The obvious benefit is having company wherever you are and having assistance if needed. Being in a group is also a big security blanket for those who are a bit unsure of riding or travelling.
If you have a good group, it can be a great laugh too. If you're lucky enough to find a good dynamic, it can be such great fun.. I can see why many people do it.


The downsides are the everyday logistics. Everything takes six times longer and it can be like trying to herd cats.

Filling your tank can take half an hour as some people need to pee, one guy has lost a glove, someone want's to re-pack their luggage and one dude is hungry and will only eat Brand X sandwiches so go wandering looking for one. Then there is trying to get the gang moving in the morning with six different sleeping habits, breakfast requirements and packing speeds. If you wake up at 7am and are packed to go at 8am, it can be tiresome to be waiting around in your bike gear until 11am when the last guy is still looking for his toothbrush.

Personally, I prefer a group or 2-4. It doesn't feel like a convoy and you can still split off in two groups if required. Someone can also go solo with the other three still in a decent sizes group.


The trick is finding people on similar sizes bikes, with the same kind of sleeping arrangements, budgets etc. If you're riding a DRZ with knobblies and carry all your luggage in a small roll bag and live off $10 a day then you're unlikely to be compatible with someone with a over-loaded GS who needs a hotel every night..

If you're resolved to travelling in a group then I think the best solution is to agree on a meeting spot everyday where you can all meet up to pitch camp and share a together. That way if people go off solo it's not a problem.

And EVERY bike/rider should have the gear and information necessary to go solo even if they never do.

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

There are several ADV ralleys here every year. If you could go to one and participate in the organized rides, you'd see many faces of group dynamics

Only ever done one trip like that and the mental scars are still vivid. Never again. It would be quicker walking. I did a few multi bike (30-40) Eurotrips in the late 70's but with those we had fixed start and finish points for each day and that was it. Between the two you were encouraged to ride on your own or in a small group (2/3/4 bikes). That worked ok but even with a small group there's early risers vs late risers, aggressive vs timid riders, leaders / followers, non stop vs stop frequently types, military precision vs laid back personalities etc. Get a bad mix of those alternatives and you might as well go off on your own. I once did a multi bike trip to Corsica with someone who tailgated all the time and took friendly advice badly. Waiting for the inevitable didn't make for a relaxing time.

So, whatever systems are available for controlling large groups (second man dropoff, radio links, cattle prods etc) will sail into the future without me. Any ride large enough to need controlling like that will not see me participating (and probably the better for it ).

Going back to David's original post, even six bikes is going to be tricky unless someone is accepted as being in charge (and then it runs the risk of jailer vs prisoner syndrome). With commercial tours that division is easy to understand but with a group of nominally equal friends it can become tricky and quickly divisive - particularly if natural leader personality types clash.

Six bikes riding together on the road is not a good mix (particularly if it's a busy route) imho. The further back you are in the group the harder you have to ride to keep up if there's much overtaking to be done and generally the more timid riders tend to gravitate to the back. They then either ride beyond their comfort zone or fall further and further behind. Both alternatives lead to complaints, then bad feelings and then a decision to go it alone if nothing changes. Put the slowest rider in the front doesn't really help as you end up with complaints about how timid they are, ridicule etc. I've had that happen with a three bike group so unless you've been riding together for long enough (years or even decades) to know each other well it's close to a certainty with six.

Most of my riding these days is either done solo or with one or two other bikes as larger groups travelling as one batch take away much of the pleasure. In the autumn I'm doing there and back again across the US with a long time riding friend - just two bikes and 3 or 4 people. He reminded me a month or so ago that this year is the 45th anniversary of our first bike trip together and even after all that time we still have the odd niggle.

These guys manage quite well.
Big Trail Bike Club.
The so-called drop off system (second man dropoff) mentioned above is used.

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Dave

I attended one of their events a long time ago (late 90s?) in Wales. Of the 10 or so "alleged big trail bike riders" who turned up, 2 were on bikes (both newbies: me and a n other) and the rest in cars, some towing caravans. No, it wasn't advertised as a "BTBC show us yer car and caravan" event....

Maybe that's how they manage so well. They drive in a convoy of cars/caravans...

(I never went again. )

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TBS.com

My large group experience only applies to four wheels not two, but I think the same problems present themselves insofar as a clash of expectations and personalities. Touring Ted hits upon this quite well and recognise a lot of his observations.

To add, my personal experience is that the wannabe alpha male leaders are to be avoided at all costs. The sort of folk who assume 'leadship' roles not because they are good at it or have the requisite experience or can command the natural respect of the group, but because they just want to be top dog.....at all costs.

Seriously, the moment someone starts to display these traits you need to make a tough decision of heading off and doing your own thing or putting said alpha male back in his box or even better, out of the group. These are the kind of folk who will always be throwing rocks from the side, unable to admit when they are wrong and more then happy to take the credit for anything when it goes right. They are unable to accept that someone else may have a good idea/more experience/be more popular then them. These people are kryptonite to any kid of group cohesion.

Some good points there Fitz
A truly sociopathic Fascistic leader should be avoided. But hopefully your group leader is well vetted before assuming leadership.

On UNI Mog Caravans I can imagine serious snipping and whinging due to pure boredom from sitting in a metal box all day. Bike groups have more fun, ride great roads fast and stay more occupied racing each other. In the evenings there are always tales to tell over drinks and recount the day. :

Authoritarian is bad but, IMO, groups do need a strong, smart leader. We may not like our Marine drill sargent either! Leaders can never please everyone every time. What's nearly as bad as a bent leader is a leaderless group. Been there! Not good.

Some personality traits may not appear until STRESS enters the dynamic or someone challenges the leader or some other point of conflict crops up. In this, Fitz has it right. Bail out ASAP.

Group meetings and discussion are important, keeps group on the same page and reasonably happy. Important to air grievances and work things out sooner rather than later. It's called democracy, and unlike internet forums, EVERYONE has an equal voice and the group can DEPOSE the leader at any time. (their choice!)
In rare circumstances we've had riders leave the ride. Usually on good terms.

Our group leader is an impeccable planner, excellent navigator and personally KNOWS the routes by memory. Knows ride times/miles, Motels, knows back roads, dirt roads and alternate routes. 20 years doing California makes this possible. A good leader PRE RIDES the route. Documents everything and shares info with group. MAPS! It's a thankless, unpaid job, getting only the odd pint sent his way.

Nice variety on this dirt/street mix: DR650's, KLR's, R1200GS, 955i Tiger, DRZ400, KTM 990/950, KTM 640, XR650L and a few odd others.

Interesting thread.

Did I miss the advantages of group travel in amongst the need to form a committee , depose the despotic leader , ride in traffic all the time, never see anything no one in the group has seen before and defend my position in a race?





I'll own up. If I wanted to travel slowly with other people I'd take a bus. It's probably best for everyone that I don't.

Andy

Very different from this decade.

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Dave

A group of one is brilliant, no arguments about where to go, when to stop. But as Ted writes, you are on your own when there's challenges.

Two can be a strain on a relationship unless you deliberately schedule time apart (e.g. separate bedrooms).

I've found three to be excellent, and in some countries you can easily get rooms with three single beds.

With four you tend to be splitting into two groups of two at nighttime which can upset group dynamics.

Over four and as Ted writes, you are into herding cats—the leader can't see what's happening at the rear of the group, everything goes haywire.

But there's much more to dynamics. For example, some riders when they stop don't seem to want to get out of the saddle, some do but don't move far from their bikes, others are throwing themselves into the local culture as deep as they can get.

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

(or a Roll-A-Way bed can be wheeled in)
I agree. A Triade is strong. It's my favorite number for group rides. But after 20 plus years riding with much larger groups, you learn to adapt and take the positive from all of it.

Funny isn't it. There really is no 'right' way. I would certainly agree that larger groups are hard work, but I would never again choose to travel as a group of three.

It all depends on the relationship you have at the outset and the type of trip, I suppose but, in my experience, someone in a group of three always ends up as piggy-in-the-middle, and expected to arbitrate in the event of a disagreement.