Riding with pillion: Advice?

[NTECUK]

I preferd pillions just to sit still,.
No leaning as it does nothing to help.
and yes not too heavy.Helps if you have an intercome.
The rest has been pointed out.

Forgot to mention theTriboseat. Well worth 12.99
http://www.ekmpowershop6.com/ekmps/s...dvancedseatin/

[Littlepeahead]

Take out someone who rides first as they will read the road as you do and will be prepared for braking.

Triboseat are good idea but cheaper option is to wrap a bit of the waffly grippy stuff you buy as a roll in the pound shop. Just wrap round your pillion seat and clip it back on.

I fell asleep doing AR last year. Jambo saw me when he was marking a junctiin and said I had my arms folded so wasn't even holding on. XJRs are comfy bikes.

Make sure they know not to get on until you are ready and tell them to.
Took my mate on the back at the weekend, I usually tell him to wait till I give him the nod, I just assumed he'd remembered this time.

Having just got on myself and getting settled and the bike suddenly weights a lot on one side, hard to keep it upright when you aren't expecting it.

[_Stretchie_]

Most stuff has been said, definitely work out a comms system with them, it's easy to misinterpret a gesture or touch (oo-err).

One thing that hasn't been mentioned, when I have a pillion I get them to get on and off from the left hand side and to use MY foot peg if they need to step up to get their leg over, using the riders foot peg and not the pillion keeps the weight lower and you're less likely to fall off before you've even got it in gear

Just be happy, take your time an be shhhhmooooove

Originally Posted by dkid

Forgot to mention theTriboseat. Well worth 12.99
http://www.ekmpowershop6.com/ekmps/s...dvancedseatin/

Well worth it

[Littlepeahead]

Helps if you remember you have a pillion on the back too! Mentioning no names, but a certain person I ride pillion with forgot I was there going through Camden while approaching a set of red lights, so I was bracing myself to brake and instead as they turned to amber he gunned it nearly leaving me on the tarmac.

[yorkie_chris]

Don't be a fanny with changing gear. A bike box is NOT a car. If you try to be a fanny about it and do a really smooth "clutch in.... change.... clutch out" by the time you bring the clutch back out the revs will have dropped and the jerk will make you knock heads.

So, smooth and confident on the gear shifts... near constant acceleration means no knocking heads.


My rules of pillion... Do not move. Pretend to be a sack of spuds. No leaning in either direction relative to the bike. If you lean away from the ground in corners I will beat you.

Do not get on or off without permission, this is cause of loads of drops at a standstill.

Always get on and off the same side.

No fidgeting at low speed! If they need to move around, wait for a straight bit at some speed.

Grip with the legs.



As for the bike bits? Well my theory was to fit a penske shock and gsxr forks with excellent brakes and go flat out. Works fine.

Something to note as well, some people you can take as pillions for the first time and they are very natural, within 20min they get used to it and unless you are riding jerkily you won't notice them there. Other people will never get the hang of riding on the back of a bike. No matter how many times I take one of my mates on the back (Non rider) he is still so tense i can feel it and is always leaning the wrong way in bends. Its better to just not take people like that on the back of your bike. And if you are going to, be prepared!

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

Don't be a fanny with changing gear. A bike box is NOT a car. If you try to be a fanny about it and do a really smooth "clutch in.... change.... clutch out" by the time you bring the clutch back out the revs will have dropped and the jerk will make you knock heads.

So, smooth and confident on the gear shifts... near constant acceleration means no knocking heads.


My rules of pillion... Do not move. Pretend to be a sack of spuds. No leaning in either direction relative to the bike. If you lean away from the ground in corners I will beat you.

Do not get on or off without permission, this is cause of loads of drops at a standstill.

Always get on and off the same side.

No fidgeting at low speed! If they need to move around, wait for a straight bit at some speed.

Grip with the legs.



As for the bike bits? Well my theory was to fit a penske shock and gsxr forks with excellent brakes and go flat out. Works fine.

Does help if your pillion is a willing participant at flat out speeds

My wife wouldn't get on my bike again if rode like that (not that I could probably anyway)

Originally Posted by Littlepeahead

Helps if you remember you have a pillion on the back too! Mentioning no names, but a certain person I ride pillion with forgot I was there going through Camden while approaching a set of red lights, so I was bracing myself to brake and instead as they turned to amber he gunned it nearly leaving me on the tarmac.

Yeah but Clare, you only weigh about 4 stone, I've had heavier top boxes lol