Carrying a heavy passenger

I took a 110kg passenger on my YBR once lol... That was funny. Acceleration was err... Non existent.

I'd rather have a heavy pillion that knows what they are doing as opposed to a light rider that does everything wrong.

Ditto. I've had decent pillions who are bikers themselves and barely noticed they were even there (had to do the occasional check in the mirror!), but I've also had a frequent pillion in the past who didn't weigh much at all but was like a sack of very unpredictable potatoes when sitting on the back of the bike. ANGRY unpredictable potatoes, that complain when you accelerate or decelerate too hard and punch you in the back or shoulder when you make an aggressive overtake. Yeeeeeah, punching the rider is real smart.

Ditto with Phil.

Had a 110-120kg ish bloke on the back of an Aprilia RS50, which had about the same weight and power as a YBR (derestricted). Handling was very wooden, and acceleration was gone, but braking wasn't too difficult to adjust to.

It's all about competence. Do you feel you can adjust to a pillion on the back? As if you can do it with someone your own weight it becomes easier.

This isn't to say it's as easy. The heavier they get, the harder it is, but I'd never say it was insurmountable, just more to adjust to. A bloke I took into college a lot was 2 stone heavier than me, but a couple of years later I'd caught after weight training and it was easier. Not by a vast amount but it felt better to me and I can't decide if I just grew more confident/weight balanced/bit of both.

A lot of it is to do with the bike, an SV with a heavy passenger was dreadful as the rear shock on that bike is thought by some track day lovers I know to be too soft for a heavy solo rider. But on my CBR600F I had, which is a similar spec to your TT600 it was fine with any passenger I took on it.

I definitely won't be carrying a pillion in anything but the best weather conditions and also not until I'm competent on my new bike

I definitely won't be carrying a pillion in anything but the best weather conditions and also not until I'm competent on my new bike

OK I have been riding a little over 12 months now and my chicken strips have slowly been decreasing in ever smaller increments...

I am not interested in getting knee down and the rest of it but I do like the idea of riding a little closer to the limits, it just never felt right.

Then I realized when I have carried a pillion or had my soft panniers loaded my bike felt "better". So I popped into my friendly mechanic who suggested 2 notches on my rear suspension pre-load (the only adjustment there is). I did noticed I was coming out of bends a little quicker, next day I was looking at my bike form across the road as one does and it looked different some how.

There it was I had halved my chicken strip, in one day. My confidence in corner has shot up and my bike feels so much better for it in corners. No longer do undulations in the road make the bike twitchy, being my first big bike the last owner being about my size I thought if it isn't broken I was going to fix it..

I definitely won't be carrying a pillion in anything but the best weather conditions and also not until I'm competent on my new bike

 

OK I have been riding a little over 12 months now and my chicken strips have slowly been decreasing in ever smaller increments...

I am not interested in getting knee down and the rest of it but I do like the idea of riding a little closer to the limits, it just never felt right.

Then I realized when I have carried a pillion or had my soft panniers loaded my bike felt "better". So I popped into my friendly mechanic who suggested 2 notches on my rear suspension pre-load (the only adjustment there is). I did noticed I was coming out of bends a little quicker, next day I was looking at my bike form across the road as one does and it looked different some how.

There it was I had halved my chicken strip, in one day. My confidence in corner has shot up and my bike feels so much better for it in corners. No longer do undulations in the road make the bike twitchy, being my first big bike the last owner being about my size I thought if it isn't broken I was going to fix it..

Scrubbing the chicken strips off the tyres doesn't necessary mean your getting any faster, far better to concentrate on honing your road reading skills and learning to push and pull on the bars "I'm not going to say the word" rather than to leaning to silly angles

I definitely won't be carrying a pillion in anything but the best weather conditions and also not until I'm competent on my new bike

 

OK I have been riding a little over 12 months now and my chicken strips have slowly been decreasing in ever smaller increments...

I am not interested in getting knee down and the rest of it but I do like the idea of riding a little closer to the limits, it just never felt right.

Then I realized when I have carried a pillion or had my soft panniers loaded my bike felt "better". So I popped into my friendly mechanic who suggested 2 notches on my rear suspension pre-load (the only adjustment there is). I did noticed I was coming out of bends a little quicker, next day I was looking at my bike form across the road as one does and it looked different some how.

There it was I had halved my chicken strip, in one day. My confidence in corner has shot up and my bike feels so much better for it in corners. No longer do undulations in the road make the bike twitchy, being my first big bike the last owner being about my size I thought if it isn't broken I was going to fix it..

Scrubbing the chicken strips off the tyres doesn't necessary mean your getting any faster, far better to concentrate on honing your road reading skills and learning to push on the bars "Countersteering]" rather than to leaning to silly angles

NOoooooo!! Don't go there!!

Scrubbing the chicken strips off the tyres doesn't necessary mean your getting any faster, far better to concentrate on honing your road reading skills and learning to push and pull on the bars "I'm not going to say the word" rather than to leaning to silly angles

Ah countersteer the word that shall not be mentioned

I did not mention how I get the bike to funny angles or round corners... Pushing inside, pulling outside or just a sprinkling of fairy dust and avoiding target fixation (living in the new forest horse poo is a specialty for that, it does cause some interesting wobbles).

I am not intrested in getting knee down, just getting round corners safely. A little tweak on suspension and I believe grip and confidence appears up in corners.

Hopefully a positive side effect from the experience of riding with a pillion...

anything like this nah.

http://www.bajiroo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/funny-fat-lady-on-bike.jpg

Been a while since there was any contribution to this topic... So, what's the news. What bikes do you people use for riding two-up with a heavy pillion, possibly with some luggage on top of that and how many and what modifications you applied?

Well I had better update, my misses has done a few 1000' miles on the back of the bike and she is a dam site heavier than me. we where over (200 kg combined) 2 up with weekend clothes Triumph Trophy and knocking round town on TDM 900 and FZ6.

In effect I just put maximum suspension to max and got on with it. There are some wonderful memories, misses had never been to cheddar gouge before and all I could here in intercom was WOW, the Egg run up on the Wirral was cool as was North Wales.

Only thing I would add is be gentle on acceleration, even the Trophy could lift its front wheel with ease be-careful in strong winds, watch out for cow shit (still my target fixation of choice) and watch out for stone chippings.

Been a while since there was any contribution to this topic... So, what's the news. What bikes do you people use for riding two-up with a heavy pillion, possibly with some luggage on top of that and how many and what modifications you applied?

Yeah, great. I guess my heaviest is still lower than your lightest weight mate (plus I am workig on getting fitter but that aint the point anyway as I'm not giving up my gf who's looks are the way I prefer, as I've advised above). But thanks for the pointless advice, much appreaciated (not).

Been a while since there was any contribution to this topic... So, what's the news. What bikes do you people use for riding two-up with a heavy pillion, possibly with some luggage on top of that and how many and what modifications you applied?

 

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When I was 20 I weighed around 9.5st and I took my 18st mate on the back of my old SRAD 750, not a problem besides the thing seriously wanting to wheelie with the tiniest twist of the throttle. Adjusting the preload first might have helped but honestly, I doubt it would have made that much difference without completely re-springing it!

I often take my Mrs on the back of my bike, she's a little heavier than me (less and less so these days!), again, not a problem. The only time it becomes an issue is during maneuvres. Or if I'm too lazy to adjust the preload and start pushing it around bends, then the pegs will grind.

If we have to u-turn I'll make her get off, I could probably manage, but why risk it? Also reversing (backpedalling) up an incline becomes an exercise in futility where hilarity and visor steaming laughter is bound to ensue with each and every attempt

"It's not so steep,.. I can do this... wait... hang on..."

3 minutes of duck-waddling and 0.5cm later: "Okay get just get off"

Tbh I never really given it a 2nd thought with my wife she knows how I ride and can just tell what I'm going to do, if it's a new to riding pillion or someone I havent had on the back of the bike I will give them the talk of try and stay as relaxed as possible and remember to breathe and when we go in to a corner just tip your head in to the direction of the corner so that you are looking over my relevant shoulder and trust the bike and so far ì have never had a problem

Nice (esp. the backpedalling). Good idea to let her get off for a U-turn! Just may I ask what bike do you ride and do you worry about the admissible payload of the bike (by the official paperwork), or not really? As that's my concern - we will definitely exceed that, and with some luggage for a longer trip, there is no bike in the world which has such a payload as us plus the little bit of luggage. After I get down to my planned/desired weight and her staying where she is, we'll be at the maximum payload of BMW K1300GT, that's naked, without wearing any bike gear . I know there were people who did outlanding on R1150/1200GS two-up with really heavy luggage carrying up to double of the admissible payload, but they had welded reinfoced rear subframe, and many of them broke that anyway, due to extra stress on offroad trails with all the weight on it - well I certainly do not plan offroading two-up, yet even with some extra cargo, for that she'd definitely need to get her own bike indeed.

When I was 20 I weighed around 9.5st and I took my 18st mate on the back of my old SRAD 750, not a problem besides the thing seriously wanting to wheelie with the tiniest twist of the throttle. Adjusting the preload first might have helped but honestly, I doubt it would have made that much difference without completely re-springing it!

I often take my Mrs on the back of my bike, she's a little heavier than me (less and less so these days!), again, not a problem. The only time it becomes an issue is during maneuvres. Or if I'm too lazy to adjust the preload and start pushing it around bends, then the pegs will grind.

If we have to u-turn I'll make her get off, I could probably manage, but why risk it? Also reversing (backpedalling) up an incline becomes an exercise in futility where hilarity and visor steaming laughter is bound to ensue with each and every attempt

"It's not so steep,.. I can do this... wait... hang on..."

3 minutes of duck-waddling and 0.5cm later: "Okay get just get off"

Yeah that's not what I am worried about - my other half knows what to do and since it will be her return on the bike after years, of course I'll take it easy and we'll have some before and after chats to fine tune our synchronisation. What I am concerned about, is what bike can take such a payload, which will be above or even well above the offiical payload. I can change the rear shock, perhaps get tyres with higher load index, maybe even rims, but I can't get different subframe, or reinforce it, at least at a reasonable costs, I think?

Tbh I never really given it a 2nd thought with my wife she knows how I ride and can just tell what I'm going to do, if it's a new to riding pillion or someone I havent had on the back of the bike I will give them the talk of try and stay as relaxed as possible and remember to breathe and when we go in to a corner just tip your head in to the direction of the corner so that you are looking over my relevant shoulder and trust the bike and so far ì have never had a problem

Yeah that's not what I am worried about - my other half knows what to do and since it will be her return on the bike after years, of course I'll take it easy and we'll have some before and after chats to fine tune our synchronisation. What I am concerned about, is what bike can take such a payload, which will be above or even well above the offiical payload. I can change the rear shock, perhaps get tyres with higher load index, maybe even rims, but I can't get different subframe, or reinforce it, at least at a reasonable costs, I think?

 

Tbh I never really given it a 2nd thought with my wife she knows how I ride and can just tell what I'm going to do, if it's a new to riding pillion or someone I havent had on the back of the bike I will give them the talk of try and stay as relaxed as possible and remember to breathe and when we go in to a corner just tip your head in to the direction of the corner so that you are looking over my relevant shoulder and trust the bike and so far ì have never had a problem

Again this is not something I have ever taken in to consideration tbh, I definitely don't go around weighing any of my gear or luggage arrangements I just sling it all on load it up so weight is distributed as evenly as possible and saddle up and I'd guess its the same with most people

For what its worth with novice or less experienced passengers regardless of weight I tell them imagine a straight line marking the position of my spine and try to maintain the same position, then once you are relaxed feel free to look over my shoulder and see into the bends.

Has worked for me for years including recently taking a petrified (and prejudiced) novice and making them an enthusiastic person looking forward to trips out in the coming year.

Cheers

Ian

I tell them pretty much the same but in simpler words: "hold me tight and do whatever you feel I am doing with my body, just dong bang your helmet on mine please; shortly, these moves will come natural to you and you then no longer have to hold me as tight" . Those who it doesn't come up natural after a while and still tend to pull my rear end out of the bends even at slow speed, simply fail to qualify for my pillion, simples...

For what its worth with novice or less experienced passengers regardless of weight I tell them imagine a straight line marking the position of my spine and try to maintain the same position, then once you are relaxed feel free to look over my shoulder and see into the bends.

Has worked for me for years including recently taking a petrified (and prejudiced) novice and making them an enthusiastic person looking forward to trips out in the coming year.

Cheers

Ian

Nice (esp. the backpedalling). Good idea to let her get off for a U-turn! Just may I ask what bike do you ride and do you worry about the admissible payload of the bike (by the official paperwork), or not really? As that's my concern - we will definitely exceed that, and with some luggage for a longer trip, there is no bike in the world which has such a payload as us plus the little bit of luggage. After I get down to my planned/desired weight and her staying where she is, we'll be at the maximum payload of BMW K1300GT, that's naked, without wearing any bike gear . I know there were people who did outlanding on R1150/1200GS two-up with really heavy luggage carrying up to double of the admissible payload, but they had welded reinfoced rear subframe, and many of them broke that anyway, due to extra stress on offroad trails with all the weight on it - well I certainly do not plan offroading two-up, yet even with some extra cargo, for that she'd definitely need to get her own bike indeed.

 

When I was 20 I weighed around 9.5st and I took my 18st mate on the back of my old SRAD 750, not a problem besides the thing seriously wanting to wheelie with the tiniest twist of the throttle. Adjusting the preload first might have helped but honestly, I doubt it would have made that much difference without completely re-springing it!

I often take my Mrs on the back of my bike, she's a little heavier than me (less and less so these days!), again, not a problem. The only time it becomes an issue is during maneuvres. Or if I'm too lazy to adjust the preload and start pushing it around bends, then the pegs will grind.

If we have to u-turn I'll make her get off, I could probably manage, but why risk it? Also reversing (backpedalling) up an incline becomes an exercise in futility where hilarity and visor steaming laughter is bound to ensue with each and every attempt

"It's not so steep,.. I can do this... wait... hang on..."

3 minutes of duck-waddling and 0.5cm later: "Okay get just get off"

GSXR 1000, and we haven't done more than a couple of hour trip with a break about halfway. Anything more would be super uncomfortable for her, it's really not a bike for comfortable 2-up touring! We have some creature comforts though. An anti-slip seat cover and a set of strap-on love handles which make a huge difference for both of us. She has her own bike now so pillion rides are fewer and farther between but she still likes to ride pillion occasionally. Long journey's we take two bikes. Toured mid-wales last summer.

TBH I've never even checked the admissible payload! But I'd wear my gear and exceed it rather than ride naked and stay under it!

TBH I've never even checked the admissible payload! But I'd wear my gear and exceed it rather than ride naked and stay under it!

Thank God for that.

An anti-slip seat cover and a set of strap-on love handles which make a huge difference for both of us.

We gave up on Anti slip seat cover she learned it was comfier to change position occasionally, love handles are just good so she has some where comfy to put her hands. She is now confident enough to that shes noted to not use them at the most inappropriate moment.

Filtering shes been seen to "tap" wing mirrors of cars that have moved to block , her hand signals have been noted to be the ones not in the highway code .

If she gets carried away a blip on the throttle and she reaches for the love handles , although the abuse I then get in the head set , I have learned not to .