[muddypaws3]

What a friggen blast ! There is a guy and his wife, he races but she sure can ride too !! He likes to lead rides. They are super nice. ( otherwise I would not ride with them LOL) When I met him a few weeks back, he made a beginner sport bike group. I said............well...................I dont have a sport bike and I am not a beginner, can I still come and play??? He said yes LOL. I have gotten to know the people in the group so they know I have................the now...............lovingly called................The Land Yacht. They know I need a wide berth HHAHAHAHAHAH.

We hit the highway, all highway. Open her up and she sings. Now, they do get ahead of me, they are on sport bikes. I eventually catch up. There is a smaller Harley, and a KTM, fast but the riders are okay with hanging back with me HAHAH .

80 was about all I was comfy doing. I dont have a wind screen so pushing the wind the whole time was tough. We went to Bear Mountain in New York. The roads are twisty and so much fun !!! The maximum elevation is 4000 feet but not sure on the roads we were on but we were up there. The view was amazing !

They did smoke me on the way home but its all good. the Land Yacht took me home safe and sound.

 

[Furious_Mike]

Sweet! 80 is about what I get Grace to also, I’ve had her up to 90 but she’s not really meant for that. Even at 80 the fury is smooth and steady.

 

[muddypaws3]

80 was fine for me. 🙂. Super smooth and steady alright !!

 

[Ordinary Biker]

I've been at 90 for stretches, but it's just too much wind for me, and I am fine at 80.

Very cool for you. I don't do group rides, I just don't follow well.

 

[krashDH]

I have ridden with the crotch rocket group. Not my style. They wanted to ride like idiots, I like to chill and cruise. Hence why I bought a cruiser. I always ride solo. The gf is gonna get a bike again once we find a house, then we'll ride together. 80 def seems to be the sweet spot. Wind buffeting is definitely an issue, but I don't want to add a screen. Ruins the lines of the Fury IMO.

 

[muddypaws3]

The group was really cool bunch of people and they weren’t stupid riders, I have ridden with stupid riders and won’t ride with them anymore, but this group was mature and they just wanted to go fast but they didn’t ride like a bunch of idiots.

I am contemplating a wind screen though. Usually when I am on the highway I do maybe 70 but it’s been for short stretches so the wind hasn’t been an issu. But I do wanna start doing longer rides, so I may look at a windscreen that’s easy to take on and off

 

[Furious_Mike]

Were u wearing any leather? To honest I wear a vest sometimes and it actually makes a difference albeit a small one it does help me on longer rides.

 

[muddypaws3]

I have a couple of leather jackets but I was wearing an armored mesh jacket. I may try the leather jacket and see

 

[macxpert]

Like Krash and Ordinary Biker I don't generally like or do group rides. That's not to say I don't ride with my Fury buddies, just not in large groups. The problem with group rides is that they seem to always turn into a race. I have yet to see a group ride leader lead for the group. They normally take off as fast as they can and go as fast as they can and the group is expected to keep up. A group leader should ride at a pace that the group can follow. Every group ride I have started ends up the same, the "leader" takes off and the rest of the group spend the entire time trying to catch up, forcing many riders to ride past their abilities and take risks they would not usually take. When that happens I just let them go and take a "wrong turn" and drop out of the ride or I let them go and I catch up to them and the first stop and excuse myself from the rest of the ride. I have not gone near a group ride since 2008 and have no plans to do one again.

 

[macxpert]

When it comes to sport bike riders (at least in Australia) they won't talk to a cruiser rider much less ride with one. Cruiser riders don't want to talk to them either and as you would expect the Harley riders don't talk to anyone other than Harley riders. There are even some biker hangouts where it is sport bikes only or Cruisers only. In one of my favourite stops the parking lot is divided up by Harley, cruisers, adventure and sport bikes and you had better not try to park your bike in the "wrong" section......LOL

 

[Gizmo]

Like Krash and Ordinary Biker I don't generally like or do group rides. That's not to say I don't ride with my Fury buddies, just not in large groups. The problem with group rides is that they seem to always turn into a race. I have yet to see a group ride leader lead for the group. They normally take off as fast as they can and go as fast as they can and the group is expected to keep up. A group leader should ride at a pace that the group can follow. Every group ride I have started ends up the same, the "leader" takes off and the rest of the group spend the entire time trying to catch up, forcing many riders to ride past their abilities and take risks they would not usually take. When that happens I just let them go and take a "wrong turn" and drop out of the ride or I let them go and I catch up to them and the first stop and excuse myself from the rest of the ride. I have not gone near a group ride since 2008 and have no plans to do one again.

I sympathize with you for your prior riding 'experiences,' yet when I lead a ride, I talk with the riders (prior) to understand their expertise. The pace is according to the 'weakest' rider. We ride for several hours at a time, with breaks every 60 miles. At that time, I talk with riders to see what is what. We always have a Road Captain (me) and a sweeper (last rider) who ensures that we don't lose anyone and/or pulls off IF a rider has a problem. My ride usually consists of about 10 riders, which ensures that I can 'see' the sweeper at the end of the group during the ride. Someone has to be in control of the group else the ride SUCKS and can get dangerous.

 

[macxpert]

I sympathize with you for your prior riding 'experiences,' yet when I lead a ride, I talk with the riders (prior) to understand their expertise. The pace is according to the 'weakest' rider. We ride for several hours at a time, with breaks every 60 miles. At that time, I talk with riders to see what is what. We always have a Road Captain (me) and a sweeper (last rider) who ensures that we don't lose anyone and/or pulls off IF a rider has a problem. My ride usually consists of about 10 riders, which ensures that I can 'see' the sweeper at the end of the group during the ride. Someone has to be in control of the group else the ride SUCKS and can get dangerous.

I don't think the riders down under got the message. Group rides are a bun fight. Riding with two or three buddies is generally fine but after that.......... I can't figure out the "every man for himself" attitude that prevails in Oz, maybe you need to come down and school them on how it's done.

Good thing I don't mind my own company.

 

[muddypaws3]

I have another group I ride with that is more of a mix and does the nice sweeping roads at a more reasonable pace. We have the blockers and sweepers. It is a good group and small so we dont loose anyone. 10 and less is a nice amount.

 

[Gizmo]

I have another group I ride with that is more of a mix and does the nice sweeping roads at a more reasonable pace. We have the blockers and sweepers. It is a good group and small so we dont loose anyone. 10 and less is a nice amount.

Blockers are very helpful BUT only IF the Po Po will let you block traffic at the lights! Usually 'sanctioned' rides are allowed (to have blockers) which has better than 25-50+ riders participating. (voice communications/headsets)

 

[On 2 wheels]

What a friggen blast ! There is a guy and his wife, he races but she sure can ride too !! He likes to lead rides. They are super nice. ( otherwise I would not ride with them LOL) When I met him a few weeks back, he made a beginner sport bike group. I said............well...................I dont have a sport bike and I am not a beginner, can I still come and play??? He said yes LOL. I have gotten to know the people in the group so they know I have................the now...............lovingly called................The Land Yacht. They know I need a wide berth HHAHAHAHAHAH.

We hit the highway, all highway. Open her up and she sings. Now, they do get ahead of me, they are on sport bikes. I eventually catch up. There is a smaller Harley, and a KTM, fast but the riders are okay with hanging back with me HAHAH .

80 was about all I was comfy doing. I dont have a wind screen so pushing the wind the whole time was tough. We went to Bear Mountain in New York. The roads are twisty and so much fun !!! The maximum elevation is 4000 feet but not sure on the roads we were on but we were up there. The view was amazing !

They did smoke me on the way home but its all good. the Land Yacht took me home safe and sound.

I been over 100mph several times. Talk about fuel consumption!! I have the speed demon shield. Love it. Here in Iowa you have to pick the season to do it. Spring and fall . No crops in the field to hid animals that may run out infront of you.

 

[RastaWolverine]

I ride in groups often, but I'm in a club 🤷‍♂️. No real problem with racing or stupid riders. You cruise, you all pay attention, you watch out for your brothers, everyone has a place and those with jobs like leading or taking lanes do so when appropriate and called for. Group riding is about knowing who you ride with, how they ride and what's expected. Honestly feel safer that way than with all the crazies on the road here in Houston. Hard to miss 10 or 12 bikes next to you. And we have all kinds of bikes we ride with.

 

[muddypaws3]

I ride in groups often, but I'm in a club 🤷‍♂️. No real problem with racing or stupid riders. You cruise, you all pay attention, you watch out for your brothers, everyone has a place and those with jobs like leading or taking lanes do so when appropriate and called for. Group riding is about knowing who you ride with, how they ride and what's expected. Honestly feel safer that way than with all the crazies on the road here in Houston. Hard to miss 10 or 12 bikes next to you. And we have all kinds of bikes we ride with.

I agree with you there. This group was fine, I did not ride above my ability to catch up. We had help with changing lanes, I did feel safer than on my own on the highway.

 

[krashDH]

"had help with changing lanes" also worries me.

In a group, usually that means one biker held back traffic while others changed lanes/caught up. No. That's not acceptable.
Group setting or not, rules gotta be followed. Don't put others in danger or force them to do something like say, go slower than the speed limit, at the expense of the group "staying together".

I've never liked to biker "group" mentality they think they own the road. I've been cut off in a vehicle for exactly the reason above where I had to make an unsafe maneuver, mind you, on a freeway. It put me in a super sketchy situation where luckily my skills as a driver kept a pileup from happening (concrete wall on one side and vehicles behind me). This group could have easily gotten back together at a safe time to do so without interfering with traffic.

I'm not saying your group did that because obviously I wasn't there, but I've experienced groups of bikers and they all were the same, which includes not respecting other traffic. It's literally a 2 way street.

As a rider in a group I think it's a false sense of security of being "safe" , as what the group does directly affects other traffic and their potential decisions as a driver. This can have a ripple affect. It's rare that a group has the same levels of riders for everyone, so unless the group caters to the lowest denominator AND respects the rules of the road and other traffic, something is sacrificed. As s a driver that's frustrating. As a rider, I don't want to put drivers in that situation.

 

[Furious_Mike]

Good points.

 

[DOCmjj]

The group was really cool bunch of people and they weren’t stupid riders, I have ridden with stupid riders and won’t ride with them anymore, but this group was mature and they just wanted to go fast but they didn’t ride like a bunch of idiots.

I am contemplating a wind screen though. Usually when I am on the highway I do maybe 70 but it’s been for short stretches so the wind hasn’t been an issu. But I do wanna start doing longer rides, so I may look at a windscreen that’s easy to take on and off

If you want to get a fairing / windshield-windscreen check out the one a Corbin’s CONTRABAND. The lines are perfect for the FURY & I managed 100mph but 80 was smooth as silk!! BUT I know the price is worth it!!