride a RX-135 and am planning to buy another Honda 600 soon. the two years have been like torture .

[DKG]

Originally Posted by straight6

What do you mean by "you could clear a bike in 2007 in Hyderabad"? Cant you do it this year if you were coming down?

Sorry I meant in 2000 when I returned they were allowing customs clearance in Hyderabad. Now the rules have changed I am told. A friend recently imported an R1 from the US, he had to bring it into Bombay. I think they aren't allowing Hyderabad anymore.

Have you ridden the new 600? Its without a doubt one of the sweetest bikes on the market. What a melodious wail that engine has!!!