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i was in a parking lot with my gf on the back, we saw a friend walking as we drove by she tried to reach out and slap them. i saw them and was being nice and started to turn away so i didnt pass by them so close. she didnt think anything and tried to lean/stretch way out to hit them, of course the bike leand hard and fast when she did this. i managed to keep us going straight and avoid the parked cars but man, it was unerving and she should had known better ha.

another time gf on the back she was half asleep or something i was going to park and doing a tight uturn when she starts to lean, and of course going 5mph the bike starts to tip which scares her. so down her foot goes. again lucky i felt her foot going down and got mine down first at the same time hitting the brakes stopping us and kept the bike up without letting her foot hit down or breaking my ankle . she again knew better and said she didnt know what she was thinking, just instict to put her foot down when she felt us lean Way over going slow...

when i take new riders i always told them.
feet on the pegs at all times no matter what untill i tell you other wise.
hold on tight i dont care how fast you think we are going untill i tell you to let go.
dont move around too much.
sit back and enjoy!!

BuzZz wrote:The passenger has to co-operate, for sure. My wife is an 'experianced' passenger... on the back of her ex's Harley. She trys to stop our lean-ins at cruiser angles, and then trys to stand the bike up at or just past my apexes. She's got 50 pounds on me to do it with too.... it's made for some fairly animated discussions on the side of road. She's getting better, but she still don't like being leaned over as far or as long as I do.

When someone is a passenger, they have to put a lot of trust and faith in you as the driver. If leaning so far and so long is scary to a passenger, maybe be a little more conservative when you have a passenger and save the extreme angles and aggressiveness for when you are alone.

I am speaking from a passenger's point of view. I rode pillion behind someone for awhile, and he scared the livin' daylights out of me. I now am in charge of my own ride. When I eventually take a passenger, it won't be like an episode of Fear Factor.

my wife has been pillion on my bike for years.she dosnt like high speed,low lean angles,filtering and half a dozen other things.she has her own way of controlling my riding.with her arms right round me and her hands in my lap,i upset her she hurts me.......a lot.surprising how much control i find over my throttle hand.xjrjohn

xjrjohn, what is filtering?

two lines of 4 wheelers ,filtering between them to head of queue.as at traffic lights etc.xjrjohn

I've been a pillion rider for donkeys years, Dave cannot feel me on the back at all, he rides it like he would ride it solo, but thats the way I like it, personally I go with the flow. If riding extremely fast its better to lean forward close to rider, if he has to brake sharply I lean back, and when you go to take off, I say that cause thats exactly what if feels like, ie 0 - 100mph in a few seconds then hold tight to the rider, the grabrail stops my arse from sliding off But if you have an in-experienced pillion then I suggest you take it steady, tell her/him to just sit there and hold onand just go where the bike goes explain when going through sharp bends you lean the bike, so at least they know what to expect. I do think its important for them to keep still on the back in case you lose balance. and expect to be head butted if you brake hard with an inexperienced pillion

Thanks for all the advice. I shall now commence the memorizing...

blues2cruise wrote:
When someone is a passenger, they have to put a lot of trust and faith in you as the driver. If leaning so far and so long is scary to a passenger, maybe be a little more conservative when you have a passenger and save the extreme angles and aggressiveness for when you are alone.

I am speaking from a passenger's point of view. I rode pillion behind someone for awhile, and he scared the livin' daylights out of me. I now am in charge of my own ride. When I eventually take a passenger, it won't be like an episode of Fear Factor.

I do ride much slower and easier with her on the back. There is nothing extreme about it, it's just more than she's used to. It just means more work for me in a corner to hold my line, so I'm going to keep it tame enough to make sure I can do whatever I need to do to hold my line safely.

Mag7C wrote:Thanks for all the advice. I shall now commence the memorizing...

Man I've been riding since Feb. Serious riding.. I've been riding dirt bikes etc. since I was kid. My 2 cents is just use common sense. If you trying to haul a Wildebeest then you might have some probs. I took my girlfriend riding after about a month with me on the bike. I'm 216 shes about 125.
Take turns slower feather the throttle and clutch a little more and you'll be aight. Make sure to do a couple (off major roads) practice runs to see how she responds to your turning, stopping etc. Get used to having the extra wight and somthing holding on to you and you'll be fine.

Good luck!

BuzZz, Even though it may be challenging to modify your style a bit when you have someone on board, your passengers probably appreciate it. It's awful being a passenger and having the wits scared out of you.
I had to quit riding with my friend because he couldn't or wouldn't show a little respect for my level of comfort.