Back seat rider (Part 2)

In Part 1 we focused on giving novice or less-experienced passengers advice on the best way to ride pillion. This section contains advice for riders taking a pillion passenger, but you should read Part 1 as well.

There’s also a very useful video clip from Australia on pillion riding, right here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_W0_wboaJE

As described from the pillion rider’s perspective in Part 1, the journey commences before you even touch the machine. First off, your pillion’s safety is in your hands. The mental approach to this is extremely important. You don’t need me to tell you riding a bike can be dangerous. Sometimes we tend to put that fact to the back of our minds, and that’s fine if you have otherwise taken care of the risk factors, i,e, wearing proper gear, acquiring a sound set of skills and training, ensuring your bike is safe and well maintained, riding to conditions etc.

However, if your pillion is less experienced or hasn’t ridden with you much or at all, chances are they are mildly terrified. Even if they are disguising it as excited anticipation! It’s your job to turn fear into fun, and that starts with a sound briefing on how to ride as a pillion, including getting on and off the bike and how to communicate with each other (see Part 1).

You should also prepare the bike if you are going to take a pillion. Usually this will involve increasing the rear spring preload. If damping is adjustable I would add a click or two of compression damping, too. (And if you’re a flash git with something like a TTX shock at the rear, that would be low-speed compression; you can usually leave high-speed compression alone.) Nowadays, most manufacturers specify the same pressures for pillion riding as solo riding but now IS the time to check those pressures. You might need to adjust mirrors, too.

The other key responsibility, before allowing anyone on your machine, is protective gear. Their safety is in your hands and in my book that means ensuring the pillion is at least as well-dressed in protective kit as you are.

You also need to check their gear before setting off:

1.  Check their helmet actually fits and cannot roll off their head in accident. Get them to try the ‘roll-off’ test and check the helmet is a snug, comfortable fit all around their head

2.  Ensure the chinstrap is done up properly - tight without strangling! - and that D-rings are properly looped or push-fit fasteners are fully engaged

3.  Check gloves are on properly, including wrist straps

4.  Check zips and any buttons on jackets are fully done up - no half-closed zips

Impress on your passenger that you are in control of the machine at all times and they need to follow your instructions. Ensure they know how (and when, i.e. only on your say-so) to get on and off. And point out the exhaust pipe(s) as potential dangers when hot.

Once your pillion is aboard and says they are comfy, this is your chance to assess how you feel. If the pillion is sitting too far forward they can easily obstruct your ability to control the bike. Make sure they sit far enough back that you can move your upper body across the machine, countersteer effectively and your wrists aren’t cramped when operating the controls. Conversely, if they are sitting on the tail piece and the bike wants to wheelie at a standstill, you might encourage them further forward!

First impressions count, including when you ride. So how you set off can set the tone for the whole journey. A smooth, slow getaway and gentle first few turns will let your passenger get used to things and build confidence. A quick enquiry or two if they are okay, while travelling at low speed or stopped will also help.

Once you sense the passenger is relaxed and enjoying things, you can concentrate entirely on riding. But this is riding with a difference.

Even with a good, experienced pillion on board, the machine will behave differently. And you also need to factor in that your pillion can be surprised by events and their reaction can be slow or even unhelpful.

The key is to build an even greater margin for error into your riding - especially other people’s errors. Where you might be happy to mash the front tyre into the ground under hard braking, this is probably going to result in your pillion becoming an unwanted rucksack. You can brake hard, if your pillion has anticipated it and braced themselves, but the way to do it is to build up the braking force progressively and steadily.

Hard acceleration with a pillion is another way to make them feel really uncomfortable, unsafe and to upset the bike’s stability. In the higher gears, you can apply lots of throttle. But in lower gears - especially pulling away - gently does it is the secret. As you feed in each gear you can open the throttle harder, because it will have less accelerative effect. Plus your pillion should be braced against the forces. Quick getaways from the traffic lights - usually a staple of motorcycle riding - cannot be relied upon. So you need to adjust your riding and how you handle traffic accordingly.

Filtering through traffic needs careful thinking about with a pillion. Their knees are usually sticking out more than the bike’s width.

Cornering with a pillion has the same issues as braking and acceleration. It can still be fun, but flicking the bike in hard is liable to upset the passenger because they probably won’t anticipate it. Your turn-in can still be fairly quick, just build the forces progressively.  Followed by a smooth, predictable arc through the corner, chances are the pillion will be enjoying the experience as much as you are.

The secret to enjoyable pillion riding is actually the secret to good, skilled riding in general: smoothness. What is smoothness? I had it described to me as the seamless, progressive transference of forces. In other words, the forces can be very high, but the transfer between states needs to build up and fall off in a perfectly progressive way. If you are a pillion and a rider is doing that, you will feel perfectly happy. Just as I did on the back of a GSX-R putting in a respectable lap time around Hampton Downs.

On the other hand, if the ride is jerky it can only be down to one thing: the rider is a jerk.