Recently I had the chance to take each of my daughters and my wife on short around-the-neighborhood rides on my GS. Now, just to get a level set, I am about 5'11" and maybe 215 lb. My wife is 6' tall and thin. My girls are 5'9" and 5'10", both of them thin and fit, probably 120lb max. We are tall people but not, you know, big.

Here are some intemperate thoughts.

- Wow the bike rides and feels different with an extra person on it. As usual mostly I noticed that braking and launching are way different. There's plenty of front brake but it requires a lot more lever effort. And taking off from a stop requires a lot more throttle and clutch slipping. This seems obvious but the tactile feeling was more pronounced than I expected. While the bike definitely felt slower and harder to turn, it was actually pretty natural. In fact with my daughters each aboard, I barely noticed there was a passenger when turning. On the other hand, I think my control-freak wife made it harder than it had to be and I could tell that the bike didn't want to turn as much, my guess is because she just didn't want to lean.

- If I were doing this very often, I would seriously consider putting a rear sprocket with 1-2 more teeth on it, or maybe going down a tooth in the front.

- I have a Katana rear shock that's probably 30% more stiff than the stock shock, which I think is a must for 2-up riding. I normally run it with zero preload but I think it needs some preload to ride 2-up.

- My fork has cut-down springs but now that I have considered occasional 2-up riding, I think it's going to be necessary to go up to 0.90kg-mm front springs and adjustable preload of some kind. The dive during braking was extremely noticeable and somewhat annoying. I think the ability to switch the bike between solo and 2-up at both front and rear is important.

- I think I need to coach my passengers on where to put their feet. They kept bumping the back of my legs with their toes.

- The muffler on the GS is basically RIGHT UNDER the pillion's right foot. This seems like a potentially bad idea.

- I have a top case with a "back rest" on it but I don't think anyone considered leaning on it. Maybe on a longer ride.

- My GS needs a better way to keep two helmets while away from the bike. Also, what do you do with jackets? My topcase is only really big enough to cram one into it.

Very well said, mr72! I agree with a lot of what you wrote.

I've taken (quick count in my head) at least 8 different chicks for rides with me on my GS over the years. Almost all of them have weighed less than me... but the times where my passenger weighed more than me, it significantly highlighted the need for some suspension modification/adjustment.

The foot positioning thing... I know what you mean! I thankfully only ever had that problem with one of my passengers before. Must have been more comfortable for her... idk.

After all the reading I've done about preload and how to get the proper amount of sag, plus other bits about suspension and stability, I kinda cringe when I look back at some of the times years ago I'd sooooo ignorantly tell a friend to just hop on and we'd go for a quick ride... and I had fully stock suspension with leaky fork seals and a larger rear tire....

I learned that there's more to giving a passenger a safe ride than just making sure you have enough gear for them too.

Re: turning, one of the simplest ways to get the proper passenger dynamic is to instruct them to look over your shoulder into the turn.
In other words, for left turn look over your left shoulder.   For a right turn look over your right shoulder.
Then as they get more comfortable and more relaxed on the back the handling of the bike will improve over time.


The last time I rode as a pillion my pilot told me he felt like the bike handled even BETTER in the turns with me on the back.  I told him what I was doing and the secret of body position.  He had simply been staying "stiff" and leaning with the bike rather than add his own body lean to it.  I did some experimenting with him, had us both ride "stiff", had him stay "stiff" and I'd lean, had him lean and I stayed "stiff", then had us both lean.
And wouldn't you know, having both a pilot and pillion lean into a turn feels awesome!


Also, you may want to consider, if everyone is old enough, having your passengers complete BRCs.  Even if they never plan to ride solo, and even if they fail the course, having them understand what it takes to pilot a motorcycle will make them a much better passenger.
Good riders make good passengers.

Quote from: Watcher on June 27, 2018, 01:59:54 PM
Re: turning, one of the simplest ways to get the proper passenger dynamic is to instruct them to look over your shoulder into the turn.

Yeah they taught us that in the BRC and I coached all of them on that. The kids took that advice to heart I guess. I'm their dad and they trust me, think I must know what I'm talking about. My wife, on the other hand... well I just guess she was not as comfortable doing it. Plus she is a little taller and most of that height is that she has a longer torso so I am guessing her leaning or not had a bigger effect.

In other words, for left turn look over your left shoulder.   For a right turn look over your right shoulder.
Then as they get more comfortable and more relaxed on the back the handling of the bike will improve over time.

Quote
Also, you may want to consider, if everyone is old enough, having your passengers complete BRCs.  Even if they never plan to ride solo, and even if they fail the course, having them understand what it takes to pilot a motorcycle will make them a much better passenger.
Good riders make good passengers.

Yeah I think that's a good idea. But my youngest daughter (she's 21) doesn't even ride a bicycle. I don't think there's any way she'd jump on a GROM for the course. I think she'd have to log some miles on something like a scooter just around the neighborhood first.

My older daughter (24) would probably jump right on it since she's pretty much fearless and willing to try anything, but I think her husband would freak. My dad has that DR200 ... I might consider trying to teach Jordan to ride the DR. She'd probably do the BRC.

BTW my daughter suggested to her husband that maybe he would like to learn to ride a motorcycle after she went riding with me. I told him I'd be happy to teach him. Michael (son in law) said he'd love to learn how, but if he did, then it'd just make him want a motorcycle and he's convinced that they are too dangerous so he doesn't want to even try it.

Now, my wife actually got interested in riding a scooter after this adventure and is considering the BRC. I am now on the hunt for a fixer-upper, either a Vespa or a Buddy in a 125cc or larger, something I can pick up for $500, repaint, repair, etc., then see if she wants to ride it. If she doesn't, I can flip it. I am turning out to be a pretty decent motorcycle mechanic for a weekend hacker.