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I just bought her a helmet, gloves, and jacket....I am getting ready to take her on her first ever motorcycle ride and I know she is terrified....do you have any tips on what I should tell her, how to hold on, etc? I have never ridden with any passenger...let alone one who is the mother of my child and is terrified of bikes.

I have 2003 Yamaha R6.

When you accelerate, don't take off like a rocket. Take off easy and very smoothly. When you change gears, change smoothly. Don't pop the clutch which will only cause helmet bonking.

Make sure she gets on and off from the NON pipes side. Tell her that she must keep her feet on the pegs at all times until you tell her it is ok to get off the bike.

Aside from having her put her arms around your waist, let her know that when you lean, she must lean with you. Don't be leaning very much though or you will definitely cause her angst. Let her know that when you lean for a turn she should not sit up straight. She should be peeking over your lower shoulder.

If you have never had a passenger before it might be a good idea to ride on a quiet street first so you can both get comfortable with it.

Blue2Cruise pretty much covered it. On turning and leaning what helped me was to lean forward against my husbands back and then lean as he leaned so it was always in tune to what he was doing (on a cruiser bike).

Just tell her to try to relax and have fun.

Arrange for some signals before you go. Might be nice to get a signal going for 'turn left, right' so she can choose the path by a squeeze to the left or right shoulder. Make sure she holds tight around your waist and have a signal for 'hold tighter'...my wife kept getting TOO comfortable on her first (and so far only) ride and was practically letting go of me!

Just take it easy.... as mentioned above. Don't scare the crap out of her or she may never ride again with you and will worry everytime you are out riding. Make it a good experience as much as possible.

Make sure she doesn't squirm around when you are slowing or stopped. Don't get ON or OFF the bike until you tell her she can and keep those feet on the pegs. She may bump helmets with you on slowing or stopping but tell her not to freak over it.

Good luck!

Thanks ladies...and now for to clarify my ignorant question....who gets on the bike first?

Driver always gets on before pillion, gets off after pillion.

Oh yeah, one more comment or so,

Since you have an R6, she should maybe hold you with one arm around your waist and the other near your hip. You probably don't want her squeezing your waist like there's no tomorrow with both arms even though she may feel safer that way and maybe it's cozy, especially at a start, because if you start off a little fast or a bit jerky, she may end up unintentionally pulling you back (a lot!) therefore really increasing the pull pressure on your arms on the bars and I've been told that can really get painful or worse, cause a BIG problem for you, the driver. And have her use her knees to squeeze your hips to help hold on.

Getting on - yes, you be on there first and you get off last. When you tell her you are ready, she should put her left foot on the peg, one hand on your shoulder & step straight up, keeping her weight over that left foot and over the bike, NOT to the side of your bike. Reverse for getting off - keep her weight centered over the bike.

Yeah, that's a pretty obvious one. Don't let anyone get on/near the bike until you are comfortable and steady. Don't back up with a passenger on the bike unless absolutley necessary.

Allow me to emphasize that they should never take their feet off the pegs. All you need to do is stop at 1 red light and have your passenger put their feet down, and it's nothing but headache and hospital trips from then on.
Signals before you leave are good too. If she gets uncomfortable, she needs a way to tell you. Conversely, if you see something coming up that she needs to know about (a big bump for example), you probably won' t be able to tell her verbally, and will need to tell her to hold on tight some other way.

One of the things that you will start to notice early on, is that passengers with rubber necks really affect the bike. Shifting, bouncing and even looking left and right can be really un-nerving at high speed. Their helmet will act like a rudder, and as they look left and right, you'll feel the bike pull the opposite way. Nicely ask that they sit still, keep their head forward, and look over the inside shoulder going around corners. That should minimze issues.

Last but not least, make sure she has permission before getting off the bike. The last thing you need is to come to a stop and have your rider clamber off the bike setting you off balance. Stop the bike, get comfortable, turn to your passenger and tell them they can get off. That's the only time they should.

TeamONEinc wrote:I just bought her a helmet, gloves, and jacket....I am getting ready to take her on her first ever motorcycle ride and I know she is terrified....do you have any tips on what I should tell her, how to hold on, etc? I have never ridden with any passenger...let alone one who is the mother of my child and is terrified of bikes.

I have 2003 Yamaha R6.

DON'T DO IT!!! DON'T make your wife your first pillion.

Plain and simple. Any rider's first pillion really should be another motorcyclist. They know what NOT to do (lean or shift weight in the middle of a turn, etc.)

YOU need to get your skills up to speed before you risk someone else's safety. Your bike will handle differently, brake differently, etc. etc. You need to get a good handle on those differences before you take a never ridden passenger. Especially if you hope to make it a repeat performance.

If you "must," take her then make it very short and end on a positive note. Just a putt around a nearby parking lot or empty business park.

She really should NOT hold on to you, but onto grab rails next to the seat. If you should brake suddenly, she'll shove you up onto your tank (and you could lose control) unless she is hanging on to the motorcycle, instead of you.

She needs to understand two things above all: Don't shift her weight suddenly, especially when going slowly. And look over your INSIDE shoulder in turns (this will help ensure that she doesn't try to keep the bike upright in a turn and end up dumping you both.)

I've had both my children on the back of my bike. My 14 year old son, who is a great bicyclist, is a terrible passenger because he fidgets so badly and so regularly I can't stay focused on the road. My 16 year old daughter is a DREAM! She keeps movement to a minimum and I hardly know she's there.

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