2 Up riding

[NaughtyusMaximus]

Originally Posted by Sound Wave

[she] prefers to keep one arm around the bag.

Heh..

[Sound Wave]

well, if she did that, then i really gotta be sure that i don't accelerate suddenly, huh? ouch!

[NaughtyusMaximus]

On the other hand, if you accelerate and brake smoothly, the rides could be more fun than ever

[Cedilla]

^This made me lol.

[mrlmd]

You can always have the passenger grab on to the open pockets in the sides of the jacket if you don't want the backpack. It's more comfortable and the weight is closer together, not so much on the tail end. Just don't peel out so they don't rip your jacket apart. Or you can put a heavy belt looser around your waist over the jacket for a handle.

[shift_6]

i tried searching under "two-up" and "two up" and it didn't return any results.

i want to put my gf on the bike this summer and plan on buying her gear soon. just wanted to know how the bike is with two people on it? im already anticipating it being a lot slower and needing a lot more room to brake.

how are corners with a passenger? i don't plan on going crazy on the bike, as I will need to learn to adjust to having her on it as well as I would like to ease her into the idea of riding on the bike.

-shift

[2WheelGuy]

http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=22358

[shift_6]

thanks that was a good read

[cnichols79us]

I have ridden 2 up w/ my Wife once. Was ok.... Now, I end up with my 8 year old on the back every once in a while. He looks so funny all geared up. It is not bad at all with an 85lb passenger, other than he always knocks his helmet into mine and melts his shoes onto my exhuast.....

[KTRacing38]

Riding 2-up is far more scary than riding your own bike. I'm really glad that I decided to learn how to ride myself before I ever went on a 2up ride. I think that if that had been my first motorcycle experience, I probably wouldn't be riding!

[Dano]

when I had my first ninja a 88' I used to ride 2up all the time and didnt have a problem but it sat lower and a better seat. havent ridden 2 up on the 09' and probably wont very often.

[vollrathdude]

Its just fine. Just get them to have proper body position, lean INTO the curve which to them seems like the worst thing to do. Instruct them to stay the hell away from the exhaust. They dislike melted boots/shoes/whatever almost as much as you'll dislike cleaning rubber off of your pipe. Give yourself more time for braking, its just a good idea. It won't go much slower. You'll have a good time.

[tjkamper]

Two up is fine. Just adjust the preload. You wont accelerate or break as fast, but the bike does fine. It is still loads of fun.

[shift_6]

bump!

put my gf on the bike for the first time. bought her a full face helmet (evo-400), full gauntlet leather gloves (joe rocket womens), and a mesh jacket w/ armor (first gear)

took a local road out in LI from queens to huntington (25A). on the way back took 25A to 106 South to LIE West.

i had the preload set to 3, dont know if I'll want to set it to 5 for two up, i felt 3 was OK for the both of us.

braking distances... you def need a lot more room. but from the short 2 hour ride last night, because shes on the back seat the rear brakes are less likely to lock up.

started leaning into the turns, she didn't mind it at all.

QUESTION: sometimes shed put weight on me and itd put stress on my arms. ANY TIPS FOR HARMONIOUS RIDING W/ YOUR PARTNER? i told her to try not to push me into the handlebars so much.

[cifex]

Originally Posted by shift_6

QUESTION: sometimes shed put weight on me and itd put stress on my arms. ANY TIPS FOR HARMONIOUS RIDING W/ YOUR PARTNER? i told her to try not to push me into the handlebars so much.

She needs to support herself by bracing her hands against the tank when you're stopping. .....or you need to learn to enjoy having your nuts smashed against the tank.

[scotty]

Originally Posted by cifex

She needs to support herself by bracing her hands against the tank when you're stopping. .....or you need to learn to enjoy having your nuts smashed against the tank.

Yupp! So true! If she does that, you will be fine.

[Moped]

When I ride with my boyfriend or any of my club member (All of them are bigs guys and I have short arms so i could never touch the tank.) I use my kneens to hold my self up. When we come to a stop I will tighten my kneens on there hips and lean backwords a bit it keeps me from sliding forward and running into them.

[GeorgiaHooligan]

I took my wife out for the first time on mothers day and she loved it. I weigh 175 and shes @ 100 and the acceleration isnt bad if you know how to shift , just got to watch the brakes. We hit some nice turns too on stock Dunlop k630's and had no problems. Im impressed with the 250's capabilities all the time. Make sure you adjust your tire pressures...

[revstriker]

Originally Posted by Moped

When I ride with my boyfriend or any of my club member (All of them are bigs guys and I have short arms so i could never touch the tank.) I use my kneens to hold my self up. When we come to a stop I will tighten my kneens on there hips and lean backwords a bit it keeps me from sliding forward and running into them.

When I ride two up with my wife, she does the same thing. She squeezes me with her knees which keeps her from sliding forward.

If you are going to ride with a passenger, make you instruct them how and when to get on the bike, and make sure you hold the front brake.

[vietboiz12345]

haah i had the same problem with my 1st passenger. she was leaning pretty forward and i did get my nuts slightly crushed.
but leaning into curves are fine. i was still able to stick my legs out and brake fine. breaking actually feels more safer to me with the extra weight because it keep the bike pretty glued to the ground. she was like 110 ish so it didnt affect the bike much and i weight 185.

[eddiekay]

I'm 180, my wife is 140...the shock goes down to nothing but the bike has no bad manners....although we travelled at about 70, the roads were straight. At street speed...just fine but I wonder what it would be like on a sweeper. Has an RD350 years ago when I weighted 140 and the GF was about 100....it was like the bike had a hinge in the middle on fast wide turns....not dangerous but you had top pay attention.

[vietboiz12345]

I did a pretty cool fish tail slide with the bike last night cause i had to emergency brake out of no where and we all know how easily the rears locks up. i took advantage of that and turned the handle bars to the side to cause that slide. basically instead of sliding straight with locked wheels, i slide semi sideways with a tail like a drift. its still messing up but it looks cool tho lol
Posted via Mobile Device

[eddiekay]

Oh no...josh is becoming a stunter....just don't hammer down the tank, the tanks are sooo pretty.

[vietboiz12345]

Originally Posted by eddiekay

Oh no...josh is becoming a stunter....just don't hammer down the tank, the tanks are sooo pretty.

i actually did that by accident.
but since i learned how its done, there quite possibly more attempts lol :x

[rrod25]

i just got my 250 a few months ago and was now considering to ride my ninja 250 with my girl, i weigh 225 and my girl 120, is it to much for the bike to handle?

or should i hold off riding 2up till i get my next bike next year?


l

[rockNroll]

Originally Posted by rrod25

i just got my 250 a few months ago and was now considering to ride my ninja 250 with my girl, i weigh 225 and my girl 120, is it to much for the bike to handle?

or should i hold off riding 2up till i get my next bike next year?


l

I say go ahead and tool around on it with her. I would stay away from rush hour-ish type traffic (any congestion) and freeways

Oh, and you really need to post up a picture with the two of you on said motorcycle.

[Snake]

RR, go for a ride with your girl. If the bike can handle your weight than your girls measly weight will not be a big deal for you or the bike to handle. No pun intended.

[Reddoak]

I rode mine with my son pretty often, several times a week. I weigh over 200, he weighs around 100 pounds. Needless to say, the bike's handling suffers... The bike did OK with it, and it was do-able, but it wasn't really much fun from a riding perspective. This is one of the reasons I got a 650 instead. Where the 250 was capable, the 650 is enjoyable.

It all comes down to the weight of the two riders, and how often you intend to ride 2 up.

[Live2ride]

Originally Posted by rrod25

i just got my 250 a few months ago and was now considering to ride my ninja 250 with my girl, i weigh 225 and my girl 120, is it to much for the bike to handle?

or should i hold off riding 2up till i get my next bike next year?


l

I've ridden 2 up with my gf plenty of times since I got my bike. I weigh 245lbs; she weighs around 125lbs. The acceleration suffers for obvious reasons though it's still possible to ride at highway speeds. I held 80mph comfortably with her on the bike. My butt normally hurts after riding with her for more than an hour and hers does too. Apparently the passenger seat isn't the most comfortable. At first I enjoyed her riding with me on the bike but now that I've gotten comfortable pushing my bike harder so I find it much less enjoyable.

Make sure she knows to lean with you; on numerous occasions my gf has leaned over my shoulder to see ahead and sent us across the double yellow. She got angry at me when I sternly told her never to lean opposite from me and that she could literally kill us both .

I found that it felt like I was shifting every other second when riding two up. When I shift I can feel her lurch forward (kind of ramming me) then backward again which gets real old real quick . You might as well get use to it because no matter how smoothly I shift I still get rammed from behind (pun intended). I found myself shifting up 2 gears while accelerating simply so I could shift less which makes acceleration even worse. Idk if it's just this bike or what but it seems like it can't be smooth riding 2 up. It's the only bike I've ridden on 2up and only 1 passenger thats ridden on it...maybe it's just a bad passenger ; don't tell my gf I said that.

[Jiggles]

Theres my fat assed brother on the back and his neighbor on the front. They seem comfy.

[Snake]

This goes great with the pic above.

Originally Posted by Ramen

Without context, I'm guessing you're blind, and the passenger squeezes your left and right sides so you know when and which way to turn?

Originally Posted by CC Cowboy

I'm think he must grab the nuts to stop.

[TFKninja]

I like riding 2up coz the faster I go the better the hugs.lol. @wayan I like the lttle step throughs in bali coz the seat does cater better for more passengers, every time I go there i hire one so I can carrie my wife and daughter every where although my wife is tiny and my daughter is only 8 so combined weight is still average, It is not legal to carry more than 1 pillion in australia but the ninja doesnt cater for that anyway, so now I just have to put up with the fighting between the 2 as to who comes with me on the back,lol, usually find myself going solo, which is more fun - the hugs lol

[Domagoj]

My personal opinion is that it all depends on the passenger. Not weight, but skill. Well, in extreme cases, weight too

My wife is an excellent passenger, and at times I am not sure if she is still with me. Her trick is to hold on with her legs instead of hugging me rigidly. By looking ahead a bit, she can predict braking, acceleration, and of course corners, and she positions herself accordingly. If need be she hugs me a bit but never too strong.
This way she is much more engaged in the whole thing, and feels a bit like driving herself, plus, the bike goes extremely well.
We did not like the backpack trick.

Rear seat is uncomfortable, but we stop often, and never ride too long.

[rrod25]

Originally Posted by Domagoj

My personal opinion is that it all depends on the passenger. Not weight, but skill. Well, in extreme cases, weight too

My wife is an excellent passenger, and at times I am not sure if she is still with me. Her trick is to hold on with her legs instead of hugging me rigidly. By looking ahead a bit, she can predict braking, acceleration, and of course corners, and she positions herself accordingly. If need be she hugs me a bit but never too strong.
This way she is much more engaged in the whole thing, and feels a bit like driving herself, plus, the bike goes extremely well.
We did not like the backpack trick.

Rear seat is uncomfortable, but we stop often, and never ride too long.

Thankyou and everyone for ur opinions, gonna get my girl some gear give her some riding instruction then take her out for a ride
Ill let u know how it goes probably gonna be sometime next week
Thanks all
Posted via Mobile Device

[blink]

I drove my gf to school everyday for about 2 months. Let me tell you that it is certainly not hard after the first few times. Yes at times you get off balance a bit if you have to come to a sudden stop etc etc. All in all it is less enjoyable and you really have to be more careful; don't accelerate as fast or your partner can fly if they aren't ready, turning/leaning is as fun. You should be changing lanes as freely; safety issue again.

On the bright side you let them have fun riding freely on a bike, you can talk to someone when you come to the red light, you learn how to ride with another person in case one day you have to.

But no it's not that bad; just not as fun =p

[zem]

I tried riding with a passenger in a parking lot for the first time. It's definitely different. I increased the tire pressure to 36 front and 40 rear for it, but I'm wondering if it's okay to ride solo with that tire pressure or do I need to lower it again, anyone know? Would be a pain having to de/increase it everytime...

[Alex]

There's no need to increase (or decrease) the tire pressure when riding 2-up. 28f/32r would work fine either way. Nothing wrong with upping it a little if it feels more comfortable, but 36f/40r sounds quite high, and will result in significantly less grip.

[zem]

Originally Posted by Alex

There's no need to increase (or decrease) the tire pressure when riding 2-up. 28f/32r would work fine either way. Nothing wrong with upping it a little if it feels more comfortable, but 36f/40r sounds quite high, and will result in significantly less grip.

Ah okay, I guess I'll decrease a bit. I just read in the Ninja 250 Tire wiki that 36/40 should be used for 2up or loaded riding. I guess not.... Thanks for the quick reply

[DarkNinja52]

took my gf around the block once... neither of us were really prepared, my first time 2 up and her first time on a bike

She told me she kept thinking the bike was gonna fall over when we turned..
/facepalm

I'll let u guys know how it goes next time

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by DarkNinja52

took my gf around the block once... neither of us were really prepared, my first time 2 up and her first time on a bike

She told me she kept thinking the bike was gonna fall over when we turned..
/facepalm

I'll let u guys know how it goes next time

Normal for a first timer on a bike. Take it slow, easy and smooth for her (and yours) comfort and confidence.

My wife gets scared anytime I get a good lean on @ 55mph. We just have different comfort levels.