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New poll about carrying passengers

  1. #1
    Lifer oreo_n2's Avatar
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    New poll about carrying passengers

    I wanna get everyones ideas on carrying passengers.
    I think you may know by now that i hate the idea of someone else on my bike with me. I tried to be open minded and try it. but what i find as i get more and more experience, is that its pretty much torture to have to carry someone. it totally kills all the fun involved in the riding experience. The bike handles like crap, accelerates like crap, brakes like crap and when i push it the teeniest bit she is never holding on and yells at me for almost dropping her.
    I also now realize its ritarded to try to keep up with anyone with the extra weight on the back. (TL's sound very nice as they pull away from you like you were standing still)

    anyways, i guess this was a chance to vent a bit too. i am trying to get better at riding and doing it aggressively but everytime i put someone on the back it completely fucks up everything for bike operation and i have to relearn all the stuff i already know all over again. then i ride by myself again and then i have to unlearn back to the way the bike should operate.

    AAARRRRRRgggghhhhh.

    i guess i need two new bikes, one for *REALLY* riding and one for carrying a passenger (when its time to cruise around like an old fart with someone else on there.)

    oh well, so what does everyone else think about carrying someone, are my woes cause i am still kinda rooky, is it cause my little bike is a li'l bitch, or am i just moody?! What kinds of passenger experiences have you actually enjoyed?


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    Brent LRRS #772
    2006 KTM 560 SMR

  2. #2
    Lifer oreo_n2's Avatar
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    New poll about carrying passengers

    yea yea yea. I told her. at least once, i know i can remember mentioning it at least one time or another. hehehehehe.
    Boy the worst one was when we met up with some folks up there at the Redhook... cooter spun it up, and i just went to do the same and man, the rear end got light for a second. but she stayed on somehow. I guess i should be proud of her for that one.
    So i guess i have spouted about this shit once or twice in the past too, sore subject. man i hate getting senile. I always thought the best part of senility would be... that i wouldn't know it was going on.


    accident... what accident... oh yea. i remember now. thats the other thing i guess that goes into my dislike for tailsitters. actually i guess thats just when i realized how helpless and bad and dangerous a passenger can be. well at least they can be for me.

    ahh well, chalk up one more pro for getting a better bike even sooner.yeeeee haaaaa!!!!!!


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    Brent LRRS #772
    2006 KTM 560 SMR

  3. #3
    Angry Gumball RandyO's Avatar
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    New poll about carrying passengers

    One of the reasons I want to get the new DL1000 is specificly for 2up riding, I can keep up with my SV, but between what my fat ass weighs already (as much as most riders 2up) and a pillon, my SV is strained.

    I have done 400 miles days 2 up, passed on double solids, and maintained 90mph highway speeds no problem, last year I even had an accident 2 up, (no injuries or even helmet bumping, no bike damage, didn't go down, the cage had about 1k worth of damage, lucky I guess)

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    RandyO
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  4. #4
    ....................... PinHead's Avatar
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    New poll about carrying passengers

    I did the Rock pile run last year with a pass. and it wasn't too bad but I was use to carrying a passenger. They need to know some things before they get on the bike, there are rules for passengers too!

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  5. #5
    Lifer oreo_n2's Avatar
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    New poll about carrying passengers

    (more thread bastardization)


    ____________________
    Cameron!, the resident smartass
    AIM: crw15213
    Ridding the world of thread bastardization, one post at a time
    kind of an oxi-moron huh? Or would it be a pairoducks?

    Anyways, beat it with those big ass grafix!!!


    I'll show you some stickers PUNK!@

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    Brent LRRS #772
    2006 KTM 560 SMR

  6. #6
    Lifer oreo_n2's Avatar
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    New poll about carrying passengers

    umm you should have said your friend was a girl.

    now i will alwayw wonder.

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    Brent LRRS #772
    2006 KTM 560 SMR

  7. #7
    Junior Member
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    New poll about carrying passengers

    Just too throw in my 2 cents... unlike tiller i don't ride with guys on the pillion

    My best passenger between 7 and 30 also happens too be the youngest my 7 year old niece. Her light wieght means i can still ride without upsetting the bikes setup to much, i still try to keep it slow to be safe yet fast enough to be fun and if you ask her what her favorite part of a ride is she'll alway's point out where the twistest part was with detail. I also ride with her 9 yr old sister, who started riding with her dad last year. Before i took the 7yr old on her first ride on a bike I tried to explain to her what was going to happen as simple as i could and what I expected from her. I told her how she needed to lean with me in a turn, even though we were getting closer to the ground and not to be afraid of it. Since then she's become the best passenger you could ask for and keeps geting better. However her 9yr old sister I've had to reteach about being a passenger. Her dad rides a cruiser and never had the talk with her about what's needed so she would wiggle on the seat, and try to sit up on the corners Major nightmare of a passenger. She's slowly improving.

    The best thing is for you and your passenger to be comfortable on the bike. Start with having the confidence in your own riding ability and bike. Then explain (without all the physics) what you and the bike are going to do while in motion and what you need them to do as a passenger. As always practice makes perfect. Those of us that have taken a MSF course have already heard that.
    You may laugh at the idea of a riding course,,, hell I did. I started riding as a passeneger when I was a gleam in my fathers eye, and had my first dirt bike before i was in first grade. The MSF course pointed out my bad habits and showed me how to explain what I wanted from my passengers. Since then it has been easier for me and my passengers.

    above all have fun!!!!

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    work??? some day I will, but today lets ride...
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  8. #8
    Bikeless Prick
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    New poll about carrying passengers

    Mick... was he at least kind enough to give ya a reach around?

    Hey, it's all about the love... and trust. I've had plenty of riders on the back that were timid and made 2up riding unbearable, as a matter of FACT, I divorced 'em both!

    Fortunately my current s.o. is one of them silent but violent types. She likes to beat on me, especially if I go to slow with her on the back... :o

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    Rich

  9. #9
    Lifer
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    New poll about carrying passengers

    Brent,

    Not having carried that many passengers, and not having much more experience than you, I'd chill out. You seem a little impatient to get a bigger bike. You (and I) still have a lot to learn. You might get the bigger bike and then decide carrying a passenger is still not fun, cause you and your passenger just need to learn more.

    Perhaps you need to shift differently with a passenger. What's happening? Are you bogging out of the corners or something?

    Ben

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  10. #10
    Angry Gumball RandyO's Avatar
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    New poll about carrying passengers

    riding 2up is good practice for being smooth and makes you a much smoother rider all around.

    oh yea, and if yer ridin home on a dirt road after havin a few at Stonnerstock, warn your passenger that thers a corner that you apex pretty close to the brush on the side of the road, make sure she knows that its only some overhanging brush thats slappin her in the face and yer not ridin thru the woods

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    RandyO
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  11. #11
    Bikeless Prick
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    New poll about carrying passengers

    make sure she knows that its only some overhanging brush thats slappin her in the face and yer not ridin thru the woods
    Oh come on Randy, like we're supposed to believe you weren't actually riding through the woods?

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    Rich

  12. #12
    Lifer oreo_n2's Avatar
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    New poll about carrying passengers

    hey what are you doing with that trail 70?

    I gotta minitrail Z50, its not working yet though. once i finish rebuilding the motor we should race em. i wanna get the shocks for jumping that li'l bitch... but they are pricey.

    now the problem for me with passengers, is that everything changes. I dont dare take it into a corner hard cause the rear end sags so much with her on there already and i dont like the way it handles then. plus the rear suspension on mine is a PAIN IN THE ASS to readjust and i dont want to do it everytime i am carrying someone. There have been a couple of times i took an on ramp pretty quick with her on there, and it was just weird, kept wanting to track out real wide, no matter how far i leaned it. (i did get a talking to about leaning THAT far over with her on there) Anyways, acceleration just sucks in general though. if i want to womp on it i need to keep the revs over at least 5k... but that means she is hanging off the back and that i am gettting pulled back too.... damn she gots some grips.
    then braking... well its obvious that more weight means longer stopping time, but it amazes me about how much longer the stopping is.
    she is not all that bad of a passenger in the long and short. she does lean with me and do her best to be unnoticeable. but the bike just doesn;t act right. and i am a bit of a dick when i am riding... as far as shifting smooth and all that kinda stuff. in part cause i am just a dick, but also in part cause you need to rub that machine just right to get it to move at a good rate. I like the idea of a sport bike cause i can ride fast adn enjoy some serious handling and performance. i just dont like to have someone on the back at the moment, cause i cant enjoy it then. maybe with time that will change. right now we are working on delivery of her little bike though so this shouldn;t be an issue for very long.

    anyways i talked it over with her and we are gonna try a few random weekends just tooling around by ourselves for practice out by MM riding those twisties through the woods.
    but for stonnerstock... i am riding solo, especially for the rock pile and she is gonna catch up in the cage later on friday.

    it will all work out in the end.
    thanks for the input!

    and put those damn sticker over in the NESR store.


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    Brent LRRS #772
    2006 KTM 560 SMR

  13. #13
    Lifer oreo_n2's Avatar
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    New poll about carrying passengers

    oh yea, so for the new bike... i am definitely thinking a one liter twin, but i want to be fair and try out an R1 as well. I will probably be looking towards the end of this year to pick one up when the prices are down. so that next year i can start fresh and relearn everything for a new monster all over. So i need to ride an AWFUL lot this summer so i can learn everything imagineable before i get on a... of what did he call it,
    "suicide with keys"


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    Brent LRRS #772
    2006 KTM 560 SMR

  14. #14
    Member Rabid1's Avatar
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    New poll about carrying passengers

    All I can say is slip the clutch on the TLS just a teeny bit on the highway with my 120lb wife on the back and were looking at sky......

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  15. #15
    KB KB's Avatar
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    Riding 2 up

    I ride my girl all the time 2 up. I have 2 VERY IMPORTANT TIPS:

    If your bike has the kind of rear shock that you need a spanner to stiffen the spring then get out the tool kit. remove the spanner and crank that shock up at least two notches.

    Set the rebound up one notch as well.

    Do the same with the front forks. Crank the spirng tighter

    Increase the rebound.

    These are huge adjustments that will greatly improve the comfort and handling of the bike.

    My girl isn't light lets just leave it at that. Before I was old enough to own my own bike my Uncle (BMW rider) used to tell me to hold the fluck on while he got the tool kit out and did the exact same thing as I just mentioned. Not knowing what the efff he was doing then i just shrugged happy to be getting on the back.

    When I got a bike and my girl wanted to hop on. It all became clear. One call to Uncle and he said "Shit son I though you never paid attention" how's it ride?

    Much better. Always adjust the suspension for two up you will notice the difference.

    KB

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  16. #16
    Junior Member PrplHaz4's Avatar
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    New poll about carrying passengers

    I've done a good share of 2-up....and it definately works best when the passenger is comfortable being on the back...I just tell her to look over the shoulder I'm turning into, and don't move around a lot when we're going slow/stopped. I don't adjust my suspension or anything like that (probably should), but everything seems to work just fine. I can go into an offramp, scraping pegs, and not even notice i have a passenger...as far as being a smoother rider, I just shift gears earlier so the throttle's not as snappy...no need to keep it in the revs w/someone on the back....

    Sometimes I even prefer having a passenger....gives ya something to do at those red lights....


    JJ

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  17. #17
    Jon and Clara's Dad snaggle's Avatar
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    New poll about carrying passengers

    The most important thing I have noticed, is having someone on the back who pays attention to the road, and gets ready for the stops and starts. My girl also does like rachel and puts her hands on the tank when we are braking. This helps alot!

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