[Lead_Teeth]

I have carried passengers on other bikes and usually prefer them to hold me around my waist because it offers better feedback and makes me feel like I am more connected with the extra weight. But I also feel that they may feel insecure just holding on to the passenger handles.

The perch for the passenger on my Ducati Monster seems especially precarious! In fact, I think I would be kinda scared to ride back there just holding on to the handles.

Any opinions on grabbing passenger handles vs. grabbing around the waist- with regards to riding stability, comfort, safety, ect?

 

[Guest]

well if it's a girl......

the most interesting passenger I ever had was at Brainard racetrack. I was corner working at a track day and they allowed me to do go arounds during breaks....to check the track of course...and a racer had run out of gas.so I picked him up...I even had the tail piece on and just told him to get on.....seeing as how he was a racer I didn't think he would mind if we went sorta fast.....fast for me anyways, I'm on a track after all.....he did not use the pegs or hang on to me or the bike.....and I could not even tell he was there.....no matter the lean or speed....just goes to show what comfort levels and flow can be like.....consider he was in leathers and sitting on hump plastic....the handles to me feel awkward back there and afford bad purchase for lurching ...tell em to hang on.....the connection with that makes it mo betta IMHO.....

 

[MonstaS4]

My wife holds on around my waist. She said she would have to be nuts to hold on to those grap handles because they are so low. I cannot wven tell she is back there until I reach back to check.

Now on the other hand put a moose like Retro back there and you can definatly feel the weight shifting around.

 

[mwb]

I ride my girlfriend on the back of my 620 from time to time. She grabs the belt loops on the side of my jeans instead of reaching all the way around. She likes to sit upright instead of reaching around the front of my waist. I can't even feel her back there. I swear sometimes I am afraid she's going to go right off the back. But she says she is totally comfortable that way...isn't about to fall or anything. She doesn't like the passenger handles at all.....

If we are getting on the highway she'll lean forward and reach around the front. But in town she just grabs the side.

 

[scrappy]

My wife hangs on to the big & hard saddle horn which is located right in front of the seat and behind the tank.

Oh, wait a minute! There's no saddle horn on my Monster!...

Actually, my wife does NOT ride on my bike; I told her my seat cowl was permanently MOUNTED on the the bike. ;D

Alright, enough, in-her-endos (inuendos).!! 8)

scooby ;D

 

[Stu Pedaso]

I rely on my legs to hold on more than anything if I am on the back. I will put my hands along the side of the drivers waist and only grab on if I feel the need to.
ps- Retro- sorry I got all excited when you gave me a lift home from work the other day. I hope it didnt poke ya too much

 

[chaf]

I'm far more comfortable with a passenger grabbing my waist - that way I know for sure that they're still back there. I also find it makes it easier for the passenger to follow my instructions: "Whatever I'm doing with my shoulders, do the same thing with yours."

Passengers who ordinarily wouldn't grab my waist when not on the bike get used to the idea pretty quick.

M.

 

[AllyCat]

Thanks! Tony&Scooby Doo for your thoughts on riding B**CH.
I would recommend getting the 2 up seat by corbin for your passenger. Better comfort! BTW....... I NEVER ride Pillion ;D

 

[kevdusmc]

I would recommend getting the 2 up seat by corbin for your passenger.

 

[mmoore]

Don't know about Corbin, but I'll be doing a review for this site on the Monstrack backrest in early November. Stay tuned...

 

[belladuc]

I'd rather have the pillions hands around my waist too and hopefully they stay there... I really don't want them moving around because they're usually bigger than me - I'll feel anything they do quite a bit. I thought the passenger handles were just on convenient place to bungee cord stuff to. I don't think I've ever had a pillion on my Monster though - just my other bikes.

I was in a m/c shop once and some woman asked me what I thought of the back seat on a particular bike - had to tell her I had no idea.

 

[Guest]

my gf rides on the back quite frequently. She holds on to my sides but seldom very tight. She says it's very comfortable back there on a 1-2 hour ride. If it's a long ride I'll usually increase the preload and compression damping to compensate, and I can't even tell she's there. On the monster, the pillion is almost directly behind the driver, only a couple inches higher. On my 929, she was quite a bit higher than me and I *always* knew she was there.

 

[Guest]

As Michael stated the DML will receive a unit in Nov. to review and I know that you will not be dissapointed. As some of you know DAffe, he is on our design review and we went rining on Saturday. On his request we let hime take it home last night to let his "soon to be.." ride co-pilot.

The unit will allow not only the passenger to ride pillion in a safe/secure postion but will alllow those of you that want a platform for commuting or day riding a place to store your luggage. The Monstrack unit was designed with ease of use in mind and only weighs 4# complete and mounts to the bike in minutes. Our 1.5 yrs of testing has come to an end and once all of you get a chance to read the review, I look forward to your feedback.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Kevin

 

[Mark1305]

Different approach: Has anyone ever tried to mount an ST2/4 seat on a Monster? Just looking at pictures of the undersides, they look like they also rest on a straight run of frame tubing. Or, has anyone tried to modify a stock seat pan to make the back half carry the full width most of the way to the end, them top it off with a custom foam/upholstery job? This latter idea seems fairly doable, and if done right might not clash with the lines of the bike too badly.

I'm always looking at ways to make slightly longer rides more comfortable for my daughter (or any other passenger I might entice into climbing on for a long ride).

Kevin - thanks for the update. I'm eager to see some ride impression of your backrest. It looks very interesting so far.

 

[krista_k]

http://www.ducatigirl.com/grab_bag/monsterass.html

;D

 

[dj]

My wife tells me that it hurts het back a bit to lean forward and hold onto my waist the whole time, so she'll hold onto my belt, or grab handles when cruising. She wraps up pretty tight on the highway and the twisties.

The twists are a bit of a funny story... See, I told her to wrap up when we get to them so that she'll lean into the turns with me better. At first, she didn't do just that. She's used to riding on cruisers with me... Learned pretty fast to grab on tight when taking that sweeping left at 60 mph....

There was a guy riding a Honda sport bike, looked like a V1000F or something, who commented to us as we were getting back onto the bike.. "Takes a lot of dedication to get on the back of that!"