I am usually a solo rider. I have a small group of trusted riders that I ride with. Today I tried something new. I went on a group ride with strangers.
There is a local sport bike riders group that has a facebook page. I saw that they were doing a group ride and thought What the hell...why not?
There was a great mix of bikes, mostly 600s of all makes. It was mostly younger riders. There was one other guy with a CBR1000RR 08. Around a dozen bikes all together.
There was no clear route planned.
So we headed out of town, headed east. The group turned off to the north and was going to link up with the next east-west road. There are a couple of 20mph corners just before the highway. It was just before the corners that a guy on an R6 went charging past. The guy on the other CBR1000 must have taken it as a challenge and followed him into the corners and ran off in the second turn.
He got into the pebbles on the shoulder and lost it. He high sided.
The rider was geared up in a Joe Rocket CBR jacket just like mine. The jacket pushed up and he got road rash on his left *** cheek. That's gonna smart in the morning. He rashed his thumb on the right hand and was complaining of a sore wrist also. One of the other riders is a nurse and checked him over.
His bike laid down on the right side. The damage list includes clip-on, mirror, upper and lower fairing, tail section, bar end, engine case, foot peg...
After I checked on him I bugged out and left them to finish the group ride without me.
I was not comfortable continuing with them. I didn't want to be torpedoed by someone riding past their skill level.
Anybody else have any group riding experiences that are more positive than this?

 

none of my friends had bikes for awhile so I had to meet new people and ride with unknowns if I wanted a group ride. In my experience I have learned a lot from them and made many new friends. of course there are the crazy riders but you just need to stay behind them and you are in little danger. still, I went on many trips with people I did not really know but in the end I came to know all of them

I hope your experience does not deter you from going out and meeting new riders, because you never know who you might meet and it is very difficult not to get along with them when everyone shares a passion for riding.

 

I don't think it will deter me from meeting new riders, but maybe one or two at a time instead of a dozen.

 

Anytime I ride in a group of even a few new people I always stay in the back normally next/staggered to someone I am comfortable with. Let the ones who want to stunt, show off act squidly ride ahead of me so I can watch them plus my own butt.

Please tell me you at least got pictures of the nurse. Unless it was a male nurse like ******* Focker then pictures are not relevent.

 

I would have felt a little creepy snapping pics of the nurse attending some guys ***. I left my camera (iphone) in my pocket. Like I said earlier this turned out to be a group of mostly young riders, to be honest I have a kid older than most of them.
It was one of those days when I had a bad gut feeling and followed it. I just did not need to see any additional carnage. There was a shortage of gear and an abundance of enthusiasm.

 

Everytime I think of riding with someone I don't know, like a group gassing up or someone in the next lane, they go off and do something stupid so I think "Nah" I'm in Philadelphia. Inside Center City or on UPenn campus there's seriously no need to prove our bikes can do a 3 sec 0-60. Nevermind diving into corners.

Sometimes I have the urge to yank my helmet off and yell at them "You're supposed to hit ON sorority chicks! Not hit them!!!"

 

You did the right thing by getting out of there. I would have done the same thing. I only like to ride with people who I know and trust and are all geared up. There is just something about riding with people without gear that makes me uneasy. The trip is so much more enjoyable if you keep the rubber side down.

On a positive note me and 2 of my buddies went for a 200 mile ride this weekend. We were hitting the twisties pretty hard but still safe. I was the more experienced rider so I ripping harder than the other 2. They were smart enough to ride to their ability and the best part is we all made it home safe.

 

Wow that must have been kind of nuts, since my best friend sold his 600RR I ride alone now all the time. Every now and then I'll come up behind someone else on a motorcycle on one of my rides but they usually turn off into a driveway or are just cruising. The other day I did manage to have some fun with a Harley Sportster. Guy just had on a tshirt and helmet but he was riding pretty hard when he saw me catching up to him through a couple nice S corners just outside of town. Made me miss riding with someone else. I could've easily got by him but I gave him plenty of room. Haven't gotten a chance to ride with a group of more than 3 bikes yet.

 

I young Vet last Labor day, came home and the 1st weekend back bought a New R1. never rode before, no license. 6 days later met up with our riding group(all experianced riders) and explained for him to take it slow in the twisties. Wrecked and rashed the fairings within an hour, hurt his pride a little. 5 Hours later the young vet decided to take the last of the twisties full speed into a Ducati in a turn so hard that it split the bike into 2. The Ducati rider was f*c*ed, bashed up pretty good and taken to the hospital by Ambulance. Oh, the Vet didn't have any insurance on his bike.
I limit my riding to people I know, now.

 

My group has had many new riders join us only to ride outside of their ability and have something happen. So far they has only been minor low sides or run offs that have resulted in broken bikes and bumps and bruises. It's pretty inevitable when you ride in groups and new people join on a regular basis. And it has caused some folks to not want to ride in groups anymore, unless it's with specific people they know and trust. Myself, I don't enjoy riding with new people unless I'm with a larger group (so I'm not fully responsible for helping them out) or there is no fast riding planned.