Tips for carrying a passenger?

[~Barn~]

Put it in reverse, Cowgirl!

[TinkerinWstuff]

Not to be mean, but anyone noticed the weight of the passenger makes a huge difference? If I keep the weight of the passenger around 100pnds I can barely notice she is on there, but when heavier I feel as if the bike feels very weird (top heavy). This could be because I only weight about 180 pnds and am on a 600cc.

Was just scrolling through the thread looking to see if weight was brought up.

Many bikes aren't sprung appropriately for ONE rider let alone two. If you weigh over 200lbs and haven't sprung the bike for your weight, it's gonna be WAY THE HELL off when you throw a passenger on. This changes the geometry of the bike and makes it difficult to turn.

I'm no suspension expert but do play one on the interwebz

[Mother Goose]

Learn how to shift smoothly before you take on a passenger. The back of your helmet will thank you.

[Penadam]

Was just scrolling through the thread looking to see if weight was brought up.

Many bikes aren't sprung appropriately for ONE rider let alone two. If you weigh over 200lbs and haven't sprung the bike for your weight, it's gonna be WAY THE HELL off when you throw a passenger on. This changes the geometry of the bike and makes it difficult to turn.

I'm no suspension expert but do play one on the interwebz

+1. Passenger on the DRZ == terrible. At the very least adjust the rear preload.

[Snowman]

Looks like most of it has been covered here.

I would add the bumping helmets is normal and expected. As the riders all your actions should be as smooth as you can make them. You should occasionally reassure your passenger after you come to a stop. The passenger should be looking down the road not just the car in front of them just like the rider. Soon she will get to know what you will do in different situations.

And make sure they understand that holding on to back of you back instead of you is the worse possible situation.

[usmcab35]

Looks like most of it has been covered here.

I would add the bumping helmets is normal and expected. As the riders all your actions should be as smooth as you can make them. You should occasionally reassure your passenger after you come to a stop. The passenger should be looking down the road not just the car in front of them just like the rider. Soon she will get to know what you will do in different situations.

And make sure they understand that holding on to back of you back instead of you is the worse possible situation.

so my wife hates anything motorcycles but i have gotten her on the back a few times, and i really hate the bumping helmets, i know its normal and expected but i almost wanted to by a junk helmet to avoid banging up my new icon helmet. like everyone else said its a lot of experience and teaching but it can be fun to have a rider on the back for a trip to town or a nice sunday stroll in the hills.

[Spiderman]

for context:

Hello, brand new to the forum and excited. ... Bought my first bike July of '11, a 2010 Suzuki GS500F Black/Grey and put about 2500 miles on it since then.

First, I know you want to take her on the back, and you feel comfortable enough when riding solo to think you can, but I will echo what other members have said, and suggest that you wait until you have at least a few more thousand miles under your belt before you start taking a passenger.

Have you taken the BRC? The student handbook has an excellent list of tips on page 40... tips that weren't taught in the course I took 16 years ago that would've been helpful when I took my first passenger out. ... If you haven't taken the BRC, I highly suggest you do so - I took it last year, after riding for 15 years and 80K+ miles, and still learned something!

Even though I've ridden 2-up since early on, I didn't really feel comfortable doing so until I had about 40-50K miles under my belt (I'm not sure if or how much it played into it, but at that point I had also raced for a few years). Before I started racing (but after I had started riding on the track, and thought I was fast), I took my ex (who had ridden with my before) on a canyon run, and because of my recent track exposure and perceived improved (solo) skills & abilities, I felt comfortable enough to push the pace... fortunately nothing bad happened, but it wasn't a comfortable or pleasant experience for either of us (she never went on another canyon ride with me). Now, many years and tens of thousands of miles later, with a good & trusting passenger, I can "rail" through the canyons at about 85% of my solo pace, and both of us have an enjoyable ride (with a really good passenger, and the right conditions, I've been able to rail at 95% of my solo pace, but this has only happened once... you can ask bornwildnfree - she was trying to keep up with us ). A lot of it has to do with trust, and the more experience you have, combined with the maturity you display both on and off the bike, will increase the level of trust a passenger will have for you.

- When she's holding on, it's always around your waist, and her fingers are always interlocked.

I disagree with this, mainly because, on a sportbike, the rear seat is higher and slanted down, which means this will usually result in her crushing your cojones against the tank. I would suggest you consider getting a passenger handle belt, something like this (I'm not suggesting you get that one in particular, it was the first one that came up with I did a search, and I'm just using it as an example). It will make her feel more comfortable since she'll be able to have a firm grip while being able to sit more comfortable (and not be worried about leaning on you). A backpack may work in a pinch, but make sure it's sturdy, fits you well, has a sternum strap (and if possible, a belt), and she is able to hang on to it comfortably.

Depending on their comfort level, and the length of their arms, I usually tell them to use the tank to help stop them from sliding forward, and my waist to help maintain their balance when starting off & accelerating (she can flip her hands from facing the tank to holding onto me very quickly). If she's shorter and/or more comfortable, I'll have her put her hands in my jacket pockets. If they're not very comfortable to start with, I'll adjust my riding style to be more relaxed, which will make them more comfortable. The closer they are to upright, and not leaning on you, but comfortable and secure, the more enjoyable of a ride they'll have.

To stress something else that Barn said, tho, have her use thighs to squeeze your hips when to prevent her from sliding into when you're braking. :i[p:

As for making your shifting smoother, release the clutch slower (always smoothly), apply more throttle, and use your friction zone. This is true for both upshifting and downshifting. Practice this alone first until you get the hang of it. Blipping the throttle when downshifting also helps, and if you're doing that already, you may need a bigger blip when you're carrying a passenger.

Remember, the extra weight of a passenger is going to make starting out more difficult (friction zone!), and reduces how easily you can accelerate (you're going to need more time & distance to pass a car). It will also increase your stopping distance, so plan accordingly and start stopping earlier - this may seem boring or too slow to you, but it will make for a more enjoyable ride for your passenger, and a passenger that has an enjoyable ride is more likely to be a passenger again.

Here are the tips from the BRC Student hadbook:

• Adjust the suspension and tire pressure according to your owner's manual recommendations.
• Be sure a passenger is wearing proper safety gear.
• Keep both feet on the ground and the front brakes applied while the passenger mounts (and dismounts). Have the side stand up, engine started and the transmission in neutral before they mount.
• Avoid abrupt acceleration and deceleration, and go easy on lean angles when cornering, especially with inexperienced passengers.
• Have the passenger follow these rules:
  
  1. Hold the operator's waist or hips, or passenger hand-holds.
  2. Keep feet on the passenger footrests at all times, including stop points.
  3. Keep hands and feet away from hot or moving parts.
  4. Look over the rider's shoulder in the direction of turns and curves.
  5. Avoid leaning or turning around; make no sudden moves that might affect stability.
  6. When crossing an obstacle, rise slightly off the seat.

[bornwildnfree]

Yea, that was an awesome ride. His passenger had plenty of riding experience of her own and they took off. I barely kept them in sight most times. I will say that Bob prolly the best two up rider I've ridden with. You want your wife to be comfortable, you need to put way more miles than 2500.

[Snowman]

^^ Learn from this man, after all there are corners named after him....

[BC14]

2500 miles O.o...dude get way more miles under your belt. No wonder your wife is terrified.

Quality is more important than quantity. If he has a sound mind and some common sense, that helps too.

[bulldog]

^^ Learn from this man, after all there are corners named after him....

Anyone that has wrecked as many times as Bob, better be a good rider by now

[Jmetz]

so my wife hates anything motorcycles but i have gotten her on the back a few times, and i really hate the bumping helmets, i know its normal and expected but i almost wanted to by a junk helmet to avoid banging up my new icon helmet. like everyone else said its a lot of experience and teaching but it can be fun to have a rider on the back for a trip to town or a nice sunday stroll in the hills.

Mission accomplished.

[Spiderman]

Anyone that has wrecked as many times as Bob, better be a good rider by now

But seriously, not everybody on the forum these days has been around since the dawn of time like you have, Nate, so a quick history lesson for their benefit:
In 4 years of racing (2004-2007) I wrecked 15 times, all on the racetrack (the last one was... well let's just put it this way - it resulted in a corner being named after me, and people calling me "Superman" for a while ).
The last time I wrecked on the street was in 2003, and it's because I was being stupid and pushing it (trying to do something that I should've only been trying to do at the track).

[Snowman]

Other peoples life lessons are easier on the body...

[TinkerinWstuff]

Oh snap

[Spiderman]

Other peoples life lessons are easier on the body...

... Don't try this at home, kids.

[bulldog]

But seriously, not everybody on the forum these days has been around since the dawn of time like you have, Nate, so a quick history lesson for their benefit:
In 4 years of racing (2004-2007) I wrecked 15 times, all on the racetrack (the last one was... well let's just put it this way - it resulted in a corner being named after me, and people calling me "Superman" for a while ).
The last time I wrecked on the street was in 2003, and it's because I was being stupid and pushing it (trying to do something that I should've only been trying to do at the track).

I thought you and Hoopty just had a bet on who could wreck more

Yeah seriously man, glad you made it through all of those. You scared a lot of us in that one bad wreck you had. Worse thing is that is when I took a break from the forum and had now idea how close to death you came! Glad you are still with us brother!!!!

P.S. Weird how life is because I was once the young guy on the forum and now I have transitioned to being around since the dawn of time
Next I will be in the FOG section soon enough....

[Snowman]

You're lucky, a few of us have been around since the previous incarnation of this universe...

[bulldog]

You're lucky, a few of us have been around since the previous incarnation of this universe...

I think I even remember you from the days when we were on another sportbike forum that "Longrider" moderated. Dang what was that sportbikes.net or something?

Spiderman should tell the story how he had to learn to walk and talk again after that wreck so some of the newer riders understand how serious this sport is!

[Spiderman]

Spiderman should tell the story how he had to learn to walk and talk again after that wreck so some of the newer riders understand how serious this sport is!

"learn how to walk and talk again" is a bit of an exaggeration. I had some pretty serious injuries that had me recovering in a hospital bed (and off my feet) for a while... that resulted in muscle atrophy, which made walking laborious, but it's not like I had to learn all over again... the first time going down stairs (still in the hospital), however, I ended up scaring the crap outta myself - similar to what I mentioned on the topic of this thread - I felt fine walking on a flat surface (ie: riding solo), cuz I'd been doing it for a while already, so I thought going down some stairs (ie: carrying a passenger) should be easy enough (especially since I'd done it before, right?), so I pretty much ran down the stairs like I would normally, and wasn't prepared for the lack of strength to control my speed. Holy crap, it took everything I had to not take a digger... and I couldn't use the railing for help because my right arm was in a splint & sling!

As for my voice, I had a trache, and one of my vocal chords was damaged. I sounded like I had laryngitis for a while, then my voice slowly started coming back, and I discovered that I couldn't say as many words with a single breath like I used to, so I had to plan what I was going to say around my breathing. I'm not sure if that's because of the collapsed lungs (I'm sure they didn't help), or because more air is needed with only 1 good vocal chord, but either way, it was something I had to adjust to, and still have issues with from time to time.

[Aracheon]

I couldn't agree more.

Fwiw, the two mandatory instructions I've given my gal the few times I took her for a ride:
No fidgeting allowed when I have my feet down at a stop.
Look over my inside shoulder on every turn.

No worries.

Abso-fucking-lutely. This is my #2 pet peeve when carrying passengers. Don't fucking fidget. Sit still - you can fix your wedgie after we've stopped.

Learn how to shift smoothly before you take on a passenger. The back of your helmet will thank you.

This is my #1 pet peeve with passengers... the bumping of helmets. I'm incredibly smooth with shifting, and it's never my shifting that causes helmets to smack... it's always the passenger being inattentive and not looking over my shoulder like she should be.

^^ Learn from this man, after all there are corners named after him....

[MetaLord 9]

Get a sidecar. /thread

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Easy. Tell her to:
1. Sit the f#ck down.
2. Shut the f#ck up.
3. Hang the f#ck on.

Simple!

[bulldog]

this might help

That is the equivalent of a “sissy bar” on a cruiser; shows your wife owns your nuts!