Quote:
Originally Posted by yorkie_chris
Dug that post up from the glencoe thread, but it shows you don't need to pi$$ about when 2 up, you just need to be aware of the difference in centre of gravity and ride smoothly
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Yes, most of the time it's not a case of not being able to ride fast with a pillion, it's the pillions fear levels causing her to dig you in the ribs.
Sandrine is very good and relaxed so long as I stick to a pace she is happy with (can graduallly get quicker and quicker and she notices but has had time to get used to the idea). As soon as I'm out of her comfort zone she stiffens up, I can feel her mood change even on a straight road without her moving, and without her holding onto me, the rear shock reacts differently when her posture changes. She deteriorates when she gets a sore ar$e or she's tired too, which is why shes getting the train up to the massacre. Bumps and jumps she just can't do, if her ar$e or feet spend anytime off the seat or pegs she turns white. First time we did a road with humps similar to the Kinlochleven loop (a road near Whitburn that is known as the rollercoaster, think grand national at Blackppol pleasure beach) she got off completely white and unable to speak, she was basically flying along behind me. I was absolutely fine, never shifted out or the saddle. I asked her why she didn't let me know she was stuggling and she said, "I couldn't do or say anything, I just had to hold on!" Maybe I'll try her on MissYC's advise of gripping with the thighs (oo'er missus, dunno why I didn't suggest that before!). She doesn't do enough miles really to be able to pillion like MissYC or Lissa.
I tend to find riding fast with a pillion, (especially on a standard SV!) is a case of planning early and riding like a copper, i.e. getting the bike setup up for corners earlier and making sure the suspension is nice and settled before countersteering intially softly, then progessively harder and harder, push and pull, to get the bike turning and tipping in nicely. It's amazing what corner speed you can carry with a pillion if you get it nice and smooth and make sure your rear shock is happy and stable before cornering. If you watch a copper thats basically what they are doing in order to get those heavily loaded Pan Europeans and BMW's through corners so bloody fast.
The standard SV generally doesn't make a good pillion bike though, the rear shock isn't up to it. I was on a road with some quite bumpy corners yesterday on my brothers VFR, he didn't bother changing his normal preload, and my 15 stone was upsetting the rear shock less than my wifes 9 1/2 upsets the SV on the same road.
Quote:
Originally Posted by yorkie_chris
Tell her to stop it then.
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Your in a really grumpy mood just now aren't you!
