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two up riding advice...


oldschoolsdime92

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Granda080 and my fiance and I were relaxing last night and got to talking about riding two up.My fiance has expressed a lot of interest in some two up touring. I have a Penske adjustable rear shock. What should I adjust? It's real soft when the two of us are on the bike. I also came across this on another forum..

http://www.chuckhawks.com/motorcycle_passenger_tips.htm

Does anyone have anything else to add?

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If it's set for you it's always going to be real soft for two up try to find a happy medium where it's stiff enough for two but not too stiff that you can't tolerate it one up.

that's what I'm thinking too, i guess I should have rephrased my question, what do I need to adjust ? I've never made any suspension adjustments. It was set up, and I have never touched it.

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Turn up the preload a turn or two. Add a few clicks of compression damping. If it's still too soft, which is will be, just add alittle more preload. Becareful on adding too much compression damping as it'll make it harsh. If you have a triple clicker (ie high and low speed compression along with rebound) start with turning up the low speed a few clicks and the high speed one click. Adjust from there until it feels good.

Always make a note how much so you can set it back to where it was.

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To position yourself perfectly for a turn, just look over the rider's shoulder in the direction of the turn. If the motorcycle is turning right, look over the rider's right shoulder; if it is turning left, look over the rider's left shoulder.

You don't have to do anything else; looking naturally over the rider's inside shoulder will automatically put your weight right where it belongs in a turn. Keep your body in line with the rider's body to prevent the motorcycle from leaning more than the rider intends. (When going straight, it doesn't matter which shoulder you look over.) Never lean out of a turn; you could cause an accident that way.

This is key....make sure it is understood....really understood.

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Never lean out of a turn; you could cause an accident that way.

This is key....make sure it is understood....really understood.

I gotta say, if you're riding as conservatively as you should, and you really understand countersteering like you should, it might surprise you a little if they lean the wrong way, but you as the operator should have no problem at all compensating for that...

if a new passenger causes an accident by leaning the wrong way, you were riding way too fast, or you had no idea how to countersteer properly...

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Turn up the preload a turn or two. Add a few clicks of compression damping. If it's still too soft, which is will be, just add alittle more preload. Becareful on adding too much compression damping as it'll make it harsh. If you have a triple clicker (ie high and low speed compression along with rebound) start with turning up the low speed a few clicks and the high speed one click. Adjust from there until it feels good.

Always make a note how much so you can set it back to where it was.

This is what I'm after. I just don't know what's what. I have an adjuster on the remote resivore, one on the bottem near the dog bone and then the adjuster on top of the spring.

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i really need to figure this preload out on the vfr...sounds like itll help!

my vfr had the remote adjuster.. with me, the wife, and full luggage, i had it maxed out and it still wasnt enough preload. i should have bought a heavier spring for it

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I gotta say, if you're riding as conservatively as you should, and you really understand countersteering like you should, it might surprise you a little if they lean the wrong way, but you as the operator should have no problem at all compensating for that...

if a new passenger causes an accident by leaning the wrong way, you were riding way too fast, or you had no idea how to countersteer properly...

The big way a passenger can screw up a turn is to move around and catch you off guard. Such as they lean the wrong way going into a turn and fight your leaning then they realize the should lean with you and do so mid turn creates a pucker factor. To prevent that you have to make sure they know how to lean such as stated above or keep your helmet lined up with mine. If you like to ride a little more spirited this is a must. When I get a new passenger I make sure they are wearing gear helmet jacket gloves and boots. At a minimum for a short ride helmet and boots. I tell them they need to lean with me and not fight it keeping their helmet lined up with mine. I tell them that if they need to to hold tight onto me like a hug. If they are moving around too much I'm going to grab their left arm and pull it so they know to lean in tight and hold on. Then I go and ride and build up from taking it easy to almost how I normally ride.

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my vfr had the remote adjuster.. with me, the wife, and full luggage, i had it maxed out and it still wasnt enough preload. i should have bought a heavier spring for it

was yours abs I'm assuming then?

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My dad tought me how to ride 2up, he hopped on the back of my 77 750, and every turn he would flop back and forth as hard as he could... I could feel the bike trying to move, but I found I was able to compensate for the motion with the handlebars and easily stayed in my lane...

It's nice if the passenger cooperates, but even if they don't, that is no reason to crash.

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