welcome to HDF you got a lot of great advice, enjoy the ride

 

great tips all. tyvm.

i'm a little less worried about protecting myself (i'm pretty paranoid) than i am horking someone else up.

thanks for the invite to the fort 'unamed'. a non-drinking chapter sounds like an interesting idea. if my local chapters disappoint i may take you up on that..

i'm not thinking i'll do a ton of group riding but i'd like to try it for sure.

not sure if the news made it out of colorado but some a$$hat took some hostages and killed a girl at a school in bailey. there's a benefit ride this sat from columbine hs (bet you heard of that one) to bailey to raise money for the town to improve their school security (as i understand it anyway).

would be fun to be able to safely attend things like that when i wanted to. if nothing else, i'd like to be able to spot people doing the 'wrong' things so i can avoid them.

seems like that's exactly the type of event that would draw a bunch of well meaning but inexperienced riders and end up being a little scary.

 

Good for you guys on the non-drinking thing. Straight up. 12 hours bottle to throttle. Forget the macho harley **** when it come to drinking and riding. Drinking and riding is not like drinking and driving, not that that is ever right or justified. Don't do it.

 

One thing I haven't seen mentioned in group riding guides is the odd feeling that comes from keeping to your own side of the lane. When I am riding alone, I can use whatever portion of the lane I wish. When I am in a group, I am restricted to either the inner or outer half of the lane. At first this requires a lot of attention, after a while you get used to it. If you want to group ride and aren't familiar with this tighter lane restriction, practice doing it on a solo ride. It is a bit harder than you think when you are not used to it. Especially on curves.