Pillion on Firestorm

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jchesshyre
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Location: Chester, Cheshire

Pillion on Firestorm

Post by jchesshyre »

I have a problem. My wife is perfectly happy on the back of my CB500 (the longest trip we've done on that is London to Morzine, French Alps and back on back roads). Sadly, not so for the Firestorm. She's been on a number of short-ish trips on it, but now outright refuses to go on it because 'it's so uncomfortable'. The problem is that I'm probably having to sell the CB500 because I can't afford to keep both bikes and can't bring myself to sell the Firestorm (obviously). But I really like being able to go on trips with the lady on the back sometimes. I am however aware that the Firestorm isn't necessarily the best choice for carrying a pillion, but then it's surely not as bad as a Fireblade or something...

I have so far tried a non-slip mat on the pillion seat, a real lamb's fleece seat pad, some Oxford 'rider grips' (aka love handles), and have tried riding as smoothly as possible, but something about the ergonomics of the bike means she's still just inherently uncomfy on the bike. She's small (maybe 5ft) which I'd expect to be a good thing for these purposes, but my brother and sister (both around 5ft10) have both been on the back (took my bro to Bruges and back on it) and neither complained at all.

Are there *any* other things I can try to help her be more comfy on it before I give up and swap it for a Deauville or Pan European? :lol:

Serious replies only please boys :|
grumpyfrog
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Re: Pillion on Firestorm

Post by grumpyfrog »

Do you have a back box you can put on so she won't fall off the back?
Don't hassle me
I'll get there at some time
jchesshyre
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Re: Pillion on Firestorm

Post by jchesshyre »

I have just got a Renntec luggage rack for camping but I'm not massively keen on the idea of a box...but I know this would probably be the answer, or something else attached to the rack that could act as a backrest.
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fatfreddy000
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Re: Pillion on Firestorm

Post by fatfreddy000 »

jchesshyre wrote: Thu Apr 19, 2018 10:56 am I have a problem. My wife is perfectly happy on the back of my CB500 (the longest trip we've done on that is London to Morzine, French Alps and back on back roads). Sadly, not so for the Firestorm. She's been on a number of short-ish trips on it, but now outright refuses to go on it because 'it's so uncomfortable'. The problem is that I'm probably having to sell the CB500 because I can't afford to keep both bikes and can't bring myself to sell the Firestorm (obviously). But I really like being able to go on trips with the lady on the back sometimes. I am however aware that the Firestorm isn't necessarily the best choice for carrying a pillion, but then it's surely not as bad as a Fireblade or something...

I have so far tried a non-slip mat on the pillion seat, a real lamb's fleece seat pad, some Oxford 'rider grips' (aka love handles), and have tried riding as smoothly as possible, but something about the ergonomics of the bike means she's still just inherently uncomfy on the bike. She's small (maybe 5ft) which I'd expect to be a good thing for these purposes, but my brother and sister (both around 5ft10) have both been on the back (took my bro to Bruges and back on it) and neither complained at all.

Are there *any* other things I can try to help her be more comfy on it before I give up and swap it for a Deauville or Pan European? :lol:

Serious replies only please boys :|
i have the problem unfortunately, she used to love going on the tdm850 and the old gpz750 but doesn't feel 'safe' on the storm..
it is making me consider opting for a more relaxed sports tourer of some sort in the future but i'd bloody miss the storm..
“If all insects on Earth disappeared, within 50 years all life on Earth would end. If all human beings disappeared from the Earth, within 50 years all forms of life would flourish.” Biologist Jonas Salk
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KermitLeFrog
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Re: Pillion on Firestorm

Post by KermitLeFrog »

Can you get her to describe what's not making her feel safe? Then you may be able to fix it. It could be something like the footpegs are too high, too far forward? Something like that.
"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I squandered" (George Best, RIP)
StuartWags
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Location: Whaplode Drove, Lincolnshire

Re: Pillion on Firestorm

Post by StuartWags »

I think they must be pretty uncomfortable, even for short people, judging by the time to the first request to stop. Wife is 5ft 2ish.

Pan ST1200 was an all day bike
Blackbird has done 2 hours none stop with no issues
FZR1000 Genesis was about 1 1/2 hours


Storm, worst case about 30 mins
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podman
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Re: Pillion on Firestorm

Post by podman »

jchesshyre wrote: Thu Apr 19, 2018 11:27 am I have just got a Renntec luggage rack for camping but I'm not massively keen on the idea of a box...but I know this would probably be the answer, or something else attached to the rack that could act as a backrest.
You know the box unclips in a few seconds so its not a permanent feature? The rack itself is an ugly piece of work so its not going to have too much of an impact!
jchesshyre
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Re: Pillion on Firestorm

Post by jchesshyre »

I have ordered a small Renntec topbox. You've convinced me! I will report back on its success with my wife.

If anyone has any further tips or ideas I'd be most grateful as well.
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MacV2
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Re: Pillion on Firestorm

Post by MacV2 »

jchesshyre wrote: Thu Apr 19, 2018 4:08 pm I have ordered a small Renntec topbox. You've convinced me! I will report back on its success with my wife.

If anyone has any further tips or ideas I'd be most grateful as well.
Yeah fit a single seat & leave her at home...


Joking of course but then I'm single & not even insured to take a pillion... :lol:
Making up since 2007, sometimes it's true...Honest...
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popkat
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Re: Pillion on Firestorm

Post by popkat »

Rentec racks aren't that strong, givi is stronger, with the box on you could at the max carrying weight with nothing in it.. tell her not to lean on it 8O




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jchesshyre
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Joined: Wed Jun 15, 2016 9:09 am
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Re: Pillion on Firestorm

Post by jchesshyre »

popkat wrote: Thu Apr 19, 2018 7:38 pm Rentec racks aren't that strong, givi is stronger, with the box on you could at the max carrying weight with nothing in it.. tell her not to lean on it 8O
Yeah you're right, they're only rated at 5 kg (although have read various forum posts elsewhere saying that's just being cautious) but I didn't get it to carry loads of weight on as I don't want to risk f***ing up the handling by having weight too far back. I also was keen for it to be quick to take on and off.

The rack will just be for bungeeing a small (1.2 kg) tent and/or sleeping bag to sometimes, and I also want to experiment to see if it works carrying Oxford panniers with the rear-most strap over the rack and the other two under/over the seat.

I got the 28 L top box which weighs about 3 kg so as long as I tell her not to lean right back on it (which is unlikely as the seat slopes forward) it should work well.

I hope this might improve things. I wouldn't be surprised if a fair bit of her discomfort is caused by being tense in her upper body and hips because she doesn't feel secure on the back, and that having a back rest helps with this.

The box arrives on Tuesday so I'll see if I can persuade her to go for a quick spin on Wednesday to try it out.
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