You have to decide if you're going to travel alone or with others. There are advantages and disadvantages to both choices. I like both depending on my mood and who the others may be. During the past five years I've found that whenever I travel alone I get rained on about half the time I'm on the bike, sometimes more. If I travel with someone else I never even take out my rain suit, even when I can see thunderstorms on all points around me. There may be some cosmic meaning here but I'm too dense to figure it out.
If you travel alone you can do whatever you want whenever you want. This can be very nice. You also tend to make much better time - high mileage days are MUCH easier when you're alone. It's also easier to find a place to sleep since you only have to satisfy your own motel or campsite requirements.
On the down side there is no one to talk to on breaks or during meals. If you breakdown you're on your own. You're also more vulnerable to the crazies and the local rednecks who like to mess with bikers. This isn't common but it still happens.
In a group there is more security and people to talk to but at the price of lowest common denominator behavior and decision making. The degree to which this is a problem varies with your personality and that of your travel companions. Remember that the IQ of a group is the IQ of the dumbest person in the group divided by the number of people in a group. As a consequence, groups can do some pretty stupid things - things that the individual members would never do on their own.
You will not make as high an average speed in a group as you would alone. This is true for ALL groups regardless of makeup. With a group all stops will take longer. On average planned stops for groups take the planned amount of time plus a minimum of an extra 5 minutes for each bike beyond one. For example, a planned 15 minute stop with three bikes will take 15+((3-1)*5)=25 minutes. You can see that for large groups once you stop you run the risk of never leaving until it's time to go home. This rule is true for day trips, multi-month tours, and everything in between.
You must also consider the frequency of stops, also known as the pose factor. Posers are not touring motorcyclists. They seldom ride more than a couple thousand miles (3200 km) a year, mostly from their house to the nearest biker hangout and back. To them a serious road trip is about 100 mi (160 km). Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against posers per se, many of them are really nice people. It's just that if you want to actually ride your motorcycle having posers in your group can be really frustrating as they always have some silly reason to stop. They say things like "we've been riding nonstop for 50 miles (80km) and I need a break." On a day-trip this can drive you nuts but on a cross country jaunt it can ruin the experience (unless you're the person who wants to stop).
Fortunately, most posers have no desire to go on long trips. BTW, posers are not limited to a particular brand or category of motorcycle. They are not limited to any particular profession or socioeconomic strata although lawyers do seem to be overrepresented. They are just people who are not into long distance riding. That's fine as long as you don't expect them tour.
Pick your group carefully. If you pick the wrong group you'll be miserable, or they will, or both. The wrong group is one where not all the members follow the same rules. It doesn't matter so much what the rules are just that everyone follows them. If there are no known rules then no one can (or will) follow them and therefore EVERYONE will be unhappy. If you don't want to follow other peoples' rules, don't ride in a group. If you're in a group of squids don't get pissed if they ride too fast - they're squids and that what squids do. Don't say I didn't warn you!
There are some rules that apply to all groups. All groups have to have some way of keeping together. There are two common methods.
There are variations on both these methods but the important thing is that some method is chosen, communicated to all the group's members, and followed by everyone. This is important!
There is a third method that many groups follow - everyone will stay together on the road so we don't have to do one of the first two listed above. This almost never works and is always a bad idea, don't do it.
Be willing to leave the group if things get too bad. On a day trip this isn't a big deal but on a two week trip it can be a substantial problem. The best way to make it possible to leave is to be self contained. That means no shared resources, everything you will need is on your bike at all times, not on someone else's. If you decide to leave and you need an hour to unload everyone's bike to redistribute all the stuff so that you can leave, this will just increase the bad feelings. If it's a quick "I'm going to take off, have a good trip." things will go a lot easier. BTW, if you do decide to leave the group always tell someone that you're leaving.
For long distances, groups of more than four are pretty much unmanageable. If you must travel with more than four bikes break up into smaller groups on the road and plan to meet using rules one or two listed above. I prefer two to three bikes in a group.
When riding in a group communications between bikes can be difficult. If you've got some sort of radio communications then there's no problem except that there's someone talking in your ear. I don't like this as I find it distracting and it takes away from the essentially solo experience of riding a motorcycle. The following is a list of hand signals that some riders use for communicating between motorcyclists. Use them as you see fit. Note that they all require that you take a hand of foot off of the controls and this may not always be a good idea. Obviously (I hope!), all hand signals use the left hand. Most of this is from a posting to rec.moto by Paul Thompson on 4 June, 1991. My additions are in italics.
|
Signal |
Meaning |
My Comment |
| Point to tank. | I need gas, stop at the next station. | - |
| Point at ground [with either finger or toe]. |
Careful, there's something on the road. (Note that you aren't pointing at the hazard necessarily, as this might not be convenient). |
[This can be very distracting and often doesn't give you enough warning to do anything about it. You're better off with a greater following distance and paying enough attention so that you can see the hazard]. |
| Hand down, rub fingers together. | Road is slippery. | [If you can make out this signal, you're too close.] |
| Flash brake lights very rapidly. | Major watch out! Be prepared to stop QUICK. |
[This is easier if you've adjusted both your front and rear brake levers so that you can illuminate the brake light without actuating the brakes.] |
| Point at sign. | Read the sign. If it's a highway sign with multiple exits listed, hold up the number of fingers corresponding to which exit you want (e.g. two fingers for the second exit listed). |
- |
| Point at another rider, then pat leg. | You want that rider to come alongside you (usually so you can talk). | - |
| Arm back, pointing rear - sweep arm forward till pointing to your left then point down. | You want the rider to your rear to come alongside you. | I think that this is easier to see. |
| Pat stomach. | I'm hungry. We need to stop for food soon. | - |
| Point at another rider, then point to side of road. | Pull over now. | - |
| Arm out, palm back. | Stay behind me. | - |
| Arm out, fingers down, palm back with a fore and aft motion. | Back-off, you're too close. This is mostly for tailgaters. | Be careful using this as it could make the driver angry and they could start playing games with you. You don't need this! |
| Arm out, forward waving | Go past me | - |
| Waving arm in quick downward motion, with palm down and parallel to ground | Slow down! Often used for bikes traveling in the opposite direction to warn of hazard or police. |
- |
| Tap top of helmet, or hand on helmet | Cop nearby (This signal is designed to be both noticeable and undecipherable by the cop) |
Many motorcyclists don't know what this means. Almost everyone knows the slowdown signal in the above row. |
| Point forward, shrug shoulders | I don't know where we're going, I probably shouldn't be leading! | - |
| Point at map on tank bag, shrug shoulders. | I don't know where we're going, I probably shouldn't be leading! | - |
| Little wave to oncoming motorcyclist. | Aren't motorcycles great? | - |