Rally activities in general?

[LoHo]

I've been to one big rally (Bozeman) and a few of smaller events (Yosemite, Los Banos, Tahoe). In each case, someone put in a lot of work to entertain a lot of people whom he barely knew, and my hat's off to all of the hosts.

I wonder, though, why we go to these events. Is it to meet and socialize with the other XSives, or to ride together, or what? I'm not a big fan of large group rides, so riding ten hours around camp in a group of thirty bikes is not what gets me there. The society of strangers who share this passion is my object; seeing mods done by wizards like Denny, drinking beer with the Deerslayer and Sid Skids, trading stories with great people like the Talbots, those are the things that have stuck with me. I know that a rally with no riding is just a picnic, but what do you guys think is the proper balance? It just seemed weird to pull in after 800 miles of riding to face three 400-mile days of riding in the vicinity, then 800 more to home. When I set up a spring rally, I think I'll have half-day rides with some discrete destinations, rather than rides for the sake of riding. Any thoughts?

[xs650mike]

I agree Larry, these things are more about the social thing but some riding needs to take place IMO. My ideal rally though it's not always possible takes place on a 3-day weekend.

First day is strictly meet, greet and eat, either at campground, restaurant or coordinator's house depending on the situation (# of people, what they want to do, etc.)

Second day is like a long morning brunch so people can shake off any overindulgences from the night before and late arrivals can unwind, eat and meet the others. That afternoon is a ride. It's best to break the group into "hot dogs" and "smell the roses" types with different leaders and a shorter route for the flower sniffers. This ride should conclude with a mass meeting of all the riders at a motorcycle friendly public place so that other riders know we are around. That evening a big feed either at campground, restaurant or coordinator's house...the campground thing is probably the best since riders can be free to drink fermented malt beverages without having to ride to the campsite afterward in the dark.

Third day is a quick breakfast and morning ride for those who wish to ride. After lunch, everyone who is left packs up, says their goodbyes and rides home.

I am definitely not into the "Poker Run" thing or large formations of riders. I think rides should be split into groups of about 10 or less. Many are not familiar with formation riding protocols. Riding in huge formations in the past with folks I don't know very well, many of whom I observed drinking at stops, has been anything but a relaxing and fun experience. With small formations the basic ride conventions for each group can be set by each group leader.

Above all, everyone should be provided with a Route Sheet with both the directions and a map. Everone should ride their own ride, if the group is going too fast for you just continue at your own pace. The group will wait at the next change of route so there's no sense scaring yourself trying to keep up, or even worse, crashing...it kind of ruins everyone's day.

[dmac82]

Even though I'm out here in Texas, I agree with both of you, if there is a big enough group to schedule a smell the roses and hot dogger rides. I really wanted to make the Texsive ride last October (I was going to truck my bike) but my bike wasn't running right and I didn't want to take the chance on a long ride or to be stuck in town with no one else around. Maybe one long and several shorter rides might be the best if conditions permit. Also, I have never riden with more than 4 or 5 people and I am also trying to get SWMBO to start riding, she wants a Silverwing type that wont be able to keep up with hotdoggers.

[chevy45412001]

?

thats about what i got planned for the Brag and drag. I just want to see the faces behind this great site. So Sat. will be drag race if you want to and sun for a smallish 100-150 mile ride. It is a little on the boring side here for twisty are none but we do have lovly senic cows and corn fields to look at...lol.

[bandet01]

yeah cant wait brag and drag 2006 will be a blast and a 3 day weekend would be mice but it i hard to do but you can have a rally on a 2 day weekend 2 i mean i will be getting there friday night at the campsite and there tell late sunday to help and be in the brag and drag

[LoHo]

Mike, everything you said is right on. More socializing as opposed to long runs...I'd hate to think that someone went down because of an overly grueling ride schedule. Of course there have to be rides! Otherwize we'd just meet at a hotel and drink (heyyyyy...there's an idea!)

Breaking the big group into small ride groups is great. the only rub is that there is often only one guy familiar with the area. I guess that proper prior planning can overcome that.

I'd like to do a three day Ride Around California, where we spend Friday night in Yosemite and Saturday night near Morro Bay, riding down Hwy One and up the back of the Sierras on 395. That's probably best done in three bites, but you get the idea. First, we'll do something easier and next spring. We'll camp at Midpines KOA, ride to Bodie and back on Saturday and then go north through the gold country (Columbia, Placerville) on Sunday after we break camp, then split out for homes around the compass. I'll set this up after I figure out the best dates. A late winter means no pass over the Sierras, so we'll see.

[xs650mike]

Well Larry, I'm fortunate in that I've got local riders willing to lead though not necessarily on 11s. Definitely the "hot-dog guy" would be Britbike Jim, I'll probably take the "smell the flowers" riders unless I get someone else to lead that group in which case I'll ride tail sweeper on the "hot dog" ride. The leaders would most likely ride the route within a couple of days ahead of the rally because the condition of the road surface can change pretty quickly and I think the leader should be prepared to point out hazards. If there is only one leader available that individual has to show some speed restraint so that no one is being stressed or riding beyond their ability. Or the formation could be allowed to stretch out and at the next junction everybody would wait for the stragglers. In a large formation there occurs a phenomenon known as "tail whip" where the leader may be riding a steady 65 but the tail end guys have to punch up to 90 or more on the straights and brake heavily for the turns just to stay with the group. I would hope that anyone feeling uncomfortable with the speed would wave the other riders by and then continue at his/her own pace.

Safety is foremost, I wouldn't want any crashes. When I was a cafe racer type the biggest sin wasn't being slow, it was crashing. Nobody wants to stop the ride to pull someone's bike out of the brush and/or make sure the rider gets to the hospital. Accidents happen but proper planning an a good attitude on the part of the riders will keep that possibility to a minimum. I have ridden some poker runs with hundreds of riders and there were no mishaps at all except for minor breakdowns (that's what they get for riding Harleys). The Harley guys usually have a van with a bike trailer following the run but as long as we've got someone on call I don't think we really need dead bike transport.

[LoHo]

Mike, AFAIK, anyone who wants to can show up at these events, so non-XS11 folks are welcome despite their lack of purity. I will recon the Midpines KOA soon and report back. We are due for a dusting of snow down to the 5-6000 foot level, so I'd better hustle it up. I have a couple on Harley pals who might want in on this...which gives us instant smell-the-roses leaders, eh?

[xs650mike]

I'm with you there Larry, I'm pretty impure myself. If I can get something going up my way I'll invite as many XS650 people as I can get to come though the west coasters in that group don't seem to be particularly rally oriented. Also would invite Redwood Empire Star chapter (kinda slow guys) to ride along and post ride notices at the independent (Harley) shops in the area. Hillside Honda (& Yamaha) is the only dealer franchise here and they're absolutely not hip to old Yammies or even the least helpful to the Star Touring organization even though they sell those bikes. (What's up with that?) I'm getting antsy to set dates for a Lake County Rally. What dates are you thinking of for the Ride Around California?

Further thoughts...for the long ride thing it might be just as well to have one big group since it's more of a tour than a ride anyway. That way we could just have one leader and one tail sweeper and maybe trade off if someone else wants to try those jobs for awhile. If the formation gets strung out the leader would just wait at each junction so everyone could regroup. The main problems with big formations are the tail whip thing (been there, done that and it ain't pretty) and dropped signals but I suppose we're all big enough boys to deal with that on an individual basis. As long as everyone has a route sheet and map it should be OK.

Some time back the Yamaha 650 Society published a couple of short rally handbooks, one for leaders and one for riders, I'll look around and see if I can find them and put them in a future post. They are based loosely on the nearly ubiquitous "Southern Rules" that most 99%er clubs use and have protocols for following distances, passing slow traffic safely, hand signals and other handy stuff which we could adopt on a piecemeal basis as we see fit and/or necessary for our purposes.