Solo or Two-up?

[Haeberle]

I probably ride 75% solo and 25% two up. My wife would like to get a bike of her own, but has to go through the riders course first.

[blues2cruise]

Solo ya see I suffer from addmotorcycletendtoscarethrlivingshytoutapassengerism disease and I hear there is no cure

I once knew a person who has a plane. He liked to scare people. He did it once on a flight across the water and it scared me...I asked him not to do that. He did it again on the return flight....it was a while before I could stop crying I was scared so bad. That ended the friendship. When the trust is broken you have nothing.

The same for riding. It's awful for the passenger to be so scared but can't do anything about it when the bike is in motion. So based on the fact that you like to scare people, it's a good thing you don't ride 2- up.

I have ridden pillion behind several different riders. There's only two I would consider riding behind again.

[blues2cruise]

I ride solo, but have recently been taking a passenger from work to save her an hour off her commute.

I ride a bit more cautious than usual with her on the back.

[BRUMBEAR]

I would never intentionally scare someone I just tend to ride my ride and as I never have anyone on the back, when I do it gets a little hairy for the passenger. That is why I don't ride anyone. I never intentionally scare people for a lot of reasons I like to promote riding not give it a bad name and the second reason, injury is usually preceded by HEY WATCH THIS!!!

[blues2cruise]

Ah...good to know it's not intentional.

[Shriker]

Most of my riding has been solo , probably 85% across 35 years of riding. BUT I have really enjoyed trips two up on the right bike. MOST bikes are really not much fun when you add a passenger but bikes like my former K1200LT-C (BMW's full touring bike) was very good at it. Extremely comfy for both , intercoms so you could talk easily and readily during the ride if you wanted, heated everything , REVERSE (I am a big guy, but back pedaling an 850lb bike plus 120lb passenger and all her gear is tough!), electric windscreen , multi cd player , electronic cruise......all of this STUFF is great on a tourer going two up for long distance. We had several memorable trips on that bike together and they were alot of fun.

I dont care for all that stuff when riding solo on my other bikes though......just me and the bike .....

[faded sun]

I'll take anyone who wants to go. Now I have an 1100 so power is no issue and as log as they are willing to do what I say so the ride is smooth I don't mind them being there. And most get a thrill out of it even if I am taking it pretty easy. My wife doesn't drive and doesn't ride so she is happy to ride pillion. As long as there is a back rest, I can do no wrong, no matter how much I push the bike. We have done a lot of riding together and she is an excellent passenger. She is so relaxed that I hardly notice her now. With someone new I definitely ride more predictably and super smooth shifting and braking to save us both the head taps. But I still like it because I am still riding. And that is enough for me.

[clutch]

My husband prefers it when I ride two-up with him. We did this for years until one day, that he decided to race his friend while riding two-up.

We were on twisty mountain roads (on a Harley Street Glide, not made for twisty mountain roads!), in excess of 100 MPH, with front wheel wobbling, through blind curves in the on-coming traffic lane (and there WAS oncoming traffic!), and nearly crashing us in a few spots ... I didn't speak to him for days. This was years ago. And today, he actually has his feelings hurt that I don't want to ride with him anymore, just because of that one little incident.

I ride solo now. I'll only ride on the back with him if his MC is having a special group ride and I'm not allowed to ride my own bike. But even that's about to stop. MC guys are jerks.

[blues2cruise]

My husband prefers it when I ride two-up with him. We did this for years until one day, that he decided to race his friend while riding two-up.

We were on twisty mountain roads (on a Harley Street Glide, not made for twisty mountain roads!), in excess of 100 MPH, with front wheel wobbling, through blind curves in the on-coming traffic lane (and there WAS oncoming traffic!), and nearly crashing us in a few spots ... I didn't speak to him for days. This was years ago. And today, he actually has his feelings hurt that I don't want to ride with him anymore, just because of that one little incident.

I ride solo now. I'll only ride on the back with him if his MC is having a special group ride and I'm not allowed to ride my own bike. But even that's about to stop. MC guys are jerks.

I understand. Once that trust is broken, it's hard to get it back.

My friend and I once had friends who had a plane. He, the pilot, thought it was funny to scare me by suddenly making the plane nosedive without warning. After the third time he did it....twice in one day...over open water...it was a while before I could stop crying because it had scared me so much....I told him I would never fly with him again. He and his wife were hurt, but the trust was gone.

It's the same on the back of a bike. It's a vulnerable place to be....and the rider needs to respect that.