Riding with a noob - who rides in front?

[drevil]

When two bikes are involved, the leader should have the most experience. When more than two bikes are involved, the newbie should be either second or third but never last. Having an experienced rider in front keeps the newbie from concentrating too much on the mirrors and focus more on the leaders queues. In either situation the trailing bike sets the pace and the formation should be staggered.

[Nalian]

If someone is new I put them in front. Around here, traffic is a much bigger concern than speed, and by being in back I take the tailgater and the person in front gets a nice cushion around them to not be nervous in.

In addition to that, I prefer to have the newer person set the pace as well, as I tend to drive more aggressively than most new folks would be comfortable with, and when they're behind me I spend way too much time checking to see where they are in my mirrors.

[anarchy]

When two bikes are involved, the leader should have the most experience. When more than two bikes are involved, the newbie should be either second or third but never last. Having an experienced rider in front keeps the newbie from concentrating too much on the mirrors and focus more on the leaders queues. In either situation the trailing bike sets the pace and the formation should be staggered.

there you go - good advice....

[Nibblet99]

I disagree, get yourself a cheap radio set so you can speak to the rider (don't give them a mic too, they just get to listen)

Experienced rider goes at the back, the reason is not for teaching skills, or pace, its to ride defensively. Theres far too many cagers on the road who are "Donut Holes", having an experienced rider at the back means they can defend the road space until theres a safe place to stop. A noob with someone driving very close behind them is gonna have target fixation on their mirrors, and not actually learn anything at all (probably being pushed to the side of the road at the same time to let the cager past).

[jrdudas]

I don't know which choice is best, but I do know that one of the critical things for a new rider to learn is that they should always ride within their ability and comfort level. This often means that in a group ride they will have to let the faster riders pull away from them. I haven't ridden in several years now, but my last bike did not handle well at all. I was a very experienced rider but on group rides I always ended up well behind the others in the group. The speed they usually set was just beyond my comfort level on that particular bike. The experience of that last bike (Honda CX500), especially on the twisty's, has kept off of motorcycles for too long now; it's time to start again.

JR

[Veda]

Being a noob for the second time now (1st on the scooter, now on a big bike with a clutch) I like to be in the middle. Around here the only option for riding is in traffic. When I am in the front I am very focused on my speed and afraid I am going too slow for traffic. I'd rather follow a car who can set the pace. On the flip side, like Nalian said, it is nice to have someone behind you so that you don't have to worry about tailgaters.

[flynrider]

There are pitfalls on both ends. If the noob goes first, and is really not prepared to ride on the streets, then they could ride like a dork, as in the Duck's original post. New riders will generally find it easier to follow a more experienced rider. It is easier to do what the guy in front of you is doing, than to have to come up with the right approach on your own. From a learning standpoint, I think noob in back is probably best.

That said, you have to be very careful if you're shepherding a noob that is behind you. The first time I did this, I had about 5,000 miles under my belt and was helping out my best friend who'd just bought the same bike I had. The problem was that he began riding like a dork behind me. He wouldn't stick with me and kept getting more and more cars between us. I spent so much time looking in my mirrors for him that I ran smack into the car in front of me. I didn't notice the car was braking hard because I was looking behind me. At least I showed my friend how to crash gracefully

I think the best approach is still to have the noob behind, but to make some rules just in case things don't turn out as planned. Like if you get separated, get in the right lane and wait for the leader to turn into a convenient parking place. The leader should not be spending too much time concentrating on what's going on behind him.

[307T]

Geez, a lot of good points for both alternatives. Most of my first year of riding was solo but not always by choice. When I started riding with groups, there was one guy who usually "took charge." Same guy on each of those rides. Since the experience level and the types of bikes were varied, the more experienced tended towards the front. His instructions were actually pretty simple. He told everyone that their responsibility was to make sure that they could see the rider in the rearview mirror (no....not constantly, you know what I mean). On those stretches of twisties where there were no side streets, the more experienced riders allowed the string to stretch out a little more and waited at the next intersection as DividetheOverflow has suggested. Since I was not the most or least swift on these rides, it was pretty comfortable for me.

The last time I did this I noticed the cat behind me was holding up the others (I was number three of a six bike chain). So I waived the #5,6 riders by and rode more slowly with the new rider. When we caught up to the rest of the pack at the crest of the hill we were riding, the newb said that he was a little over his head and didn't want to slow the group down so he was going to head back home. I rode with him to make sure he got down off the mountain. It was refreshing to see that the system worked pretty well, that the rider that was the least comfortable was escorted, and (perhaps most of all) that he knew what his limits were and didn't overextend.

I think you did the right thing by riding just the two of you. The position in front seems the best for the most experienced rider to me too. I'm also making the assumption that the newbie has a hundred miles or so of low traffic, surface street riding experience.

[zoosia]

From the newbie side of things: I went out with a expirenced friend and rode both with him behind and in front. I found that when he was in front i was paying more attention to him then looking ahead and all the other things basically just following didn't think that was a good thing. When he was behind me I was much more attentive to what was up ahead and kept a check on him in mirrors.

[ofblong]

wow all you guys teach or learned by riding behind/infront of other bikers....

Must be nice. I have no one to ride with anywhere so I ride alone everywhere I go. Does that make me a loner