Top Tips for Riding With a Pillion

Riding with a passenger can be a great experience for both the rider and the pillion. However many riders don’t have much experience with carrying a passenger and can wrongly assume that it’s business as usual! Here we give some important tips on how to get the best out of riding with a passenger.

Before the ride:

• Before you even begin your journey you may need to make some adjustments to your bike. Check the suspension settings in your manual or consult your motorcycle dealer. You will also need to check the tyre pressures are sufficient.
• Spend some time discussing the ride with your passenger. This is especially important if they have never ridden pillion before. Tell them to lean with the bike and not to fight it!
• Before you don your helmets make sure you establish some basic methods of communication, such as a few pokes in the ribs to slow down, and so on.
• You may want to consider taking some advanced motorcycle training to make you more confident on two wheels.

During the ride:

• Some passengers take a while to get used to riding pillion so take it easy to start with. You’ll find most pillions will be happy to lean into corners if you take them at a steady speed and give them some time to build up their confidence.
• Any mistakes will be amplified when carrying a passenger. You need to make your gear changing as smooth as possible to stop you banging helmets during jerky changes.
• Remember you are carrying extra weight and it will take you longer to come to a stop.  You’ll need to break sooner than you normally would in order to ensure a safe stopping distance. Where possible come to a stop slowly to avoid the pillion being pushed forward.
• Similarly you need to accelerate gently or the pillion will feel as though they are falling off the back of the bike – not much fun!
• In summary you need to make the ride as smooth as possible, in order to minimise movement and discomfort for the pillion. Ride as you would in slippery or wet conditions – with extreme care and gentle movements.

Remember safety comes first. When you’re carrying a passenger you are responsible for their safety as well as your own.

Contact Metropolis Motorcycles for more information on Motorcycle Training in London.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 at 3:21 pm and is filed under Training Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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