Group riding etiquette

We all love going on tours with our biker buddies, sharing every moment, and the glam of riding together in full gear with luggage strapped to our tails. Now, picture this, all of you are hurtling at triple digit speeds, with limited visibility in front because of the rider(s) in front of you. Our main aim is to complete the journey without getting hurt or hurting the others around you. This is where group riding etiquette comes into play.

Now, as you travel a lot, you might've come across six lane highways, single lane highways and highways that are no more than gravel and dirt having one huge orgy! These roads dictate the rules, and affect our riding formations. Formation you say? Hmm. Ever see those amazing air shows? Where the fighter pilots show off their aerial skills, and woo our women? Notice the formations they fly in? That is because they don't want to fly into each other. Even though following a disciplined formation is boring, they look awesome, and we might end up wooing some women too!

Let's talk biker formations now! Why do we use formations? Why not ride solo and keep a safe distance from each other? Well, to be specific, united we stand, divided we fall! A biker group's strength is in it's numbers, and when riding in formations, the group appears really big and other motorists on the road generally give way to such large formations. Hear me out, we've had some crazy cagers in powerful machines try and weave in and out of our formations as well! Talk about road rage!

For explaining purposes, let us assume that we are travelling with 10 very sane human beings hurtling on the highway at 100kmph. Now, all 10 of us cannot hoard the whole road by riding next to each other, that is just wrong. We need to be considerate about our fellow humans as well, even though we might not like it. We categroize formations and positions as follows;

Single file formation:

A single file, as the name suggests, means we travel in a single line, one behind the other. Remember when we were in pre school, and the teacher had us stand one behind the other and walk to the loo, or for the morning assembly? Same concept, bigger kids equipped with crotch rockets! Isn't it risky to ride behind each other? What if the guy in front of me hits the brakes! Yes, that is the right question! when riding in a single file formation, we make sure we give enough space between each other so that we can effectively come to a stop, otherwise known as safe braking distance.

A motorcycle offers six degrees of freedom, unlike a cage (also known as car). We can go forward, backward, left, right and also lean left and right. So always be aware of these six degrees of freedom to make the best use of it as possible. 

Also, if the motorcycle in front of you comes equipped with ABS and your's doesn't, make sure you give him/her extra space, because that motorcycle is going to stop faster than yours. Worst case scenario, your clip ons or handle bars might be mounted on his/her rear seat in the case of panic braking. Ouch!

And when riding in a single file, your visibility up front is going to be seriously hampered. It isn't wrong to move just a little out of line to get better visibility, but breaking the formation or over taking the others is a big no-no unless it is an emergency. 

Single file formations are typically used when riding on single lane highways or highways with heavy traffic that offers very little space to move around.

Staggered Formation:

Staggered! That's a nice sounding word ain't it! Well, according to the dictionary, staggered means, "to move or stand unsteadily, as if under a great weight". In the biking world, it means the exact opposite! A staggered formation (check illustration below) allows a proper space cushion and safe braking distance between motorcycles so the the riders have enough time and space to react and maneuver around obstacles or hazards on the road. In cave man terms, it means "bike give space between bike. Bike no hit bike! Bike no hit stupid dog middle road!"

So, as the above illustration suggests, the riders are split in two lines actually, offset from each other at angles. The interval between one rider and the other (at angles) must be one second. And the time interval between two riders following the same line must be 2 seconds at the least.

Now that you've understood what a single and staggered formations are, let's move on to positions! Very similar to football or basketball, or hockey, each rider has a specific position and a duty assigned to the said position. We are not classifying those duties by what motorcycle that rider owns, rather by the amount of experience and miles munched by said person. Please don't fight amongst yourselves for positions, like we did in school!

The lead, or the first person leading the group is called Lead/Road Captain. He ensures that the group follows the right routes to their destination, coordinates lane changes on the highway and overall takes the brunt of all the other riders' bitching. The lead rider shows hand/foot signals to make the other riders in the group aware of any obstructions or hazards on the road. These signals are passed down through the group till the last guy.

The last rider is called the Sweep. The Sweep is usually the guy with anger issues, scary to look at, and would have a moderately powerful motorcycle. The sweep fights with all the traffic that thinks they can mess around with the group from behind. The Sweep is the linebacker or defender of the whole group. Do not mess with the sweep! 

The sweep also works with the Lead rider to assist the whole group to change lanes or make a turn or cross the road. When the lead signals to change lanes, the sweep moves first into the lane from behind and occupies, said lane. Thereby preventing those crazy cagers from running into the lane that we're going to turn into. 

The riders right behind the lead would be the ones with the slowest motorcycles in the group. The entire group's cruising speed is governed by the slowest bike in the group. Remember, we are not racing on the highway, rather we're keeping the biking brotherhood alive by riding in groups and enjoying our time together.

For larger groups, spanning over 30 riders, it is advisable to split the group into three or four units to effectively increase the pace of the entire group.

So that about covers it for this blog entry! Ride safe, ATGATT and Hariathoo!