When riding with a passenger... do u guys like having your passenger lean with you or a "semi-lean"??

I'm gonna take my lady friend out for a ride this season but, i don't know how to teach her what i should say so she understands. What do u guys tell your passengers?

The passenger should always lean with you and the bike. Semi-leaning will impair your control of the bikes direction and require more steering input from you to counter the effect of the passengers improper lean.

You should have excellent command of all the basic control skills as a solo rider before you take on the additional demands placed on you and the machine by the presence of a passenger. You need to properly set up the bike for the additional weight and shifted effective CoG also. It is up to you to properly instruct the passenger of your expectations of her, and if you do not possess this knowledge, you should reconsider until you do.

I like to tell them to lean with me , I guess a semi lean is what I mean, She does not have to change her body position just not sit up the opposite way. And I also am big on don't move in a bend, just stay steady, really upsets the bike when your passenger moves in a bend. Just cruising speeds I don't try to drag knees with my fiancee on the back.

Your passenger must also sit real close to you. If they sit up straight they move arround too much which makes the bike unstable and hard to keep on line. They need to lean well forward pretty much against you. I like my passengers to hold me and not the seat strap so that you know what is going on back there. This also makes the passenger lean as one with you which is a must. Be real carefull of unintentional wheelies with the extra weight towards the rear. If they have to pull there undies out of there bum or whatever tell them to do it on a straight section of road, not in the middle of a bend. Have fun and don't go too far as 1's aren't built for two and your passenger will probably get pretty uncomfortable in no time at all.

I always have my passenger lean HALF AS MUCH as I do... and it seems to work pretty good for me.

For what it's worth:

I always tell the pillion to wrap hands around and place them on the tank. It gives them something to brace onto when you're braking so they don't slide forward. Then on accelaration they can bring their wrists and forearms together and grip your torso so they don't go off behind. In the corners I think it's best if they try to stay pretty much neutral and just look over your inside shoulder for each turn. You are going to have to compensate for their input so keeping it minimal is best in most situations..

I taught for MSF for a few years when I was in the service. MSF teaches to tell your passager to Look over your shoulder in the direction of the turn which causes them to lean without thinking. Try it, it really works especially for the inexperienced passenger. I have tried this on numerous occassions and it seems to work.

One thing that I tell my passengers is that if they want to see where they are going in a turn look past me on the low side. (ie. if we are turning right look past on the right.) this helps keep their weight low in the turn. usualy they wont sit up either because they cant see when they are behind your helmet. Some passengers that try to look over your upper shoulder (ie. left shoulder in a right turn) will unconciously sit more and more upright as the bike gets lower.

Yeah Reef and 9mile, thats more or less what I was getting at in a roundabout sort of way. My passengers use the hand on the tank method when breaking but as I said this enforces them to be close to you.

Originally posted by Blue Widow
One thing that I tell my passengers is that if they want to see where they are going in a turn look past me on the low side. (ie. if we are turning right look past on the right.) this helps keep their weight low in the turn.


that's what i tell them man. i also tell them about the tank bracing and the leaning forward.

They got to lean with me. But most of all don't sqirm around, just be smooth in thier movements.

also determine hand/tap signals before you get out. like one for emergency-pull over right away, bathroom-pull over at next store, slowdown-going to fast for comfort. this way when he/she is tapping on your shoulder your not left wondering and pull over unnessarly.

i also tell them "if i tap you on the leg, you better hold on..."

Another thing I forgot to mention before and works real well. I forget what the stuff is called but it's used to stop rugs sliding arround on smooth floor surfaces and is available at rug stores and some super markets etc. You get a square of it and place it on the pillion seat or wrap it arround and when your passenger sits on it they stay planted making it more comfortable and easier for you both. It's a type of rubbery open mesh sort of material. Try it!