When's the last time you rode on the back?

[Checkswrecks]

For all the time I ride, I am probably like most of the folks here and virtually never on the back seat. We had to pick up a car from the body shop yesterday and my son gave me a 10+ mile ride on the KLR. Part of it also was that we want him to get more 2-up experience before he goes back to school, where there'll be a few young ladies.

What an experience! Granted - The KLR is not as solid as the FJR, but the seat was moving, and he put the bike in different positions on the road than I do, and just about launched me when we hit a pothole. Damn he followed a car too close. Don't you turn your head more at intersections? With 2 of us 200-pounders, did he really need to slip the clutch so much to get the KLR going from a stop? (yes!)

Riding the same roads this morning on the FJR, I realized that I was going faster and felt totally planted and secure.

Wow, the trust that our pillion riders have in us!

Checks

 

[Geezer]

The last time I rode pillion was 1975. I didn't like it and refuse to ever do it again.

I think it is much easier for people who never had control of a bike, or if they got a lot of reassuring experience as pillion before learning to ride themselves.

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

I rode pillion once. 1980 in a MSF beginner rider class. It was required. Never again.

 

[beemerdons]

Checkswrecks, Geezer and Shiny: I'm with you, I hate riding pillion; I do think it is easier for someone who has never operated a motorcycle. Fifteen years ago in Mexico I had to ride pillion, gashed GS tire under my arm while riding ***** with another GS rider; vulcanized patch on the damaged tire and I was good to go again. But man I hated that 30 kilometers on the back!

 

[wheatonFJR]

After my AR getoff in 2008, I rode ***** behind fjrrider for 62 miles of curvy, AR roads back to the motel with a separated shoulder and busted ribs.

Thanks Scott! I enjoyed the ride...better than a wambulance.

...sorry, no pictures.

 

[krashdragon]

Checkswrecks, Geezer and Shiny: I'm with you, I hate riding pillion; I do think it is easier for someone who has never operated a motorcycle. Fifteen years ago in Mexico I had to ride pillion, gashed GS tire under my arm while riding ***** with another GS rider; vulcanized patch on the damaged tire and I was good to go again. But man I hated that 30 kilometers on the back!

I hate it too... rode pillon on my b.f's GW (1994 1500). Just went to dinner and back. I told him to get new glasses. He missed the turn. <G>

I flipped up my helmet visor and I got a face full of gas fumes. He never noticed the smell.

So he Finally! got new carbs, the bike has about 220 thou and the old ones were worn out.

Wears a helmet older than the bike, a lightweight jacket (NOT anything m/c) but does wear boots. Uses the GPS so he can hear his tunes.

Ok, he does wear leather in the winter, hasn't owned a car for over 20 years.

And...he rides like an old lady...worse than me! Says he's not in a hurry, and likes to piss off peeps by riding a couple miles UNDER the speed limit.

Told him HE could ride that way, unless he's towing the tent camper, then he can go slower, I'm goin a couple miles OVER the speed limit.

Ok, except on the country roads in Texas, some of those Hiway boys get a bit upset about peeps going 73 in their 70 zone...<BG>

Mary

 

[ionbeam]

Last time was probably late 80's with my brother at the controls. Good mix of very heavy high speed traffic on I95 with traffic slaloming in several small towns. My brother hasn't been shy about putting a bike down and his attitude is that if a passenger didn't piss their pants he didn't give them a good ride. I arrived safely, got off the bike and took a huge breath, shouted, 'I'M ALIVE' :yahoo: and haven't done that since.

The previous time I was on the back of a friends bike in the late 60's, it was late at night and very dark. He was flying on a small back road when suddenly the road made a 90º turn. There was no way he could even try to make the turn. Returning to the scene of the crime the next day in the daylight it was clear to see what happened. My friend simply went straight, I would guess at ~70 mph, we flew over a ditch, a small berm, over a raised asphalt curb with the rear wheel touching down on or about the curb. We hammered the suspension flat on the landing and then slewed to a safe stop in a parking lot. In the dark, for all we knew when we went airborne we could have been heading into a forest or a pile of rocks. In one of the luckiest days of my life we found a parking lot of a small business out in the middle of nowhere. If I were a cat I would have to say that I was down a life or two.

These days, when I carry a passenger those two rides are always on my mind, and it strongly influences the way I ride.

 

[Harvey]

The last time was 1970.

 

[Tyler]

Fourth of July weekend I had the great pleasure of riding pillion with my friend, Geoff, when we were in Wyoming. He is an extremely talented and smooth rider and I trust him implicitly. I won't swing my leg over the back of anyone's bike if I don't trust them. I started out as a pillion so it's not a new thing for me. I enjoyed being able to relax a bit more and not having to concentrate on every single little thing on the ride. Given I'm not at a point where I feel strong enough to ride 2-wheels myself, it was a joy to be able to still experience "the dance" and it will always be in my memory as a very special time.

 

[Duff]

My last memorable experience was about 25 years ago, riding on the back of my dad's Gold Wing to Rushmore. Its one of my favorite memories. I wasn't an experienced rider back then.

I know I have ridden pillion since, but don't recall when/what for. I know it was short and with someone I trusted. I hate being pillion. I'm a control freak as well as an experienced rider and I have my own way of doing things. That combination makes it very hard to bite my tongue while letting someone else call the shots.

My hat's off to all those that ride behind us and give us their full trust. I know there have been a few rare times that I was glad things turned out well in an "unpredictable outcome" situation with a pillion, but I ride specifically to minimize those occurrences. I figure if they trust me that much, it's the least I can do. Besides, I treat it a little like fidelity in a marriage... once the trust is lost; it's never going to be the same again.

 

[madmike2]

When I was a lad.....a very very loooong time ago...on the back of my dad's '47 Harley.

Then, @ WFO-3 in Moscow when some friends lowsided. I rode their damaged bike to the hospital and RocketDoc took me back to get my bike (30 miles?). It was different but more because we didn't fit all that well on the bike. At least I'm tall enough to be able to look around/over the pilot.

 

[exskibum]

Thinking I must've been on the back at sometime back in the 70s, but the only time I can remember is around '64 or '65 behind my Dad on what I think was a blue Honda 450 (or 305 or 405?) that belonged to a friend of his.

 

[07FJRSD]

You've got to be kidding. Pile on Friday.

 

[fjrchooser]

In the late sixty's before either of us had drivers licenses, a I'd ride pillion on a friends Harley Rapido. He'd hop off in a bank parking lot behind the house his girlfriend baby sat at (next door to her own house and very protective father and big brothers) and the bike was mine for the evening. Every so often I'd return in case he'd had to beat it back over the fence.

A year later we graduated to a Honda 350 and were famous around town for pulling long wheelies two up irregardless of which of us was driving. I can't recall riding pillion since though we both spent thousands of miles doing it on those two bikes and had complete confidence in each other.

This was long before 'ghey' existed so we were able to enjoy the experience without being concerned about our reps.

 

[dcarver]

WFO Colorado. RenoJohn. It was great. You should have been there.

Now then, let's get this Friday thing going! :****:

 

[beemerdons]

In the late sixty's before either of us had drivers licenses, a I'd ride pillion on a friends Harley Rapido. He'd hop off in a bank parking lot behind the house his girlfriend baby sat at (next door to her own house and very protective father and big brothers) and the bike was mine for the evening. Every so often I'd return in case he'd had to beat it back over the fence.
A year later we graduated to a Honda 350 and were famous around town for pulling long wheelies two up irregardless of which of us was driving. I can't recall riding pillion since though we both spent thousands of miles doing it on those two bikes and had complete confidence in each other.

This was long before 'ghey' existed so we were able to enjoy the experience without being concerned about our reps.

Well fjrchooser, since it's Friday as dcarver has pointed out: Don't worry about your reputation here on our FJR Forum; since you come from the same State that Bustanut joker hails from!! jes' sayin'

 

[Tyler]

WFO Colorado. RenoJohn. It was great. You should have been there. Now then, let's get this Friday thing going! :****:

There were pics...

 

[HaulinAshe]

WFO Colorado. RenoJohn. It was great. You should have been there. Now then, let's get this Friday thing going! :****:

There were pics...

Oh God! I knew this was gonna start soon!

In an attempt to squeeze in one last serious comment (ya'll have fun with that too!)...

It's a shame that the term "Riding *****" and other discomforting stigmas have become so prominent. There's a lot we all could learn from riding the back seat.

I don't know if I've ridden on the back with anyone since my father died. Probably, but it's certainly those childhood memories of riding on the back with him that I choose.

You pervs have at it now...

 

[phroenips]

That's why there have always been at least two bikes in the garage (currently two FJRs)...one for me, one for my partner. Only time one of us rides ***** is if we need to take our (only) car in for service or something and it's too long to wait for it.