I wonder how common a thing it would be to find groups of 6 or so bikers who tour together on an annual basis? I know of a lot of friends who travel in twos or threes each year, but bigger groups tend to require more advance planning : the only exceptions being the big bike runs/rallies or pilgrimages to annual bike festivals. It's hardly 'adventure travel' or even true touring.

We have built up a largish group of American and Canadian friends with whom we have ridden Route 66 a number of times. One of the best things about that rally was that the main group of 40-odd bikes used to very quickly break down into smaller groups of 5 or 6, crossing paths with each other every 100 miles or so and meeting round the poolside in the evenings to compare notes. Good friendships have been formed that way and many of us have ridden with each other on other tours since.

The thing about a group of 6 or more is that you do need a leader to take overall responsibility: at the very least, someone to draft a daily itinerary and make any necessary bookings. This sort of riding won't appeal to everyone. On the one hand, the detailed planning and 'safety in numbers' may encourage less adventurous or inexperienced riders to broaden their horizons, but on the other it is more difficult to be spontaneous or to detour from the itinerary. It can be difficult too, even with friends who know each other well. The more people you have in the group, the more likely you are to have issues over riding styles, speeds, distances, rest stops, accommodation, and all the rest ... If you sign up to join one of these 'larger' groups of friends, you have accept that the success of the trip is going to depend, to a greater or lesser extent, on compromise.

When we ride with our American friends, it's because we have travelled to see them. Yes, it's fun to go on a bit of a road trip, but the motorcycling is incidental. When we tour, we prefer to travel as a couple, setting out an overall goal, then riding as many miles as we want to and taking whatever accommodation is available at the end of the day.