When did you start riding with a passenger?

[Ria44]

When did you start riding with a passenger?
This is my second season, and I may be confident now, and maybe slightly cocky. I always said i'd never ride with a passenger, but i've had a few friends ask about it. When did you 1st feel comfortable enough to take that responsibility?

[ryanG19]

If you have to ask, then you aren't ready. Some could have taken a week and others have years of riding but still refuse to ride two up. Only you will know when you are ready for it.

I'm not trying to be a dick, but it shouldn't matter when other people chose to.

Also, there are like 20 threads on this, so use the search function.

/end thread

[ryanG19]

Originally Posted by Ria44

if you have to say not trying to be a dick, you probably are.

Some people tend to take things completely wrong when you offer the right advice but it doesn't answer their question. Only you will know when you feel ready to ride two up.

[kamikaze]

i took my first passenger in my second season. mind you, i put 12000km on in the first season, so i had a good number of km under my belt. I think it helped too that I took someone that was already a passenger on someone else's bike too, since I didn't need to worry about them, and could just concentrate on riding.

[choneofakind]

For me it was my second season.

You should feel confident in your ability to handle the bike before you even think about taking someone else's life into your hands. Everything that is unstable about a motorcycle is amplified by carrying a passenger. They're wobbly whenever the passenger moves around, and low speed maneuvers are even more nerve-wracking. Not to mention, the extra weight is very obvious in your braking ability and your handling.

Start small. Take a passenger for a little trip around the neighborhood. Practice starts and stops, and make a point to be smooth and careful. The bike will feel completely new with a passenger on back. Make sure both you and your passenger are comfortable before you make it out of the neighborhood and onto faster roads.

[hoodadooda]

I worked my way up in terms of extra weight, so I could get use to how the bike would be with more than just myself on board. Started out with a backpack, then a cargo net with light to heavy objects, and eventually I took my little sister for a ride. I did try to take my 230 pound friend for a short ride just for the hell of it... but my bike didn't like that, so I promptly told him to hop off.

[kamikaze]

Originally Posted by hoodadooda

I worked my way up in terms of extra weight, so I could get use to how the bike would be with more than just myself on board. Started out with a backpack, then a cargo net with light to heavy objects, and eventually I took my little sister for a ride. I did try to take my 230 pound friend for a short ride just for the hell of it... but my bike didn't like that, so I promptly told him to hop off.

that had nothing to do with his weight. there's a strict 2 ball/bike rule, bikes don't like it very much when this limit is exceeded, regardless of the weight of the passenger. so unless you're female, that's what was wrong

[Reswob]

I took passengers around the neighborhood in probably the first couple weeks of owning the bike. With the 250 though, it's not so much about confidence in your abilities, but the fact that the bike handles like crap with a passenger. Adding even a 100-lb passenger to the little Ninja will bring you close to (or above depending on your weight) the weight limit of the bike. Acceleration and braking suffers tremendously from this.

[ninja_sleeper]

Buy a cowl cover and then don't worry about it.

[Kevin2109]

Stop starting new threads on this!!! WTF

[Alex]

Far as I can tell this is her first post on this? But yes - there is already some good info on the site for 2-up riding that might also be relevant.

Here's a recent one that had some good content, I think:

Nervous about riding 2 up.

[hoodadooda]

Originally Posted by kamikaze

that had nothing to do with his weight. there's a strict 2 ball/bike rule, bikes don't like it very much when this limit is exceeded, regardless of the weight of the passenger. so unless you're female, that's what was wrong

How was I suppose to know he had balls??? He does nails for a living! Good to know though, I'll never let another male passenger on my bike again. Ever.

[cuz]

Originally Posted by ninja_sleeper

Buy a cowl cover and then don't worry about it.

lol trust me some times it doesn't work.

had two close calls of braking it people just don't what a seat cowl is

[KawiKid860]

I'll probably get flamed on but at about 2.5 months is when I had my first passenger. And yeah, she is my girlfriend. No, she hadn't ridden before. But I could barely tell she was back there then and now 5 months later we're as smooth as glass. Started off in her neighborhood, started riding around to give her the feel, then did some small acceleration and emergency braking, instructed her on just about everything except that her boot will melt if it touches the exhaust pipe.. oops. Riding two up is awesome. Slower and heavier than solo, but its a great experience to share, especially with someone you're close to. Oh and you definitely have to be careful with everything, its easy to scrape your pegs around corners on accident (not that I take corners that leaned over lol, 90% of the time) since the bike is lower, and shifting takes a ton of precision, slow down quicker and expect pain in the worst parts on heavy braking if your passenger doesn't brace themselves well (luckily mine does :P) except you're a lady so nevermind that last part but still lol. And if its not a 250, be careful on heavy throttle, my 500 will lift up the front with a passenger, even a tiny 90lb one lol.

[MarcoPolo]

Ive been riding for 4 weeksish and I've done it twice with a very light girl. I was scared at first, but honestly it was a LOT easier than I thought. While driving it feels pretty much the same, I'm not taking corners super fast or anything just 35-50 mph city driving. The biggest difference is coming to a stop and taking off. I keep both feet down at lights and give more gas when taking off. Also I try to shift smoother cus she doesn't expect the jolts like I do lol.

[RaZeDaHeLL]

I have no rear seat!

I've been riding for a year and still have never had a passenger. My female friends are too scared to get on and my male friends are too big.

[RaZeDaHeLL]

I know I can handle carrying a girl my size but I'm not comfortable with a 230lb man on the back of my 250. LOL

[Mr.E]

Originally Posted by Alex

Here's a recent one that had some good content, I think:

Nervous about riding 2 up.

I agree! I finally decided after posting that thread and reading every post carefully that I felt confident enough to do so.

After doing so I really learned one thing: Everyone is ready at different times. A lot of people are saying season two, after 12k miles, after xxxx miles. If we're going by miles, I took my first at a little over 3k. I think... Last I checked my bike was nearing 3k miles. :-)

But, I felt confident in my skills, and riding ability, and judgment to finally take a passenger. It's not as hard once you get going really. But if you really doubt yourself, take some more time to decide on it or not. I too started saying I'll never take a passenger. But now I won't mind when someone wants to be a passenger.

When you decide though, read the post from that threat. Then do a search on riding two up. There's about a 4 page thread somewhere on the forums as well, I read that too. It really does help.

[Liist]

I went two-up in a couple of weeks with my girlfriend. However, the first time I went down was two-up going too fast on a bumpy road. I feel much more comfortable going two up, but mostly it's to school where none of the speed limits exceed 30.

[bud_44]

Two or three weeks after I got it I was taking my girlfriend everywhere with me. I always took it easy with her on the bike though. Never got on it or raced anyone. She loved riding with me. So much fun. Lucky for me my second wife loves riding with me to.

[thomason2wheels]

Originally Posted by bud_44

Two or three weeks after I got it I was taking my girlfriend everywhere with me. I always took it easy with her on the bike though. Never got on it or raced anyone. She loved riding with me. So much fun. Lucky for me my second wife loves riding with me to.

That should have been one of non negotiables in your choice of 2nd wife

[Malicious Logic]

I think it was about 2 months after I started riding that I rode my wife on the back. I like the answer that if you have to ask, you probably aren't ready. It was really an impromptu situation for me but I was already pretty comfortable with myself on the bike and trusted that I could control it even with the additional weight and minor movements passengers do that can upset the bike. I personally loved the feeling but coincidentally this was the day my shifter started acting up. That coupled with her saying she didn't have much room to sit on the back of the 250 is why we've only ridden together once.

[dirty nasty]

Fairly shortly. Like a month after I got my bike on the road, not even a month I think. Then again I've been carting chicks around on my dirt bikes since I was in junior high. I've never had an issue or bad moment doing so. Just use your head.

Love havin' me a babe on the back of my bike as much as I don't, sometimes you just gotta haul ass. Kinda hard to do the really psycho **** with a girl on the back if you have a bike that has an engine. On the 250 it's just plain slow, so no ass haulin' happens on the 250 when I'm going 2up haha. The trick is to scare them just enough with some acceleration. Instant panty dropper.

[Lakeshow]

My gf wants to ride on the back when i get my bike, but thats a no go for sure haha. I probably wont feel comfortable until the coming summer and even then itll only be around the neighborhood and maybe to the grocery store.

[Aggrotech]

I actually did the other day. Ladyfriend of mine lives in a small town just north of me (was also the first time i went on the freeway) was to get to her place. The ride over there was crazy, scary and fun as hell..was easily hitting 85-90 for the first time..fastest ive ever gone on my bike. Was originally going over there for her to ride it herself as she wants a 250 and she has not been on a bike since her MSF class..well after an hour she wanted me to take her somewhere, was extremely unsure about it as i was not expecting that and i did not inflate my tires properly to go 2up..i told her i didnt and what might/could happen..she wanted me to anyway, so i gave her my jacket (she had same gear as me + my jacket ) and i just had my boots/gloves/helm/chest/back protector..Obviously i took it easy, but wasnt goin too slow..pretty much went around the entire town, chilled at the park and went home to eat with her family. hit the 900mile mark with her on it.

Wasnt bad at all. Obviously like a little more power for 2up but the 2fiddy did its job =)

[Bassman]

Took my wife out on the Goldwing when I first bought it in '89. Never again <gag>. I've had my kids out many times for various poker runs. Train 'em early.