Pillions, submit your tips/opinions please.

[JohnBob]

I'm hopefully going to be taking a pillion, either on the Hornet or the GPZ9. It'll be a first for me, so any pointers will be greatly appreciated.
Thankyou in advance.

[bambam]

don't crash !!!!

[kestrel69]

Take your time. The bike will feel a lot different with a passenger on board. Try to pick a time when the roads are fairly quiet for your first couple of trips to help get your confidence up.
It will be heavier so slower acceleration & longer stopping distances. Your steering may well feel light when pulling away or accelerating. May also feel top heavy when cornering or travelling at low speed.
Arrange an agreed series of signals between you & your passenger. They may want you to slow down or stop for a comfort break.
Keep it smooth & try to get them relaxed.

[Funky]

keep it smooth, clutchless up changes help, and stay in low revs and a high gear to help smoothness.

Be harsh with your pillion, if they're doing something wrong let them know in no uncertain terms. It's helped with my current squeeze to point that I said that if they were like that again they're not coming on.

Keep the pillion relaxed, if need be I have found that getting them to put headphones in helps, particularly if you have a loud exhaust as they tend to associate this with speed.

Build your speed up gradually, introducing them to more speed and larger angles, a good pillion will actually help you get traction.

Get them to go on a diet, the smaller they are, the less you notice.

[JohnBob]

Get them to go on a diet, the smaller they are, the less you notice.

Haha, there's no problem here, she's a petite 5'2" & slim.

What sort of signals have you/anyone-else used?

[TLS-Moose]

First off, I'd suggest the 9, purely because it's possibly better suited to what I'm about to sugest ......

Get the bike ticking over, first gear engaged and clutch pulled in. Tell her to hop on, and as soon as her ass touch's the seat perform a full throttle launch, continuing on up through the gears to at least a noticeable amount more than road conditions allow. Continue to ride aggressively with no regard for her comfort whatsoever for at least 10-15 miles, using speed and engine noise to drown out the sound of her screaming. When you eventually stop take, off your helmet smiling and say "there, thought we'd take it steady for the first ride......" Hopefully, if you've done your job right, you will never be expected to offer a pillion ride again





On the other hand, just keep it smooth and steady ..... plan ahead, keep braking/accelerating/changing gears as smooth as possible, feathering the clutch to reduce jerkiness. Get them to stay upright to the bike, following it as it leans rather than staying vertical or leaning in, both of which will upset your riding. I'd suggest she holds on to you, rather than the bike's grab rail because a) most grabrails leave a pillion with sore arms/shoulders after fairly short periods of time and b) on most sports bikes the grab-rail forces the pillion into a more upright position leaving them exposed to the windblast more which both upsets the handling and exacerbates a.

Start of steady, and increase speed/lean as they feel comfortable and become more confident

[kestrel69]

What sort of signals have you/anyone-else used?[/quote]


They can vary. Tap on left shoulder = I need the toilet in the near future. Right shoulder = I need to go NOW.
Punch in the kidneys = you're going to damn fast, SLOW DOWN!
Make your up but agree them before you set off so you are both aware of them.

[TLS-Moose]

What sort of signals have you/anyone-else used?

Punch in the kidneys = you're going to damn fast, SLOW DOWN!

Ah, the obvious and most effective multi-function signal

to be honest, I've always found that once attention has been drawn by the pillion, in most cases just dropping a few mph will generally allow enough of a conversation to let them get their message across

[JohnBob]

Hahaha, like it all guys. Thankyou for your advice, it's appreciated.

The 9 looks far more comfortable for the pillion than the hooner (i've ridden pillion on her too), as the hooner has too much of a step, i'd hate to ride that high especially if i didn't know what to expect (wind blast etc..)

[thelastsuperpower]

Sorry if its already been mentioned but dont forget to adjust your mirrors before you pull away (if necessary).

If you really want to get serious (or you ever carry fat b*stards ) you can adjust your suspension to compensate for the extra weight.Normally a bit more rear preload.

[Varcon]

Play the game off go really fast down the motorway/dual carridge, what anywhere for that matter. You need to be doing atleast 80 to get a good effect. As you speed up, keep your body position as upright as you can.

Then, once up to speed, suddenly duck down, so the pillion gets a blast of wind ! Always a good laugh !

[billinom8s]

ride to your pillions ability, always let them know if u are gonna speed up or overtake - if you want them to go on the back again, don't scare them off

[Bladerunner]

I always just ride like normal (except no wheelies or knee down), but do everything a bit more smoothly and allow greater breaking distances.

Personally I love taking pillions as a good pillion will give you loads more traction as you exit corners They do also make it much easier to get the balance point when wheelying as the point gets lower with the extra weight so far back

[Dynasangel]

LOVE HANDLES are the greatest, I wont take pillion without them

[steve-d]

I seem to take pillions quite a lot, take a mate into college couple times a week, but he loves bikes and is doing his full license soon. He always wants me to speed up, he's great on the back can barely feel him (lol).
I've found girls to be the worst on the back, being sensible doing 40 usually seems to scare them, and they always fidget around usually at the very worst time ie slow speed traffic.

Depends who I have on the back to how I ride with them. Some are happy for me to ride normally overtaking ect, for others I just sit in traffic until a long straight and open the throttle in a high gear and slowly overtake.

Be a lot smoother with the throttle, easy on the brakes, and its one of the only times I use the back brake which seems to help stop the front end diving so much. Slip the clutch a lot more than usual pulling away, as said shiftless changes really help as well.