OK this pass weekend I got my wife to ride with me on the vfr. She had her hands around me and I kept telling her to the handles on the back bars ( thats what they are there for) but she didn't feel comfortable. I kept telling her that was a high school thing and she need to hold the bars at the end of the bike. I let her know it's the safest way to ride. I had no luck unsure.gif . As soon as we got to our destination she let me know that she has never seen anyone riding two up and holding the bars on the back. Anyone have pictures riding two up holding the bars riding, to show her the proper way to ride safe and that it's the thing to do. She did have fun riding so that's a good thing. It only took me a full year to get her to ride with me rolleyes.gif any advice will be helpful. Thanks
muskabeer, Oct 16 2006, 09:23 PM OK this pass weekend I got my wife to ride with me on the vfr. She had her hands around me and I kept telling her to the handles on the back bars ( thats what they are there for) but she didn't feel comfortable. I kept telling her that was a high school thing and she need to hold the bars at the end of the bike. I let her know it's the safest way to ride. I had no luck unsure.gif . As soon as we got to our destination she let me know that she has never seen anyone riding two up and holding the bars on the back. Anyone have pictures riding two up holding the bars riding, to show her the proper way to ride safe and that it's the thing to do. She did have fun riding so that's a good thing. It only took me a full year to get her to ride with me rolleyes.gif any advice will be helpful. Thanks
Riding together is like dancing together. It takes a while to learn it.
i still feel the arms around me is safer than grab handles. they are directly below or slightly behind the passenger and does not give the added leverage of holding onto the driver does.
ok kids ...try it at home. sit in a chair holding on to the seat bottom sides by your rear and have someone push you in the chest. now do it again holding the front of the seat. which way do you fall rearward more?
add to the fact that for a newbie passenger it is near impossible to get them to lean correctly. holding up tight against you, you can teach them to ride your body movement. also good to teach is for her to place her chin on the shoulder side to which way you are turning. that way they are forced to look into the turn with you and lean the way they are supposed to. took 15 minutes with my daughter and other than her little arms around me i dont know she is even on the bike with me she has become so transparent of a passenger.
many of the vfrd have ridden two up on a track day with an instructor. did those bikes have grab bars? i remember some being told to brace against the fuel tank during hard braking (reaching around instructor). i wouldn't be getting any thrills by having a guy behind me, hanging on me, but a babe can hold on whenever and wherever she pleases and i will adjust my riding style accordingly!!!!!!!! goofy.gif
I would not ride two up using the grab handles. So I wouldn't ask my wife to.
My darling wife has spent more time riding on the back of a bike than I've ridden. So I dont tell her what to do. She knows.
I used to sell tandem bicycles, the rules are roughly the same. The first thing I tell the husband is to chill out, she's scared and thinks you do not know shit about riding tandems. But she wants to play with you, and is here stepping on to edge of her comfort zone, so be nice. Then I make him ride on the back and do all the crap he is about to subject her to.
Letting her be comfortable is THE MOST important thing. The only people I see not hugging the rider are on cruisers and touring bikes, with sissy bars.
But after reading about the Road Rash Girl, I don't like the idea of riding two up at all.
My wife holds on to me only when I'm accelerating or braking hard. The rest of the time, she doesn't hold on (although for all I know she could be holding onto the grab handles). When we get onto long straightish bits, she moves back on the seat so we can both stretch out. When we come to very twisty roads, she automatically moves close up behind me, to centralise the mass so the bike handles better.
Holding onto the grab handles all the time would probably put the weight too far back, like when my son rides with me: he moves back so I don't think he's gay. As a result I have a hard time lanesplitting because every little movement I make gets magnified and turns into a wiggle each way. blink.gif
I'm with the others here.. when my wife is on the bike, she holds on where she feels most comfortable... when we are 'at speed', she is hugging me (which I like VERY much)... in town, she will sometimes sit up and use the grab rails... it's her preference...
[image: IPB Image] This is tinyminds and his girl... but i think she is also against a top box too. tomorrow ill look for some pictures of me and emily. She doesnt hang on to the rails and does like another has posted, hands on the tank. Comfortable enough for the two of us to scrape pegs and knees (once either side) chasing a CBR600 up Blood mtn, and then have some fun on GA180. I know you want grap rail pics, but i dont think it is necessarily the best all the time, especially when in the twisties. I guess it is going to come down to rider/pillion preference~ Just my .02
My wife and I subscribe to the "hold the rider" theory. We remember being taught something like that at MSF, but it seems pretty reasonable, anyway.
Make sure your passengers wear proper gear. And speaking of hurt, maybe hint at how your wife would want to brace for impact if/when you fall over. Note that your wife will be much happier if she braces the fall with a more durable part of the body, such as forearm/clenched fist, etc. There's no guilt like !@#$ing up and hurting your spouse.
+1.gif Good points Thanks Guys, last thing I'd like to do is have her not feeling good or safe riding. I'll let her adjust as needed fing02.gif fing02.gif
I just hope it's not other year till she get's back on goofy.gif
+1.gif Anytime I go "two-up" I have them hold on to me not the grab handles. And having them placing their chin on the turning shoulder is an excellent idea.....i could not believe how far i was leaning my machine...I touched the pegs down more than a couple of times and not on purpose..lol We had a blast though
767fixer, Oct 16 2006, 11:48 PM i still feel the arms around me is safer than grab handles. they are directly below or slightly behind the passenger and does not give the added leverage of holding onto the driver does.
ok kids ...try it at home. sit in a chair holding on to the seat bottom sides by your rear and have someone push you in the chest. now do it again holding the front of the seat. which way do you fall rearward more?
add to the fact that for a newbie passenger it is near impossible to get them to lean correctly. holding up tight against you, you can teach them to ride your body movement. also good to teach is for her to place her chin on the shoulder side to which way you are turning. that way they are forced to look into the turn with you and lean the way they are supposed to. took 15 minutes with my daughter and other than her little arms around me i dont know she is even on the bike with me she has become so transparent of a passenger.
There is a simple fix 1/2 & 1/2 I have my wife use one hand on grab handles & the other around me. This way she has strength of hold when I take off or brake, try it works a treat.
I've seen where somebody sells a nylon band that goes around the driver's waist and it has two straps on either side for the passenger to hang on to. I can't remember where I've seen it though.
zRoYz, Oct 17 2006, 08:15 AM There is a simple fix 1/2 & 1/2 I have my wife use one hand on grab handles & the other around me. This way she has strength of hold when I take off or brake, try it works a treat.
+1.gif exactly, and they can swap hands depending on which way you are cornering unless you have a rapid succesion of curves
My daughter rides with me on a regular basis, she used the rear grips on her first ride and has used them since. She sometimes rides with one hand on my back and the other hanging on, I have told her that she can hang on to me but she said she felt that the way she was hanging on was more comfortable and gave her more control without having to depend on me to hold her during hard stopping. I also like the fact that she has learned to use the rear grips, half the time I can't tell she is even there if it were not for the fact that I can occasionally feel her hand on my back. I wished I had pics, but sorry I don't.
zRoYz, Oct 18 2006, 01:15 AM There is a simple fix 1/2 & 1/2 I have my wife use one hand on grab handles & the other around me. This way she has strength of hold when I take off or brake, try it works a treat.
I used the same technique on the back of a mates K100. The grab handles are at a 45 degree, facing foward. Great for hard braking, and bracing down towards the seat {good ergos too}.... however, this would sometimes launch me back on surprise accelerations. I soon adapted the balanced approach for most circumstances.
dutchinterceptor, Oct 18 2006, 01:58 AM I've seen where somebody sells a nylon band that goes around the driver's waist and it has two straps on either side for the passenger to hang on to. I can't remember where I've seen it though.
The most important thing to me when taking a passenger is explaining to them the importance of putting their hands (one on top of the other) around me and onto the tank as others have mentioned. When braking hard, it is impossible for me to hold myself up constantly with 2-3g decceleration. That's a whole lot of weight. It's like bench pressing hundreds of pounds everytime you brake, all the while having to use hand controls.
My girlfriend doesn't feel comfortable with the handles either! That's cool, I just explained to her that I have to "sit up" every now and then to stretch the back, and that if I couldn't it would be like wearing a 140 lb backpack all day! So when we are just cruising, she sits up a bit to allow me to sit up as well. When braking, she takes up her weight with her hands on the tank, and when haulin', she just put's her arms around me and holds on!
First time we went riding, it was uncomfortable for both of us, but it's getting better everytime. Sorta like s*x!!!
My wife has ridden on the back with me for 1000s of miles/ years until getting her own bike. Since I got the VFR and she's been having a little neck trouble lately we've done a little more of it again. She has yet to warm up to the handles on the VFR. Says they are too low and she's off balance....went back to holding on to me. We put a GIVI box and pad on and now she just sits back there "cruiser" style perfectly comfy without necessarily having to hold on to anything. Usually best to listen to the passenger and help em' get comfy or your passenger will probably let you go back to riding solo again pretty quick.......... beer.gif .....I don't advocate this but.......on the Foot Hills Parkway 2 weeks ago we saw a Goldwing with a lady on the back sound asleep with a seat belt around her..... tongue.gif
Man, you finally get your wife on the bike and you bitch at her the whole time! blink.gif Take it easy on her if you want her to keep riding with you. fing02.gif Sounds like from most of the answers here in your post that you wife was doing it right the whole time. tongue.gif
I prefer their arms around my waste too, especially with a new rider/passenger. That way I tell their hanging on and I won't accidently dump them off the back if I take off when they weren't holding on for a second! unsure.gif It's hard to enjoy them pushed right up to you with all that damn gear on, but it's better to wear it! wink.gif
vtecal, Oct 17 2006, 03:45 PM Even with a backrest on the corbin I have my daughter hold on by the waist for the very reasons kevin has above...
I totally agree....my wife has done it so long that if SHE doesn't want to hold on and feels perfectly comfy leaned back against the GIVI, then SHE can do it HER way.......still reaches up and holds on to me sometime. SHE tries the handles every once in a while, but I think they'll remain scenery as far as she's concerned....... fing02.gif beer.gif
The best way to hold on, IMHO, is for her to wrap her arms around you (assuming her arms are long enough to go around your waist) then, with her left hand, grab her right wrist, and place her right hand on the tank. This way she can hold on to you during acceleration, and push on the tank (instead of you) during hard braking.
Well most of the time when we go riding together, she has her hands loosely on my hips and thats enough if i am smooth. the occasional hard brake to save our lives she knows as her body hurls forwards to handpress the tank so i can maintain control without the distraction of my nuts finding their quick way to valhalla.
However, if we decide to wick it up a bit and charge a bit harder then i prefer her to hold on to the grab rails (old style givi mount for a 5th gen, pics in gallery) and NOT MOVE AROUND. Her weight moving around even slightly makes thebike do weird mid corber wobbles and takes it off line pretty easy and she cannot hold herself steady enough by holding onto me.
Case in point, I am heading into a corner off a straight, i begin to brake and we hit some small bumps under braking as i start to lean in while tapering off brakes. Bump, she bobbles, bike wobbles, i miss my line by a foot or 6" and hit a pothole as i lean in firther into the turn...
Also remember i probably have the poor bike loaded enough to make a honda engineer cringe so to help maintain a neutral balence i have my weight on the pegs and am floating off the seat so i can make a smooth weight transition to hang off for the turn. Off and forward with my weight makes a big diff when its loaded that heavy, and the GF isnt exactly petite, she weighs just a tad less than i do...
If the road were smooth, or she was small (kid sized) andmaybe 100lbs of luggage werent there, probably not so big a deal.
DizzyDave, Oct 17 2006, 10:58 PM is for her to wrap her arms around you (assuming her arms are long enough to go around your waist) then, with her left hand, grab her right wrist, and place her right hand on..... This way she can hold on to you during ....., and push on the .... (instead of you) during hard ....
-DizzyDave
Wy wife may hold on to me wherever feels like biggrin.gif
muskabeer, Oct 16 2006, 10:23 PM OK this pass weekend I got my wife to ride with me on the vfr. She had her hands around me and I kept telling her to the handles on the back bars ( thats what they are there for) but she didn't feel comfortable. I kept telling her that was a high school thing and she need to hold the bars at the end of the bike. I let her know it's the safest way to ride. I had no luck unsure.gif . As soon as we got to our destination she let me know that she has never seen anyone riding two up and holding the bars on the back. Anyone have pictures riding two up holding the bars riding, to show her the proper way to ride safe and that it's the thing to do. She did have fun riding so that's a good thing. It only took me a full year to get her to ride with me rolleyes.gif any advice will be helpful. Thanks
the best use for the grab bars is to keep the weight off you when stopping. But hanging onto you gives more leverage than the grab bars under acceleration.
Maybe you could mount a back rest, and then she'd be more willing with the grap handles.
roadpupp, Oct 17 2006, 07:02 AM My girl has her hands around me much of the time. In town she has one hand on the tank for when I brake.
On the highway she either rests her hands lightly on my hips or on the handles.
I can appreciate this approach. My wife is the perfect passenger. Several other instructors I ride with comment on how competently she moves in synch with me as a rider. She has her arms around me and also does the tank brace during braking.
I can't stand carrying male passengers because, more often than not, they sit backfar on the seat and use the grab rails and it feels like the bike is 15 feet long because of the weight distribution. I tell them if they don't feel like they can manage the arms on the hip/waist approach, they'll probably get a great workout walking!
Also, maybe read "Ride Hard, Ride Smart" for some info that she can appreciate on proper passenger/pillion technique.