Group riding for new motorbike riders

There are many enjoyable moments when you are a bike rider, but group riding is one of the

best ways to spend quality time with likeminded individuals and feel like the king of the road!

Whether you are taking off for a couple of hours to your local watering hole with a few friends, going camping for the weekend or heading to an annual festival or social get together, group riding is one of the best ways to have serious fun on a motorbike.

If you haven’t participated in group riding however, here are a few tips for making sure that it all goes smoothly.

Organise a pre-trip planning meeting

You will need to get everyone together before the big day to arrange your route, pitstops, overnight stops and ground rules. Hand signals are the ideal way to signal to other rides when you are on the road, so you need to pay attention to these if you haven’t previously ridden in a group.

The riding order will also need to be organised, because you can’t have people overtaking each other constantly on the road. Both a lead rider and a tail rider need to be designated and both need to be experienced riders and old hands at group riding. The lead rider sets the pace, navigating and looking for hazards, signalling instructions back to the group. The tail rider who brings up the rear, makes sure that everyone is keeping up and no-one is left behind, also checking for anyone in trouble, for example a break down or even wandering off on their own.

The formation for riding on the road is another factor that needs to be organised and the best formation is to have all riders staggered left to right on the road with 1.5 seconds between each rider. This staggered formation gives all riders sufficient space to avoid any hazards up ahead. A single file is fine for going around corners, but never ride side by side at any time, because this gives you no space to evade hazards and makes it likely that you will collide with the rider at your side.

Finally, always bring your own toolkit, bottle of water, sunscreen, phone and phone charger, as well as duct tape (someone always wants duct tape on every trip!), flashlight and some spare cash for emergencies. Don’t worry if you become separated because of red lights, because you will catch up at some point along the route that was discussed at the pre-ride meeting.

Find out how to obtain your motorbike licence – call us on 08 8941 2434 or shoot us an email today.