[Danfriday]

I rode two up yesterday for the first time yesterday and I was quite surprised how well my little VLX handled. Read a lot about this bike not being a good one for Two Up so I was expecting much worse.
She had been on a bike many times before so I'm sure that was a big part of it too. She new not to lean on curves , make sudden movements , etc....
Any tips from you experienced riders would be helpful for longer two up riding in the future. Thanks .

 

[Big B]

I rode two up yesterday for the first time yesterday and I was quite surprised how well my little VLX handled. Read a lot about this bike not being a good one for Two Up so I was expecting much worse.
She had been on a bike many times before so I'm sure that was a big part of it too. She new not to lean on curves , make sudden movements , etc....
Any tips from you experienced riders would be helpful for longer two up riding in the future. Thanks .

She should be leaning w/ you in curves. Rider/passenger need to become one while riding. They need to pay attention to the road conditions just as much as the driver to prepare for what might come up.

 

[gat803]

She should be leaning w/ you in curves. Rider/passenger need to become one while riding. They need to pay attention to the road conditions just as much as the driver to prepare for what might come up.

I agree that your rear should pay attention to the road, even though it rarely happens.

Unless I'm on a sportbike performing very aggressive moves, there is no way I want a rear leaning with me. I control the machine, they don't. I need to know what's going to happen and if they don't do the same thing all the time, it's a problem. My advice to a passenger is always keep your back in line with the sissy bar and stay neutral.

 

[rkforrest]

THats what I tell My Wife.Lean Back on the Backrest and no sudden Moves or we both end up in the Ditch.

 

[wallasan10]

I tell first time passengers to keep their head in line with my head. But the truth is if they can’t do this instinctively and are always trying to lean opposite of the turn they are probably just too scared to be on the back of a bike anyway.

 

[Danfriday]

I don't know why but I read that this is not recommended when riding 2 up :mrgreen:

She should be leaning w/ you in curves. Rider/passenger need to become one while riding. They need to pay attention to the road conditions just as much as the driver to prepare for what might come up.

From all that I've read the rider should sit straight up and NOT lean into curves.

 

[mzcheever]

I rode two up yesterday for the first time yesterday and I was quite surprised how well my little VLX handled. Read a lot about this bike not being a good one for Two Up so I was expecting much worse.
She had been on a bike many times before so I'm sure that was a big part of it too. She new not to lean on curves , make sudden movements , etc....
Any tips from you experienced riders would be helpful for longer two up riding in the future. Thanks .

Spent a lot of time on the back of my dad's bike and I always stayed in line with him and in turn the bike. So I don't understand not leaning on curves...

 

[RONW]

Originally Posted by Danfriday

I don't know why but I read that this is not recommended when riding 2 up :mrgreen:

I don't think 2-up should be treated as a joke. Yea, teh guy on the 1800 Goldwing might know what he's doing, and note the full protection clothing. I imagine even practiced wheelies riding solo. But avoid those antics like the plague. I don't know if this was here or on some other motorbike forum, but this guy with a total of 2 months riding experience, asked for opinions about taking his son as a passenger to high school not very far away, and everybody jumped on his case. Actually we were kinda polite but it seemed too cavalier a thought.

 

[Homebrewr]

two up takes practice for the both you and your rider to get used to how they need to react

 

[Lakota]

I agree that your rear should pay attention to the road, even though it rarely happens.

Unless I'm on a sportbike performing very aggressive moves, there is no way I want a rear leaning with me. I control the machine, they don't. I need to know what's going to happen and if they don't do the same thing all the time, it's a problem. My advice to a passenger is always keep your back in line with the sissy bar and stay neutral.

I totally agree here. Surprising, because I normally agree with Bernie, but I don't want the passenger leaning.

It would be interesting to hear the reasons for the differences in approach.

 

[smd753]

I agree that your rear should pay attention to the road, even though it rarely happens.

Unless I'm on a sportbike performing very aggressive moves, there is no way I want a rear leaning with me. I control the machine, they don't. I need to know what's going to happen and if they don't do the same thing all the time, it's a problem. My advice to a passenger is always keep your back in line with the sissy bar and stay neutral.

There seems to be a little bit of a difference in semantics. I would take "not leaning" as what gat is saying: keeping in the centerline of the bike.

I've never had a passenger lean into a curve more than me, but I once had a passenger lean AWAY from a curve. That made for an interesting few seconds and a serious instructional discussion afterwards.

 

[Big B]

OK, maybe I didn't convey my statement well. What I meant was I would prefer my passenger to lean when and in the direction I am. I have had ppl try to lean the opposite direction cuz they were freaked out about the angle. Then that throws off the whole balance of the bike. That's what I meant by becoming one when riding.

 

[squidchief]

I sure as heck don't think a number of the above responders ride 2 up very often! The passenger leans just like the driver does. They lean TOGETHER. The easiest way for that to happen is for the rear rider to push back a bit into the rear seat rest, kind of squeeze her legs a bit against you... never a bad thing... and she ends up becoming part of the bike. Either that, or the whole snuggle up against you and wrap her arms around your waist ... that's works best in the winter. The main thing to remember when riding 2 up is that the two of you have to work together. It becomes the riders responsibility to not make sudden swerves when at all possible and the same for the one in back. The last thing you would want is for the rear passenger to watch the road and try to anticipate your moves. There can only be one driver. It's always best when the rider on back is someone you don't mind getting close to if they weigh much more than a kid. However you end up doing it, just make sure you are consistent. Nothing worse than being halfway into a turn and the passenger goes "oops, I forgot to lean" and jerks their body into a lean.. that can make things get a bit interesting. Hope the two of you enjoy many miles together in the wind!!

 

[Lakota]

Understood now. I tell my passengers to be one with the bike. Kind of a zen thing.
;-)

 

[dernp]

The majority of my miles (kilometeres up here) are ridden two up. My passengers (my kids or the boss) remain part of the bike. They lean as the bike leans. It becomes natural for them and I suppose that practice is the key. I told them when they first started to ride with me that they should never fight the bike and never ever put your feet down.

 

[squidchief]

The majority of my miles (kilometeres up here) are ridden two up. My passengers (my kids or the boss) remain part of the bike. They lean as the bike leans. It becomes natural for them and I suppose that practice is the key. I told them when they first started to ride with me that they should never fight the bike and never ever put your feet down.

+1 ^^ That's it in a nutshell!

 

[elfnyc]

passenger? what who huh ?? hahaha you can have one of these??

 

[squidchief]

passenger? what who huh ?? hahaha you can have one of these??

They come in real handy if they have long fingernails and can scratch my back and rub my shoulders while riding!!!

 

[Buicknick72]

I always told em to just stay straight up. Truth is at higher speed they could be leaning against the turn and not effect my turning of the bike.
At low speed turns they could throw off the balance, but you should be upright at low speeds anyway.

I've found the only time riding with a passenger was "hard" was when I didn't turn up the preload on the rear springs and the bike was sagging in the back, throwing off steering geometry.

I only have one passenger now so it's easy

 

[Mikel1291979]

I ride 2 up the majority of the time. Lean the way I lean is my mantra. They need to be part of the bike. If your taking a sharp turn and they are told to be straight up they will instictively adjust themselves which means they move around. Very bad on a sharp turn. Also they should be looking ahead at the road so if you need to suddenly maneuver the bike they aren't as surprised. From experiance I can tell you a passenger will jump in surprise/fear if they are expecting to be straight and the are very quickly being tossed around as you lean left and right. My passengers wear googles so they can keep their eyes open the whole time.