[Elias]

How does one acquire experience riding with a passenger on pillion? I would rather learn the dynamic affects of extra weight withOUT the thought of the person behind me putting their life in my hands. Does the weight increase provide for dramaticchanges in the way the bike handles?

[Munch]

absolutely.. .I rode loaded down for a long while before I put my daughter on the back. Learning to compensate for dead weight made it easier for me to learn, having my daughter being a thoughtful being on the back that can lean and help with the balance made it easier to handle. Though we rode around small areas to help train her and myself on what to do, how to do it and to get the general feel for it. I still will only take her on a 10 mile ride near the house. Though I am lucky enough to live on the “backroads”

[SantaCruzRider]

“absolutely… I rode loaded” — thought that was going somewhere very different! )

[eternal05]

Depending on the ratio of the extra weight of the passenger to the overall weight of your bike, it can make a big difference. Riding with a passenger on a Ninja 250, for instance, is pretty terrifying at first. The weight of the riders is equal to the weight of the bike. If the rider knows what they are doing, the bike will become super quick-to-turn (the riders weight moving into the turn accelerates turn-in). In my early experience, this was to the point of being scary. If the rider doesn’t know what they’re doing, and resists the motion of the motorcycle underneath, the bike will become much more difficult to steer. Low-speed maneuvers also become much more difficult on smaller bikes. Can’t speak much for the effect of a passenger on a Gold Wing.

Definitely practice with some dead weight for a while. When you do go for a passenger the first time, I’d start in a parking lot. Go through your normal practice drills with the passenger until you are comfortable. Make sure you practice emergency stops, quick turns, and heavy acceleration. This is more for the passenger than for you. Depending on the bike, they may have a hard time keeping their weight from slamming into you from behind or from falling off the back, and they should be prepared to compensate.

[Elias]

Good advice. What do you use for weight if you don’t have saddle bags (i.e. sportbike)? I was thinking a backpack with weight in it with the straps really loose so that the bag itself is actually on the seat. lol, i’m so ghetto

[Munch]

That should work. Coming from the Jeep world I used to always hear about something being “ghetto” . My response… if it weren’t for the “ghetto’d” or the “redneck’d” or shadetree engineering the Fluff and stuffs wouldn’t have any bright and shinies to buy as a final product.
Can always try going to your nearest Sams wholesale or on the left coast I thinks it’s Costco? Anyways grab you one of them supersized “aint no way in hell I am gonna get through this” bags of flour and get it on the back. Or if you have a dog …. dog food!

[Clay Dowling]

We’ve got a weight set in the basement that gets sporadic use at best. I’m planning on stealing the weights, shoving them in a duffel, strapping it to the pillion seat, and heading out for the high school practice lot. The full set of weights is actually about as heavy as my daughter, so that would be perfect.

[Author]

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