Motorway riding

[mattgt]

Me and my mate are gonna start long road trips to see people in uni all over England. We know winter is coming, but we're gonna take it easy. But the question is about formation and general riding on the motorway in groups. We see that there could be 3 main ways to do it.

1. Ride close, getting each other's draft covered etc. This could be a problem if it's busy, cars would blatantly see us as skittles and try to get a strike

2. Like a bike/2 lengths away? But then if the person in front decides to overtake, accelerate to 5 mph over the speed limit (no more of course) then could this cause problems for the follower, trying to keep up overtaking etc? of course a lot depends on skill!

3. Do it independently, just ride and see who gets there. But then it's not as much fun!

Thanks for ur help, it may sound like a petty question but we really wanna know!

Cheers

[sanchezz_182]

what my an my friend do is ride independently for safty sake (no point in trying to sqeez in gaps just because the guy ur riding with has) but keep each other in sight, and if u wana pull over pull infront of them in ther lane an point to the side of the road,, works for us,,
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no sig, thats gay!!

[Barry_M2]

If your going to be doing long journeys, plan your stops in advance, so if you do get split up, you know that you can meet up again at the next service station etc.. as planned.



Or, just hammer it full whack and use each others slipstram to get you there in half the time!

[map]

FWIW some suggestions.
Decide what speed you want to stay at before you start.
Make sure you all know the exit junctions and meeting points if you get split up.
Depends on how many of you there are but always ride offset to each other.
Maybe decide who's to stay at the back (if more than 2). That way they'll always know where the group is.

From your list would pick number 2. However, riding in convoy can be tiring, especially for the front rider, as they should be checking who's behind them. So take it in turns to lead. Overtaking is not a problem so long as you go back to a cruising speed. Whatever happens do it at your pace, not those you're riding with.

Just some thoughts.
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...and the whirlwind is in the thorn trees, it's hard for thee to kick against the pricks...
Gibbs, what did Duckie look like when he was younger?

[kath600]

it's not a silly question but maybe you are thinking a little bit too much about the ins and outs of it all (don't get me wrong its not a bad thing )

and you don't want to be doing that too much on a busy m.way when you should be concentrating on yr riding.

if it's only going to be 2 of you then you should have no probs staying together if you ride at a similar pace.

agree a top speed ish stopping points for fuels , food , wees etc.

when i ride with friends who ever is at the front keeps the one behind in their mirrors, if you don't seem em for a bit drop back and go the left hand lane to wait for them to catch up.

no matter how close you try to stick together on the m.way there will do doubt be times when you get separated
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Seven days without laughter......... makes one weak.

[stinkwheel]

What she said.

Arrange where you are stopping next. You usually find that one of you takes off for a bit then pulls in and slows down to 60 or so until the other person catches up and so-on.

If you follow each other convoy style, the rearmost person tends to 'switch off' and just follow on. This is not a good thing to do.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[riichy]

keep a good 2 bikes space between you, put the slows first and the fasts at the back. plan the way you will be going "and ride for yourself,keep yourself safe"
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.......... PLOD ............ zx636 2004

[dodsi]

If there is a small group on a motorway, the person at the back could pull into the lanes first and the others could then pull infront of the person at the back, then overtake slower moving traffic and then everyone just pulls back in once around trucks etc.

In a large group this would be dangerous but 2 or 3 people its perfectly safe so long as the people in front keep an eye on their mirrors.

[dodsi]

This might be clearer on what I was trying to say.

A quick flash document I knocked up.

[riichy]

that car wont be happy with two bikes cutting him up
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.......... PLOD ............ zx636 2004

[dodsi]

Its a truck and I didnt want to make the image too big you pedantic little fucker!

[mattgt]

ha ha, well i understood the flash thing. vaguely. that would be great but the fucker has broken his mirrors. but it does make sense

can you get between bike radio? That would be the coolest thing. I really want to talk when im riding so much, so often sing to myself at the top of my voice so i can actually hear what im saying. two hours later upon arriving and finding that ive sung myself hoarse without knowing is a different story!

in groups of 4 or something, is driving in formation silly? like jet fighters?

[dodsi]

Autocom is half price at the moment, bike to bike radio's