2-up riding...

[mattsz]

Can anyone recommend a resource they like, preferably on the interweb, that gives instruction and/or advice and/or tips and techniques for learning to drive a bike with a passenger aboard?

~ Matt (who has family members lining up for rides...)

[Mike_D]

Best advice that was given to my passenger and I: the passenger should not lean but look the direction that you are traveling thus when you turn left the passenger should be looking (not leaning) left.  It works.  As an exercise have them look the opposite way you are turning just to feel the difference.  Also, assuming you are on a bullet it's a good idea to leave some more space to stop!  Good luck. 

[boggy]

Personally speaking, all your reactions are slower. As mattsz said, you tend to take longer to stop. You may also find you turn wider, as you are less inclined to lean until you get used to the weight.

One tip I can recommend is see if you can find someone who is an experienced rider, and get them to be your passenger so you get an idea of how someone should feel back there.

[Arizoni]

I like the "... look the direction that you are traveling" advice.
In addition to that, stress to the passenger that they should NOT attempt to lean or change their seating position while your turning.

If they follow that advice, carrying a passenger is like having a large, heavy lump back there so the rider can concentrate on controlling the bike.

[barenekd]

They should sit parallel with the line of the motorcycle. And don't let them hang onto your shoulders. Have them hold you by the waist.
Bare

[ace.cafe]

Once in the late 1970s, I was riding with this chick on the back of my Ducati, and I was turning into a parking lot, and all of a sudden the bike tries to take a dive on the low side, but I saved it from going down.
I then asked this chick what happened, and she said that she saw the ground was pretty close, so she wanted to lean over and touch the ground!
It damn near dumped us both off, when she pulled that stunt.

[JVS]

I then asked this chick what happened, and she said that she saw the ground was pretty close, so she wanted to lean over and touch the ground!
It damn near dumped us both off, when she pulled that stunt.

ace, I'm sorry about what happened at that time, but I honestly chuckled after reading that. 

[mattsz]

Thanks for the tips, guys!

My wife tolerates my ride, but she sure doesn't like it.  She thinks, however, that if she takes a ride on the back, maybe she'll "understand" a little better, and feel better about my safety if she's been aboard herself.  I've told her that both she and I know that's bogus, and that she'll probably want off within the first 10 feet - she's admitted that's probably true, but she's hanging onto the idea.

Perhaps even more interesting has been my mother's reaction to my taking up riding.  I was sure that she would thoroughly disapprove (now keep in mind that I'm 45 years old!), but in fact after some basic "are you sure about this" questioning, what she said was, "I think I would like a ride."  None of you knows my mother, but I'm here to tell you that it came as quite a shock!  It may have had something to do with the attached photo.

That's my grandfather, in 1928.  I'm told by the "experts" on ADVrider that it's a +/- 1927 JD Harley.  It's pretty beat up, but if you could have heard some of his ride stories, you'd understand!  He always said, however, that the bike was "old" when he bought it, so I can understand the damage due to rough treatment, but it doesn't explain the patina.  I'm still trying to sort that one out.  He maintained to the end that the woman on the back was his cousin, but behind his back nobody in his family believed it (not sure why it matters, since he was young and single back then).

Al Smith was the  Democratic U.S. presidential candidate in 1928 (he lost the bid to Herbert Hoover - the Republicans were popular in the middle of a time of national prosperity... wait, what was that year again?  Oh well...).  He was also a strong opponent of prohibition, so good on ya', Al.  And you, too, Gramps!

[Rolling Rat]

Do not allow your passenger to ride sidesaddle while holding an infant until you gain some experience.