Triumphrat

jjmeadowlark

Haven't done that yet, which has been a "social" handicap at times as I've had a few requests for a spin.

I've been reticent becuase of my experience level, and am most nervous about stops and starts, since I've been told that passengers should keep their feet on the pegs all the time and I'd have to hold up a lot more weight at a red light in all but the most fully upright stops... I'm not so much concerned about it when I'm actually moving at speed.

Read the MSF book with the triangle etc, but if anyone has any tips it would be appreciated.

I guess I could find a guinea pig to practice with, but the whole "hey, I've never done this before so we could wipe out" thing is kind of awkward- but may be necessary.

Thought about simulating the weight with 100 pounds of weight-lifting plates strapped to the rear seat and a parking lot, just to see how stable it is.

clydeturbeaux

would be to have a passenger get on with you (engine off, sidestand down) while parked on a level surface with good footing.
A lighter passenger is preferable to a heavier one.
Practice very slight leaning left to right while keeping balance with the balls of your feet.
If the passenger is an experienced rider, it helps a great deal. Generally, ask them to remain upright and not do any leaning.
Once you gained a little confidence in knowing the bike won't topple- gear up (both of you), and make a few starts and stops in a parking lot. Just some easy straight line stuff.
As your courage grows, make a few wide radius lefts and rights and come to a stop shortly thereafter.
Progress to esses and then on to shifting gears.
Remember it will take increased stopping distance and brake force.
Don't over-ride. Caution is the watchword.
Once you are both ready (and well-insured) venture out on some lightly-trafficked roads at low speed. Your gear will protect you should you make a low speed mistake.
Like anything else, it will soon become a second nature for both you and your pillion. Nobody was born knowing how to do this.
Early on, my wife would practice her own unique idiom of break-dancing on the seat while stopped at a light. I shut off the engine and loudly asked her if she was done and instructed her to sit still.
Then I put her on the front and sat on the back replicating the same bizarre demonstration of kinetic energy gone awry.
She got the message.
Let us know how you make out with mastering this skill. You may also wish to speak to some mature local riders and seek their advice.

Good luck and ride safe!

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2008 B&W T-100, TORS, AI removed, snorkel gone, 115's.

killian101

find a big, empty parking lot. that will help out a lot too.

ibafran

Passengers require an additional special skill set.
I pulled my copy of Proficient Motorcycling and found no 'passenger' listing in the index. Thus, you might try 'More Proficient Motorcycling' for some insight.

Back in the day, the MSF BRC had a passenger lesson. You might try the online MSF site for info on that lesson.

Here are some things for you to consider:
- list 'passengers that you will not give rides for sound reasons and have ways of polite refusal;underage, impaired, etc. Anyone who will not spend a few minutes for a pre-ride orientation is not a good candidate.
- Become a passenger yourself. Find an experienced rider that you have observed with a passenger and ask him/her to take you for a ride. Tell 'em what you need the ride for and ask them for their normal instruction for the passengers that they take. Thus, you will learn a lot from that. Note the stuff that you were glad that they covered and the stuff that they missed. If you are not willing to risk being a passenger yourself, maybe you shouldn't be taking passengers. (It's helpful if they have a bike that is simailar in style to yours; standard, sport, bagger, etc.)
- Find an experienced passenger (maybe the above rider who gave you a ride?) and a nice empty lot and get some pointers. You ought to be able to count on an experienced passenger to not make noob passenger mistakes. Thus, your learning curve should go alright and get you some basic skills. Once the experienced passenger has some confidence in you and you have some confidence in yourself, ask the experienced passenger to make some gentle noob-type passenger mistakes. Thus, you will learn how to make riding corrections when stuff seems to be going poorly.
- Get a few 3x5 index cards and make yourself a checklist of everything that you need to do when/if you are going to give a passenger a ride. Keep the cards on the bike and use them everytime you give rides. Do it regardless of how often you have the same passenger till you can do it in your sleep.
- Once you have the passenger mounted up and underway, be very careful to acclimate the passenge as gently as possible over as many miles as needed. A few turns around a parking lot with some stops and starts and gentle swerves is a good idea. If they don't like the experience, it's easy to stop and get their unhappy butts off the bike.
- Be aware that it is in your very best interest that your passenger have a nice time. And you must have a plan if the passenger wants off right away for any reason and they should know what that plan is before they get on the bike. Spooking a noob passenger is very, very bad form and must be avoided at all costs and every opportunity. If you think that spooking a noob passenger is bad, I hope that you never spook an experienced passenger.
- Decide if you want the passenger to hold on to you or not. And the rule should be for every passenger that you have regardless of age, gender, and experience. (I prefer to be held onto. Thus, I know that my passenger has a grip on something all the time. I use an extra belt over my gear. It's fitted tight enough that I can feel my passenger's knuckles through my gear and know that they have a grip.)

Noob passengers will need:
-ATGATT as you see fit; mandatory eye protection/helmet as law requires, etc
-explanation of insurance risks
-clear instruction how to get off/on, where, when, using signs as necessary
- signs to indicate discomfort
- how to wave, what to wave at, and how to have a good time

Experienced passengers will need:
- everything that you told the noobs but experienced passengers get to tell how they do stuff so that you can make accommodations towards each other and you are both on the same wavelength.

Figure that when you get practiced at giving motorcycle rides, your routine should run about 20 minutes for pre-ride for noobs and a little more than half that for experienced pillions.

Hopefully, forum members will add stuff that I skipped.

Check with mcnews.com for listings of articles on how to passenger.

ibafran

"passenger" thread, daytona deliberations, has some good stuff. See related posts at the bottom of the page.

Check your owner's manual for suspension settings and drive chain specs for passengers.

Rig a handhold if you like and test it as best you can before you allow a noob to use it.

Do ask if your passenger can ride a bicycle and when that was last done? It helps to remind a passenger that motorcycles like bicycles lean to turn. Remind yourself that passengers with bicycle experience may not be comfortable at deep lean angles.

Do ask passengers if they have ever been on a motorcycle, when that was, and if they liked it? And what they didn't like at the time if anything?

Its worth the time to make the passenger get on and off once for practice. I have been surprised on occasion when a passenger could not get off as instructed. This could be a problem if hot exhaust is in the mix.

Another poster remarked that this stuff is 'intuitive'. Nothing could be further from the truth. Converse with your passenger often. Some stuff will go well and other stuff will be amazingly difficult. And it will vary between passengers.

It ain't for nothing that some passengers turn out to be so good that they are refered to as 'co-riders'. I have had a couple that were so good that we could do it 2up in the dirt, jumps and all.

americana

And something else to remember saddle bags , sissy bars , luggage racks are for comfort but you and your passenger do not need to be to comfy being alert is the key to surviving any accident . Staying with a bike that has gone slidding down the road is dangerous you need to able to seperate yourself from your passenger and your bike . Pratice , Practice , Practice with a passenger befor you go venturing out . and BE SAFE

M700R

It's great that you want to be safe and learn the skills to safely carry a passenger!

My wife started riding with me in about 1979 or 1980 or so... We did take a big break for some years when I didn't have a bike, but altogether we've got about 12-14 years of riding together. Both of us love it.

When she's aboard, I take it easy. I brake and shift and accelerate as smoothly as possible. I corner at reasonable rates. She's up for some fun in the twistys now and again, but mostly we just like riding slow and easy together. A scenic two-lane country road at about 40 mph is perfect. Sometimes we'll just go to coffee or dinner together. I'm particularly careful in town. The bike won't turn or stop as well. Nor will it jump up and accelerate as well. Some of this of course depends on the size of you and your passenger!

A lot of different people have ridden with me, but my wife has been my riding buddy for about 30 years and she's got it down real well. So relaxed that once she fell sound asleep on the bike! I figured that out when her helmet started bumping mine. Pretty funny. I just pulled over gently and she woke up when we stopped.

The funniest two-up ride was last summer when my good-looking 19 year old niece rode with me. She had on a tight fitting t-shirt and jeans and I never saw more guys checking out my bike! Now that was funny!

Take it easy and you'll be fine. Regards, Guy

jam1960

Rode with my son on the back who is 5'9" 200lbs and didn't feel his weight too bad, just in the stops until I got used to planning ahead for stops and downshifting. Although once going 65 mph we hit a bump and he came off the pegs, thank god for the backrest.

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Jam1960

Rose

I ride, I'd be terrified to be a pillion and the one time I did was with hubby, I went 100mtrs and couldn't stand not being in control. I was a complete and utter mess, I was terrified.

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miker

Before I add my $0.02 worth, I'll preface by saying that I've been doing motorcycle joy rides and tours for 15 years on a 1982 Harley Shovelhead. I've taken passengers for rides from 10 minutes to whole weekends and from 5 year olds to 95 year olds. I've carried cameramen sitting backwards and even a woman facing backwards sitting on the tank...

- The first thing I'll say is "Relax". This is the most important thing. You never want your potential passenger to be worried that you're worried.
- The next thing is to be positive that they're going to have a great time and ask them whether they've ridden, whether they've ridden pillion or whether they've never been on a bike before.
- The pre-ride doesn't need to be war and peace. It needs to be concise, to the point and above all, designed to give them the impression that you know what you're doing. If you spend 20 minutes telling them all the pitfalls, they'll more than likely get scared off.
This is what I would do.
1) Point out the footpegs, backrest and where to hold on
2) Tell them how to hang on to me, or if they prefer to hang on to a rail or rack
3) I get on the bike and stand it up off the stand and steady it with bars and feet spread wide.
4) Tell them to put their left foot on the left peg, use your shoulders and the back rest if necessary and get on as if they're getting on a horse. i.e. Stand up on the left peg, then throw their right leg over to the right peg and sit gently. Using your shoulders as a steady helps you balance the bike and them at the same time.
5) Once they're on, you can revise the hanging on bit
6) Demonstrate how the bike will lean around corners and not to worry, it's supposed to do that and that's part of the fun. Tell them that they should not lean, but just go with it.
7) Cover the braking - tell them if they feel themselves sliding forward to push down on their feet and even put their hands on their knees and push down. That's how my wife rides, hands on her knees and yes, she sleeps on the bike often on longer trips.
8) Mention that they need to leave their feet on the pegs and sit as still as possible when you're coming to a stop. IF they need to change positions, get them to tell you before they do it.
8) Now we take off, slowly, smoothly and in as straight a line as possible. Tell them to relax and enjoy the ride!
9) Once you get going you cen demonstrate a weaving motion slowly to get them used to turning and tell them that if they lean the wrong way it makes it harder for you to turn. You can also do a test stop just to demonstrate the mechanics of it.
10) Also as you take off, it's really important for you to get your feet on the pegs too. Having them sliding along the ground is no good for your centre of gravity and makes it harder to get your balance quickly. Same with the waddle, there is no need unless you're really badly set up.

All in all, you need to make it as relaxed and fun, and above all, be positive about it yourself. If you're a good rider on your own, adding a passenger shouldn't be a real issue at all.

Mick

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