by Melissa Eymann
In all my years riding, there has been nothing scarier to me personally than riding with a passenger. It’s a sink or swim, do or die proposition for me. There isn’t a class that I know of that will teach you how to ride with someone on the back of your bike. It’s just something you kinda figure out. The part that scares me is, if you don’t get it right, it’s gonna get ugly for you and your passenger. That’s a risk that freaks me out.
Today in my casual browsing I stumbled on a video from Ride Apart, you savvy folks might remember them from the video they did on lane splitting which is something I plan on covering in the coming days. The video that grabbed my attention was about riding with a passenger. Not just any passenger, but one thats 150 pounds heavier than the rider himself. It’s a fun watch, and informative.
While we aren’t tooling around on 1000cc sport bikes, the video brings up practical advice for those driving, and our passengers. Some advice that may seem obvious but still worth mentioning.
What have your experiences with passengers been?
I have to admit that the only person that has rode pillion is my daughter. That was only around the block a couple of times. It seems like the front wheel was very light in handling. I compensated for braking early before the curve and slowing my speed. Still a bit scary but the #1 rule I told her. ” Keep your spine in line with mine”
Dave, thats an easy way to describe how to ride with a passenger. If you watch the video there was a point where the passenger leaned the opposite way, and it created an interesting situation for both. Also the driver was not exactly going easy either, by the end of it they had scraped the fairing on the bike.
Great post! I share the same concerns!