2 up trouble

My wife rode on the back of bikes before I met her, she had a co worker girlfriend with a cb350 they used to go out on quite a bit.

She likes riding on the back of my bikes, and I do not mind having her along when she wants to go.

She is too old and brittle to learn how to ride now, new riders WILL dump it, and her back is in no shape for that. Even a scooter would be risky.
Then there is traffic...

So, she goes on the back of my bikes, and I ride very gently and safe.
Unlike many, she does not trust me much, with driving or riding.
Some people will hop on the back of some bozo's bike who does not know how to ride, who then hot dogs it through traffic, that is a LOT of trust!
Misplaced trust.

I would HATE being on the back of a bike, no control.

The worst thing you can do is to risk someone else on the back when riding, no matter who it is.

I will take risks solo, never with anyone else on the bike.

I think it would be smart for a wife to learn how to ride if she wants at a younger age, on a small dirt bike, because before you know it, you get too old and brittle to be dumping bikes.
That way a nice scooter or bike could be delt with without too much risk.

It sounds like the problem is just the low speed instability. You might try just riding around slowly in a dirt area (2-up) to practice balance.

What do you other inmates think about a steering dampener for this issue? I have heard of people using them to smooth out low speed wobbles riding solo in sand, but don't have experience myself. Could this help smooth out the low speed wobbles, or would it just add fatigue from fighting it trying to balance the bike 2-up?

The gravel must be loose, or even loose crushed stone. Try riding down the side of the driveway where it is thinner. Or practice. Slow on gravel should be easy.

That's how I got the DRZ400

We have ridden it 2up for thousands of miles of pavement, dirt roads and serious offroad where other people won't go solo on a bike, but as a result I have dumped it twice.

Once in a nasty mudhole on the way up a steep ridge on a hidden log that kicked the back tire out. We both ended up in deep mud with the bike on top of us. The other time was crossing a wet log in the woods, and again the rear kicked out. By this time she was smart enough to step off and let me end up under the bike on my own


I am not sure what the point of this post was supposed to be, but was headed somehwere when I started typing it....

60+ replies, and I've only seen a couple brushes at the answer to the question on the OP getting better.

1) Be SMOOTH. Every abrupt input you make- throttle, brakes, shifting, turning- is a surprise to your passenger. The smoother you are, the less of a surprise the passenger has. Turtle fvcking (smacking helmets together) is the rider's fault, not the passenger's.

2) There are rules for passengers. How to get on / off, when they can wiggle, when they need to be still, what to do at stops, where to look. You need to know them so you can tell her, then you both know what to expect.

3) See #1 above.

4) An intercom, or some hand signals to communicate, so she doesn't feel disconnected and she knows what she can do to let you know "slow down", "I need a break", whatever, without being a danger.

5) See #3 above.

6) If she wants to ride- with you or on her own- help her invest in some good gear, so she feels comfortable and safe.

7) See #5 above.

8) If she wants to learn how to ride- lovingly send her to an MSF class. Or two, if she wants basic street and dirt skills.

I can't answer for the steering dampener, but it sounds like you need to practice. Not so much by yourself, but with her. I have similar issues on my cruiser with my wife. She's already been to the MSF course, but our issue is that she's only ridden once with me. She's just not use to the slow speed movement yet so we're not as smooth as I wish we were.

Granted, my daughter is a 100 + lb difference but I don't have any issues with her since she's very comfortable on the bike and has already logged a dozen rides with me.

Making a few trips up and down the driveway might help. Either you'll get smoother or it'll convince her to get a bike for herself.

are you sure you suck at it ? or is she just a bad passenger

or is it time to start looking for a new wife

there is more to the story that you are not telling us

maybe you need this http://www.viberider.com/

just might be a keeper.

and she's insightful.

learned my lesson years ago... I could teach an entire class how to do *. but not a gf/wife. no way, no how.

I will teach somebody else's gf/wife how to do *, best to let somebody else teach mine.

IMHO it all boils down to a few basics

1: Trust.
2: Rider smoothness.
3: Passenger smoothness, closely related to 1.

As a small anecdote, I used to ride a Honda cub. Definitely under 200lb. I'm about 132lb and my brother about 240lb. He trusts me, he's smooth (he himself rides) and we've never had a scary moment, neither on the cub nor on heavier bikes.

Put him as pillion behind my dad whose skills he doesn't have faith in and it gets nasty! He gets tense, starts leaning opposite to the bike, fights the rider and my dad swears he's going to kill them both!

Also with lighter passengers I've found the same applies. When a girlfriend was comfortable enough to yell at me to go faster (I tend to putt putt along even on the 650) she was fun , when another girl was tense, it wasn't.