Ducati Monster Forum

Ya know, today after this episode....


It struck me that I broke one of the rules of the group I rode with for years in Tennessee before I moved out here.  That group had a "code" for lack of a better term, and it was simple and sweet.  It went something like this:

1)  Ride your pace.
2)  Hold your line.
3)  Dress for the ride.
4)  Stop at each turnoff to gather the group.  If someone hasn't shown up in five minutes, go see what happened.
5)  Don't leave the group unless you tell someone.
6)  If somebody does something boneheaded AND unsafe, you HAVE to tell them about it.

That's it.  Pass all you want (safely), though not much passing occurred during most of our rides.  Go as fast as you want, though the pace was generally mundane everywhere except on the "fun" parts in order to minimize LEO attentions.  If you don't feel someone is safe, feel free to beat them about the head and shoulders, or at least ride behind them.  (You'll recall that when I appeared here I made it a point to ride in the back.....nothing personal, I just didn't know any of you....and I really do enjoy riding in the back of a group and watching other folks ride just about as much as I like an insanely fast pace.  Almost.)

After KB pointed out that the license plate had fallen of of PJ's 1098R (yes....it'll run) I back-tracked to find it without letting Karl, Dave, and Adam know that I had gone back to look for it.  That was pretty inconsiderate and I hope you guys didn't waste too much time wondering what happened.  Apologies.  My only defense is that I was so overwhelmed by a $40,000 piece of machinery falling apart beneath me that I wasn't thinking clearly.  My bad.

This got me to wondering, though....does the HDH group have a set of rules or guidelines for group rides?  The ICR group in Tennessee made anybody that had never ridden with the group listen to their rules once through before allowing them to ride with the group, but I've never heard anyone here so much as mention a set of rules or a code for this type of event. 

Should there be such a set of rules?  Is this a topic worthy of discussion?

Thoughts?

all i know is I've bought 5 or 6 bikes from PJ's and i am still waiting for my turn on the "R"...at this point it would definately feel like crusty corners of the brownie pan!
and yes the group should have gone looking for you

Yes.  And, as you & I have talked about this eve,Scott, most of the "code riders" have moved away, so, I agree after sitting on the back for the first time in a long while, there needs to be some basic rules re-established/visited.  
You tend to forget that the group changes & morphs over time.  The days of, dusty, bonfy, kawboy, jeremy, ddgm, goduc. zaster, hp (greatfulduc) & mouse locked on my rear wheel like fighter planes were some of the greatest riding times of my life. I knew what they were going to do, and they knew what I was going to do. Especially, those of us that went on the "epic" trips together.  But, names change, new friends & memories are made, so, this was a great point.
 
No matter how short the ride was, Cloner...I still had fun ridin' with ya' today.  ...It was kinda' like a treasure hunt at 60mph.  [laugh]

As the great poet Bonfy once said: If ya' got no code...whata' ya got?   Or was it just: They've got no code!!!!

Either way, I think the recipients always got your point.  ;)  Miss Ya', G.

Sorry Scott...my mistake :-\
We stopped at the gas station and I found
out that you and KB had turned around heading back to PJ's.

I think it's a great idea, especially if a noob like me ever goes on a ride with the alls of yous

That's REALLY not what I'm fishing for, Karl, but I'm at least as "guilty" as anyone else in this episode.

What I was hoping to stimulate was a group conversation about what OUR rules of the road should be!

If YOU (that's each of you, of course) could write down 5 unbreakable rules, what would they be? 

Thou shalt not ride without coffee in thine system?
Thou shalt always be on the gas?
Thou shalt never defer to the judgement of Lance when alpaca are afoot?  (the plural of alpaca is alpaca, isn't it?)

That sort of thing.

Ready......GO!

Some rules I know.  The fist on the top of the head means cops ahead.  Others from here.

http://www.msf-usa.org/downloads/Group_Ride.pdf (http://www.msf-usa.org/downloads/Group_Ride.pdf)

Because of my work schedule and odd weekends, I'll probably never ride with y'all.  Still, good to have a set of rules for group riding.

5 rules..
1.Group saftey.. RIDE YOUR RIDE [moto], dont pass on the right, dont show boat,   Who you have behind you is your responiblilty, signals(hand gestures) turning or have problems.

2. Krystle and my self have agreed to no longer have more then one beer and ride.. I know still its a beer though..

3. Wait on the group. If your the leader/or not and you know you counted 6 heads when u left and there are only 3 there .. A red flag should raise..

4. As a group we need to show the public/new people that not all riders are crazy and wild.. That give us this bad name as a Sport rider.

5. That we are always there for each other.. if its to lend a hand in the wrenching side or helping move.. Ive got ur back..

Just my 2 cents.


Matt

Thou shalt aviod little critters(its not my fault they ran under there) (http://smiley.onegreatguy.net/doh.gif)
Thou shalt eat bacon before every ride [bacon]
Thou shalt pray to the motos for a wonderful ride(even if need to sacrifice a virgin) 8)
Thou shalt ride your own ride [moto]
Thou shalt drop to your knees when u see nicky  [bow_down]

just trying to be funny and light on the idea..dont get me wrong i do take it seriouly


you said it babe! better then i could [thumbsup]

BUMP.. Im very curious about this one.. Please chime in.. [moto]

Ok, now that I'm in front of a keyboard (as opposed to the Iphone).  Here's what I got for pointers in no particular order:

The leader of the ride doesn't necessarily have to be the one in front of the pack, just the one 'in charge' of the pack.  Which means knowing 'how many are there in front of me?'  'how many are there behind me?'  'Who's my sweep?'

EVERYONE needs to have at *least* an idea of the route.  If you don't...you should.  If you still don't, then you need to be within visual range of at least one person (that one person by default could be the sweep).

The leader of the ride and the sweep NEED to know the route.  No questions here.

When arriving at a terminus point along the ride (a junction in the road, a point of interest, a 'hang-out', etc...) everyone needs to stop and count heads.  This goes especially more for those that feel more adventurous than the ride leader and are going ahead of him/her.  Maintaining a head count is critical...

RIDE YOUR OWN GADDAMN RIDE.  If you can't keep up with a guy on a ysr50 but you're on a 1198R...so be it.  The trophies are at the racetrack, not the street and every-damn-one needs to keep that in their mind.

For me anyways....the best thing about riding is this:  Living again to do it another day.

ok i'm a noob and lame, but nicky? zabiki? mrs. bronstrop? little nicky?

u just opened ur self a can of worms.. LOL

 :o   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicky_Hayden (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicky_Hayden)

http://www.buzzinmotogp.co.uk/files/2009/09/3775442396_099a24c526-copy.jpg (http://www.buzzinmotogp.co.uk/files/2009/09/3775442396_099a24c526-copy.jpg)

http://resources.motogp.com/files/images/xy/2008/MotoGP/n496257_236595_Ducati+rider+Nicky+Hayden-1280x960-jan22.jpg._original.slideshow.jpg (http://resources.motogp.com/files/images/xy/2008/MotoGP/n496257_236595_Ducati+rider+Nicky+Hayden-1280x960-jan22.jpg._original.slideshow.jpg)


if i wast at work i would post pics but work filters so i hope these links work

Got ya covered
(http://www.ducati-superbikes.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=272&pictureid=2158)
(http://www.ducati-superbikes.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=272&pictureid=2173)
(http://www.ultimatemotorcycling.com/files/nickey-hayden-ducati-gp9%203.jpg)
(http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa5/pasada/Ducati/CaseystonerNickeyHayden.jpg)

Ok I'm done helping the threadjacking. 

ah. THAT nicky. and here i was thinking locally. heh

Wow, just came upon this thread.  Didn't realize I had been quoted!   Thanks for the honorable mention.  Just a little note on the rules and regs, good luck with getting the NMMR cats into that mode.  I'm sure it can be done.  We always seemed to have operated just fine without official ride leaders and sweeps.  We just fell in and rode with the responsibility instilled in us instinctively.  Up here in SoCO DOG land, things were much more restrictive and regimented, even to the point of reading the rules out loud at the beginning of the ride, breaking folks into beginner, intermediate, and advanced, etc.  I about fainted.  Sorry, I am just not into being treated like a little kid, nor do I care for guided tours.  Go on and jump my shit now.  Some things just never change and that's one of them.   I always enjoyed the rides with the NMMR gang and look forward to many more.  Hope things don't get too uptight down there.   

Yeah, you knew I had to post it:

Herding Cats (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWymXNPaU7g#normal)

Heh!  Heh!  Heh!  That post made me think of a favorite scene from Tombstone:

Law Dog (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_0wFh-ceRU#lq-hq-vhq)

Honestly, I agree with all the rules offered by everyone and I guess there are folks that have to be told, but another great quote is:   "Some folks, if they don't know, you can't tell 'em".   I've been lucky to ride with folks who already seemed to know.

+1

Someone put's a rule sheet in my hand, I'm shoving' it down their throat. 

When I was managing @ the H-D dealership, The owners group was ran by the dealership owner, & he was in charge ...period. You signed a waiver before the ride(remember, they were dealership sponsored rides), No meeting, rule books, dues... just a simple, space yourselves out, ride your ride & if there was someone behind you one second, & you look back 5 seconds later...and PUFF...they're gone, ya' need to stop.  Total accidents during these preplanned group rides the 11yrs I was there: 3 (The rides never had less than 100 people).

Then next thing you know...New owners.  The owners group turned into officers, meetings, rule books Etc...

Is it just me, or does that sound like being at work to you  ???

The reason I started riding with this group, was I saw that they really were friends, they always invited new people to join the rides & helped them understand what riding in a group is all about if they hadn't done it before.  And it works.
Our "Bike Down" percentage is ridiculously low for as many miles as this group rides.

Thank all of you for inviting me in. it's been a beautiful ride  :)   

Kingbaby,
I feel a presence, something I have not felt since..........Was this HD dealership under Chick during the initial time you are referring to below?  :-X

Si señor

Yep, we know each other, I'm sure of it.  8)