Quote:
Originally Posted by MrAtom
I ride with my sister to school when she needs a ride, and she doesn't like it when I flick the bike around in my lane to get an idea of what she feels like back there........ I've been riding with her for a while now, but she just can't seem to handle cornering. I've showed her all the sciency stuff behind it, and tried to get her to understand, but she doesn't care........... How do I either corner better with her on the bike, or get her more comfortable with going into turns (latter preferred)?
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Lean angle and quick flick is what scares her.
She has a
sense of vertical balance that you upset when suddenly pushing bike and sister onto a lean angle.
That is something that children don't have (I became a passenger at 5 years of age and never gave any problem), but it grows older with age.
The more difficult passengers are aged ones.
Consider that leaning angle is proportional to speed.
If your speed decreases, then there is no need for quick flicking the bike.
Besides, the bike has more inertia and in order to ride with your habitual agility, your inputs on the handlebar, brakes and throttle must be stronger.
The problem with that is that weight distribution is way far from the ideal 60/40: the rear tire and suspension are overloaded, while the font end is not.
Both the rake angle and trail of the front suspension increase.
In those conditions, steering is prone to developing oscillations or tank-slappers and it can even feel light and vague while riding uphill with a passenger.
Going uphill or downhill, exacerbates the difference in weight distribution.
Braking technique should be very different in each case.
In other words, you cannot expect the normal level of performance from any of your contact patches.
Like when riding on wet pavement, smooth transitions and moderate speeds are advisable when riding two-up.
Copied from
http://www.soundrider.com/archive/sa...-braking3.aspx
"Braking with a passenger
Braking technique needs to change as the load on the bike changes. Extra load on the bike, whether traveling gear or a passenger, adds forward energy to the bike that needs to be decelerated. Most importantly, additional weight on the rear wheel increases rear tire traction, and the change in front/rear weight bias requires a change in braking technique.
A passenger's weight is typically high on the bike, and that results in greater transfer of forward energy onto the front wheel. Hard front braking is still possible, but more braking will be required on the rear wheel when carrying a passenger.
The limiting factor in aggressive braking with a passenger may not be the brakes or tires, but how well the passenger is able to resist the deceleration. The passenger may not be prepared for a quick stop, and there is little to brace against even if the he or she is aware of the situation. As the rider applies the brakes aggressively, the passenger slams forward into the rider's back. Or, more correctly, the bike pushes the rider back into the passenger. At the point where the rider is being pushed up onto the tank by the passenger's inertia, the rider must ease off on braking in order to maintain control of the bike.
A touring bike with two riders plus gear might weigh a total of 1000 pounds, with a rear/front bias of perhaps 60/40. At the start of braking, rear tire braking could be 600 lb. and front braking 400 lb. But as braking increases to, say, 80% of available traction, the braking forces might be around 200/600 rear/front. A heavier passenger will have greater forward energy, and push even harder into the rider."
