Won't be doing that again.

Downeaster

Downeaster

Everything in XS
Top Contributor
Messages
3,005
Reaction score
18,621
Points
513
Location
Downeast Maine
Haven't ridden with a group of motorcycles numbering more than 4 or 5 in at least 40 years.

A motorcycle club founded by and for firefighters (Red Knights) organized a Toys for Tots ride starting and ending at the firehouse next town over.

I was a volunteer firefighter for a lot of years and technically am still on the roles of the department. I haven't been for a decent ride all year, and TFT is a good cause.

Somewhere between 50 and 75 bikes showed up. 3/4ths jof them were Harleys or Harley clones. NOT ONE OF THOSE %%*King BIKES HAD A MUFFLER ON IT.

Did a 125 mile loop stuck in the middle of the pack of those 50 and 60 year old juvenile delinquents. Between the noise and fumes, I've got a headache that'll bring tears to your eyes.

And riding in a pack that large is like being on a slinky. Speed up. Slow down. On the gas. On the brakes. Run 70 to catch up. Poke along at 30 in a 55 cuz they're too bunched up. Try to keep a decent interval and stay in your stagger and some impatient moron passes you.

And, of course, being the only vertical twin in the pack, and one of only 3 UJM's didn't do a lot for the conversational opportunities.

I was NOT impressed, and my loner instinct has been thoroughly reinforced.

Edit to add: On the Good News side, I managed to keep a straight face when encountering a group of fat, 60--ish accountants in leather do rags and wearing "Sons of Armageddon MC" cuts. If any of those bozos met a real 1%-er they'd shit themselves.
 
hehehe... :)

exactly why I've always been a lone wolf myself. I have one or two 1%er friends, and we often laugh about the RUBs (Rich Urban Bikers)!
 
Man 125 mile loop stuck in the middle of the pack:yikes: I'm like you I don't like that much noise (I'm hard of hearing as it is lol) and those fumes, I couldn't take it:eek: You represent the XS well:thumbsup:
 
I have quieter exhaust than you, DE. I can't hear my bike when one of them jack holes is beside me. Had 2 friends this year in Maine have trouble getting their inspection sticker because of that stupid assed "no louder than the traffic around you" jackassery of a noise emissions standard, so I'm wondering where all the attention whores go to get their stickers.
 
i remember back in the day, there was something kind of awe inspiring, riding in orderly double file with a bunch of guys who could actually ride and had done so since they were barely off the teat. i dont mind loud pipes i guess becuz back then, we didnt do it for attention, but becuz your shovel, pan, bonney,bsa or norton generally would kikstart easier if you made it breathe easier with low restriction pipes.the noise and the chrome would kind of attract the attention of pretty girls also.that was always a plus.



nowadays, no way! if im on a ride ill either crank it up and get ahead of the pack, or just wait till everyone leaves and lollygag along behind.i much prefer to ride alone or with one or two other bikes spaced out.crowds make this hillbilly nervous.
 
jd750ace said:
I have quieter exhaust than you, DE. I can't hear my bike when one of them jack holes is beside me. Had 2 friends this year in Maine have trouble getting their inspection sticker because of that stupid assed "no louder than the traffic around you" jackassery of a noise emissions standard, so I'm wondering where all the attention whores go to get their stickers.
Click to expand...

I had to look at my tach a lot...:(

On the stickers, I suspect they get it done at a Harley shop. The place that does mine is an auto repair place but a couple of the mechanics ride and they're pretty bike friendly. As long as you're not a complete doosh, the tires are good and all the lights work, they'll put a sticker on it.
 
Most of the times I remember being in fear of my safety when riding a bike have been riding in large groups of not so qualified riders, ie: Sturgis. Fifty bikes riding in a ragged group down a mountain road, half of the participants full of beer. Lived through it and promised never to do that again.

roy
 
I've had some really super long distance trips with a total of 3 bikes. But that's my maximum. They have fund raising events here in the city which draw large gatherings of bikes, but I could never see myself riding in large groups like that.

If a riding buddy calls me up and wants to go out on the bikes, then I'm always ready to go................2 bikes out on the road works well for me.

My favourite number for biking is one. Just me, my bike , the sun and the mountain scenery:bike:
 
Downeaster said:
I had to look at my tach a lot...:(

On the stickers, I suspect they get it done at a Harley shop. The place that does mine is an auto repair place but a couple of the mechanics ride and they're pretty bike friendly. As long as you're not a complete doosh, the tires are good and all the lights work, they'll put a sticker on it.
Click to expand...

Could be onto something there. One of them took a VTX1300 with Cobra pipes to the H-D shop. They declined to sticker it based on the "noise pollution" while jackasses were out in the parking lot blasting screaming eagle "for competition use only" pipes. He took it next door to the Honda/Yamaha dealership (this was in Lewiston) and they stickered it, no problem. Another took his Road Star down in Windham to the shop and they would not sticker it because they stuck a broom handle up in the pipe and it did not stop so they contended it had no baffle. He showed them it had the baffles that came in the pipes, but they would not pass it(HK 3" straights, IIRC) He bought Thunder Monster quiet baffles for them (89.00) and installed them and they passed it. They have a cone across the end of the baffle that stops their broom handle. Passed it then. It's not exactly quieter. It's about the same at steady throttle, but when you open it up it barks, much like the V&H Longshots on my Road Star.
With any good luck I'll be headed back to Texas soon, then it won't matter, but it is an incredibly stupid written standard. They should just go with the decibel meter at a measured distance if they are going to do it, or leave it alone. :banghead:
 
Downeaster sorry to hear you had a bad experience(and the headache).
Maybe to think of the cause will help ease the pain.
Your toy may be the only one some child receives.
Good on ya for participating!

I guess from the responses I'm an only lonely.
While we don't do large rallys, Sturgis, Bikes, Blues and BBQ in AR, or big cash prize poker runs anymore we will continue to support good cause runs.
Be it the 19th annual Victory Mission supporting the homeless this year.
The 3rd annual ride to support breast cancer research ( the little bride is a survivor).
All the area Toys for Tots rides(5).
The most recent Bikers for Strikers to fund the Special Olympics bowling team(they were a hoot to talk with and really did appreciate the turnout) where I got to watch one of the aforementioned notables try to take a left turn with his kickstand still down which sent him to a ditch detour(talk about the scenic route).
I manage to have some fun, see something different and enjoy the ride.

Try another, hopefully it will a different experience. Just ride the tail so you aren't surrounded and you are allowed the opportunity to pace your self easier.
Or show them another v-twin that will run 90+ if they will balls up.
I've found at 80 + the crowd that really wants to ride hard starts to thin fast.
Like you said most want to blast from 30-70 then do it again.
 
I've never been in a group of more than half a dozen bikes. I can imagine how you felt doing the stop-start riding, and getting ear-ache for your pains.

We live and learn.

Anlaf
 
Weekendrider: On another forum, somebody brought up something so obvious I'm embarrassed I didn't think of it myself...earplugs.

I always wear a helmet, never gave a thought to ear protection, didn't seem necessary. One person pointed out that wind noise alone is fatiguing, and the roar of 50 sets of open pipes is downright damaging. A LOT of experience folks who's opinions I respect say they ALWAYS wear ear protection under their helmet, even riding solo.

I think that would go a long way towards eliminating the headache, tho it won't help with the fumes. I'll for sure be trying it next time I ride.

Still not a big fan of riding in a huge group of strangers tho.
 
I hear you on the fumes. I live near sturgis and even if you dont go into town where the masses gather you can smell them. We live 3miles from I-90 (with is the major interstate between sturgis and rapid city) thru the trees and over hills, 50 weeks out of the year you cant hear the interstate but for the other 2 weeks you hear a rumble that never stops. I,m not bitching though because it brings in a boat load of money to our region.
 
Something happened yesterday when my wife and I were out for a break from being house-bound.

I had six big v-twin cruisers come up behind us on a nice quiet part of a secondary road called Hwy. 3 that runs along the north shore of Lake Erie just east of the town of Leamington. It is an Ontario provincial road and is in good shape with no large trees near the shoulders. The road has pretty decent sightlines, but it does wind left and right a fair bit and there are no passing lanes, plus we were stuck behind two slower vehicles and so we also couldn't pass. There were, however quite a number of straight portions that any bike should have been able to use to easily blow-past all three cars.

A pimply-faced teenybopper on a Honda CB350 wouldn't have been stuck behind us for long....

I think the problem was that Harleys (yup - not that it matters, but they were all Harleys....surprise!!) don't have a lot of passing power at 60+ MPH and these clowns wanted to be able to rumble past us in strict 2x3 formation and not one-by-one, which obviously would have been the safer alternative. Oh, I should clarify that, as per usual cruiser practice, they were riding two-abreast with each pair about 6-8 feet behind the previous pair so the whole "package" was likely around 40-50 feet long. Also, most of the bikes were two-up - so there were about 9-10 people riding in that group (that is a lot of lives to risk in that fashion, IMO).

The lead pair hung about 10 feet (!!!) back of my rear bumper for around 4-8 km - what a couple of jerks. I could easily see the individual facets of the lens on the left-hand rider's main headlight (he had the usual three forward light light - all on high-beam, needless to say).

Eventually, the lead car/slowpoke turned off and the H-D geniuses found a stretch of road that met their exacting requirements and sure enough, the whole gaggle "thundered" past us with the right hand bike of each pair coming within 8-12 inches of the left-hand rear corner of my back bumper. One guy could easily have reached out and touched my driver's side rearview mirror as he rumbled past me at a "stately" pace.

Windsor-Essex is a big biking area and yesterday was a really nice day with a lot of bikes and sports car enthusiasts out enjoying the day. There have been some tragic motorcycle crashes over the past few years with several lives lost. I don't have any real data as to demographics or motorcycle type, but my perception is that many of them involved older riders on cruisers and Harley-Davidson is without a doubt, the big brand around here - and so, from what I witnessed yesterday, the crashes are not a big surprise.

I don't know why or how these people have formed the idea that they are invincible - because none of us are.

Pete

PS - let me add that this is NOT a slam at H-D. I ride with a touring group every summer and several of bikes are Harleys. Having said that, the practice of riding two-abreast with very little distance between pairs of bikes does seem to be confined to that segment of the motorcycling community, at least in my locale.
 
Last edited:
MaxPete said:
The road has pretty decent sightlines, but it does wind left and right a fair bit and there are no passing lanes,
Click to expand...

Yesterday not too far from me, three motorcycle riders were killed. One bike carrying a passenger tried to pass in a no passing zone and his riding buddy followed along , hot on his tail. They both crashed head on into an oncoming SUV.
This thread was started by DE talking about how much he didn’t enjoy a group ride experience and I have to say, I feel the same way. I’m too much of a loner, I like going the speed I want, I don’t take stupid risks, I like to stop to take photos and so on. I have gone on a few group rides that were not fun, the last time I got tired of it and peeled off and went my own way. It felt like instant relief! :laugh2:
 
It's Ponch and Johns' fault!
1*atS2V99gtXBYhjvfnJnmmQ.png
 

Similar threads

Orion61
Has the Stigma of "Jap" Bikes been Exorcised in the USA?
2 3
Replies
51
Views
5K
Fortunate son
F
alfredo
Bad Vibrations? READ THIS
2 3
Replies
47
Views
11K
member3480
member3480
Back
Top