OK. Riding With A Passenger

[matcom]

Mrs Matcom wants to ride with me. I'm (initially) scared to death but she has ridden before (many years ago)

What can I expect?

We are going to practice in a school parking lot (eventually).

What can I expect?

I would LOVE her to come on rides with me but I'm worried about EVERYTHING.

My Cruiser obviously is equipped to handle it but I'm looking for advice.

THANKS! :hi:

[ThomWV]

1. OK

She will be thrilled. I say that in the very old fashioned meaning of the word 'thrilled' when I say it. What's important for you and for her? A number of things. First off the difficult part of having a passenger goes away at about 10 miles per hour but the dangerous part never goes away. How the bike reacts to your rider has more to do with how your rider acts than anything else.

You rider must not steer the bike. The rider must lean with the bike but not force the bike to lean; so basically I'm saying that if you could draw an imaginary line through the rotating center of the tire it should continue to pass straight through the spine of the rider.

The bike can't actually stop as fast with two up as it will with just you, but if you overdo it in an emergency stop your passenger may find themselves climbing over your head at the mercy of the laws of physics. So you have to start driving even further ahead and be better prepared so as to avoid really hard braking. The bike will be unwieldy at low speed - so don't go slow. No kidding, accelerate away from a stop with reasonable authority, don't try to baby it because someone's on the back and when you come to stops do just that, bring it to good clean stops and put your feet straight down - both of them. If you're in stopped traffic and it just inches ahead of you, don't try to just inch along with it. Stay stopped until you can move ahead at least a full car length.

You get on first, get the side stand up, then nod or somehow motion to your passenger to climb on. Don't let them surprise you by jumping up on a passenger peg when you didn't know it was coming. One the passenger is up on there tell them to keep their feet up. Don't let them put their feet on the ground at traffic lights or other stops.

Oh, if you don't already have one get some sort of sissy bar and pad. No passenger should be made to feel in danger of coming off the back; in fact that should sort of be your rule, not to scare your passenger. If you don't dilly-dally around starting and stopping and recognize how utterly helpless and vulnerable a motorcycle passenger is you'll do just fine. Just remember, your purpose in life is not the scare the living be-jesus out of your passenger.

I should probably tell you that I avoid caring passengers myself. I'm 61 and there isn't an honest person on this earth that could say anyone's got any business on the back of a bike I'd driving. Still, I will sometimes but when I do I purposefully pay a lot more attention to what I'm doing

[matcom]

2. once again, you ROCK. so, a question...

I was planning on practicing in a parking lot with her on the back. I take it from your post that might not be a good idea given the slow speeds.

am I right?

do we go 'tear up the road' full throtle?

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

3. An empty parking lot is a good place

No traffic, and you can go 20 or 30 mph with no problem. ThomWV hit a good point. She should not help drive. Just stay neutral, in line with the bike, and there won't be much effect on steering.

Problem spots - stopping, you want to keep the bike a little more vertical, as its a little more top-heavy. Starting, you want to take it easy, so you don't pull and inadvertent wheelie (dumping precious cargo). Mounting, you should probably get the bike vertical, then she gets on. Dismounting, she should stand on the pegs, then dismount. If she puts one foot on the ground first, she could get hung up trying to dismount.

You can practice mount and dismount in your driveway.

Don't over-do the parking lot. A little warm-up, and hit the road. It sounds harder than it really is.

[HamstersFromHell]

4. I'll take a shot at this one...

Since you say she's ridden as a passenger before, she should know there's two cardinal rules for being a good passenger:

1.) Never distract the driver.

2.) Remain upright in the saddle at all times. Never try to "help" guide the bike. "Leaners" are the most dangerous passenger to have, since you know how much input you have to make, you don't allow for their input.

No need to practice with a passenger. With a good passenger, it's exactly like riding solo, but with a higher center of gravity and slower response time.

I think YOU should practice riding yourself until you feel 100% at ease with both your and your new bike's capabilities...*then* ask your lady out for a cruise. Once you've gotten a few thousand miles under your belt, you'll be much more at ease and will do things automatically rather than having to think first, then act.

Thom is 100% correct...it's much easier at speed than in parking lots, the bike will stabilize itself as speeds increase, making the passenger much less of a "bother".

[Lowell]

5. Good Advice Above

But I'll add one thing. Whenever my wife rides with me I adjust my rear shocks to handle the additional weight. It is better than loosing control or bottoming out in minor potholes.