For the first time since I bought my 600RR last March, I went riding with a big group (17) of sport bike riders. The group had everything but the biggest, i.e. ZX14R, and Busa. After we were supposed to meet up at 1:30, we leave at 2:10 and given a disclaimer by the guy who organized the ride: If your new stay in the back and stay in the middle, the outside is rough/gravelly and don't go ***** to the walls on the first curve because it's blind and has a little dip in it. About thirty minutes into the actual riding we get to said curve. Like a good newbie I stayed in the back and in the middle and kept my speed to a moderate level. Up front there was an experienced guy riding a newish R1 and a stupid kid with a new Gixxer 750 (19 yr old). They decided it was a good idea to ride two deep and to roll about 80 mph. The kid on the 750 starts encroaching a little bit and the R1 brakes a smidge, but to everyone's dismay he tapped the front brake; this has a myriad, plethora, a veritable cornucopia of endings all of which start with "Oh ****". The R1 dips and the front tire washes out and goes end over end. The Gixxer gets into the grass and high sides over the first. The R1 rider broke his fall on an 80 year old mans mail box along with his left clavicle. The Gixxer rider just slid in the grass, no bid deal. In the end the Gixxer lost the screen and broke the left fairing and bent the shifter and his frame sliders but ridable home, the R1 was trashed, the whole nose was busted off and the tail section had a gaping hole in it where it collided with the pavement driveway.

Moral: Ride what you can handle, know when to say enough and no.

Ride safe and ride legal---R1 had no insurance.

 

Your title says it all. This is a good lesson for those who will listen to it.


If I'm on a ride like that, I will always be in the back, doing a speed I deem acceptable. If I don't know the roads and the position of pot holes and gravel, I will be even slower. If they're really 'friends', they'll be waiting for me at the next turn off/intersection.

 

yeah..i broke my 50 mph fall with a tree...i know how the dude feels. what happened to him.

 

I don't know him, I just met the guy today at the beginning of the ride.

 

well i would imagine a mailbox would be a little bit more forgiving then a 5ft wide tree..i ended up smashing my pelvise and shattering my knee..but ill take that over impalement anyday! hope the dude is ok..and he had some good insurance

 

...wow man, was he wearing good gear? hopefully his gear saved him.

 

sucks to have no insurance. Thats why I ride solo or with a couple people I trust. I have never heard of anything good coming out of big groups.

 

Is this latin or something lol?

Good story too. Everyone can learn from this. Glad you were anywhere near them when they broke loose. Hope everyone is alright aswell.

 

IMO big group rides are not good. I don't like rideing with more then 3 other bikes. Sounds like the lead guys were total squids. I hope they are Ok, but they were warrned. Glad to hear you played it cool and had no problems.

Not having insurance on a vehicle is just dumb.

 

I like riding alone. Too much testosterone in one place creates problems.