SOME very imp rules & pointers for every XBHPian out there, constructed at Pune Safety Meet.
Penned down by NV, DK & other Mumbai-Pune xbhpians.


1) The originator of the ride is the only person who is responsible for the safety of the entire group that rides with him on that day. He has to ensure discipline and be the rule enforcer. In the absence of the originator, any member (senior or not), can assume leadership on that ride provided he justifies that position by actions (read enforcement of basic rules).

2) No rider should be allowed to be a part of the group if he/she does not comply with the minimum document rule and the safety gear rule (read the first post of this thread for more info). Participants without helmet, elbow guards, knee guards and proper footwear to be excluded from the ride. If an erring participant is stubborn, the ride is to be called off. This decision has to be followed religiously.

3) No overtaking on the corners. This is most important. Particularly on the way to Lavasa and even during the practice runs on our practice patch, please ensure that you do not overtake anyone on the corners...be it your riding mate or any other vehicle. If you feel that you are faster than the guy in the front, ensure that you have a proper straight and honk/flash before overtaking. The idea here is to ensure that the person being overtaken knows your intentions and gives you a side. During practice runs, if you feel that the guy in front is holding you up, wait for the practice run in that direction to get over and then request him/her to let you go first.

4) No Lane cutting. This was discussed earlier and there is a tendancy to cut lanes. There are situations when you might be compelled to cut lanes (carrying more speed while cornering etc) but as far as possible, try to curb that habit and stay in your lane.

5) No tailgating. Many riders ride close to the rider in the front. This leads to a lot of incidents where there is a possibility of riders getting entangled if there is any panic braking from the guy in the front. As far as possible, maintain three bike lengths of distance to as to give yourself the room to stop properly and avoid any obstacle.

6) Discipline and Advise. If you are riding with the seniors, chances are that they will give you an advise on your riding if they see anything wrong. Please take that advise in a proper way. Do not bring in any ego while learning. In fact, all the seniors themselves keep on commenting and advising each other if they see anything wrong. Every ride is a learning opportunity and one should try to get the maximum from it.

7) Tank up overnight. Due to the varied preferences of fuel, please ensure that you tank up the day before your ride. Most of the times, we waste time waiting for people to fill in their fuel tanks, jumping from one fuel station to the other.

8) Any person not complying with these rules is essentially creating a bad name, not just for the group but for the entire biker community. As such, anyone found flouting these for the first time will be issued a warning. A second time offense will invite a ban from at least two rides with the group. A third time offense will invite a lifetime infraction/Ban from the group and also from xBhp.

9) As my good friend Rohan quotes "A good rider is not the one who scrapes his knee or goes around fast. A good rider is the one who knows his limits and rides fast staying in his capabilities.". This is so true. Many a times, riders behind follow the leaders into corners and straights trying to keep even distance and ride well above their comfort zones.

10) The key is, stay in your comfort zone. No one is going to find faults with you or label you as a slouch. Such riders are always assets to the group and will always stay safe. Please note that we are not interested in being villains but our community is much more than a plain biker group. It stands for safety and quality more than anything else.

11) This is with concern to many a new members joining in at mumbai group.
As all the time seniors can't be present in each & every ride this point concerns to that fact.

12) As an addition to point one every ride irrespective of newbies,oldies or whatever should be conducted in the same manner.
i.e. there will be a leader & people will ride in formation with a sweeper at the back.

13) The leader also holds responsibility for that particular ride.
As plans are posted here (plans on FB are not xbhp rides & are at your own risks & would request all of you to refrain from doing that )
If no senior is present one of the four (me,ketan,satyen & spidy) will give a call the previous day of the ride & confirm for the all the points mentioned above.

The above mentioned rules are quite generic and are not limited to the groups riding to Lavasa. On any given weekend, there are many rides happening in and around Pune. The rules mentioned above are applicable to each one of those rides. The participating members may inform about erring participants either on a G2G or on the thread.

Would like it if the group agrees to these rules unitedly and focuses on achieving trouble free rides weekend after weekend. "

Again this is not to demean anyone but rather a process to create better riders & good leaders.

Any other point thought upon will be duly added

Thanks.

I had a couple of friends (one of them an RMO in a hospital) do a emergency rescue course which included application of CPR, Burns, surface injuries, fractures and snake bites. Immobilising of fractures using parts of the toolkit and shifting of patients in makeshift stretchers and application of the log roll, apart from things to take care of to not aggravate spinal injuries were demonstrated.

All manouevres were first demonstrated and then all participants were made to do it on their partners to get a first hand feel and eliminate mistakes.

I personally think this is a must do for all vehicle owners especially bikers.