We are called Co-Rider, Passenger; we are 2-up, co-pilot. So really what does that mean? From the past we were know as a passenger, we sat on the back or rear seat of a motorcycle. Today we are mostly called co-riders. Why do I say that? To me not only do we sit and enjoy the wind in our face, it is being out looking at the vast scenery, we help act as another set of eyes. We help watch out for objects such as cars, dogs, deer, and people. Actually when you sit on a motorcycle you do not think of these things.
The word passenger to some is a person who has no responsibilities for the operation of the bike or car; they are simply along for the ride and nothing more. A co-rider, on the other hand, actually mean what it implies, they help share some of the responsibilities for the motorcycle such a safety.

Like in a car, we as passengers, only sit and watch out the window, with no care in the world. To some point. Think about it. What do you do? You read, talk on the phone, if there are other people in the car you are talking and paying attention to them. Am I right?

On a motorcycle there are more dangerous situations so you need to pay attention. A great way to know what it is like on a motorcycle is to sign up for the motorcycle course to get your license. You may never want to drive or as the term is called ride your own. But is a great way to know what your driver knows, and what it is like to see what they see and feel on the motorcycle, not only know what it is like to be a co-rider. If one day you do decide on getting your own motorcycle you have already taken the course and are ready to go out on your own.

Now while you are on the back of that bike, there are a few things you need to remember! Learn to sit still. I do confess, I do move around a little. It is so I can get comfortable. Like my rider (driver) he moves around or shifts a bit to get comfortable. So why shouldn’t I? For starters he knows that he is moving, so he can compensate his movements. This is balancing of the bike. The rider, on the other hand, has no clue that you need to move or shift. Here is that word…. Communication…. This is a must! Before that adjustment, let your rider know that you are not comfortable and you need to move a little. This way he is prepared for any changes. When you first get on the back, you are not sure of what to do. For example do I lean with the bike in corners, how much do I lean? Or do I just sit still and not move? Theses questions get answered as you get accustomed to riding. Yes you lean a bit, but you lean as your rider is leaning. Good rule of thumb. Just ask. Was I leaning too far? Etc. If you do not have head set communications in your helmets, then come up with some way to communicate, like tapping on the riders shoulder, hand signals or other forms.
If you think of it this way you are riding as a team. If you see a potential problem or issue, speak up to your rider. Remember they may already see the problem before you do, if not don’t yell it out simply talk to your rider. They in turn should not assume that you see everything especially in front of them. If you really think of what you see, you see the back of his helmet. You have to peek around them to see. One good practice to get into, is to slightly sit to the left or right of you rider. Most of the time, to the right. They see more on the left. From what I found out. While others to the right. It all depends on how they ride. So do what you think is comfortable.
One important note, we co-riders get a lot of wind sitting on the back and the riders sometimes forget that. If it is cold out, that wind really whips around making you colder. Look into a taller wind shield for the bike, and side air wings (air deflectors) they make riding comfortable for the passenger and the rider. It takes a lot of the wind off me and helps keep me warmer. In the summer the air deflectors can be positioned to add wind on us or keep it off.
I haven’t even talked about what clothing gear to wear yet. You see as a co-rider we also get colder than our rider. So we tend to wear more clothing to keep warm in the cooler days while we ride. I make sure I have on layers. You can get long underwear to help out. Also get a good leather jacket that has a windproof and waterproof liner. Some of the new textile jackets also keep you dry and warm. Get good leather gloves that are windproof and water proof some of the gloves you can buy a liner too. Wear chaps or nice riding pants.
I have to laugh when we first go our bike there wasn’t the nice heated gear like now. I see so many people wearing them. They are battery powered. If you have one of those nice new Honda Goldwings, they come with heated seats. So if you get cold plug in your heated jackets and pants. Don’t forget the gloves come heated too. Oh another thing the rider can get those heated hand grips to help keep his fingers warm. Oh what luxury theses days. If you still have questions there are plenty of answers.
Not only are we companions to our riders. We also want to have fun too. SO why should we sit at home, we can spend quality time with the one we love. Which is a wonderful thing to do to get closer in your relationship. Who knows you may find something new to spark your love.

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Judy and Mike
2001 Honda GL1800 (The Blue Dragon)
Motorcycle Touring Made Easy

My co-rider reads Chinese, Japanese, and Korean faster than I do, so when I get close enough to a sign I slow down so she can read it and I don't have to take my attention away from the lunatics who are just about to make a right hand turn across 5 lanes of traffic through a red-light. She tells me if we need to turn, when and where, and if it is on the sign, how far and anything else she can. The two-way com set is worth more than the GPS in traffic. She also tells me if she saw the red (or any other color) car do something really stupid and to keep an eye on it and where it is. She is a co-rider, not a passenger.

Thanks for the comment Hindu1936. I think it is wonderful that 2 people can work together. It makes riding much more enjoyable.

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Judy and Mike
2001 Honda GL1800 (The Blue Dragon)
Motorcycle Touring Made Easy

Can you fix a flat on that monster?
That should keep you busy back there

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

Mollydog, Pillion is the word for the seat position. It is a word of Gaelic derivation and referred to a cusion behind the saddleof a horse for an extra rider--NOT the person who sits on it. Read the laws of some states: "Pillion riders must be at least 16 years of age"The couple who recently set a world record ride a harley. Their bike is the first one to have been ridden in every country in the world. They have put more than 300,000 miles on it. What you ride is of no importance; it is how you ride that matters. There is a guy out there somewhere who has ridden a Vespa 125 around the world 7 times and last I knew, he was working on the 8th time with the intent of riding in every country on one trip. If someone rides a Godlwing, why should you decry his or her choice at every opportunity? Nearly every post you make is ridiculing someone. Why bother? Do you really believe that a person who rides a big harley or a goldwing is less competent than you are simply because they enjoy a more comfortable ride than he or she who rides a crotch rocket, africa twin, or whatever else you might ride?

the entire convoluted/confusing Title of the post. Incomprehensible actually.

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

My daughter is the best pillion rider I know , a complete natural , I asked her once if it was hard to learn how to lean into corners , she said "I dunno , I don't think about it - it just kind of happens " .
I hardly know she is there and ,with me being her dad, she trusts me and doesn't panic or try to steer from the back like a few people I have ridden with .
Funny thing is that I can usually anticipate when she is going to move and hardly notice it at all .
Maybe the smoothness is a habit gained from riding horses ,where sudden movements are likely to unsettle the horse .

Most women detest motorcycles and it is a rare jewel who will accompany her fella and even rarer to find one who likes to ride her own bike .
I don't think it's important that pillions should be able to pull wrenches and change tyres , much more useful to have a division of labour and have a damn good meal prepared with few ingredients at the campsite than two grubby hungry bad tempered mechanics .
[You might have gathered that I am an unrepentant , non politically correct old fossil ]

I sometimes work with a Gold Wing rider and I think he would be really upset if I didn't start taking the mickey out of his bike and likewise he pulls my leg about my old bikes . So I know where Patrick is coming from with his good natured GW comments .

So good show Judy!!- if you can get more girls on bikes [ Gold Wings included ] - great !

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Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light. - Spike Milligan
"When you come to a fork in the road ,take it ! When you come to a spoon in the road ,take that also ."

Yes, riding pillion is common, just as riding side saddle is. The pillion was orginally a cusion behind the saddle for a second rider. It was not the rider, but the cushion that was called pillion. Yes, I have been to meetings of Goldwing riders, Harley riders, and I have never noticed a big difference in their values other than they can afford to buy a big, comfortable machine. I have had them stop on the highway outside of Phoenix to help me get my old 305 Hond Dream turning over again. In Mexico, Three of them pulled over and helped me change a spike-destroyed tire. Just outside of Durango, CO, I had two Harley riders give me a rope and pulled me over the top because it was cold and raining. They didn't bitch about the 20 mph speed they had to maintain for my safety. I was on a bicycle.Most Godlwing riders started out on something else and as wealth accrued and age slipped up on them, they got something more comfortable because they could afford it.

You are right about one thing, though. I don't understand what you call humor. What was humorous about your remarks? I suppose you think asking me if I had been the object of a "roast" struck you as funny. Infantile maybe, but funny? But you did one one valid observation: there virtually nothing to be learned by reading your posts, so in the future I won't. Enjoy the day

Well I thought the pillion/co-rider/passenger advice was very useful. My fiance (6 weeks to the wedding now ) is very good because like most women she actually listens to people and takes sensible advice. My mate is a non-biker and is like having a bag of spuds on the rear seat. My dad (a rider) is the pillion from hell, thinks he's helping by shifting weight where he would on his Guzzi rather than whatever bike i'm giving him a lift on .

To add a little to the jargon list, a sidecar outfit is driven rather than ridden with the passenger in the chair usually refered to as that while anyone on the back of the bike is still the pillion rider. Sidecar racers will refer to the person not driving as the Monkey due to the antics they need to perform climbing all over to get the weight in the right place. The chair-monkey is probably the most important member of the team as someone who will get their visor an inch off the tarmac even when the sidecar wheel is already off is way braver that whoever is simply swinging on the bars.

There is also the old technique when riding a left hand outfit in a right hand country of watching the passengers face when starting to overtake. If the passenger screams as you pull out, you pull back in smartish

Andy

" like most women she actually listens to people and takes sensible advice "

All of that changes after the wedding mate !!!!!!!!!!!!

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Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light. - Spike Milligan
"When you come to a fork in the road ,take it ! When you come to a spoon in the road ,take that also ."

I don't give sensible advice and Karen doesn't listen. Seems to work

Andy

In no particular order

For the past few years I have chosen to work on a contract basis rather than in a stable job with one company. This means I change jobs every few months and have to slot into a new company, with new colleagues and a different culture. One thing I had suspected before and have seen proved too often to be coincidence, is that true friends tease each other; the people who's personal insults are so close to the knuckle as to be almost offensive will be very close friends; most people will pick on some facet of their colleagues for such teasing. The people who do not tease each other in this way either really do hate each other and can barely stand the other's company,. or they are having an affair and are trying to hide it by not speaking in case they let something slip (perhaps Mollydog was just trying to be friends Hindu 1936 (is 1936 a relevant date to you, or does the number have another significance - just curious (or nosey))).

My younger daughter used to be the world's worst pillion - when she was small she danced on the back. A small child on a 300Kg bike can do pretty much as she pleases withiout upsetting it, but she's a big girl now, and her dancing can have me all over the road! We had to have strong words about that! Next year she wants her own bike. I want her to have the chance to enjoy the freedom motorcycles gave me, but I'm also her father. I will not ban her, but I am insisting on the best kit I can afford worn all the time (hypocrite - I don't do all the gear, all the time, but I'm not 17), and the best training I can find for her.

Living with three women (one wife, two daughters, no sons) I would never dare to advise my womenfolk except on very narrowly defined areas where my experience is acknowledged; they seem to approach problems in a totally different way to me, therefore my advice would start from the wrong place! This does not mean I avoid being in the wrong. It seems (to misquote Germain Greer) a father's place is in the wrong.

I am a crap pillion/co - rider but the wife is great.

We tried out signals/sign language but its no match for our £6 intercom from Aldi/Lidl. We can sing along to music chat its great to share the expiriences.

I had an idea on a ride a while back and have still to try it out. Her hands got really cold, holding the grab rails so then i thought why not install the velcro type heated grips on the grab rails she can have a switch and turn them on when she needs too. Has anyone tried this ?

I have the grips and suspect they will work on any round bar.

Plan B: Chemical click-and-warm/boil to recharge goo packs in the gloves. these work for about three hours. Argos and various camping type shops sell them. This worked well enough for my other half until we got the heated jackets sorted.

Plan C: Make your own. You want to buy resistance wire off e-bay to give something like 10W output at 12 volts. Duct tape, the wire and a switch and you're sorted hopefully for under a tenner. I made my own heated jacket and visor this way, if you can get your head round Ohm's law and use a soldering iron it's easy enough.

A heated jacket is actually more effective and less hassle than gloves or grips IMHO, it keeps the feet warm too although when it's really cold a quick blast to the hands does feel nice. The idea that using the blood to circulate the heat does of course require good circulation which not everyone has.

Andy

Hi Molly, How R u?

You are not in good mood today? Is HUBB a place for RTW riders who rides enduros or similar only? What makes you angry?

I must admit I need an English teacher. Sex is not important. Learning is the goal.

I don't try or want to tease or annoy you. I like all riders who behave good. No problem with people. IMHO we have to respect to personal prereferences. When I was going to buy a helmet, I searched a bit, I looked what kind of riding I will do and I decided to buy an open face flip up helmet. May be I decide wrong. How can ı know it before talking someone who is totally expert like you. Meanwhile can you tell me what should I wear on my head in Death Walley if it is 117 F? What do you wear there?

I guess I can never ride a Gold Wing or Silver Wing or similar or a racing jet. I don't like them. And I am only 60 kgs (I guess 132 lbs something), would be very difficult to ride hehehehehe. I feel very sorry for Harley riders. But I never tell them.

With some little effect, we can make everything much nicer.

An I really need an English (and a Russian) teacher.

Stay well,

Samy

P.S.: I really wait for helmet advice....

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"where the traveller goes, nobody knows ! "