Passenger mounting
Rhubarb posted in the general chat about rider mounting. I posted this questions their as well, but thinking you all will have more to contribute and knowledge.
My wife read with interest as she is learning all over again to mount the King. Our Hog Chapter director teased her beyond embaressment. She will not get on and/or off bike now unless we are alone. We have played around in the garage with the door shut. Believe she is doing better by using the right side and getting off on the left side. But she wanted me to ask the lady passengers and riders if they had special tricks or advice. And she is like Rhubard, laugh al you want!!!!
Thanks Reed!!!
My wife read with interest as she is learning all over again to mount the King. Our Hog Chapter director teased her beyond embaressment. She will not get on and/or off bike now unless we are alone. We have played around in the garage with the door shut. Believe she is doing better by using the right side and getting off on the left side. But she wanted me to ask the lady passengers and riders if they had special tricks or advice. And she is like Rhubard, laugh al you want!!!!
Thanks Reed!!!
Well I have seen two methods- 1- throwing a leg over and 2- using the left passenger peg as a step and stepping up and down on the seat.
My wife uses method #2 when mounting. She mounts it just like she would a Horse saddle. Get one foot on floorboard stand up and throw other leg over and sit down.
Work on communication with your wife as well. Let her know it is vital that she give you a tap on the shoulder before she repositions herself on the backseat while your stopped or moving. You don't need any unexpected weight shifting on the rearend.
Our procedure goes as follows:
I mount, kickstand up, roll out of garage and get positioned for takeoff
, then when in neutral with engine running and all set ready to go I give her the ok and she places one hand on my shoulder and the other hand on the backreast, left foot on peg and steps up and over to other peg and then sits down. I give her a few seconds to squirm around and find her spot and when I feel her stop moving I ask if she is ready and if so, we go.
When we arrive at destination I stop BEFORE parking and let her off, then I park the bike Solo. It's just easier to manuver the bike around solo and Safer for her.
All I can say is communication is crucial between the two of you. When your on the bike your a team so communicate like one.
My wife and I have gotten to where we can communicate with just taps on the shoulder or for me I tap her knee.
be safe
My wife uses method #2 when mounting. She mounts it just like she would a Horse saddle. Get one foot on floorboard stand up and throw other leg over and sit down.
Work on communication with your wife as well. Let her know it is vital that she give you a tap on the shoulder before she repositions herself on the backseat while your stopped or moving. You don't need any unexpected weight shifting on the rearend.
Our procedure goes as follows:
I mount, kickstand up, roll out of garage and get positioned for takeoff
, then when in neutral with engine running and all set ready to go I give her the ok and she places one hand on my shoulder and the other hand on the backreast, left foot on peg and steps up and over to other peg and then sits down. I give her a few seconds to squirm around and find her spot and when I feel her stop moving I ask if she is ready and if so, we go.When we arrive at destination I stop BEFORE parking and let her off, then I park the bike Solo. It's just easier to manuver the bike around solo and Safer for her.
All I can say is communication is crucial between the two of you. When your on the bike your a team so communicate like one.
My wife and I have gotten to where we can communicate with just taps on the shoulder or for me I tap her knee.
be safe
ORIGINAL: Seawolf
Well I have seen two methods- 1- throwing a leg over and 2- using the left passenger peg as a step and stepping up and down on the seat.
My wife uses method #2 when mounting. She mounts it just like she would a Horse saddle. Get one foot on floorboard stand up and throw other leg over and sit down.
Work on communication with your wife as well. Let her know it is vital that she give you a tap on the shoulder before she repositions herself on the backseat while your stopped or moving. You don't need any unexpected weight shifting on the rearend.
Our procedure goes as follows:
I mount, kickstand up, roll out of garage and get positioned for takeoff
, then when in neutral with engine running and all set ready to go I give her the ok and she places one hand on my shoulder and the other hand on the backreast, left foot on peg and steps up and over to other peg and then sits down. I give her a few seconds to squirm around and find her spot and when I feel her stop moving I ask if she is ready and if so, we go.
When we arrive at destination I stop BEFORE parking and let her off, then I park the bike Solo. It's just easier to manuver the bike around solo and Safer for her.
All I can say is communication is crucial between the two of you. When your on the bike your a team so communicate like one.
My wife and I have gotten to where we can communicate with just taps on the shoulder or for me I tap her knee.
be safe
Well I have seen two methods- 1- throwing a leg over and 2- using the left passenger peg as a step and stepping up and down on the seat.
My wife uses method #2 when mounting. She mounts it just like she would a Horse saddle. Get one foot on floorboard stand up and throw other leg over and sit down.
Work on communication with your wife as well. Let her know it is vital that she give you a tap on the shoulder before she repositions herself on the backseat while your stopped or moving. You don't need any unexpected weight shifting on the rearend.
Our procedure goes as follows:
I mount, kickstand up, roll out of garage and get positioned for takeoff
, then when in neutral with engine running and all set ready to go I give her the ok and she places one hand on my shoulder and the other hand on the backreast, left foot on peg and steps up and over to other peg and then sits down. I give her a few seconds to squirm around and find her spot and when I feel her stop moving I ask if she is ready and if so, we go.When we arrive at destination I stop BEFORE parking and let her off, then I park the bike Solo. It's just easier to manuver the bike around solo and Safer for her.
All I can say is communication is crucial between the two of you. When your on the bike your a team so communicate like one.
My wife and I have gotten to where we can communicate with just taps on the shoulder or for me I tap her knee.
be safe
That is exactly how we do it too!. works great for us.
We get on the same, but I will usually get off the bike first if we just pull in and park. This gives her more room to swing her leg over in front. I don't know why that makes a difference to her though, it's her choice.
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Ditto for us too. The only thing I might add is that just before the wife "steps up" on the left passenger floorboard, I lean the bike just a bit to the right and she basically counterbalances it as she steps up & over. As she sits down we go back to verticle. That way you are never struggling to "hold the bike up" - you just balance it.
Also agree that communication is critical. It does not take much... just "ready" - "ok"... THat's it. If someone climbs on like that and you're not expecting it, there's a greater than zero chance you'll be practicing the "pick-up the bike" technique....
Also agree that communication is critical. It does not take much... just "ready" - "ok"... THat's it. If someone climbs on like that and you're not expecting it, there's a greater than zero chance you'll be practicing the "pick-up the bike" technique....
ORIGINAL: harleyfanreed
Our Hog Chapter director teased her beyond embaressment.
Our Hog Chapter director teased her beyond embaressment.
With my BMWs I would always get on the bike, kickstand up and then have my wife come on board with a hand on my shoulder and her left foot on the foot rest. I'd have to brace for the weight shift. With my Ultra, it's much simplier, she gets on before I get on the bike and she gets off the bike after I get off, that kickstand can take a lot of weight. At first I didn't trust doing it this way until a couple riding with us showed me that their weight (much more than ours) didn't bother the kickstand. It's one of the great advantages over the other bikes imho.
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Our routine is the same as Seawolf. Still though, my wife really doesn't grasp the fact that she needs to ride the bike too, not just sit there. I'm trying to get her to take the same motorcyle safety training course that I did. She could learn to ride a bike and get the idea of what it all about, hopefully making her a better passenger. I might even get lucky and she would want her own bike.

Thanks everyone, tonight we were out in the garage, as usual admiring, cleaning, and compiling our wish list of chrome. We tried her getting on several different ways. For me and I think she agrees, we were most comfortable with me on first, kickstand down, she climbed on from the right side and threw leg over and even stepped over, slowly too. Having the kickstand down made me feel more comfortable. I really didn't feel I had to worry about balancing. It does make her a little nervous thou when I bring the kickstand up, the lean scared her somewhat, but we are practising and I think this is going to work. We have rode together for some time and we have great communications signals. She is a good rider as long as it is just us. She doesn't like the group rides as they always seem to be in a race and she likes to see the scenery. Hopefully the RoadKing will allow her to want to ride with the group more. Right now, doubtful, she is mad and embarressed from last weekend and our director's comments.
thanks again Reed
My wife is on the small side at 5'0" and we have been riding together for about 30 years. I'm so used to having her there. The only time I can really notice the difference is if we need to stop in a hurry. I usually get on and stand up with the bike vertical and move as far forward as possible, kickstand down just in case. She steps on the left side floorboard and puts a leg over the seat and then sits down. Dismount in the reverse. She usually puts her left hand on me and says "OK" to let me know she is getting on. I have to admit I have never tried letting her mount with me sitting, something we will need to try.


