Well, I finally took the hit and bought my wife all the proper gear to go for a ride with me this weekend. I've never had a passenger on my bike before so I was wondering if there's any advice you experts might have for me. The route is a pretty calm one with long sweepers and a few very mild twisties.
Any suggestions on stiffening up the rear suspension? Or should I just leave it be?
I know all about the "helmet bumping". (Years of sarcastic remarks and a wife with a quick wrist has numbed the back of my head to unexpected thwacks) So that shouldn't be much of an issue for me.
I know to have her support herself with her hands on the tank when leaning forward. What if her arms get tired? Is it ok for her to just hold onto me?
When would it be ok for her to sit up and relax and hold the passenger handles instead of me? The highway? Traffic?
Any advice is appreciated. I'm a pretty confident rider but I must admit, being responsible for my wife's safety is giving me butterflies the closer we get to the ride time. I'm overly excited to share the experience with her though! I guarantee she'll catch the fever and want her own bike after just one good ride!
The most important thing is to be smooth: gas/brake/countersteering.
2nd is tell her what's going to happen, and what she needs to do after you tell her.
She needs to watch and be aware of what you're going to do before you do it. ie; she sees you coming up on a intersection, she should know that you might have to make a sudden move.... One hand on the tank the other hand around your waist......... stop or gas she's covered...... you shouldn't gas it if you don't feel her hand on your stomach.
Going around bends tell her to look over your inside shoulder.
Coming to a complete stop, tell her to never put her feet down unless you tell her to(don't make it sound boss'y) explain way(it could trip you up and or throw you both off balance....... Same thing along these lines is that she needs to be very still when you are under 10mph or stopped.......
Any other time she can un-brace and relax, but she needs to be visually aware of what's going on so she can get into the brace quickly.
Some can do most of this while holding the handles, but it will take time(maybe days) for her to feel as comphy as she does with the tank/waist method..........
Also get a rubber shelf/drawer cover and cut it to fit on the back seat so she doesn't slide all over the place...... at least until she starts leaning off the bike with you( that may or may not ever happen).
I bought a pair of grab handles that wrap around the riders waist, the wife loves them and I don't even notice her holding onto them. I also have a top case with a back rest that helps her stay relaxed and her back supported. It also hepls her stay inline with the bike when we lean. So far no helmet collisions either!
[image: View Post]dcassidy1214, on 29 March 2012 - 11:11 PM, said:
Well, I finally took the hit and bought my wife all the proper gear to go for a ride with me this weekend. I've never had a passenger on my bike before so I was wondering if there's any advice you experts might have for me. The route is a pretty calm one with long sweepers and a few very mild twisties.
First, kudos for buying good gear for your wife!
You say that you've never had a passenger on the back.
Given that, I would make one big suggestion to you: before you get into any roads that would make for fun riding when solo (anything containing even mild "twisties"), start by just going for a short ride through your neighborhood. A short ride, somewhere from a few blocks to a half-mile or so. Go to your local McDonalds or Starbucks or 7-11. That will give both of you a chance to see the dynamics of riding two-up, with a stop to dismount & readjust any gear or such if needed.
One suggestion for her: when the bike is going into any sort of turn (sweeper, twisty, turning onto a side street, etc.), it will help if she looks over your inside shoulder through the turn.
[image: View Post]dcassidy1214, on 29 March 2012 - 11:11 PM, said:
I know all about the "helmet bumping". (Years of sarcastic remarks and a wife with a quick wrist has numbed the back of my head to unexpected thwacks) So that shouldn't be much of an issue for me.
I know to have her support herself with her hands on the tank when leaning forward. What if her arms get tired? Is it ok for her to just hold onto me?
When would it be ok for her to sit up and relax and hold the passenger handles instead of me? The highway? Traffic?
Mine uses the grab handles exclusively. That puts her back far enough to let me move around and avoid the helmet collisions. But to be fair we've been riding two-up at very brisk paces for five years. And that's the key. Seat time. You need to start slow and get used to riding together. Smooth on the controls and thinking a little further ahead. Eventually you will get to the point that she can anticipate what you're going to do and react accordingly. Once she's confident in you she'll be able to relax more. It's gotten to the point now that Angee will pull out her camera and take pictures mid-corner.
Just tell her to relax and not to fight the lean into turns. She can hold on to you or the grab handles, my Wife prefers to hold on to me. But yeah, having her relax and just go with the bike is the best advice I can give. Don't be nervous about holding the weight either, it's just like riding solo you just dont want to lean the bike too far over at a stand still, you'll never win that battle!
I've also never had a passenger on my bike (or any bike) in my short 7 years of riding. Riding 2-up is something I've vowed to never do because the responsibility is just too much for me to handle.
But.....
There have been times when I wanted to take a student with me to some class event (they're exchange students and many of them don't have cars).
I'm 5ft 6in 132lbs. My students are typically smaller than me but I still get nervous about the added weight over the rear axle, especially at slow speeds.
[image: View Post]Recalcitrance, on 30 March 2012 - 09:56 AM, said:
I've also never had a passenger on my bike (or any bike) in my short 7 years of riding. Riding 2-up is something I've vowed to never do because the responsibility is just too much for me to handle.
But.....
There have been times when I wanted to take a student with me to some class event (they're exchange students and many of them don't have cars).
I'm 5ft 6in 132lbs. My students are typically smaller than me but I still get nervous about the added weight over the rear axle, especially at slow speeds.
Same advice for me as for dcassidy or different?
Same for you as anyone while riding, but I'd be worried about stopping being that short (that would be your choice to make).
My students are college students, but they're tiny because they're exchange students from Japan (lots of pictures in the blog).
Yes, stopping is a concern since I'm shorter. I shaved the seat so I'm nearly flat footed but still doesn't feel right imagining added weight on the back. I tried lowering the bike but I really didn't like the way it felt/handled so I returned it to stock height.
Great advice! I had no idea about having her look over my inside shoulder in a turn. Also I like the suggestion to have her use one hand on the tank and one around my waist. I think that would be put to good use in traffic. One more day and we'll be on the open road! Can't friggin wait!
I got my 4th gen. (first motorcycle) last September. Soon after I started riding with the missus. She loves it. Just told her to
1. hold on to whatever suited her best.
2. Relax her upper body and just follow my every move.
It worked right away. She loved it.
Whenever I want her to do something that I really like my experience is that the more relaxed about it I am - the sooner she will adapt. If I seem too eager or talk about dangers then she is more likely not to like it.
3 weeks ago I started riding with my 5 year old daughter. (Here the kids have to be at least 5 to go on a motorcycle). She loved it right from the start.
After the first ride with her I got communications for us. That is a huge improvement.
We really have some nice daughter-dad conversations that we don't have riding the car, where she uses her time drawing, playing or whatever.
I also found that communication is a huge improvement riding with The Missus. I can tell her my moves before I do them. And time seems shorter for her being able to talk to me.
Oh yeah and try not to go too slow accelerating. If you go to slow you (I) tend to ride more bumpy which will be more uncomfortable than firm accelerations with smooth up shiftings.
Your original thread mentions suspension, and I didn't see it addressed. You should definitely set your pre-load front and rear so you get the correct sag with the passenger on board. You don't want it wallowing or bottoming out, particularly while cornering. If you have ABS it will be easier, but otherwise you'll have to dig out the spanner wrench for the shock. I use a 1/2 dollar coin to adjust the fronts - fits the slots perfectly. The handling's going to be somewhat more sluggish 2 up, so initially you'll need to be conscious of giving sufficient counter steer input to smoothly roll in to corners, but once you've done it a while it will become second nature. It will be a great way to have fun together.
I've only ridden on the back of a sports-bike ONCE and that was on Lucy my VFR - when my ex-husband's Harley broke down, LOL!! And NO that is not a joke!!
I did get to ride 2UP with Nate Kern last year though and this is what he told me. Both hands on tank when braking, one on tank and one around waist in turns, hands on his chest when accelerating, and tiny movements - head only - in turns. I completely broke that rule though and really didn't even remember it but he didn't check up. I leaned with him as if I were driving. We were going 140 on the track and another rider said later he mentioned I did a good job as a passenger, lol so I guess it turned out OK. We didn't crash and it felt like jumping out of an airplane so I'll take that!!
Riding on Lucy 2UP I used the grab handles A LOT and they made me feel comfortable. However my ex drove Lucy like she was a Harley so there wasn't much 'holding on' that needed to be done..
I'm Angee, xDutchx's girlfriend. I figured I'd post up as someone who rides pillion. When I started riding with xDutchx I was 34 and get this...terrified of bikes. He rode an R1 at the time and THAT was a beast to ride 2-up on! Back then, I rode with one hand on the tank, one around his waist and tucked my boot heels under the tail. The bad part of riding like that was we were still close enough to bump helmets and I still slid him into the tank once in ahwile (ouch). We moved to a cbr1100xx later and I had a grab rail behind me and a hand on the tank. When we got the VFR, I found it was far easier to ride with him as it had the grab rails. He can monkey around the tank and I stay with the line of the bike. I do take pics and video while riding the twisties, but after almost 6 years, I know how he rides and I can usually anticipate what he's going to do based on the terrain. Getting comfortable and starting slowly with a passenger is definitely the key. It may be boring for awhile, but as time goes by things will speed up and you will find a pace that is good for you together. Having a plan for communication is good too. We have signals we use. If he is going to pass a car, he pats my left leg before he does as a warning. If i need him to slow down (rare, but it usually happens after a track day...LOL) I pat his leg in quick succession. If I need him to stop, I pat his right leg once and point to the side of the road. In lieu of a com unit, hand signals are a great form of communication. We have com units now, which makes it much easier...especially now that I have my own bike :) Just take it slowly and have fun!
I think the first time riding with a passenger/two-up there are a few simple things to talk about before taking off:
Tell the passenger to stay still and neutral (not lean or move around) then you'll get used to cornering with the extra weight -honestly the VFR does pretty well two-up
If you have grab handles have the passenger use them - they'll be more confident and it's nice to have something to hold on to the first few times
Slow speeds are the most difficult and they shouldn't shift their weight or 'help out'
Take it easy and start with short trips
After one summer my spouse began to really like going on trips together. We've done about 6,000 kilometres together in the past few years. I ride at a different pace with a passenger and take more breaks as things can be a bit more cramped with two. Overall, it's a great way to spend sunny summer days together or travel to far-off places.
Let us know how you made out.
WHAT A BLAST!!! We had absolutely no problems at all! We agreed we like it best when she has at least one arm around me while going straight. Makes me more comfortable to feel as if she has a good secure hold and makes her more comfortable to have a hold on me. Plus, what man wouldn't want a pretty girl having her arms wrapped around him?
She did a great job supporting her weight with her hands on the tank when we had to stop. Especially when a group of Harley guys and thier hogs (the ones on the back, not the bikes) decided waiting for a pack of inferior sports bikes to pass before turning out was something they weren't intersted in.
And the suggestion to have her look over my inside shoulder while turning works like a charm! Especially in the twisties!
I'd say riding two up with my wife is a better experience than hitting the twisties solo!
All-in-all I'd have to say we are definitely going to have to find a sitter and make this a weekly event! We're like two kids using phrases like "that one curve was..." "I was like, woah" "did you see that...." "can you believe that...." "when you..." "then I..." "what did you think when we..."
Thanks again to everyone for all the great advice!
It's great to hear it turned out most excellent! Riding two up is definitely different, but definitely fun with the right planning and preparation. :fing02:
I must be honest, I had the mind set that riding with my wife would be fun but not AS fun. I figured we'd have to be sputtering around like the old men on their hogs. Was I surprised when I realized how easy it really is! My wife is fairly small and only weighs in around 115ish (I'll never ask the exact number) so I really only noticed the extra weight moving from a stop and in the turns. Which actually seemed to help plant the bike better. We actually got pretty low on the curves. I'm very proud of her. My friend's girl just doesn't get it when he lets her ride. In fact, he almost refuses to let her ride anymore. He's almost shot her off the back when she decided to let go mid-acceleration, tries repeatedly to put her feet down, (says she feels like he's going to drop the bike when he leans slightly to the left to put his foot down at a light), has almost sent them into the ditch when she shifted her weight in the middle of a high speed curve, etc. etc. And the best part about it is they both took the safety course to learn how to ride two up!
End of thread · 21 posts recoveredWayback Machine snapshot 16 Jun 2012