Before you can ride safely in a group, you must be able to ride confidently by yourself.  It is beyond the scope of this website to teach you how to ride.  If you haven't already taken a Riders Ed course it is highly recommended, regardless of how long you have been riding.  Courses are available thru a few venues, including Riders Edge® classes from our sponsoring dealer.

One of the most over-looked skills seems to be Counter Steering, also known as Push Steering. To make a motorcycle turn to the right, you push on the right handlebar.  That's right, you turn the handlebars in the opposite direction that you want to go.  This isn't just a skill used for emergency swerving, it's how you ride a motorcycle.  You don't steer a motorcycle by leaning, you make it lean by steering! If you veer towards the centerline making a simple right hand turn, you might want to Google counter-steering and unlock the secret to safer cycling.

(click photo to enlarge) 

That being said, riding in a group is easy and safe if you know the ground rules and everyone is on the same page.  In the St. Paul Chapter we ride staggered.  This means the lead bike is always in the left half of the lane, and the second bike is in the right half-about 1 second back.  Bike three is in the left half 1 second back.  While each bike is maintaining only a 1 second following distance, the distance between the bike immediately in front of you is 2 seconds and each bike has full use of the lane should they need it and in curves. There is no one riding next to you since we are staggered, so avoid crowding the center-line or pavement edge. (following distances refer to the well-known "2-second rule" and may need to be increased, but try to avoid huge gaps) Take your staggered position as we leave the parking lot.  Once underway, should gaps need filling, it is preferred that riders slide, as opposed to criss-crossing from side to side. However, DO NOT slide past a rider to fill a gap without first being waved ahead by that rider. The safety aspect of being motioned ahead by the other rider is obvious, but it also satisfies the legal maneuver of passing within the same lane. (at least in Minnesota..."Splitting traffic is illegal. No one except on-duty police officers may ride between lanes of traffic or in the same lane with other vehicles. It is legal for two motorcyclists to ride side-by-side in the same lane if both riders agree to it beforehand."

When stopped at intersections it is usually better to pair-up and tighten ranks. Each right-side bike moves up to be beside the left-side bike.  If a stoplight, resume the stagger as you move out on the green.  If a stop sign, proceed thru as a pair then resume stagger. Take turns as pairs with other traffic.  Do not block traffic!  (as nice as that might be, none of us are deputized-and if something goes wrong you don't want the report to state that you ran a stop sign!) This can get tricky as sometimes one of the cars will yield to us but the other side may not.  Your default position is to exercise caution and follow the law.

We use hand signals to communicate with the group.  This only works if everyone relays the hand signals on back to the rest of the group.

Lane changes: Whenever the group is changing lanes, don't assume it is safe for YOU to change lanes, always make a head check first.  Don't criss-cross  the stagger formation- Example: If you are second bike and leader calls for lane change to the right, you should be in that lane before the leader crosses over. If passing, don't return to lane too soon and don't cut-off the vehicle you just passed.

Breakdowns: If you breakdown, signal your intention to pull-over and do so safely.  The rest of the pack should continue on.  One of the road captains will stop to assist you.  We don't need 40 bikes pulled over on the side of the road.