Ricci

Everyone attending any bike meet must read this and keep these points in mind . There was some dissatisfaction felt by some of us over the riding habits of some participants .

Riding tactics :
Staggered arrangement is best - military jets fly that way for a reason . That way , you can see ahead of you , you ge extra room to manoeuvre and you avoid the turbulent air caused by rider in front .

Always ride in staggered formation ( two bikes diagonally wth 2-3 ft between handlebar tips and , keeping 50ft or more between two bikes )- this gives room for error and possible room for emergency manoeuvres , such as avoiding a patch of oil or debris , a rider in front may stray into your path .

Always ride with even gaps , avoid riding in close groups unless in slow dense traffic . If you must speak to someone else , approach him slowly , keep speed low enough to hear properly , raise you visor .

Safety first :
Big vehicles are notorious for disregarding safety of smaller vehicles , especially bikes . Be ready to shift gears , brake ans swerve for unrelenting buses/trucks hell bent on overtaking even after you honk and flash your headlights . They may go to jail , but you may die or worse be permanently hurt .


Overtaking :
Always overtake leaving sufficient gap laterally between yourself and the vehicle you overtake ( to reduce effect or turbulence and have room for emergency manoeuvres ) , and after overtaking , join back in the left lane with plenty of room ahead of the overtaken vehicle .

As a rule , do not overtake in corners where you can't see well ahead . Do not overtake over rises/crestsas you may not be able to see traffic across the crest . Do not overtake in thick traffic , you may misjudge speed/distance with no room for emergency manoeuvres .

Do not overtake in close groups , but overtake either one at a time or if overtaking as group keep a gap of 50ft or more in order to make room for braking and error of judgement . Following someone closely can result in a crash if the front rider has misjudged the distance or time and brakes abruptly . Also , front rider judges distances and time for himself , not for you , so while he might overtake before opposing traffic reaches , the following rider may directly collide with oncoming traffic .

Do not overtake fellow riders abruptly and closely , keep 3-4 ft gap between the tips of the handlebars/mirrors of the 2 bikes . Flash your light to signal your overtaking manouevre . Overtaking others too closely or too fast may surprise them and cause them to lose control , also the air around moving objects flows turbulently and may cause instability .

This is India , the land of inattentive , careless truck and bus drivers and macho SUV drivers . Use horn liberally to awaken these sleeping giants and warn them of your presence while overtaking these behemoths and flash your headlights .

Stopping :
When stopping , signal your intention to stop by hand signals , and stop slowly , not braking hard . You may need to stop for various reasons other than scheduled stops , such as pee breaks , to attend a phone call , to deal with a possible bike problem such as puncture , to fill fuel , or mechanical breakdown .

Avoid stopping alone , if someone else stops , preferably stop with him .

Before any trip , plot out several stopping points if necessary . Do not take turns at junctions unless the riders behind can see you are taking a turn . else you may turn while the others proceed in wrong direction unaware that you have turned elsewhere .

Tracking :
Track your rider buddies in front and behind by mirror . If your follower does not appear for long intervals , say 2-5min , then slow down or stop and wait for him . If your follower rider(s) do not arrive after 10 min , inform other riders who have gone ahead of possible problem and return back to search for riders left behind .

Object avoidance :

You may be required to swerve suddenly to avoide obstacles such as oil patches , rocks , sand , gravel , potholes other road debris such as glass . Preferably , if possible safely , raise your left or right hand as applicable and point to it so that riders behind you see it in advance and can avoid it with less abrupt manoeuvres .

Riding order :
The first rider is called lead or leader , last rider is called drag or trailer . These two should be the most experienced riders preferably .

Always ride at a speed the slowest bike/rider is comfortable with . Never put the slowest bikes last . Inexperienced riders or slower bikes should be kept in the middle so that those behind can track them and tell them their mistakes later and no one gets left behind .

The 2 riders at the last should have mobile phones ,as any need to stop , they must be able to inform the others else they will get left behind . Anyone who does not have cell phone should be kept in the middle or front . The rider in front is responsible for setting the speed , so stay at a speed suitable for road and traffic conditions .

Do not speak on the phone while riding !

Hand signals :

Use hand signals for stopping , slowing down , to indicate hazards , to show your intention make a turn , to either speed up or slow down as necessary .


Turns :

It is turns that makes bikes exciting , but caution pays dividends in terms of saved skin , blood , pain , hospital bills and ego . In roads you are not familiar with , do not speed into corners as they may hide objects such as stray rocks , sand , gravel , oil , potholes . Even good surfaces may hide irregularities that may destabilize your bike . Corners are notorious for tightening midway thru' a turn , forcing you to make abrupt moves .

Tree shadows may hide potholes and speedbreakers or other objects like rocks .


And : NO STUNTS while riding together, especially when everyone is bunched up close . Shooting videos may look cool , but is dangerous . Even experienced stuntmen may lose control sometimes , and take someone else down with them .
Save the stunts for safer location and eager audience .

I also noticed that people were spilling onto the roads when Soulreaper and others were performing their stunts . People on the roads gives stunters less road to manoeuvre and decreases safety margin . Also there were too many stunters performing at the same time . This increases the chances of a collision and audience can only concentrate on one stunsman at a time !

So : audiences STAY OFF THE ROAD and ONE STUNTMAN AT A TIME !

That is all I can compile for now . If anyone else having more ideas or additions , please add them .

Live to ride , ride to live !
Ricci Revhard

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Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of the time he will pick himself up and continue on.

harsh2hansu

very usefull keep it up

sachinontop

well done m8...!

BUNNY pls take a note of it ...
being a G2G moderator u need to implement such rules fassssstttt...!

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vrrrooooooommm....BOOMMM...! Heard the sonic boom? Yeah, it was me...!

Bunny

@ricci : hey gr8 work man
@mods : plz make it a sticky topic
@sachin : take note of..

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maverickboy

Nice post
Infact it will be a nice post when ppl follow it !!!
happy riding all !!
jaan hain to jahan hain !!!

Ken

This topic was put up on 1st June... how come nobody noticed it??

Btw, very well written Ricci....

sachinontop

this topic can also be nominated for a Stickie post...!

__________________
vrrrooooooommm....BOOMMM...! Heard the sonic boom? Yeah, it was me...!

muni

That was just abt perfect. lotz of valid/practical points.

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The Sage

sripurna_987

MAN, The post is informative but HELL NO ONE FOLLOWS IT!!!!!!!!!! AND ABOUT THAT HAND SIGNALS WHILE IN MOTION ?? WHAT IF YOU ARE IN AN EMERGENCY AND WOULD YOU GIVE HAND SIGNALS TO THE ONE BEHIND u?????????

vinu_vi

good stuff man
very useful
bunny make it a sticky post

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Happiness Is Treating Everything With Equal Care.
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Asta La Vista,
Tushar