Riding partners?

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faded sun
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Riding partners?

#1 Unread post by faded sun »

Just a survey out of curiosity. How many of you have a partner(spouse, significant other, whatever) that also rides their own bike and how many have a partner that will be the pillion?

To be honest I have never seen a guy ride pillion behind his wife. Would be interested to know if there are any out there.

My own answer is that my wife rides pillion. She doesn't even have a driver's license let alone a motorcycle license but likes to ride with me. I have several friends (couples) who both ride and several who's wife will not get on a bike for love nor money. I know my wife will never get a bike of her own but I am glad she is willing to share the ride with me most of the time. This has definitely influenced the bikes I have bought in an effort to make it as comfortable as possible for her to come along. I would still have bought the heated gear etc for myself but I sometimes wonder if I would be riding an Africa Twin now instead of a Victory Vision if I were riding solo. My other bike is an ST 1300.

I know Jack O' the Green's wife got him into riding and can't help feeling just a little jealous to have such a partner.

So what's your story?
Jock

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Re: Riding partners?

#2 Unread post by ZooTech »

Wife rides pillion...says if she got into riding earlier in life she'd have ridden her own, but happy just to be introduced to riding this late in life. My 19yo son and 20yo daughter both have bikes of their own so we sometimes get to ride as a family gang.

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Re: Riding partners?

#3 Unread post by jstark47 »

Wife's got her own bikes, a BMW F650GS for street, and a Yamaha XT250 for off pavement. There was a situation last spring where her F650GS was parked about 7 miles away, and she had to ride pillion with me to go get it. It was her first time ever riding pillion. She swears that will also be her last time ever riding pillion!! :mrgreen: :lol:
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Re: Riding partners?

#4 Unread post by JackoftheGreen »

faded sun wrote: Sat Jan 25, 2020 5:33 pm I know Jack O' the Green's wife got him into riding and can't help feeling just a little jealous to have such a partner.
That may be the first time I've been name-dropped on here! Thanks for the warm fuzzies!

Yes, Carrie got me into riding, and she rides her own bikes. She's ridden on the back of every bike I've ever owned at least once, except the Ninja 500, just for the experience, but only ever once or twice. I will cop to having even ridden pillion behind her once on the Shadow we owned, but I'm so tall, and so much tallER than her, that it was an extremely uncomfortable experience for both of us.

So on balance, put me down for "spouse rides, and rides their own bike".

Has your wife rode pillion on the ST? Carrie's CTX1300 is a great 2Up bike when we take the kids around, and my C14 does great with a pillion rider too. Both are pretty comparable to the ST.

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Re: Riding partners?

#5 Unread post by High_Side »

Our first date was in a Ninja, 3 months short of 30 years ago. 27 years ago she got her license and has barely been on the back since. I'm pretty sure she is going to be a keeper :kicking:

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Re: Riding partners?

#6 Unread post by faded sun »

Wow
Last edited by faded sun on Wed Jan 29, 2020 6:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Riding partners?

#7 Unread post by faded sun »

[/quote]


Has your wife rode pillion on the ST? Carrie's CTX1300 is a great 2Up bike when we take the kids around, and my C14 does great with a pillion rider too. Both are pretty comparable to the ST.
[/quote]

When I got back onto two wheels after recovering from childbirth (just kidding, don't throw that shoe!) I found an '84 Shadow that had a pillion seat that was like a loaf of very stale bread. The wife was happier when I got it custom upholstered by a guy in Niagara to make it wider and softer. But I knew to go long distance I would need a real tourer so got the ST 1100. The wife said it was like a Cadillac compared to the Shadow. I lost both bikes in a fire and with the insurance bought the ST 1300. She called that the Rolls Royce in comparison! One farkle it had already was a perforated leather cover on the pillion seat that stops the passenger from sliding into you under deceleration forces. I highly recommend this unless your bike has a driver backrest to do the same.

Then a friend brought his Victory Vision Tour on a motorcycle 4-day weekend with the ST Owners group in Ohio. I have a thing for the V-Twin engine and decided that I would buy it. interestingly he has 5 or 6 bikes at a time and is always willing to off load one to get another and actually bought the Victory for his wife to get her to ride with him! Now that is a lot of coin to unload without a guaranteed outcome so he was happy to sell it to me as it didn't work out. My wife thought it was very comfy for the pillion, but still loves the position and seat on the ST.

So we are a two bike family but I do all the driving.

In May 2018 we did the Pacific Coast Highway from LA to the Oregon border and then through Portland and Seattle to Vancouver on the Victory. The heated gear was a necessity in the mountains. We went down hard in late 2018 and she was banged up pretty bad but is still willing to ride pillion so we are still a two bike, two-up family.

I was looking at the CTX when the Shadow and ST 1100 died but they are pretty rare. I knew the ST so went with a 1300 and paid a few buck more than I got for the 1100.
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Re: Riding partners?

#8 Unread post by JackoftheGreen »

My goodness, there's a lot there to unpack!

On the one hand, it's wonderful that the two of you can share this hobby. The ride and the destination both are always such a reward, Carrie and I often talk about how it wouldn't be fun without one another to share all those experiences with. Or, that the shared experience is part of what makes it so much fun.

At the same time, though, there's a whole different element to riding that you just don't get to experience when you ride with a pillion. Not just the type of bike you can ride, which is a huge consideration by itself, but also the degree to which you can sorta loose yourself in the machine. It would seem to be selfish to desire some solo rides, but it would also be selfish of your SO to deny you that experience. And at the same time, at the end of they day, you may enjoy the riding less without your other half there to share a drink with and talk about the sites and sounds. My apologies if I overstep by delving this far into the subject, but it seemed appropriate to the tone.

You mentioned the Africa Twin, do you picture doing some BDR-type riding on that or using it as a highway scoot? I could imagine a scenario whereby the family, whoever else that includes besides the SO, drives a family SUV to a camp spot with an adventure bike of some kind trailered behind, and then you getting some offroad riding in in the region during the day while the fam maintains base camp. Not ideal, but at least everyone is on vacation? Just a thought.

In any case, I'll go on record as saying it's a little awkward having two large touring bikes in the stable for 2Up riding. What's the determinate factor when deciding which to take?

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Re: Riding partners?

#9 Unread post by blues2cruise »

Due to the fact, that I don't have a significant other, I ride my own bike. I do, however, enjoy being pillion occasionally depending on who is the rider. I need to be able to trust that the rider is smooth and safe. I have ridden on the back of a couple of bikes with people I would never ride with again.
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Re: Riding partners?

#10 Unread post by faded sun »

blues2cruise wrote: Thu Jan 30, 2020 5:41 pm Due to the fact, that I don't have a significant other, I ride my own bike. I do, however, enjoy being pillion occasionally depending on who is the rider. I need to be able to trust that the rider is smooth and safe. I have ridden on the back of a couple of bikes with people I would never ride with again.
I ran out of gas when I was young an foolish (not like the time when I was old and foolish) and a guy on a Ninja stopped to help me. I had a gas can at home so he drove me there to pick up the can and then to get gas and back to the bike. On the way he was lane splitting between parked cars in the curb lane and moving traffic in the center lane well over the speed limit. I can fully appreciate how uncomfortable a pillion might feel, especially one with two gallons of gas in their hand.

I am always very happy to see lady riders. I am curious if you would prefer to ride pillion, given a smooth and safe rider or if, being a rider, it would be preferable to ride your own ride.
Jock

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