Pillioning. Is it discussed enough?

[mrchips]

erm, btw I am surprised you'd leave the sidestand down while loading a pillion - its very easy to drop the bike doing this.

Good point....... I've set preload on my bikes for pillion riding so there's sod all suspension compression in any situation. You'd need one heavy mofo to dig my side stand in.

I wish my wife would mount the traditional way but climbing up & putting all he weight on a high, flimsy pillion footpeg freaks her out. She prefers the karate chop style mount (from the left side). I always leave the s/stand down for the day she decides to slip & drag me (& the bike) down with her.

[varminter]

Dunno if this has been mentioned (not read all of this) but it's a lot different riding with a pillion. Apart from now two lives at stake, the bike rides different and braking is harder, with the wife/girlfriend/significant other pushing in to your back if you nail the anchors harder than expected. having said that, getting on and off is usualy the problem, nice when my wife is there, she can help me pick it up again, and has several times Our first trip out was on a 250, I swear the front wheel was off the ground! Pays to read the book for pillions and alter the rear pre load and tire pressure. Oh, did I mention it's fun?

[neels]

Far too many scary stories being told.

The mrs is short so she can't swing a leg over the back of the ducati, so I get on first and she uses the front peg as a step up to the back peg and gets on. On my yamaha she did the same but on the sidestand as there was less room for flailing of limbs.

Make sure you tell your pillion if they want to brace themselves when you're braking to put their hands on the bottom of your back, not your shoulders, weight on your arms while trying to steer sucks.

Otherwise, it's a pretty simple game, mrs just sits there most of the time not holding on to anything. I can tell when she's gone to sleep because I get a helmet between the shoulder blades.

[Maha]

Having a pillion on the back is piss easy if both know thier roll.
It can be real daunting if they dont.

Anne is a great pillion, at times, I had to look to see if she was still there...
When I first pillioned her, after about 2Ks, she moved to settle in (so to speak) and fuck did that unnerve me?
She did that on purpose to let me what it felt like, when someone moves on the back.

[Juniper]

Hey so is there a pillion part of the site??

I'm just after some advice/tips for being pillion in a faster environment, Lets say track. Figure if I get the tips for the faster track type riding I can use them in more open road riding to optimise our 2up performance.

I'm not too bad to start with. Sweepers and 65kph+ are fine. It's just those 45-65's that get nice and tight where leaning off the seat just fits that I want to improve on.

Do we have any pillions out there that track race with their riders or have that knee droppiń bum off seat style?

Not keen on those pillion handles for the riders clothing. More interested in those pillion tank handles. Has anyone tried those?

[Devil]

Bluntly, if you're a pillion stay the fuck still. Be a sack of potatoes.
On a sportsbike if your arms are long enough, reach around the rider and brace yourself using the gas tank. Try and leave the rider room.
Dont move your body mass around much - head is ok.

[Devil]

Depending on the length of your limbs, if you're braced on the tank, then you can brace your elbows on the inside of your knees too, to make yourself one with the bike. Just like a piece of luggage. A fixed mass on the bike is much easier to deal with than a moving one.

[Juniper]

Hehe I have relatively runty limbs, but yes I do often rest my elbows on my knees.

I think we are a bit past the sack of potatoes stage. Though I agree the least disruption to the rider the better.

Pillions: when your rider slides off the seat do you slide with? Open that leg almost like a knee drop so to give them more space to slide?

[Devil]

Leave your arse planted. By all means open a leg to give teh rider room, but leave your butt there.

[haydes55]

Alternately you can keep bum and legs still and follow the riders helmet with yours. Try look ahead as you would if you were riding (if you can see over on a higher pillion seat). So just moving your upper body into the corners.

It really depends what the rider prefers though. Some may prefer you hold onto pillion handles others might prefer you grab around their waist (which would mean you would need to follow his body side to side).

[Gremlin]

Very rarely do bikes go on the track 2 up. No category for racing, some track days allow a few laps.

Otherwise, a few representatives from the likes of ACC or NZTA have gone round with an instructor to see what it's like. Also seen a few racers take a sponsor for a few hot laps on a specially setup bike with a big handle on the tank usually.

Every now and then a thread is started, here's one I found: http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...cussed-enough?

In the beginning, act like a sack of spuds. Don't look out of the corner and definitely don't move your weight mid corner.
When you get more comfortable look into the corner over the riders shoulder, it will make you lean.
Sportsbikes, brace yourself against the tank if you can, stop yourself sliding into the rider. Guys appreciate this especially.
Otherwise, a lot is trust and time in the seat. You should never be riding that quick 2 up, as the rider holds both people's lives in their hands.
Neither person should be moving around on the seat when 2 up.

[Juniper]

Alternately you can keep bum and legs still and follow the riders helmet with yours. Try look ahead as you would if you were riding (if you can see over on a higher pillion seat). So just moving your upper body into the corners.

It really depends what the rider prefers though. Some may prefer you hold onto pillion handles others might prefer you grab around their waist (which would mean you would need to follow his body side to side).

See I go with a move 1 with the rider idea so if I'm not moving my legs and bum and they go to slide off I would be getting in the way. I use my upper body for the righ hand corners as heroes my usually lean off on that side and I keep my head to the right anyway so that works. Left hand corners are more trust as I can't see round them.

Where I can I always look into the corner as if I was riding, moving as 1......well we try anyway lol.

[Dogboy900]

I figure stay on the seat and hang on for dear life! Seems to work for Randy's pillions.

[GravelRashKid]

I spent about 6 years as a pillion with the same rider, before I got my own pair of wheels. We got so damn good we didn't often meet other bikes who could keep up with us (oh the Mangamuka Gorge...). He told me that we were often faster 2up than he was 1up. Unfortunately we never got to ride 2up on the track - now THAT would have been fun.
A big part of getting that good 2up, was both of us dropping the knee and sliding off the seat (very much in unison), although this level of synchronisation took years.

So it can be done. It would be great to learn tips and tricks, or props, to achieve this in less than 5 or 6 years!

[Katman]

I spent about 6 years as a pillion with the same rider, before I got my own pair of wheels. We got so damn good we didn't often meet other bikes who could keep up with us (oh the Mangamuka Gorge...). He told me that we were often faster 2up than he was 1up. Unfortunately we never got to ride 2up on the track - now THAT would have been fun.
A big part of getting that good 2up, was both of us dropping the knee and sliding off the seat (very much in unison), although this level of synchronisation took years.

So it can be done. It would be great to learn tips and tricks, or props, to achieve this in less than 5 or 6 years!

What's dumber than an idiot on a bike?






Two idiots in a bike.