Decline of group rides (quantity) and how do you cope with it? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Decline of group rides (quantity) and how do you cope with it?

DemonPig

DemonPig

Do not cast your pearls before swine
Site Supporter
Forum Sponsor
Since I have joined this forum there has been a sharp reduction in both the amount of organized rides and people willing to participate in them.
Now, I am a big fan of group riding and don't like what I see. My memory is not the greatest and I benefit from heading out with others as they generally follow better routes than I do. I also enjoy the comradery.
There's actually more meets (snooze) nowadays than rides.
At this time I am not getting into the roots of the issue but rather searching for new venues.

My question is, what do you use for setting up or joining rides? I don't like Facebook and don't have an account, I've tried a Meetup group but the structure was so rigid and anal, plus it's the same people over and over and same rides. Are there any other options?
 
I came across stromtrooper (I think it is called) a while back.They have rides only for vstroms but I think they also do "any kind of bike " rides from time to time.I haven't been on any rides with them but from what I could tell looking over the site they actually "ride" rather than stand around stroking their kawks at burrito boyz and l&l.
 
I noticed that too. I find the GTA crowd ride together and have meets much more often. The KW ride thread's been dead hasn't seen much activity recently.
 
Well it's not surprising really, I left some group riders after people were doing 150+ and overtaking cars on a 2 lane road, and this was suppose to be a 125cc friendly ride too...lol. I don't ride a 125 but just saying, it wasn't safe imho
 
HuKo said:
Well it's not surprising really, I left some group riders after people were doing 150+ and overtaking cars on a 2 lane road, and this was suppose to be a 125cc friendly ride too...lol. I don't ride a 125 but just saying, it wasn't safe imho
Click to expand...

Yeah, I spoke to another user and he was saying that when you ride with strangers you sometimes get hot dogs. It's alright I guess, no reason the group can't split up into hotdogs and those that just want to go for a relaxing ride.
 
To many people complaining about speed, wheelies, over taking, and everything else. More fun to ride with a few guys who you dont have to babysit or look after.
Druvk does good rides and seperates the faster and slower guys.
 
I used to go to meets to look for rides but now the meets become the ride for most people, rides now are riding from one meet to another meet. I did got some good rides from meet and was lucky to pick one or two group ride in the hookup section this year. The cruising/touring section is now the place to get quality rides IMO.
 
Last edited:
OP set up a ride and maybe the people we used to ride with before will come out for some fun.
 
senor guevera said:
I came across stromtrooper (I think it is called) a while back.They have rides only for vstroms but I think they also do "any kind of bike " rides from time to time.I haven't been on any rides with them but from what I could tell looking over the site they actually "ride" rather than stand around stroking their kawks at burrito boyz and l&l.
Click to expand...
+1 - good site and easy to find folks that can ride longer than an 1-2 hours without needing a break. It helps that I have Strom too and so our gas tank ranges are always the same.

I used to post up a few rides here and there and also used to go on rides organized by others, but too many times there were people that would show up with empty gas tanks, improperly dressed (ie too cold for them and they kept needing to stop for hot coffee), or riding outside their abilities and putting others at risk. After a while, it becomes easy to know a few riders that ride similar to my own style and if I want to go for a ride, I will let them know direct instead of a general post. I'm not on any social media either.

Generally, I like to ride from sunrise to sunset and I bring my own lunch and only stop for gas and the occasional picture. This usually means 1000+km a day. I work a lot and so I don't have too much time during the summer to go on weekend rides. When I do get out, I don't want (like zeniceguy said) to be complaining in my helmet that I wished I didn't go on this ride because of it being a waste of my time.

Some people ride to make new friends, see other bikes and stop to chat or smell the roses. I ride to ride as much as I can in the precious time I have.
 
Just keep doing what you are doing here. I don't use social networking either and I won't. I post my rides and watch for rides with people I know, like you. I'm always a little short notice but if the starts align I'm always in. I PM/txt people I know. You'll get a PM from me if I ever get the time to do that one we talked about before :)
 
I don't get it. There are so many groups I see riding.
They go to LnL and for ice cream and burritos and the ever fun runs from Tim Hortons to Tim Hortons back to Tim Hortons.
Maybe one day I will find out where they meet, they just fly by me on the highway.
 
Last year - I joined a random group ride off GTAM with peeps I didn't know. Last minute.

Got there.. guy who was leading was doing wheelies with his squid girlfriend on the back. Rest of the 8 person group were making it a race to who can die quickest.

I promptly turned off and carried on my merry way home.

While I'm not the slowest poke, there's a limit to how much I want to push my luck on city streets.
 
No group rides for me anymore...

People either ride too slow, or too stupid. I dont spend as much time on the bike as I used to so I want to ride the way I want without having to wait for a train of people after a set of twisties, or catch unwanted attention from the cops.

If I ride with other people, its usually a group of 2-4 people who's riding skills and style are similar to mine.
 
DemonPig said:
I've tried a Meetup group but the structure was so rigid and anal, plus it's the same people over and over and same rides.
Click to expand...
Did you make a video of it? ;) I know exactly what group you are talking about lol


I believe the reason the group rides are declining is because the guys that used to lead them are no longer around, experienced riders also prefer to ride with their own buddies and not have to deal with the multiple crashes.

Also everyone records rides these days and put them on youtube with license plates, not a good idea and many other reasons.
 
Generally, I like to ride from sunrise to sunset and I bring my own lunch and only stop for gas and the occasional picture. This usually means 1000+km a day. I work a lot and so I don't have too much time during the summer to go on weekend rides. When I do get out, I don't want (like zeniceguy said) to be complaining in my helmet that I wished I didn't go on this ride because of it being a waste of my time.
Click to expand...

1000 km days really narrows your potential partners.....I've done it but I prefer longer days with slower speeds - one of the best rides with a partner was 320 km - early morning to 4 pm and we were bagged but had much fun.

I don't get riding 3 hours north to get in a 2 hour ride or less on marginal roads.

PA is too close.

1.5 - 2 hours north...not so bad as a jump off for some interesting roads
 
gtam is full of cry babies. no one that is skilled and knows awesome roads wants to post rides because it will turn in to a cluster **** of people bitching and complaining and insulting the leader when they probably can't do a better job themselves.
 
ZX600 said:
Did you make a video of it? ;) I know exactly what group you are talking about lol


I believe the reason the group rides are declining is because the guys that used to lead them are no longer around, experienced riders also prefer to ride with their own buddies and not have to deal with the multiple crashes.

Also everyone records rides these days and put them on youtube with license plates, not a good idea and many other reasons.
Click to expand...

WarpTiger said:
gtam is full of cry babies. no one that is skilled and knows awesome roads wants to post rides because it will turn in to a cluster **** of people bitching and complaining and insulting the leader when they probably can't do a better job themselves.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a winning combination towards answering the OP's question :)
I never understood how someone else is blamed when you crash your bike.
 
Wheelieboy said:
No group rides for me anymore...

People either ride too slow, or too stupid. I dont spend as much time on the bike as I used to so I want to ride the way I want without having to wait for a train of people after a set of twisties, or catch unwanted attention from the cops.

If I ride with other people, its usually a group of 2-4 people who's riding skills and style are similar to mine.
Click to expand...

These trains you have to wait for are mostly caused by dumbasses who go way out front on a 250 thinking they can keep up with a 600. Not saying all of em are slow but if you see a train of bikes behind you all packed togeather and the leader is pulling away its a good indication to move the he'll over and let the riders by. A lot of this unsafe passing is caused by this as well because people feel the need to hog the road and not wave people past. This is the only way the everyone can enjoy the ride in the safest way possible. Unless your a hot chick with a nice *** no one will want to be held up by you.
Forum Sponsor
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom