Did a quick search and didn't find any info. Hijacked this post from a friend who hijacked it from 600rr.net apparently. Lots of good info, and common practice for most riders. Educate your friends and be safe!

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A group ride with people you have never met before is not the place for you to try something new; for example: drag a knee, wheelie/stunt, go faster than you have ever before. We've all seen it and you wont impress us with anything.


Basic Recomended Gear:
Slow/Mid: Jeans, Jacket and Helmet
-You are welcome to show up in what ever you want but most people will be wearing this and if your new you might feel you dont fit in (i went through that when i rolled up one time in shorts and a T many moons ago... you tend to feel out of place)
Boots, Jeans, Leathers, Gloves & Helmet


Basic Formations:
On highway or any straight road (staggered):


On back roads and when entering a turn:


When Passing a Car:
Speed up to the car, pass and move infront of it by at least 50 feet, give the guy behind you room to get infront of the car also. DO NOT: pass and slow down to the speed of the car at X, this will give the next passing guy no room to come back into the lane, just keep going at least 5-10mph faster than the car (you did pass to go faster). Also dont pass 1 car out of a line of 3, only pass if you can really get ahead and proceed at a faster rate of speed. passing for no reason is just stupid and the group gets all messed up.


Once you've passed:
Use this hand signal to help the next rider pass by indicating he has the clear of way (in other words no on-coming traffic) If you are the rider who is being helped you do NOT have to pass the car unless you feel 100% about it. If you are worried about holding up others behind you let them come upfront and drop back. We do not want anyone to feel pressued into passing.


Move out of the way
First tell the ride behind you to catch up or get closer, this is also used for any "speed up" situation:

If you feel you want the guy behind you infront for any reason or you simply want to drop back, wave him up:


NEVER PASS ON THE RIGHT:
The only time is when you have your own lane to do so, DO NOT DO A FLY BY, make the pass easy (5-10mph faster than the other riders).







Speeds:
Even though a ride might be Slow/Mid(5-20mph over the limit), doesn't mean it will always stay that way. Leaders usualy know the roads and want to enjoy themselves, thus they might speed up for a turn just to push the bike a little, YOU DO NOT NEED TO FOLLOW ON HIS ***. If you feel you are going over your head/limits back off, the leader will always wait for you at the next straight away, stop sign or turn. Remember, a group ride is not the place to try something new you have never done before.

Other Hand Signals:
Left Turn:


Right Turn:


U-Turn/Turn Around:


Stopping (Fist at 90 Degrees):


Your High Beams are on or turn signal still flashing:


Road Hazard, Debree, switching lanes


Slow Down or Bumpy road:


COP/5-0 (tap on helmet):


I Need Food/Drink:


I Need Gas (Point at tank):


Getting Pulled Over by a Cop:
The Group Gets Pulled Over
Everyone stops. You dont know why, you dont know where you dont know anything!

One Person Gets Pulled Over
Member X did a wheelie and is now getting pulled over, let him, just continue slow to the next rest area, store, parking lot and wait for him to catch back up. If you are also asked to pull over do so but you dont know why, what, when or how member X did something.

Leaving a Group
No matter what happens dont just split off and not tell anyone. As part of a group ride you are to double check once in a while on the guy behind you, if you split off the guys upfront have no clue what happened and might think you crashed, turn around, do a search and so on. So never just leave, let someone know somehow that you are splitting off.

 

Nice post. Thats a good read.

 

that is a good post. more people should follow that

 

always good to get refreshed on this stuff. safety first!

 

some great tips, never been on a group ride but hope to do at least one this season

 

Group rides are a good change every once in a while. I personally prefer to ride alone of with 1 or two of my buddies but riding in a group can be a good time.

 

yea good stuff

we have a group of about 4-5 of us that we usually ride with every night
but sometimes we'll randomly get like 15+ guys
those times are cool, but they make me nervous and i almost always stay in the back wtih a group that big
with my reg. group of 4-5 i know they are smart and know how to ride so i dont mind being up front

 

Very helpful info for those ridez who tend to not follow the rules of the road. I used to ride with a lot of riderz..anywhere from 3 to 60 riderz and even after debriefing before the runs..riderz would still go on this "I'm gonna do, what I'm gonna do attitude" which eventually led to the heat we didn't need. As the coordinator of many of these runs I had to elimintate these riderz from our group rides. Again good information that I'm sure is helpful !! With a smaller group of riderz, our runs are much more fun, less "heat" and more importantly, safer.