Any double riding tips??

So I have been riding dirt bikes and quads for as long as I could remember. I just started riding on the street about a year ago on an old DT250. I have been riding my XJ700 daily for about 3 moths now and it’s just like second nature to me. One thing I have yet to do is ride with a passenger. I was planning on doing so this weekend and was wondering if you guys might be able to give me any tips on riding with a passenger. Anything you guys got would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

Make sure your passenger gets some instruction from you on how to ride tandum and make sure everyone is comfortable.

Gear up and go. Take it easy and have fun!

 

Never ride with guy on the back its not cool!!! Always have a girl on the back holding you tight!!!!!!

 

make sure they lean with you and i agree with lostboy make sure its a woman.

 

make a few short trips with passenger before you go on a long one,its not as comfortable as by yourself,tell passenger not to be flopping all over the place,

I really dont like carrying a passenger for more then a short trip of 5 miles or so.

 

If you are a girl, then it's OK to have a guy on the back. It would be OK for two girls to ride together as well.

 

Riding with a pillon *aka passenger*

Remember your bike weighs significantly more than it used to (unless they're 14 or under). Tail end will feel heavy, it won't accellerate like you're used to, and most especially it won't brake like you're used to. It also feels heavier in corners.

Rules for the pillon:
1 - ALWAYS hold on - preferably to me, but the hand-grip is just as good, as long as they're holding on.
2 - Feet go on the footpegs, and NEVER come off until they're getting off.
3 - **** DON'T LEAN **** Don't TRY to lean. DON'T HELP. Just hold on to the rider, and try to be still. A leaning passenger will play no end of havoc with your center of gravity and balance.

 

With a former GF, the first time I took her out on the bike she would try to stay upright when the bike and I were leaning into turns. Make sure your passenger knows that he/she (preferably she, whether you're male or female... ;-) stays in the same line as you and the bike, even when it's leaning.

 

Make sure the passenger stays on the backseat!!
NO hanky panky!! Unless your parked. 8)
The police don't have a sense of humor about such things. 8O

 

Have them sit on the bike before you start it, and make sure to adjust your mirrors so that you can see. Have you both in full riding gear and them seated as they would be while you are riding. Work out a signal if they need you to pull over. "Tap-out" is a trusty friend and is pretty universal. Also, if you are riding with helmet mikes, make sure to adjust the volumes and sensitivities, with the bike running, before you start out. Having a passenger shifts the center, so depending on weights, you might want to adjust the rear shocks to a different position to keep the center level withing the "triangle."(Triangle made by each axle and roughly the top of the driver's head.) Don't accelerate fast to scare them, and make sure they know not to grab onto your neck under any circumstances.(Tell them to just fall off if they have to do that. better than bringing my fat behind and the bike down on top of them as well haha) Also, depending on the total weight being carried and the cc's of your bike, your acceleration might be a bit different, so try and get a feel for the friction zone while having your passenger on there to work out any differences.

 

Tell your passenger "Hold on tightly to me, and when there's a left hand corner coming up, look over my left shoulder, right handers, look over my right shoulder."
This will keep their weight in the right place.

 

^^^^ +1

I've always lived by a few simple rules when riding with a passenger.

1) Never allow the passenger to mount the bike until after you're on and stabilizing it. You are the first on the bike, and last off of it.

2) The passenger's feet must stay on the foot pegs. If they can't reach the pegs, they're too small to be on the bike!!!

3) Make sure to instruct the passenger to "look" to the inside of a turn. This will make sure that the weight distribution through the turn is always consistant.

4) Make sure the passenger either holds on to the driver's waist or the bike's grab handles. This minimizes the passenger's movement from side to side and makes the ride more predictable.

 

Thanks for all the tips guys. I had a LADY on my bike today and everything went well. I read over all your tips and went over them all with her before we took off. It was a little different at first but it did not take too long to adjust. I defiantly did not ride like I do on my own, just because of the extra responsibility. She was a great passenger and it looks like we will be doing again soon. Thanks again.

 

I dont discriminate!!!
To ride with me there needs to be at least 1 of 3 things included.

Honestly though, the gas might be the choice pick.
Either way "No Free Rides" comes to mind

Even better...ALL THREE

 

some good tips here. all I can add is: both of you should be facing forward. :wink:

 

gcrick,

do yourself a favor...add yourself to the map.
"Central Texas" is where I am at, you might just be North Central, South Central, Central Central?? lol

Heres the link
http://www.xjbikes.com/dfmaps.html

 

As someone else stated - tell them to look inside your helmet on the turns.

If you lean they'll be forced to lean an equal amount to see inside of your helmet. If you don't lean much they won't lean much - that's human nature.

That being said - don't ricky racer and drag a knee

Tell them how you want them to hold onto you. Tell them how you want them to tell you to stop.

 

my double riding tip is simple... dont do it! i took my girl out yesterday for the second time and its just not fun. she keeps sliding forward and crowding me closer to the tank and i feel like i have to keep telling her to hold on tight or shes gonna fall off the back the next time i start from a stop. the worst part by far is that her helmet keeps bumping the back of mine and drives me nuts. im shaving the seat and its eventually gonna be a solo. sorry for the rant.

 

sounds to me, like you need a new partner rider.

 

Good advice, AF. Just added that link. In fact my "baloon" is next to yours.
But it's pretty crowded in there so I'll add that I'm located a few miles east of the Austin airport, on Hwy. 71 in western Bastrop County.

thanks,
gene

 

i have a givi top box with a pillion back rest on the critter and all of my family have the simple instruction (get comfortable on the bike lay back into the back rest and don't fidgit, enjoy the view and we will get there in one piece) this way they have learnt to lean with me and the bike giving total control. my wife is now so comfortable with this that she goes to sleep on any of the highway runs before we get to the twisty bits

 

Fonz, I know exactly what you're saying and it's an easy fix.

Nervous riders will crowd you like that because there's nothing really "solid" to hold on to (no offense).

The best way to stop the helmet smacking and sliding is to tell your passenger to place their hands on the base of the tank, one over the other (making a diamond or a triangle with the space between their thumbs and pointers). Gives them a solid place to put their hands when slowing down. Of course while just cruising down the street they can sit up and hug you or whatever, but get her to try that move in the driveway before you go, then try it again at a stopsign.

I've had a few nervous riders on the back of my bike and had the exact same experience, until one of my GUY friends needed a lift home one night and I noticed he put his hands on the tank as mentioned above (probably moreso to make sure there was no junk to jeans contact, LOL), I think he got this trick from riding shotgun with sport bike riders who are always coming to abrupt stops/stoppies.

Oh... and don't take off from start with a passenger... she could really slip off... Or flip backward... It happens, but in actuality there is a lot of room back there to move around, even for a girl with a bit of booty (ask me how I know).

In any event it should do the trick! But yeah... passengers are annoying. Try and convince her to do a training course and get a small bike herself. 8)

 

on my turbo seca,

that are handles on the seat, as well as metal handles on the bike..

i haven't conviced the wife to get on yet, but i imagine, holding on to those would help.

 

Used to be handles on my 650 seca. But they're completely useless and you would have to do some serious bending to reach them.

Needless to say they're gone now.