short story

I was invited to ride with some folks 2 weeks ago. It was my brother, his friend from lexington Ky and my brothers girlfriends cousin. My brother was riding his honda cbr 600 rr. his friend from lex a suzuki 750 crotch rocket, and the GF's cousin a kawasaki 500. Now I didnt go, they left too early and I was up too late. Anyway, going through some twisties, my brother was out in front, his friend was 2nd, and the GF's cousin was last. Going around the turn there was this emanciate coyote, although they still are not sure what it was, my brother said it was a chucaraba, or whatever that mexican monster is that eats folks cows and such. Anyway, the guy who was last, the GF's cousin rubber necked it looking at the mangy beast and lost control, hitting my brothers friends bike and doing some pretty bad damage, the GF's cousin ate asphault , his bike got a twisted fork and some other damage. He got away with some simple road rash, he slid on his arse and his rather thick wallet took the damage. My brothers friend was hella pissed cause the dude didnt have any insurance, and didnt have any money, guess he was pretty poor. I guess the insight I have from all this, if you go riding with some buddies, or folks you do not know, discuss insurance because if the shat does hit the fan, and somebody needs to pay, man there will be some very sore feelings when someone is left paying the tab for something that wasnt their fault. So, be safe and ride smart, and for gods sake, when you commit into a turn, keep your damn head in the direction of the lean, and do not take your eyes off it for anything.

Thank you, I really needed to hear a story just like that, right now.

My next door neighbor, a policeman with a V-Star; neighbor across the street (Harley), and two of his buddies invited me to ride with them up to Bear Lake on Labor Day to get a milkshake, and then ride back. I'm really tempted, as its a beautiful drive and would be my first long-distance cruise, but I'm thinking I need just a little more experience.

This story opens my eyes just enough! :thumbup:

I think you've made a very valid point!!!

1200 miles so far and all solo !!

Been asked lots to tag along on group rides but have avoided it so far .... I'm sure it'll be awsome but like you Botch feel I still have lots to learn ...

Pretty soon though !!!!

:Sport:

P.S: Interesting story mate .... makes you think

group rides are alot of fun. theres nothing like a group of sportbikes playing follow the leader threw the canyons!!!:thumbup:

I ride with a couple of guys that are real laid back. They are willing to ride however I want too. Be it fast and hard, or slow and steady. A intercom system has made group riding so much more fun.

Botch ..... talk to then one you are closest to and explain you are a new rider and then ask is it is casual cruise or a speedy jaunt. Let the others know and then if you are comfortable hang at the back of the group with a nice cushion. Make sure you know the route and do not feel compelled to keep up if they pick it up ----ride your game and you will be fine.

one other hint.....DO NOT try to catch up in the straight aways if they start to go faster than you are comfortable ..... they (the straights) tend to end pretty darn quick .

good luck you should be fine

mikenbern said:

Botch ..... talk to then one you are closest to and explain you are a new rider and then ask is it is casual cruise or a speedy jaunt. Let the others know and then if you are comfortable hang at the back of the group with a nice cushion. Make sure you know the route and do not feel compelled to keep up if they pick it up ----ride your game and you will be fine.

one other hint.....DO NOT try to catch up in the straight aways if they start to go faster than you are comfortable ..... they (the straights) tend to end pretty darn quick .

good luck you should be fine

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Good info, and I've pretty much already done that. My cop neighbor will be taking his wife, and I totally trust him; the guy across the street, well, he took another neighbor on a "first-timer's" ride and rode so hard he skinned her knee on a turn. That, along with the above story, made me decide to stay home and eat fresh tomatoes in lieu of a milkshake at Bear Lake!

Riding with a group is good, but it also gets a bit thin when others with more experiance want to go mad. I was on one run with two others, a yzf-1000 and a r1,both riders like it fast and stupid, we got to a area here where guys like to wind there bikes up fast. I was on a vtr250 and a newby, they wanted to push 300km/h. In the end i said go on im going home, a nice way to ruin a day out. Know who you are riding with and how they ride because it can ruin a day.

whenever we ride as a group be it 4 or 250 we always make sure nobody gets left behind and ride at the pace of the slowest rider, we always have a experienced rider at the front, a tailgunner and a couple in between if we have 125's or 250's with us we stay clear of motorways and if anybody rides like a fool they get told, last big rideout we had some inexperienced riders on Big Twins (1450HD) and when we got to were we were going one of them told us it was their first ride on a motorwayand it was nice to have experianced riders around her to ensure she was ok.
Yes riding at 50-60mph can get a little dull but when riding in a group curb that feeling just a little and enjoy the view.

Insure everything

This story is a very good example of why i carry full coverage on everything i own. Just in case some idiot doesnt have insurance, the worst thing to happen to me is a $500 deductible.

hobbit said:

whenever we ride as a group be it 4 or 250 we always make sure nobody gets left behind and ride at the pace of the slowest rider, we always have a experienced rider at the front, a tailgunner and a couple in between if we have 125's or 250's with us we stay clear of motorways and if anybody rides like a fool they get told, last big rideout we had some inexperienced riders on Big Twins (1450HD) and when we got to were we were going one of them told us it was their first ride on a motorwayand it was nice to have experianced riders around her to ensure she was ok.
Yes riding at 50-60mph can get a little dull but when riding in a group curb that feeling just a little and enjoy the view.

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Dam right, ride to the ability of the slowest rider. We were all the slowest rider at some point. Let the head bangers get on with it.

Another thought: The faster riders generally shake out fairly quickly to the front. They can ride faster but stop at intersections or road changes, then let the slower guys catch up. It generally takes less than a couple of minutes for the slower group to catch up to the faster group once they are stopped.

Glenn