Pillion tips

Anyone got any tips for taking a pillion for the first time ?

I assume they get on 2nd and don't lean but what else is there to keep
in mind / consider ?

Responses appreciated

 

In aus.motorcycles on Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:42:35 GMT

I tell pillions:

- relax.
- hold on to me or the bike, whichever feels best. You don't need to
hold yourself onto the bike, gravity will do that, so if you find
yourself hauling on the grabrail all the timethen relax, all you will
do is make your arms sore
- pick a shoulder to look over, and keep your body aligned with mine.
[this seems to work better than "don't lean" cos "don't lean" means
"stay upright even though the bike isn't" to some people.]
- use your feet to brace yourself with as well as your arms when we
stop or accelerate
- don't put your feet down at stops, that's my job.

When taking a pillion you have to concentrate on being smoooth. You
know when the bike will accelerate or stop, they don't. You have the
bars to hang onto, they don't. When you change gears it should be so
smooth that their body doesn't move at all. Practice this now.

If helmets are banging, you aren't smooth enough, practice more.

Zebee

 

My tips are:

Talk to your pillion and explain everything rather than get them on
the bike clueless (I think you've sussed that by asking this
question).

Tell them to act like a sack of potatoes. Yes, the bike will lean, but
don't try and lean it. That's up to the rider. My mum and my ex-father
in law were bloody hopeless at that. He used to ride and I took him
for a pillion and he was trying to lean the bike, which meant I had to
lean it back out again. Just sit there and enjoy the scenery.

Depending on how nervous the pillion is, tell them to grab on to
anything they like. I usually recommend hanging on to me first as then
they get a feel of what I'm doing and later they can grab the rails.
My wife used to be able to pillion on the Blackbird under full
acceleration without hanging on to anything. Dunno how she did that.

Tell the pillion that if they are getting really uncomfortable with
what you are doing to thump you on the side or on the leg and you stop
and discuss what they have a problem with.

I usually start taking it very easy and slowly build up both speed and
cornering angle. You can usually feel the pillion as to whether they
are tense or relaxing. I took a virgin pillion on the Tas Toy Run 3-4
years ago. We did a run up the East Coast and across Lake Leake and
back to Hobart. I recall playing silly buggers with Jase outside
Swansea. I was two up on the Busa and he was one up on the Mille. I
recall hitting around 250kph (this is a lie orrificer) while the poor
old Aprilia was trying to keep up. 300km later we get the regroup
point at the Derwent Entertainment Centre and my cousin who had joined
us at Melton Mowbray and was tailing me comes over and says "your
girlfriend hasn't put the pillion pegs down". She'd been on the bike
for hours with her feet on the exhausts as I hadn't dropped the pegs,
something I normally do even with an experienced pillion. So for 300km
she had her boots on the pipes. Thank god they were good quality boots
and not plastic soles that would have melted over the pipes. So for
the last 5km she was in comfort mode. Oops.

And finally, make your gear changes and braking smoother. Getting a
pillion helmet smacking your helmet is not tres cool. Once you get
used to the pillion, and vice versa, they'll work you out. Which has
brought me to a point where I recall one of my best pillions along
with my ex-wife was Cat. Vale Jeanette. Wish she was still here to add
advice. Dammit.

 

Oh; and another one is, tell them to stay still at low speeds. Moving
around at low speed upsets the bike more than higher speed.

I must be in story mode, but here's a good example. I'd picked up a
friend who wanted to come for a ride. We met in Salamanca in Market,
but I had no idea at the time that she was a little more drunk than I
thought. We are heading up the Brooker Highway and as I'm heading
through the roundabouts that litter that road I was getting a lot of
movement from the back of the bike. She'd been on the bike before with
me and I wasn't sure what the hell she was up to. Turns out someone
was trying to ring her, so in her half-inebriated state, she decides
that as she can't talk on the mobile with helmet on, she'll lean over
while I'm going slow and put the mobile down near the exhaust pipe to
try and convey to the other party that she is on a motorbike and
therefore cannot talk. But of course, chooses to do this while I'm
trying to negotiate a roundabout. She didn't do that on the way home .
.. .

 

Trying not to repeat what's already said, I explain some of the above a
bit differently

- relax and aim to stay perpendicular to the seat (with appropriate hand
movements to demonstrate 90 degrees . It's my job to lean it.

- I also put a little bit of effort into the "don't move around at low
speeds" - thats when we're the most unstable - keep quite still when
we're slowing down or taking off - once i get out of 1st gear you're ok"
- feel free to move around at higher speeds just don't do it abruptly -
be smooth.

Noting however given that most of my pillions are relatively tall
there's a fairly significant windsock effect on a sporty bike when 5'9
or 10 of leg gets abruptly stuck in the breeze to stretch at 140 -160.
This may be less of an issue for 5'0 girls on the back of Hoglys or
goldwings Ditto a sudden shift of weight at 5Km/hr

 

In aus.motorcycles on Sun, 20 Apr 2008 13:29:31 +1000

I am unsure about this. Most riders bend in the middle - head and
torso up, even if the bike is leaned over. A pillion trying to "stay
perpendicular to the seat" will feel uncomfortable and have to be
very tense.

If they keep their upper body at the same angle mine is, then they'll
be right where they should be.

Zebee

 

I don't know about that. Depends who you've got up back, and how tight
you want them holding on! ;-)

 

Im with johno on this one,

Or the more traditional

Sit Down
Shut Up
Hang on

Having said that, for your first expeience riding 2 up, find a pillion who
has been on the back of someone elses bike a few times and knows what to do.

Builds confidence

Shadow

 

Lol, it's my son, who's 13. The missus ? Don't think she'd even consider
getting on one.

 

Yeebs, I keep trying to convince my daughter, who's shorter than I am
and probably only a kilo or two more, to hop on the back - but she
won't be in it! My son's fiancee is very keen, and is quite small -
but I probably need somebody (a) even smaller, (b) experienced at
pillioning, and (c) unbreakable <grin> - or maybe I should just remove
the pilion pegs altogether and forget it, hee hee! Do I really want/
need the extra responsibility of a pillion? I suppose as long as I'm
thinking that way, the answer is a resounding NO!

betty

 

Mounting and dismounting..
Tell the pillion to give you a couple of taps on the shoulder before
doing either, and then wait for some acknowledgement that you are ready
for them to start shifting large amounts of weight around on the bike.
Brace yourself with good footing , grip on the bars and a handful of
brake when they mount and dismount the first couple of times until
you're used to the way the bike behaves.

Nev..
'07 XB12X

 

Oh yeah almost forgot. Give them warning if you're going to do a
wheelie or any other unexpected tricks.

Nev..
'07 XB12X

 

Why the late start? My daughter is only 16 months, but I've already
started checking out options for her first bike!

(wont actually be buying anything for her until she's at least 3 though
- see how she goes)

 

All good... one thing that helps heaps is not to start with a pillion
that is larger and/or heavier than you.

The lighter the pillion is the less effect they have on the bike.

Leave pillions shaped like Shadow until you are experienced ;-)


G-S

 

Its pretty simple, once you are very comfortable with your own skills then
its ok to 2 up. Just take it easy and enjoy.

 

Nevs point is extremely valid, failure to warn pillions of impending hoonery
can often lead to them applying the biological speedbrake

Shadow
as for GS - PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT - you block
more sun than me beeyatch

 

Have some sort of signal that they can use to get you to stop
immediately. Not just asap, but quicker than you did that emergency stop
when you took your test.

 

Anyone who is so antsy that you think they need that sort of signal
isn't someone you should be inviting to pillion in the first place.

 

Thanks everyone, lots of good advice and things I'd not considered etc etc.

I will see if he's keen tomorrow / Tues and let you know.

Will also do a 'report' for other pillion n00bs - things I found weird /
didn't expect.

 

(snip)
Yep all good stuff here.
I tell pillions to hang on to the grab rail, my hips, my belt, my shoulders,
my pants' pockets (if I'm lucky!) or whatever they feel comfortable with but
to just anchor themselves so they can brace against braking and acceleration
and otherwise just to be part of the bike.
I also say "whack me" if you feel the slightest bit uncomfortable or worried
'cause I'll be busy up front and I might not notice myself.