How Do You Learn To Ride 2up?

[cheriann]

Okay, a serious question! I feel I am a good rider (even with my little drop back in January!!! ;) ) but the one thing I have not learned to do yet is ride with a passenger!!!

Last summer I did finally talk Chaz into letting me try riding with him pillion. He would ONLY agree to do it on our back road, which is a straight shot, so I agreed.

When he got on the back, I could feel the weight difference, for sure....hubby weighs about 200 pounds. I let that freak me out a bit. I did ride down the road with him, but when we got to our driveway my bike felt too heavily loaded down to me, and I was afraid to try and turn into it with him on the back. I came to a stop on the side of the road at our driveway and let him off the bike.

In our local riding club, one of the wives that rides pillion with her hubby, has offered to ride with me so I can learn. She only weighs about 100 pounds!!!! However, I am too nervous to take someone outside the family on the back yet....a terrible catch-22 for me!!!! I know she would be perfect, since she's so skinny, but I would be afraid of doing somehting wrong and hurting her...

Are there any tips or advice you can give me for taking a passenger on my bike?

[Cajunrider]

Practice slow riding 2 up with your husband or someone lighter if you feel more comfortable that way. IMO, the best place to practice would be in an empty parking lot where you can get comfortable turning slower and slower as you get better. It won't be long before you are comfortable enough to get on the road 2 up. If you can maneuver in a parking lot with a passenger the highway will be easy. Practice, practice, and more practice will calm your fears.

[bosko]

Make sure whoever rides as passenger knows that they will affect the balance of the bike. Probably best if they wrap their arms around you, that way they don't over lean or under lean in corners. Make sure they understand to ride as one, so to speak.

My daughter really caught me by surprise last year. She hadn't been on a bike since she was a child, she's 18 now and when I took her out the last time she really exaggerated the lean on the inside of a turn. That really got my attention.

Practice, practice, practice. Preferable on dry pavement, stay away from grass. I remember you mentioning learning to ride on grass. ;)

[paul]

I really didn't like to go 2 - upq when we first started. It was definetly different and even a bit awkward. But, I took my time, didn't try to push it and as stated above......practice, practice, practice. It took ,I'd say, about 3-4 thousand miles before it really became second nature. So don't get in a hurry. And, yes, I did drop us once, but I was trying to turn on a dirt road and wasn't really moving when it happened, and we were loaded to the teath .

[cheriann]

Great advice!!!! Thanks!!!!! I appreciate the personal experience stories too
The parking lot sounds like a good idea. It's funny, but I never even thought of a parking for practicing 2 up!!!

[cheriann]

I also want to add that reading about others starting slow and being nervous helps! It seems that everyone I have talked to locally just started riding and taking their wife or girlfriend without a second thought. I thought maybe I was different because it wasn't easy to me the first time I tried it with Chaz....

[phenrichs]

Its always scary to realize that you have someones life in your hands.

Now that that is out of the way....
I would let the friends wife ride with you. Having someone lighter helps because their action will have a less dramatic effect. It is also a great idea to have someone that rides on pillion on a regular basis because they will know what to do and how to react. This will help raise your comfort leve. A good passenger can can almost make up for a rider with bad balance.
I said almost.

[flightdoc]

Cheriann,

Above are all good ideas, especially what terrabone had to say. Remeber to make heavy braking and swerving part of the routine.

vin

[cheriann]

Originally Posted by flightdoc

Cheriann,

Above are all good ideas, especially what terrabone had to say. Remeber to make heavy braking and swerving part of the routine.

vin

Oooohhhh.....another excellent point!!!! I need to practice for all situations!!! Thank you! :)

[Cajunrider]

I failed to mention that I did drop the Nomad in a slow speed turn in my driveway. Don't ever make the mistake of grabbing the front brake when the bars are full locked in a slow turn. I catapulted my wife off of the pillion. No damage to her, myself, or the bike thank God. A lighter person to begin with would be better. Don't forget your riding gear.

[waterman]

Everyone has good suggestions Cheri. The time that you really notice the extra person is slow speeds. The parking lot would definately be a good place to practice. Don't worry about being nervous, the people who said that they did it without a second thought are lieing. I don't know of anyone who wasn't nervous when they first took on a passenger. Even people who have many more years and miles riding as compared to me.

One additional thing would be good communications between you and the passenger. If you are out on the open road and no communications device, make sure that you have some good signals for different things. I know for me, the first one was I am going to fast - a good swat to the back of the head was that signal.

[dabull]

as stated above...start slow, practice, get used to it, turning, stopping, and briefing the pax on just enjoying the ride and let you do the drivin;)

[chainsaw]

What they all said. I think I'd look for a church parking lot. Maybe a little help from above might help. ha

[chainsaw]

CheriAnn, I went in a Googled, Riding a Motorcycle with a Passenger, and there were a ton of sites to go to for information. You might want to check that out.

[ells]

+1 to terrebonne for the reminder about grabbing the front-brake in a slow speed turn, or even coming to a less than straight ahead stop - I know well :)