Pillions

Mr Bean · Post by **Mr Bean** » Tue Sep 11, 2007 9:33 pm

I thought my luck was in when my wife finally agreed to ride pillion on my (1998) Storm. Due to my total lack of recent (20 years+), pillion experience I arranged for a friend to take her out for a few miles on his 600 Bandit. The good news was that she liked it and today we bought all the leathers/helmet etc. The bad news is that when we went out tonight I realised just how crap I was.

I found that with our combined weight of 21 stone the Storm felt unstable at low speeds, or hitting minor bumps at 90 on a very mild bend - is this normal due to her being perched a fair bit higher or just my inadequacy carrying a pillion and something Iâ€™ll grow to love and get used to, much like originally getting used to the Storm from an IL4.

The suspension settings have been put back to standard and has new BT021â€™s fitted.

Any others carried a passenger after a log break?

Bean

VTRgirl · Post by **VTRgirl** » Tue Sep 11, 2007 10:10 pm

I do bucket-loads of pillioning on my Storm & have been known to take the odd 100kg+ fella for a blat. I still find it fairly stable & have no complaints.

Love pillioning! Can't say I've ever had much of a break from it though, so no help there.

cupasoop · Post by **cupasoop** » Tue Sep 11, 2007 10:10 pm

Turn the rear preload up a couple of notches when she's on the back

Stratman · Post by **Stratman** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 8:59 am

Turn the rear preload up a couple of notches when she's on the back

I agree

Mr Bean · Post by **Mr Bean** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 1:14 pm

Thanks for your replies. Just adjusted it two notches and will see how we get on later.

Tempest · Post by **Tempest** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 11:29 pm

Errrrrr......

You took your wife out tonight as a pillion for the very 1st time and you were going round (albeit mild) corners at 90

Mr Bean · Post by **Mr Bean** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 7:23 am

Sould have made clear, by very mild bend read M25 and no more than a few degrees of lean.

Another hour and a half tonight with the suspension notched up and it felt better.

Stormin Ben · Post by **Stormin Ben** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 3:17 pm

Do you normally hang off the bike when riding solo?
I move around quite a lot

Therefore when I have a pillion on and my movement is restricted I have to make more of a conscious effort to still weight the pegs as hanging off naturally does
This lack of weighting makes the bike feel horrible

The other thing I've had with novice pillions before is they have an alarming tendency to lean out of the bend (ie stay upright) when the bike leans
This should be VIGOROUSLY discouraged as it makes cornering a truly awful experience

As far as suspension goes, you should find the ride actually improves two up as the shock is then in its proper working range (spring is too hard as standard for solo rider)

Mr Bean · Post by **Mr Bean** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 8:36 pm

Thanks Ben

No I don't normally move around much - unless there's something that need scratching...

I remember well the horrible feeling when a novice sat upright when on full lean, but she stayed with me, plus we were only at a few degrees of lean.

It felt like at higher speeds the back tyre was low on pressure or the rear shock was knackered. I suspect the low speed was more related to a higher C of G and and my unfamiliarity with a pillion on board than anything else.

Would agree on the comfort factor, the extra weight did reduce the number of times my elbow was kicked from the seat.

Pete.L · Post by **Pete.L** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 5:16 pm

Mr bean Said

It felt like at higher speeds the back tyre was low on pressure or the rear shock was knackered. I suspect the low speed was more related to a higher C of G and and my unfamiliarity with a pillion on board than anything else.

Could also be the rebound setting is set too soft. Try moving it a few degrees towards harder. You'll probably have to play with a combination of preload and rebound until you find a setting that suits.
As a good guide line I normally set the rear preload (spring) so that when you are two up the back end doesn't feel too low ( normally shows up worst going around a corner, if feels a bit like riding a chopper).
Once that it set, start playing with the rebound. If the back end feels like it wallows when coming out of a corner it's too soft, turn it towards harder. Conversely if the bike feels really taught (maybe even a bit flighty) and you feel every bump in the road, soften it off.
The best all around setting you can look for will be as soft as possible but with no bottoming out and no wallowing on the power.

Pete.l

Mr Bean · Post by **Mr Bean** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 7:53 am

Thanks for the advice Pete

I'll have a play at the weekend.

Should have thought of it myself - it did feel a bit saggy

Jaglifter · Post by **Jaglifter** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 10:01 am

I had the same problem when I took my son out. Combined weight of some 180kg (at the time - it'd be a lot more now).

I altered all the settings to max stiffness and it performed much, much better.

Mr Bean · Post by **Mr Bean** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 6:16 pm

Tried today with one notch lower on the spring and a turn on the rebound. Felt harsh for both. Backed off the rebound to just under half a turn from std and felt a load better.

Also tried with half a turn on the forks, but that wasn't good, far to firm when hitting undulating roads at speed. Backed off 1/4 turn and again better

Will leave as is for the moment.

Thanks to you all for your advice

Bean

trebs · Post by **trebs** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 7:54 pm

The last pillion I took was about 1.50m tall. The perfect pillon !

I swear the bike went quicker with her on the back though. when we both leaned forwards it was like some super-streamlined bodywork stuck on the bike