riding with a passenger

[jaimz]

SO, the time has come where i'm going to convince my girlfriend to ride with me.. Now I'd like for her to enjoy it so I really don't want to dump her off the back. Not to mention I wouldn't want to cause harm to her nice posterior. I have hopes that she might want a small bike of her own after a little while.

So anywho.... Other than putting the passenger pegs on, and adjusting the suspension, is there any pointers? I've never ridden with a passenger.

 

[Jmal18]

Hopefully this is obvious, but gear. And give her a talk and explain how she needs to hold still, lean with you, etc. Don't try and scare here either. Baby steps and she'll probably get hooked

 

[Renegade]

When you take a corner, make sure she looks through the corner with you. If she has to adjust her weight or what not, tell her to put even pressure on the pegs, rather than all her weight on one leg and push herself up. Please, don't let her be one of those scared girls who bear hug you when you're riding. There is absolutely no need for that, and it looks rediculous. Have her relax, sit upright or leaned over a little, have her put her hands on your side, possibly holding onto your jacket pockets. If you're going to romp on the throttle, be sure she knows you're going to do so. Tell her before you ride, if I tap your leg, hold on tight because we're going to accelerate very quickly. Most important, you yourself, don't be scared and timid. She'll feel that, and in turn, more than likely be scared herself.

 

[John422]

^^^^ beautiful! Do that lol

 

[bbletterin]

All those pointers are excellent, but I got a communication system (scala rider) and my wife calmed down and now loves riding. Just being able to talk normally to each other opened the door for my wife,who used to hold on so tight I thought I would crash. Looking back the first 2 rides are funny,but back then it wasn't.

 

[Theycallmecrash]

Communication is very important for both you and her since youre both new to riding with/as passenger. Establish some gestures or signs before beginning, like the tap of the leg means wer going to haul ass, as stated above. If she knows whats going to happen next shell feel more comfortable.
Some other sign, have her tap on the back of your helmet a few times of she notices a cop. If she leans against you in a turn one good hard hit to the thigh, put her in her place. Use hand signals to indicate turns, she cant see your blinkers. When at a stop, verbally ask how shes feeling or express discomfort she might cause. Come up with some of your own as well if it helps you, its a learning experience.
Teacher her some riding techniques before you guys take off, explain body position, lean in turns, look through the turn with you, hard braking have her hands support her weight against the air box and thighs to lock her in with you, hard acceration dig her feet into the pedals and grab you tight.
Biggest things: dont try to scare her, dont try to impress her with tricks and racing.
Establish rules: she needs gear that fits her, she needs shoes that will stay on in a fall and take some rash. None of this we dont have a hemlet law crap. If she gets scared and doesnt want to keep going, dont force her, let her off and approach it later.
Goodluck! Ride safe! Riding with your girl is a bonding experience bring you 2 closer, then get her a bike and take your pegs off.

 

[08levin]

Ride very conservatively at first and know exactly where you are going. I had a lapse and made an evasive maneuver to change lanes and accelerate quickly to not miss a turn and almost dumped her off the back. Scared the crap out of me. We started in the neighborhood to practice looking through the turn. Took quite a few wide turns for her to resist leaning away from the turm. Her biggest problem was that I have a cg, and the seat is very short so she constantly felt like she was going to fall off the back. Almost got a rack system with the rear and side bars to grab for a safety net for her. Then we started having kids and she hasn't ridden since! Haha.

 

[BuddhaBuell]

great tips by all
Theycallmecrash hits it out of the park +1

[smirk]

 

[jaimz]

thanks guys.

As far as you guys saying "don't try to scare her" come on now. If I wanted to scare her i'd do it in my rally car, where it's safe to scare people! Besides, I'm a conscious rider, I don't show off or try to ride above my skill level. Also, We have Buell's we don't need to do anything to get noticed in the first place. People love our bikes, the simple act of riding them around is like showing off sometimes.

I'm mostly curious about how the characteristics of the bike will change to be honest. I've ridden as a passenger in my pre-teen years, but i'm turning 30 soon, the riding part was a tad foggy, but it's all just general 'don't get yourself killed' knowledge.

I'm assuming during acceleration the back end will squat a bit more. how about the physics of corning? I know with the bike riding lower it's going to change the geometry of the suspension, pushing the front out a tad more and such. Anyone have any pointers or tips to share on the subject of the bike itself? Anything someone wish they knew before taking a passenger?

 

[Renegade]

When my wife rides with me, I seem to be faster in the corners, haha. My bike is setup for a 180# rider, which I'm 185. With the wife on the back, she adds an additional 100#. During acceleration, I don't notice any difference in how the back end squats down.

 

[Route0766]

[up]

 

[lawdog]

Ask her to look over your shoulder in the direction your turning. That shifts her weight just enough to make leaning in turns smooth. Some girls will lean funky, not at all, or too much. Then your fighting her and her weight. But ask her to not lean and instead just look over your shoulder in the direction your turning and it makes life easy. Tell her if she gets scared to slap pat or whatever signal so you can pull into a parking lot and talk. Go easy at first so you get comfortable and she does too.

Scare her and your night will suck. But have some fun, maybe a few times get on it a little hard but not crazy and she will have fun and not be scared. If she has fun the rest of your night will be! If you know what I mean! Lol

Also tell her when to get on and when to get off. Very important. You want to be ready for her weight. I get on, kick the kickstand up, then hold the bars and ask her to mount. She steps on the peg, swings leg over and sits. Also tell her to keep feet on pegs till u tell her to get off. If she gets off and your not ready and all her weight is on a peg she can pull u over! Lol

 

[John422]

Law dog is right!! I was going to post that last night and fell asleep but always get your rider In the habit of making sure your ready for them to get off and on! That kind of stuff happens quick! Then you have a bike on the ground.....and that's no bueno

 

[jaimz]

I've had her sit on it with me, just to see if we could actually fit. haha it's not like we're fat or anything, but we're both generally tall (she's 5'8")

as far as later in the evening... don't worry about that