Rider Safety Guide

When following a leading bike, there is a natural tendency to keep your eyes on the bike in front of you, rather than on the road. This means you tend to follow the leading bike, braking when he does, accelerating when he does, and taking the same line through bends.

This can be a big problem as few bikes have exact matching handling characteristics, acceleration, braking power or comfortable riding speeds. Even fewer bikers have exact matching riding experience and abilities.

Keep the bike in front of you in your peripheral vision, your eyes on the road, and make your own decisions.

Focus on your own speed, cornering line, road surface, braking distance, etc.

Additional points to note:

Watch out for a difference in colour of the road surface – this is a good indication of hazards such as potholes, spilled oil, sand, etc.

Rider fatigue is very dangerous when on a motorcycle. Please stop regularly if you can. If you know the Ride Leader is taking you on a longer route, request him/her to stop for “leg stretches”.

In closing, be aware of what’s going on around you all the time and stay focused.

The area to the left of a rider, between the bike and the edge of the road or another  lane, is the rider’s emergency area or safe zone.

As a rider, you know that under no circumstances will anyone intrude on this space. This is your safe zone to use in an emergency. Any eventuality (bike failure of some sort) or threat (oncoming vehicle approaching head-on, pothole) will cause a rider to automatically move into his safe zone without looking – rightfully so.

If there is another bike passing on the left at this moment, you have a horrible crash on your hands.

All organised BMW Motorcycle Club Pretoria rides will have an appointed leader and sweep, who should be made known to all members of the group – at briefing prior to departure.

Smaller groups can be more informal but should still observe these basics.  The leader is the biker who knows the way and rides in front of the group.

The ride leader is responsible for the entire group’s safety and well-being. He is the first to observe hazards in the road and warn those behind of the danger.

The ride leader will judge a safe speed in any situation and takes the lead in drastically reducing speed when entering towns. If rain starts to pour, he has to find a safe and sheltered spot for the deployment of rain gear.

The sweep plays a role that is even more important. It is the sweep’s job to see that NO-ONE gets left behind. If one member of the group stops for any reason, the sweep will stop to assist.

So, who then looks out for the sweep?

Every rider is responsible for the rider behind them.

In large groups it is impossible for the leader to keep track of more than two bikes behind him/her. Each and every rider takes responsibility for the rider behind him/her. This way, the group stays together and even the sweep has a rider looking out for him/her.

Application of this rule is very easy –  keep one bike’s headlight visible in your rearview mirrors. If he disappears, reduce speed slightly.

You can trust that the sweep will take care of any rider falling far behind, therefore you need not stop or slow down to the extent that you are also losing the group. Continue riding at safe speed in order to catch-up with the group.

In summary, have the rider in front in view whilst having the rider behind you in view. If you reduce speed, and the rider in front does so, and the rider in front of him. The ride leader will realise he/she is starting to lose the group and slow down accordingly.

Taking responsibility for the rider behind you also includes taking up second man duties.

At a junction, crossing or route direction change, the ride leader will point to a specific position that the closest following rider, known as “2^nd man” or “pointsman”, should take up. This is when you will act as pointsman with your motorcycle facing in the direction of travel, indicator on towards that direction.

Don’t worry, the ride leader will scout the route beforehand and therefore point you to a safe position. If you feel it is unsafe, you may adjust slightly to compensate but in such a way the riders can still see the direction you’re pointing.

All the riders will then pass you, the pointsman until the sweep arrives. Usually, the sweep leaves a gap between him/her and the last rider to allow the pointsman time to recognise the sweep (in high-viz). When he/she indicates to you, you may proceed safely.

The sweep will never pass the pointsman and will even stop at the pointsman if required. So, please look at for the Sweep so you can continue riding without delaying the group.

As rider, DO NOT hoot, flash your lights or wave at the pointsman, as this could be mistaken as the sweep coming up from behind.

As a community of riders with similar passions and inevitable great relationships growing from this shared love for riding, it is understandable that should any misfortune happen on any of the riding group during a ride, we would want to stop and assist.

PLEASE DO NOT STOP AT AN INCIDENT!!!

The following procedures will be followed, in the unlikely case of  mechanical and/or medical incidents:

• Only the first rider behind the incident may stop to help with the initial assist, until a Rides Committee member arrives and can relieve them.
• All the other riders proceed with caution to where the Ride Leader deems it safe to stop and regroup.
• The Ride Leader will take control of the decisions regarding the trip at this point.
• Do not leave the ride to go assist in anyway unless the Ride Leader or requests you to do so.
• The rides committee will have spaced themselves throughout the riding group (they all have first aid training) and will stop to attend to those involved in the incident accordingly.
• The first riders on scene will be instructed to continue on the ride, should the Ride Committee member no longer require their assistance.
• In case of a medical incident / accident, no more than 3 of the Ride Committee members will attend to the incident and those involved;
• In the case of a mechanical incident, no more than 2 Ride Committee members will attend to the incident. Riders should ensure their own mechanical breakdown insurance is in place.
• In all cases where an incident occurred, the sweep will make direct contact with the Ride Leader to inform him/her of the incident and to decide on the continuation of the ride.
• In a scenario where the sweep is attending to an incident and held-up for a period of time, a secondary sweep will be appointed from the Rides Committee members attending the ride to fulfil sweep duties to the rest of the group.
• All changes in sweep duties will be communicated to the Ride Leader as to ensure everyone in the group is aware of such changes.

Finally, it should be mentioned that there are some minimum standards that the club expects when riding together. Unnecessary injuries due to inappropriate clothing or punctures due to badly worn tyres are problems that can ruin everyone’s ride and are easily avoided.

When leaving on any ride, please make sure that your tyres and tubes are up to the trip; bike mechanically sound and tank filled up. Having to find breakdown support, a new tyre or any other motorcycle parts in a small town can be very difficult and can delay the ride by hours or even days.

The following are regarded as a minimum standard regarding protective clothing:

• Helmet – invest in a good helmet. It protects your brains! Remember to fasten prior to riding.
• Riding jacket  – proper, protective riding jacket. No anorak or windcheater.
• Gloves – proper riding gloves, leather, or other protective material.
• Boots – riding boots are best. Invest in sturdy protecting your feet. No flipflop riding.
• Trousers – proper riding trousers, leather or other protective material. Denim jeans are the very least. Shorts are obviously way off the mark!

Failure to meet the above standard may result in the Ride Leader requesting you not to ride with the group.

Follow the basic rules, use your common sense and you will have many great experiences and memories to look back at!