New Riders

There seems to be more and more new riders lately. Not sure if it is the times, or the price of gas, or friends got one, or whatever. One thing that I've notice is the uncertainty of their moves, lane changes, and in general posture on their ride. They will driff one side to the other not even looking over their shoulder or in the mirrors to check out what's there, a car ,truck or another rider. Then there's the wreck, and someone doesn't get to go home for the trip to the hospital, or worse the morge. I was up at the Aspen Rally in Riudoso, NM this past week-end , there so many close calls with cars and bike in the first few moments that we arrived that I was really scared to even ride around town, little long do the runs. When there are some 30,000 bikes all at once in a town of only 15,000 population you know that there is going to be BIG TROUBLE quick. This is not the right time for the first-timers to get their bikes and try to play with the cars and trucks. I'm not the only persons that feel this either. I talked to several State Police, City Police, and Sherriffs that were there,They were telling us about serveral wrecks, and one in paticular in which a new rider lost control and went down going 60mph with no helmet- Death from Head trauma. His girlfriend- Death from Dis-memberment when they hit the guardrail. I'm sorry to tell you new riders there is a place to learn to ride, and Bike Rallies are Not them. Get some professional help with someone that is qualified to teach more than just how to shift the gears, and start the bike. Don't make the Law Enforcement Department be the one to tell Your Loveones that there's been a Terrible Accident, and your not coming Home. Ride Smart, Be Safe, and Don't Drink and Ride or else ...DON'T FORGET YOUR HEAD GEAR!!

Funny

I't sort of funny to read this since there was an accident just the other day down the street form my house. Funny peculiar, not funny haha.

I live on a side road that comes off of a rather narrow, winding, heavily traveled secondary road. This is in an old cottage community on a lake where the houses, over the years, have been converted into or replaced with larger year round residences. Therefore, the building codes are often "grandfathered" in and aren't always what they should be.

That being said, this relatively new rider, having had a few drinks in him to boot, went around one of the tight corners and hit a concrete wall. The wall is only a couple of feet off the side of the road. However, any experienced rider, even after a few drinks, would have been able to make the corner. He happened to be a recent graduate from a state santioned motorcycle course. He bought a Honda Shadow 650 to learn on and quickly outgrew that. Now he just wrecked a brand new Heritage Deluxe.

Luckily, no one else got hurt and he was able to walk away. In fact he walked away in a hurry but the local fuzz caught up to him before he could get to far. Add a leaving the scene to that DWI!

I think new riders tend to get a false since of security after they're first one or two seasons. They get comfortable because they become more familiar with there bikes. As a result they sometimes get complacent and pay a little less attention to what is going on around them. Now throw a drink or two into the mix and you have a recipe for disaster, especially in large groups of riders. That's one of the reasons I stopped going on some of the big rides. Certain ones seem to attract the newbes and wannabes. I try to stick with the smaller local rides where I have seen a lot of the riders before and know there won't be an over abundance of new guy testing there "abilities".

Yepper.

I agree with you on that one maxpower, not to sound like a snob or anything but, I will not ride with/next-to someone I don’t know or knows how to ride. I will choose to ride alone before I ride with someone with little or no experience. I have seen inexperienced riders take down innocent riders.

10-4! I hate it when someone rides up beside you playing Easy Rider. When I see someone coming up like that I drift over toward the center of the lane. If he does not get the point I will change lanes, speed up, slow down etc until he gets the point. If I do not know you, I will not ride side by side period. Even if I do know you I do it very infrequently. There are very few riders I know that I would trust in close like that. Staggered is fine for me thank you.

Funny

I know another guy at the campground where we have a seasonal site. He rode for a little while on an old beat up Sportster Ironhead Chopper. I believe it was a 900. Anyway, he bought a Heritage Springer this year. He had a cookout and invited some of the campground folks over to his house. Half way through the day hed decided to show us how nice his new bike did burnouts. He started smoking up his tire. The bike broke loose and out of control, slamming into the front corner of his garage. HEHEHE! Again, no one got hurt but mannnnn! Was it funny! We had to take the fender off because it was bent up and around his front wheel.

A few weeks later, I found a diecast model of a Heritage Springer. I ripped the front fender off, drew an out of control looking skid mark on his deck with a black marker and left the dicast bike smashed against his camper.

Needless to say, he didn't find it very funny. But everyone else did.

I've got a friend who I've only ridden with a few times. A while back he came into town to ride from Las Vegas to Reno with me. He pulls upside me at 70+ on the freeway really unnerving me. I backed off..he backed off. I sped up..he sped up. I finally changed lanes to get away from him. At our next stop, I told him I didn't feel comforable riding side by side. He says "Oh..I do that all the time..I know what I'm doing". I said "Well..I don't know what you're doing and I've got too much else to concentrate on the road besides having someone 5' to my right". He got the picture and stayed back or led, but never side by side again. Hell..my best riding buddy and I don't ride side by side except at really slow speeds in town, and that's usually pulling up to a stop or red light (I slide to the left and he pulls up on my right). Even though we know each other, we both agree there's just no room to bail if something suddenly comes up. Leave it for the parades!

Hell..I rode with my lady friend in the Aspen 4th of July Parade a few years ago. She wanted to ride alongside me so a friend could take our pic as we road through Aspen. Little did I know this wasn't a normal parade ride through town. The motorcycles lead the start of the parade route, but everyone took off like the running of the bulls in Pamplona..zigzagging everywhere racing through the streets with all these pedestrians on the side of the road. I bailed and stayed to the side of the road to let em go by. My lady friend was upset I didn't stay to her left side, but idiots tried to split between us. Needless to say..I haven't ridden that cluster**** of a ride again.

An then there was ONE

Well, I've been riding since '78. I started out on Honda CB350 ( Kiddie bike ), but it was one that still got me in a Jam. Little to my Surprise a car pulled out in front of me, and I met the side of a '78 Pontiac. The bad thing about it was I got the Ticket because the cops thought that I should have been able to stop faster than I did. I slid 46' on Newly Re-top road, What were they Thinking . Luckily, I was wearing good riding gear, my Helmet, Leathers,and Jacket. Despite all the right gear , my helmet didn't survive the crash,Split-Right-Down-The-Middle of a full-face. Got a Piece of Broken beer bottle stuck thru my hand and a Trip in an Ambulance, Fun Fun-NOT!!!! So, Everytime I'm out riding around I'm looking for the one person that's not paying attention to their business at hand. I'm not one to try and look for trouble, but it has it's way of finding you when your not looking for it. There is several of us that like to ride in the mountains with the winding twisting roads that seem to just go on an on forever. I don't mind when someone comes up beside me at a stop, but going on those roads it's Trouble with a "T" waiting to happen. Give me a Brake, ride your bike Not Mine, Please. If comes down to someone thinking that they need to be right beside me, Sorry,but I'll Stop and let them have the Whole Road to them self to find Trouble. Leave me Out of IT. RIDE SMART, BE SAFE, AND DON'T DRINK AND RIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know I like my space and there are always those who insist on trying to take it..rallys bring out the "best" in some people.hopefully they'll learn to ride before they get killed

Hell..my best riding buddy and I don't ride side by side except at really slow speeds in town, and that's usually pulling up to a stop or red light (I slide to the left and he pulls up on my right).


Ditto. I have a 'standard set' of riding bros. We understand each other.

Well here's how i look at it.
Riding side by side no matter how skilled of a rider you are is dangerous. It cuts off an avenue of escape no matter how skilled the riders are and there is no way to know how each person is going to react. Its good to have a helmet intercom were you can talk with your partner rider. But hand signs in your mirror work well. As far as new riders. Well we were all new riders at one time. I rode most of my young life. Got married had kids and decided to sell our bike to make sure we were around to raise them. They grew up and we bought another HD. I thought I would jump on and ride like I did back then. It does not work that way. Skills can be lost even over a couple of seasons. Even a change from one model of bike to another can be a challenge. Back then we welcomed newbees. There is safty in numbers. If we rode in a pac they would ride near the back with a experiance rider to watch after them and help them become better riders. I would welcome a new rider to ride with me. I would just set the ground rules before the ride and prefer they had a some riding time and a safty course under their belt.

Maybe the Title should Read: UN-Safe Riders

I agree that we were all New at one point. It's just the ones who think that everyone is watching them, and they don't need to be on the lookout for the accident that is about to happen. I mean the one that is going to happen when your not watching. As with everyone who has been in an accident, myself included, didn't want to be there or ever again. It was just the wrong time at the right place for to occure. I've been ran off the road by cars, and even other riders. Maybe it's just bad timing on my part, but I don't think anyone really wants to get in an accident whether it's in an auto or on a bike. I feel that anyone who has taken the time to go through the Courses and learned the proper ways of the road should have their day to Enjoy. I'm ready to ride just about anytime or day, and I enjoy the company of others too. I will and do ride in large groups, but I'm usually the one who is in the Back-of-the-Pack. I've been riding since I was 16, and I'm 46 now. I rode dirtbikes mostly growing up, then went up to cruisers later in my life (Crotch-Rockets Not My Style, Sorry). I still like to get out and run the sands, but really like the open road for the Freedom and Sights. Also, the other riders that we've met (my wife included). We have several friends that we ride with to Rallies and other things together. The reason that I started this Thread was to air some thoughts on "Maybe Large Rallies are not the Place for Really New Riders to Ride Their bikes for the Firsttime, (As in Right Off the Showroom Floor)". I'm sorry if by chance that I may have Hurt someone's feelings, but Maybe if The Truth Hurts it Could Save a Life possibility. Maybe Yours if not Mine. Always wear your Head Gear, Ride Smart and Be Safe-Don't Drink and Ride.

Oh no jrsyamaha
You didn't hurt my feelings and I respect your opinion. I was posting my opinion more in general not really to any one post in this string. I do agree that very new riders should not enter event rides at big ralleys at least untill they have more experiance and confidence in there riding skills. I also believe attitude plays a role. Not many want to ride with an idiot or a trouble maker. ( Look at me no hands lol ) But if one can pass the DMV driving course on a electra glide keeping their front tire in that little circle I will give the a shot LOL.