It was a beautiful day here in North Jersey so me and two friends decided to go for a ride. One of my friends has only been riding like 3 years and just bought a 2009 Street Glide a week ago.

I was leading and the guy with his new glide was in the back. They had just opened a road that's usually closed for the winter and I was itching to ride it as it's newly paved and has a few switch backs and hairpins. I must admit I was hot ******* it and wasn't expecting the other two guys to try and keep up with me. When I noticed that I lost their headlights in my mirrors I had a bad feeling that something happened.

I turned around and found my buddy with his new bike down in a ditch. My other buddy says that it's my fault that he crashed because he's still not used to his bike to be on roads like this. I thought that was an asinine statement to make and I said to him that I always tell people to ride within their means and don't try and keep up if it makes you feel uncomfortable.

My friend is ok as you can see him staring at his bike in the pic below. He wasn't mad at me and said that he hit some sand on the side of the road and he wasn't trying to keep up.

But the other guy is still pissed at me. Was I wrong for bringing them to such a technical road?

 

You didn't hit him, it isn't your fault. We all are responsible for our own actions and your buddy shouldn't try to make you responsible for someone else's.

 

"never ride faster than your guardian angels can fly", we are all responsible for our own safety, not exceeding our abilities, not riding beyond the conditions ( sport riders on cold tires are the perfect example of this, cold tires do not stick!)

no it is not your fault.

I ride my ZRX with some guys that are way beyond my level of motorcyclist, these guys do track days, they are on the edge when they get out on a group... when I ride with them I tell them I'll meet up with them at the destination, don't look back, don't wait for me.

crashing sucks, it is every riders individual responsibility to ride at THEIR pace and not be forced into riding beyond their comfort limit.

 

Not your fault. A person needs to ride within their means, like you point out. If he's been riding for three years, he should be well enough educated to be able to negotiate any road.....riding within his ability level

 

That photo is yuck - you can see the pain in his face. But, at least he's standing there looking at the bike!

Ultimately, he was riding his bike. He made a decision to ride his new-to-him bike on that road. He needs to know the limitations of his skills.

That having been said, I probably wouldn't taken him on that road.

^^^^^^^^Yep.

 

When I group ride, we let the least experienced riders lead. So they are more likely to go at their own pace and don't see you pulling away. That said, you are all grown men...

 

NOT your fault at all, every rider needs to ride their own ride and getting in over your head trying to keep up with another rider is a recipe for problems, as you can see. You did nothing wrong in this situation and the fault lies squarely on the rider that went down and blaming the lead rider because another rider is 'still not used to his bike' and bins his bike is a BS shifting of responsibility...

 

Nope, it's his fault. He was probably watching you and not what he himself was doing. A very common mistake, even for the most seasoned riders. I've had friends do the same thing, even after telling them not to try to keep up. He was riding his bike, you were riding yours. He didn't do so good.

However, my fast days are behind me and when riding with others, I intentionally ride slower and point out hazards on those twisty roads, when riding with friends. It isn't like the old days, when we were younger, healed faster and rode cheaper machines.

 

I will probably be in the minority here. Whenever I lead a group of friends I feel responsible for the everybody. For example a friend of mine has very few miles. When he is with me I usually slow him down a little bit on technical roads.

I know when I was first learning a friend of a friend was bad about finding advanced roads and hauling ***. I was always in the back and felt pressured to keep up as I didn't want to "ruin" there ride. After I went faster than my skill level the first time I vowed never to do that again.

I understand people are responsible for themselves and should take there own skill level in account.

 

only my opinion but when I lead the ride I try to keep in mind that I am the leader and ride as such , but if it was mentioned before the ride that you like to go a little faster than normal its cool