How much experience before starting to ride with passengers?

[Goosey]

One of the primary reasons I decided to get into motorcycling and buy my Ninja was picking up fine specimens of the fairer half of the human race. I have been taking NinNin (is this too cutesy a name for my bike?) out nearly every night and several hours of day riding each weekend. Probably about 300 miles of experience on it. I am starting to feel fairly comfortable with solo riding; not pushing it too hard yet, but confident enough to handle some twistys, highways, and even a little city traffic.

My question is how much experience would you recommend before I start practicing riding with a passenger. Mind you I don't intend to jump right into picking up drunk weekend party girls for joyrides; I prefer to take it slow and have another experienced rider who has her own gear help me gain skill and confidence first. But I am a bit nervous about starting to practice that since if I make a mistake we BOTH pay for it.

Or am I looking at this the wrong way and solo riding skills are orthogonal to passenger riding skills? Should I just get as much experience as I can with the type of riding I intend my bike to be used for?

[Alex]

No golden rule for this. You're fully responsible for your passenger's safety. In no uncertain terms, they are trusting their physical well-being to you and you alone. How good do you want to be at this before you feel that the risk you and they are now agreeing to take is appropriate?

On the other hand, motorcycles are damn fun. The wife and I agreed that we'd wait a few months before she would ride on the back of my first bike. Ended up we waited about 3 hours after picking it up from the dealership, to ride down the street to show it off at a friend's house 2-up. We survived.

Originally Posted by Goosey

Or am I looking at this the wrong way and solo riding skills are orthogonal to passenger riding skills?

The skills are certainly not orthogonal, but there are some differences and tricks to make the ride more comfortable 2-up. Smoothness matters even more than ever, and everything from acceleration, braking, and turning is affected negatively to a certain extent due to the additional weight.

Here's one related thread.

[wvninja]

Riding with a passenger is a whole nother beast in controlling your bike. I will say you should have full confidence in your abilities as a driver before you even consider having a passenger. If anything take yourself to a parking lot with someone who isn't afraid to jump on knowing FULLY that you are not very experience with having that extra weight. I would also say you could try getting a backpack and putting a good size weight in it. 50lbs in a backpack will make the bike feel completely different.

[ckholloway]

IMO you must be 100% comfortable with your skills as a 1-up rider before you put a passenger on your bike. There are a couple of reasons.

1- A passenger can make the bike do very bad things in the middle of a corner (like sit straight up causing no real ill affect to leaning into or out of the turn in the middle because they feel it is necessary causing the bike to want to stand straight up or drop down. All this can be compensated for if you know what your doing. I talk about the corner more then anything because thats going to be the biggest challenge, however not the only one.

2- If you don't have complete confidence in your skills as a 1-up rider and something should go wrong. How are you going to feel when your passenger is in a cast of some sort or even worse.

I am not trying to be a downer or anything but you asked for opinions and thats mine. Like Alex said you are completely responsible for your passengers life when they are on your bike and you have to be ready to take on that responsibility.

Also, and I know alot of you guys do it but IMO I don't think the 250 is a great 2-up bike anyway.

[ally99]

I rode for a year before taking a passenger on a ride...my hubby volunteered! LOL! He's a great sport! Anyway, he's been my only one so far. I will advise though, you need to have your preload set up a notch or two before having a passenger. If your preload is set for your weight, it might bottom out a lot earlier than usual in a corner with an extra body on back.
In regards to riding w/ someone on back w/ a correctly set preload (mind you, this was only a 5 mile ride :-), it feels funny, but you adjust to it quickly.
I agree the 250 isn't the BEST bike for a passenger, however, I rode on back for 6 months with my hubby before I learned to ride myself, so it works...it just doesn't work very fast. lol!

[backinthesaddleagain]

Good points above. On my 250R I was comfortable. Will put more nmiles on the 600 before I feel ready.
Posted via Mobile Device

[2WheelGuy]

Originally Posted by Goosey

One of the primary reasons I decided to get into motorcycling and buy my Ninja was picking up fine specimens of the fairer half of the human race.

Me too! A friend of mine bought a new Yamaha 400 Seca and brought it by to show me. I'd never ridden a motorcycle before but he let me take if for a spin anyway. I made it about 1/2 mile down the hill from my house when a very beautiful young lady stuck out her thumb. I had her hop on and off we went.

When I returned my buddy was sweating bullets wondering what had happened to me and his new motorcycle. You can imagine his surprise when I pulled into the driveway with a hot young lady on the back. Within a week I'd purchased my first motorcycle and have been riding ever since.

So in answer to your question I had about 5 minutes and 1/2 mile of riding experience before picking up a passenger.

[Goosey]

Originally Posted by ckholloway

IMO you must be 100% comfortable with your skills as a 1-up rider before you put a passenger on your bike. There are a couple of reasons.

1- A passenger can make the bike do very bad things in the middle of a corner (like sit straight up causing no real ill affect to leaning into or out of the turn in the middle because they feel it is necessary causing the bike to want to stand straight up or drop down. All this can be compensated for if you know what your doing. I talk about the corner more then anything because thats going to be the biggest challenge, however not the only one.

2- If you don't have complete confidence in your skills as a 1-up rider and something should go wrong. How are you going to feel when your passenger is in a cast of some sort or even worse.

I am not trying to be a downer or anything but you asked for opinions and thats mine. Like Alex said you are completely responsible for your passengers life when they are on your bike and you have to be ready to take on that responsibility.

Also, and I know alot of you guys do it but IMO I don't think the 250 is a great 2-up bike anyway.

Good advice, but it isn't clear to me if you view the riding skills as orthogonal or not. What I mean is if riding 2up is so different to riding 1up then wouldn't experience with a 2up lead to comfort in that situation much quicker? Mind I am pretty cautious with NinNin and I am talking first about parking lot practice and such.

Don't worry about being a downer; I can take harsh opinions and yours is very reasonable.. But the red-bold was not really necessary I am going to read every message in this thread regardless of obnoxious HEY LOOK AT ME styling.

[CRXTrek]

[Kitdog]

I started riding 2 up taking my son to the skate park on my YZ-125 dirtbike but only after owning it for about 2-3 months, it was a good learning experience because it has no passenger pegs and he is almost bigger than me. On my ninja it was about 2 months also... I was at some bike night and a member of the "fairer half" asked me to go for a ride, just remember she is putting her life in your hands and any mistake is amplified with more weight. any slip up and your both in the hospital or worse... and possible law suits and such.

[addy126]

I stepped into 2 up riding into approx. my 7th month. The N-250 was my commuter to work bike so I was able to log miles and increase my experience level along with becoming "one" with the bike. I was not about to put a passenger at risk just because I felt I was ready in 3 when in fact I wasn't. It's completely a different beast with a body behind you. You have to think about their well being, feel their balance behind you and adjust for speed, breaking, turning, etc. It's not as nimble as when you are 1 up only. Take your time, don't risk another's life just cuz you want to "notch" your belt so to speak. It just ain't worth it..... take your time and don't rush.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by 2WheelGuy

So in answer to your question I had about 5 minutes and 1/2 mile of riding experience before picking up a passenger.

And how much experience did you tell her you had when she hopped on? "Heck, I've been riding this thing all day!"

[Newguy70]

I think one of the prior posts nailed it. If you are uncomftorable with your skills as a 1up rider, then you should hold off on 2up. One of the quickest ways to overcome this would to be by adding a duffel bag to the back of your bike, strapped to your waist, not to your shoulders, with about a similiar weight of another individal (Passenger). This will help you with getting adjusted to the additional weight of a passenger 2up during starting, stopping, curves, etc. If its difficult for you to ride in traffic with the bag, then you have your answer. Hope this helps!

Then againg nothing can really train you for the unexpected. Once my girlfriend fell asleep during a ride, that was scary ...

[ckholloway]

Originally Posted by Goosey

Good advice, but it isn't clear to me if you view the riding skills as orthogonal or not. What I mean is if riding 2up is so different to riding 1up then wouldn't experience with a 2up lead to comfort in that situation much quicker? Mind I am pretty cautious with NinNin and I am talking first about parking lot practice and such.

Don't worry about being a downer; I can take harsh opinions and yours is very reasonable.. But the red-bold was not really necessary I am going to read every message in this thread regardless of obnoxious HEY LOOK AT ME styling.

HEY LOOK AT ME

First of all I use the red text on every board I belong to, it's something I do.
I don't think that riding 2-up will make you a better 1-up rider. The ride is completely different.
I believe that riding with a passenger could make you feel more comfortable on the bike when your alone, however are you willing to put another life in danger to make yourself feel more comfortable when your alone.
When you have a passenger you acceleration is decreased, your braking is decreased, and your handling is completely jacked up.
Let me put this all a different way, in a manner that I would understand if someone were speaking to me. You don't have the skill level to control the bike 2-up on the street if someone should pull out in front of you or stop dead in front of you. Anyone can ride in a straight line with a passenger it's not difficult. It's in the corners or on city surface street with cars that don't see you anyway when someone will get hurt. Can you live with that? If so put a passenger on the back of the bike and have fun. If not then get yourself a little more seat time and try the passenger thing a little later on.
HEY LOOK AT ME

LMAO sorry I had to do it.

[SteveL]

At first don’t take a passenger that is heavier than you are, make sure that the passenger knows what to expect i.e. lean in corners and take it easy.

Steve

[demp]

even with a 100lb passenger, they feel like they weigh 300 lbs when they are sitting on the back of your bike and you are stopping (quickly), this makes me think they should have put dual disc brakes on the front.

[cifex]

Originally Posted by demp

even with a 100lb passenger, they feel like they weigh 300 lbs when they are sitting on the back of your bike and you are stopping (quickly), this makes me think they should have put dual disc brakes on the front.

The front brake can easily lock up the way it is. You'd need more rubber on the pavement to stop faster. That said, I've never had an issue stopping. You definitely need a bit more road to stop but you should be riding slower and leaving more room between you and the car in front.

Just out of curiosity, is your passenger bracing herself against the tank when you are riding? A 100lb girl grinding your nuts against the gas tank can give the distinct impression that you can't possibly apply any more braking force.

[demp]

Originally Posted by cifex

The front brake can easily lock up the way it is. You'd need more rubber on the pavement to stop faster. That said, I've never had an issue stopping. You definitely need a bit more road to stop but you should be riding slower and leaving more room between you and the car in front.

Just out of curiosity, is your passenger bracing herself against the tank when you are riding? A 100lb girl grinding your nuts against the gas tank can give the distinct impression that you can't possibly apply any more braking force.

Oh we've been through all of that, she hasn't done that in ages, but you may be right, more rubber would probably help more than more brakes.

[TenaciousD]

Once you take the plunge, just make sure your passenger is wearing all the right protective gear. I can't stand to see some cute young girl on the back of a bike with NO gear and she has no clue what kind of risk she's taking. Even better when the dude in front is wearing the one and only helmet.