Riding two up for the first time - Want advice and wisdom

Hi all,

Been riding for two years now and consider myself to be an experienced beginner in terms of my riding skills. I've removed the grab bars and passenger pegs from my '06 Pearl White sometime ago as this has been strictly a monogamous relationship!

I have an eager member of my family that would like to go for a ride and I've never had anyone on the bike with me before. My aunt only weighs about 110 lbs and is an experienced motorcycle passenger.

What advice and or wisdom will "those in the know" provide me with?

Thank you,

Gunzer
ATGATT

 

Your question can't be answered until you post a photo of your aunt. (J/K)

The only advice I can give is to...
...make sure your feet are planted solidly before she gets on or off.
...brake more gently (and engine brake more gently) unless you like the passenger slamming into you every time.
...get a wireless intercom so you can communicate with each other.

 

Genzer - here's an old thread that I started some time back. Might be helpful. Click below.

http://vfrworld.com/forums/anything-goes/25618-riding-2-up.html

 

Quick review for 2 up . . .

Before you going riding tell your passenger a few things, i.e., gettting on and off the bike.
Tell them to get on and off like they would with a horse. Left foot up first, left foot off last.
"Lean with me." The best way to get them to do this is to tell them when you are starting to
lean for a right hand curve, they should look over your right shoulder. Left curve, left shoulder.
Tell them not to move around very much and to hold onto your waist (or your love-handles).
Tell them to keep their feet on the pegs when you come to a stop.
DON"T show off with your Rossi imitation while you have a passenger.
It's stupid and unfair to the passenger and they may not ever
want to be a passenger again. Take it nice and easy.
Be as smooth as possible in your accelerating, shifting and braking, then you won't be banging helmets.
When choosing a rest stop you might also consider if it has a restroom.
Carry on ~

 

I would consider putting the grab handles and passenger pegs back on! Did no one else catch that! :shocked:

Everyone else is giving you good advice. Being smooth is the key; early braking, adding more space between you and the car ahead of you, agreeing on a signal between the 2 of you in case something is wrong. the last thing you need is confusion between "Speed up" and "Throw up!"...

 

+1 to everyone giving you good advice. Silver, I did catch the no pegs no handles thing, but I figured if the man was smart enough to ride a VFR, he'd figure out pretty quick that these needed to go back on :biggrin:

Gunzer, I would actually strongly reccomend installing the grab handles. My gf tried very hard to get used to holding onto me and/or putting her hands on the tank in front of me, neither was comftorable for either of us. She now uses the grab handles allmost all the time and it makes the ride better for both of us. When I really twist into it and I'm tucked down she gets too much wind and it get's scarry for her so don't do that (she decided to change from the handles to holding onto me at about 90mph, kinda unsettling I gotta tell ya!) That's my two cents, be careful and get used to it, it's gonna make it seem like a whole different bike.

 

Ditto for me with all the advice above. Smoothness is crucial and no crazy antics. Save those for solo rides. Check your owner's manual, most advise to increase tire pressure to 42 psi (mine is 36 solo) to accommodate the extra weight. They say riding 2 up is half the fun, but in my world, it garners me mucho brownie points. Mrs. Grilldemon loves riding on the bike, if I ride smoother with her on the back and not scare the crap out of her, I can justify upgrading to a newer bike.

 

Gunzer,
Everone here is giving great advice, put the handles back on (it takes 5mins and it provides a side bar for the cheeks to settle against). With a passenger you cant be a squid, yes you can go fast, but with much more caution and concern. its not just your life your playing with( sorry for the preaching). I wont tell you to stay off the twisties, just go slower. The bike has way more inertia with two on it.

Suspention: Soften your forks preload at least a half notch, this will move the carried weight forward a bit and keep you from fighting it in the curves ( somthing i just recently learned). also stock the rear preloads dont support having a passenger, turn them up, that is make them harder, by factory it is three full turns back from dead hard, i would give it a full turn to a turn and a half for the 110lbs to 130 range, everything heavier i suggest two or more turns. just remember to soften your forks to compensate.

Duration: I just did the 2010 kootney tour and rode an extra 4600kms with a passenger, breaks are important! about every 75 to 125kms ( 45 to 70 miles).

Signals... if your not using a intercom, then settle on a simple STOP. eg. my GF uses two quick and firm pokes on both sides to say i got to stop. single pokes are useless as you get bumped and think its time to stop. dont make it complex either, most signals we use are improvised or from basic sign-language hand signals. its up to you and your passenger just make sure your clear on the stop signal.

Leaning: she may be experienced but you are not, so go slow in corners and listen to the bike! it will tell you what she is doing in terms of postion and lean. If she leans with the bike then you may have to lean farther in or even out to keep the bike balenced in the corners. its just better for her to hang on to you so she has to lean with you, but that gets uncomfortable after awhile so she may want to hang on to the horns, but she will then have to follow the bike rather than you. all this changes your balence, which is messed up from just having another load on the bike.

Hands, Feet and legs: simple rules, do not for any reason take your feet off the pegs. keep your knees tucked in, especialy on corners, if she drops her knee to the inside of a corner 2 inches the bike will drop over 8! ( i learned this the hard way) and dont let her turn around to look at something. Her rubber neckin' something will shift the bikes position fast, and at speed it happens even faster. As long as she keeps her hands down and close then she can do whatever, but like knees if the swing out then you and bike will follow.

Control: Slip that clutch, it was built to! smooth and slower clutch control will keep her from falling off the back and on engine brakeing keep her from knockin noggans with you. On slowing, pull the clutch in and shift down, then blip the throttle a bit as the cluth engages. you cant double clutch so this will do the same.

I know this is stuff you already know, but you need to make sure your passenger knows what you expect. she may have some habits from riding with others that will see you working hard to keep control or worse.

The best advise anyone could give at this point would be:

Have fun, ride safe and smile

Zen

 

I hope you're only putting 42psi in the rear, in the front that may be a bit much

 

Seems like since the guy's aunt has some experience it might be a good idea to ask auntie for a few tips.

I would also advise strongly that any relationships remain monogamous especially with blood relatives. Any perusal of one or more of the Harleydood BB's will show why.