Total Motorcycle Community Forums

I've ridden passengers several times. I warn them of the consequeces of not being at one with me. I let them know they need to be cargo, and not to move around, especially in a turn. I start my bike, move it to a place where I can ride off, and have them mount - both my feet down, engine in neutral, front brake applied. I don't know if all that is in the MSF, but I've not felt any issue with a passenger. If your bike has a preload, you might want to read up on that in your manual and crank it up a few notches. I have to ride much more mild, and give much more time to stop when I have a passenger. I treat the bike like I'm riding in hazardous conditions.

-> Give her some spare gear if you have it. I have two of everything, but I've given one or two rides when I did not have it with me (save the spare helmet) and I gave them most of my gear because I'd rather them be protected just in case. That's a personal judgement call on your part.

-> Starting/shifting on a hill needs a little more throttle and a longer get-off on the clutch.

-> If you do not roughly double your braking distance, you'll end up jamming on the brakes - - she'll slide into you, you'll slide up towards the tank, and you might bump helmets. A little distracting, but nothing to freak about.

polarelf2003 wrote:-> Give her some spare gear if you have it. I have two of everything, but I've given one or two rides when I did not have it with me (save the spare helmet) and I gave them most of my gear because I'd rather them be protected just in case. That's a personal judgement call on your part.

-> Starting/shifting on a hill needs a little more throttle and a longer get-off on the clutch.

-> If you do not roughly double your braking distance, you'll end up jamming on the brakes - - she'll slide into you, you'll slide up towards the tank, and you might bump helmets. A little distracting, but nothing to freak about.

ya i got two jackets and two helmets only one pair of gloves and boots though.


JWF

A pair of leather work gloves is fine, and make sure she wears something that covers her ankles.

For what it's worth , I started riding at 13 and it wasn't until I was 16 that I started packing anyone . 3 years was a good time for me to wait .
Regards, Wizzard

Wizzard wrote:For what it's worth , I started riding at 13 and it wasn't until I was 16 that I started packing anyone . 3 years was a good time for me to wait .
Regards, Wizzard

im sure thatd be a good time to get used to riding to carry people, but im a tab bit to impaietent(SP?) ha


JWF

i was a first passenger for a relatively new rider. i myself had never ridden at that point. he had some extra gear for me to wear. he told me when to get on and off. he told me to just keep my feet on the pegs and hold on to either his waist (so long as i didn't slam into at stops him since that would mean quite a bit of weight due to the momentum) or the grab bar on the back. he didn't tell me much but it wasn't bad at all. he took it slow at first just getting you to the feel of an extra person. for me it was fabulous and it started me on learning to ride. good luck.

The scary pillion is the stiff one that jumps at everything. When Keith Code was asked for advice on pillion riders he said, "tell them to do nothing". The advice I can give you is:

Tell her to stay close to you and just go with your body movements

Be as smooth as you can with everything, starting off and braking should slower than just a single rider

Do not roll around corners, slow in, fast out

Stop a couple of times in the first few K's and ask if everything is OK

Do not be tempted to show off, the skill should be shown in how enjoyable you can make the ride for the pillion

Make it a short ride with a break in between for ice cream

If you are not in bed by 11:00 take her home

I like the ice cream part. Gives them a chance to cool off. Hehe, get it? No, okay. A couple of short rides with stops in between gives them a chance to assimilate what happened. They key is to make sure that the rides aren't to short. Otherwise they're scared the whole way, and don't get a chance to start to calm down. Then the next part is scarier because they haven't calmed down.

I've been taking passenger with me since the first 3 months into riding, before It was just a fun with friends.

But now I'm getting serious since the passenger is my GF. I got her all the gears, jacket, helmet, boot, gloves even though I don't know if she is gonna ride with me for long. I made sure she feel comfortable on pillion. I rode pretty slow at first (slower than I normally ride), checked with her all the time if she is okay, rub her knee sometime to show that I'm taking care of her. I don't and will not take here everywhere I go, becuz I'm not so confident in my skill, I wouldn't take her on a cayon ride or long desert ride. I'd only take here for a short and safe ride like dinner, coffee brake or mild country/twisty road. I took her with my club once and plan to take her more often (if it is a newbie friendly ride).

BTW before she hop on a bike, I explained to her the proper way of getting on/off a bike. How to use hand signal, simple like knock on my helmet if I go too fast, hold my waist on lean or hold sissy bar when relax and the last thing I told her is to wave to other bikers when you see them.