Carrying pillion on restricted

**v8s&2wheels** · 9th September 2010, 14:34

Originally Posted by Spazman727

I passed my licence almost a month ago and I've started taking my girlfriend as a pillion. I feel comfortable doing it, but I was wondering how much attention id get from the cops being on a 250? She has helmet jacket and pants, do you think having this gear would make it less likely that the cops will pull me up?

Thanks for your advice.

Probably makes no difference at all. Cops on the whole.. only pull up motorbikers if your doing something illegal like speeding or no lights on etc. Cops dont just pullover motorbikers just because they feel like. They pull them over for something they are doing wrong.

So if you have a smart cop that can tell a 130 wide tyre is a give-in that your riding a 250 and have a passenger then most likely you'll get pulled up if hes in the mood for writing out a ticket.. or if hes a bit low on his quota. Whether your pillion is wearing a minimal clothing or full motorbike gears wont really come into it at all.

I was on the wrong side of the law as soon as i got my restricted. I bought a 600 and got away with it for about 2 months. And then i got pulled up for speeding, but the bloody nice cop let me off the speeding fine and the ticket for breaching my licence. He just told me to keep it to the speed limits and i should be able to slip under the radar until i get my licence.

2 months after that i bought my thou and continued doing what he said. And I stayed under the radar for a total of 18 months and never had a single fine.

So my advice is if your riding with a pillion just keep it under the speed limits and you should hopefully get away with it. And remember.. dont get angry if you get caught, it was only your fault you broke the rules of your licence, and besides its only $100 anyway.

**Banditbandit** · 9th September 2010, 14:35

Originally Posted by Spazman727

I passed my licence almost a month ago and I've started taking my girlfriend as a pillion. I feel comfortable doing it, but I was wondering how much attention id get from the cops being on a 250? She has helmet jacket and pants, do you think having this gear would make it less likely that the cops will pull me up?

Thanks for your advice.

Have you ever thought that there might be good reasons for the pillion restriction on a learners/limited licence ?

Have you thought that you are putting your girlfriend in danger by letting her ride on the back of the bike of an inexperienced rider who might not be able to handle a two-up bike in a tricky situation? And you might be riding safely and under the radar .. but what about that car racing up to a Give Way sign .. or that boy racer running from the cops and chopping from your left to ...(ooops .. tooo late ...)

Would you put your girlfriend on the back of a bike if you thought the rider was a bit risky ? Well, she's on the back of yours ...

Now .. before y'all jump in ... I might ride fast and loose ... but only by myself ... with a pillion I'm the sanest rider on the road ...

**SMOKEU** · 9th September 2010, 15:29

Originally Posted by Banditbandit

Sheesh ... how many times do you have to prove you're a dumbarse until you wake up ...

Do you really have nothing better to do with your time than quote my posts and then attempt to offend me with your silly comments?

**Squiggles** · 9th September 2010, 16:06

Originally Posted by Banditbandit

Have you ever thought that there might be good reasons for the pillion restriction on a learners/limited licence ?

Have you thought that you are putting your girlfriend in danger by letting her ride on the back of the bike of an inexperienced rider who might not be able to handle a two-up bike in a tricky situation? And you might be riding safely and under the radar .. but what about that car racing up to a Give Way sign .. or that boy racer running from the cops and chopping from your left to ...(ooops .. tooo late ...)

Would you put your girlfriend on the back of a bike if you thought the rider was a bit risky ? Well, she's on the back of yours ...

Now .. before y'all jump in ... I might ride fast and loose ... but only by myself ... with a pillion I'm the sanest rider on the road ...

The restricted license holders of today are pros, gods even. They have the experience of a thousand old riders who've done a meeelion k's.

Yeah right.

Mate, you're still a noob (Dont be offended, most of us are). Maybe it'd be a different story if you were a month away from your full with plenty of experience, not a month into your R. You're at Auckland Uni, join the club and take advantage of some of our rider training subsidies (A day at RRRS will cost you $25 with us), find out what you dont yet know and then evaluate whether its a good idea to be taking passengers.

In answer to your question, it wont be the gear that they'll pick on you for, it'll be everything else.

**avgas** · 9th September 2010, 16:09

As long as all the right gear is on, and you don't act like a knob - the cops will leave you alone.
I rode a big bore (GB400) on learners, with the mrs on the bike for about 1 year with no hassles.

Contrary to the thoughts of many here - the cops aren't out to get you if you ride/drive like a civilized citizen.

**Grubber** · 9th September 2010, 16:13

Originally Posted by Banditbandit

Sheesh ... how many times do you have to prove you're a dumbarse until you wake up ...

Hmmmm...my thought exactly.
I guess robing the Local BNZ aint against the law either until you get caught huh.

**Genie** · 9th September 2010, 18:27

Originally Posted by Grubber

Hmmmm...my thought exactly.
I guess robing the Local BNZ aint against the law either until you get caught huh.

Oh goodie...does that apply to the local Westpac as well?

**Grubber** · 10th September 2010, 06:30

Originally Posted by Genie

Oh goodie...does that apply to the local Westpac as well?

Hang on i'll just check the "bank robbing not against the law till you get caught" guide book and let ya know.

**awayatc** · 10th September 2010, 07:03

Not the cops you should worry about......

You got a licence to learn on your own with certain restrictions...

Get your full licence before taking somebody else's life in your hands....

How would you feel WHEN (not "if") you f*ck up?......

Ready to face the dad off your pillion then?

Pray it won't be somebody like me.....

don't worry about the cops....

wearing all the leather in the world wouldn't help you....

**Genie** · 10th September 2010, 07:12

Originally Posted by awayatc

Not the cops you should worry about......

You got a licence to learn on your own with certain restrictions...

Get your full licence before taking somebody else's life in your hands....

How would you feel WHEN (not "if") you f*ck up?......

Ready to face the dad off your pillion then?

Pray it won't be somebody like me.....

don't worry about the cops....

wearing all the leather in the world wouldn't help you....

Good points there....one of my friends wants to come out on the back of my bike and I've done pillioning in the past but I'm not jeopardizing my licence to satisfy her whim and I'd hate to be the one respsonibile if it all went pear shaped. I'm sure insurance wouldn't be applied as you're breaking the conditions of your licence.

**PrincessBandit** · 10th September 2010, 07:24

I don't know how old you are, but you sound like you're relatively young. Young people Iof the male variety in particular) are prone to feelings of invincibility and having delusions of super powers particularly when in control of motor vehicles.

As others have said here, think about why this particular restriction might be in place while on an L or R. Sure, fully licensed riders can still have accidents; their pillions can still pay the ultimate price for a cockup but generally they've had more experience learning to handle their ride and honing their skills with only their own skin to think about.

There have been some very valuable words of wisdom from older more experienced riders in this thread so either take heed or ignore at your peril. As was said, think long and hard about the worst case scenario (having to front up to gf's parents) when you are blatantly in breach of your restrictions. You may well get away with several rides and have no problems, but sooner or later the shit hits the fan and will you be man enough to step up and take responsiblity?

**Spearfish** · 10th September 2010, 07:38

Originally Posted by Genie

Oh goodie...does that apply to the local Westpac as well?

What about kiwibank?
Is it robbery if we own it?

**Nasty** · 10th September 2010, 07:51

Originally Posted by Spazman727

I passed my licence almost a month ago and I've started taking my girlfriend as a pillion. I feel comfortable doing it, but I was wondering how much attention id get from the cops being on a 250? She has helmet jacket and pants, do you think having this gear would make it less likely that the cops will pull me up?

Thanks for your advice.

An interesting series of thoughts there. And most have covered in the responses. I think from another angle:

1. She is comfortable riding with you - an inexperienced rider with no depth of understanding of riding as you seem to think gear is there so cops won't pull you over.

2. She likes that you feel comfortable that if you have an accident with her as pillion that you will maim her (or haven't you explained the risks to her - pillions can end up worse than riders in an accident)

3. Her over-confidence in your abilities got their somehow - and personally I think its the 10 foot tall and bullet proof thing that you seem to have

4. Your only concern is that you might get caught breaking the law - and not breaking her is touching.

Perhaps, as said in the other posts you should, maybe, think about why these restrictions are there.

1. Your knowledge of riding is limited
2. Your ability to handle situations thrown at you on a bike is limited thus far
3. Your bullet proof attitude is flawed.

Or just look at the risk profile of what you are undertaking - and go through it with her. She doesn't seem to understand the risks she is taking let alone the ones that you are.

1. Gear offers a minimum of protection
2. Experience counts (not for everything but goes a long way towards it)