First Pillion Ride!!

Yup - MrsT has been pretty much sparko on the back going down the motorway before. She 'woke up' when I rolled off the gas as a moved onto the exit slip. The sudden deceleration made her jump.

Originally Posted by Reeder

Took the lady for her first pillion ride yesterday and my first passenger. Definitely need a non slip cover! constantly slipping forwards and backwards even on 'gentle' braking or accelerating.

And it kills your wrists having to stop her momentum sliding into you when you brake, doesn't it! That's why I have the 'grab rail' rule.

Yeah it does put a huge amount of weight on there. I would have said grab rail only but it was her first time so I was leading her in gently Plus I was scared she might fall off the back if I accelerated without her paying attention!

Depends on the seat, really... I see some sportbikes and the pillion seat is tiny and looks very easy to slip off of, others have the grabrail behind which provides more of an obstacle. Some people tell the missus to be ready to put her hands on the tank if they brake suddenly, I can't vouch for this.

Buy a tourer or cruiser, with a sissybar fitted

Nah, she can just get her own bike her test is next friday so hopefully I wont have to lug her around anymore (even though she suggested me taking her out to the local bike meet next friday, but im busy)

BTW dont mention the fact that "your extra weight is a good thing over the rear wheel" they dont understand and the beatings hurt!

I find a good thing for pillions is to advise them to put one hand round your waist and the other on the grab rail. One for acceleration and one for braking, best of both worlds. I've used it myself a couple of times when pillion and it works fine and is comfortable for everything. It's all good fun though, some people are better than others at pillion. I've taken a couple of people and couldn't wait for them to get off. Although I've got a friend who is temporarily bikeless after a crash, but I take him out now and again, entering corners at oh i think 90ish, boot scraping the floor all the way round. Hehe whoops

Originally Posted by Drumming_Animal

I find a good thing for pillions is to advise them to put one hand round your waist and the other on the grab rail. One for acceleration and one for braking, best of both worlds. I've used it myself a couple of times when pillion and it works fine and is comfortable for everything. It's all good fun though, some people are better than others at pillion. I've taken a couple of people and couldn't wait for them to get off. Although I've got a friend who is temporarily bikeless after a crash, but I take him out now and again, entering corners at oh i think 90ish, boot scraping the floor all the way round. Hehe whoops

I agree, the mrs has one front and one back most the time so that she can slip her hand onto the tank when needed.

I think the most important rule people have missed out is DO NOT get on or off until I tell you to.
Filling up at a garage, slippy diesel covered floor, oh look you've jumped off and now i'm laying in a heap of broken plastic and metal. Bad times.

I have pillion passengers to thank for my SV actually. My eldest is about 8 1/2 stone and taking him about on a 125 was interesting. Downright bloomin' scary at times (if you've ever driven along the A27 past the bottom of the A3M when only able to hit 45 or 50mph into a headwind, you'll know what I mean). After that, wifey (hers was a 125 VanVan) and I decided that bigger was better - SV for me, Monster 600 for her. The boys love being on either bike. They are perfect pillions - they don't try to lean or anything clever at all, they just sit there like a sack of spuds.