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Just had a couple of questions about taking a passanger on my bike. I've got a Ninja 250, have a second helmet+gear.

1) Should I practice anything before actually carrying a passanger? I've heard people suggest strapping some heavy item to the back of my bike to get a feel for the added weight. I've also got my cousin to volunteer as a test dummy. She's pretty small, at only 110ish lbs so probably would be a good start.

2) What's the max weight you all would recommend for a 250? I'm about 185 and the gal I'd like to eventually zip around with is about 155ish. That should be fine for tooling around surface streets or cruising through countryside. I dunno if I'd want to try doing 80 on a freeway like that though.

3) Other then brake sooner and take turns slower, is there anything else I should know about carrying a passanger? Obviously have them keep their feet up and lean with me.

Thanks!

Check your manual for gross weight allowance. For the EX500 it's around 800 lbs (and 411 lbs of that is bike + fuel) meaning there is plenty of room for you and a good sized mate.

I almost feel that the 250 is undersprung for one person. +1 for checking your manual


When you do decide to take your first passenger, it's best to have it be an experienced rider in a less active environment so that you get used to the difference that 110-250 extra pounds makes and so you don't scare the hell out of your first passenger Wink

When you have a passenger here are a few simple rules to live by

1.) Don't be a jerk- ride more conservatively.
2.) Explain some rules to the passenger to start
a.) Don't mount the bike until you say it's ok
b.) Don't dismount the bike until you say it's ok.
c.) Don't take your feet off the pegs until you dismount even if you think the bike is falling or at a stop light
d.) tell him/her to look over your inside shoulder in a turn and to lean with you. Explain that by not leaning the bike won't lean and the bike needs to lean to turn
e.) Tell him/her not to move too much if at all, and especially no sudden moves so as to not upset the bike's path
3.) You will need to use smooth starts and stops otherwise your heads will bang together or you might leave your passenger sitting on the ground behind you
4.) Both of you are geared up (way to have that taken care of)
5.) You both understand that m/c's are dangerous and that both lives are in your hands

That's a good list and exactly what I was looking for, thank you very much

This post got me thinkin since my gf has been begging to get on the bike since I got it. So last night I met her in an empty parking lot and did a few practices from my MSF course. Quicks stops, stop out of a corner, left and right turns, and turning from a stand still(hardest with a pillion IMO.) Its a lot more difficult than I expected even though I got through all those exercises without any problems. The hardest part was trying to explain how to move in turns to her, she just held on tight and wouldn't look over my shoulder in turns lol. I think we'll practice on the weekends till we both get better at riding two up.

You may also want to work out a few simple signals beforehand.

Stop, Slow down, Take me the hell home you crazy lunatic biker, Jesus H Christ let me off here i'm walking home you nut.


Jen uses 3 taps on my shoulder for stop, 2 for slow down, and just yells really loud for everything else.


Oh, respect your passengers wishes, if they want to stop, freakin stop. If I was riding pillion, and wanted off, and the goof driving me around Didn't stop, there would be some blood coming out of faces by the end of the day.