Ducati Monster Forum

Lately a few passengers have mentioned how it's a bit scary riding on the back since it's hard to know where the seat ends. While having them hold on tight can be fun, when they started giving me the heimlich I figured a mod was needed. Do you guys know if there is any part out there or have made one yourself that provided a sort of rail at the back of the seat? Kind of like the SV650 pic here.

(http://i32.tinypic.com/2mqu53r.jpg)

It's kinda big, but: http://www.monstrack.com/backrest.html (http://www.monstrack.com/backrest.html)

Girl Falls Off Motorcycle (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05YjnlfqKBs#lq-lq2-hq-vhq)

DUDE....  THAT'S BRUTAL!!!  It's one thing when a squid shows off and wrecks, but it's another thing when the passenger eats sh*t becuase the rider is an idiot...

Doh!
Perhaps you should have them hang onto your inseam?  :o

But seriously, isn't there an entire chapter in Total Control?

Just answered my own question Chapter 14... "Riding Two-Up" It shows some of the proper ways to hold and  lean etc. Perhaps teaching the girl a few techniques would be more helpful. Certainly cooler looking than an "Oh S*@t" handle.

my wife road 2-up for 2000 km.. biggest problem was her sliding forward when her legs got tired. we had look at getting a the givi rear rack system to give her something to hold, but in the end i felt way more comfortable her holding me. I knew if she was prepared for any manuever, could tell when she was paying attention or getting tired. there's a lot of feedback. i think if she was holding a rail... is she holding it tight. is she stretching, is she... to many if's for me.

my g/f started letting go of me and holding the grab rail yesterday. it freaked me out and i was afraid to do anything, but when we got to a corner she leaned in and held onto me.
she enjoyed the ride a lot more when she did that.

however, i would feel safer if she was leaning in and i could feel her body position.

yeah that was my situation too. without her leaning in or holding on i wasn't confident she was leaning into the turn with me. maybe if we have comms i could check with her before turning?

Motorcycle Consumer News had an "innovation of the month" that was a handlebar that attached to your tank for the passenger to hold on to. I can't remember what issue, but me thinks it was maybe 2 winters ago. Apparently race schools will use it for students to get the "full experience." I'll try finding out what brand it was, but if someone can chime in  [thumbsup]

Being in contact with the rider is IMO essential for both to know what's going on.

To help further I got the TriboSeat sticky passenger seat cover, TechSpec tank grip pads and a "love handles" belt to hold on to.

My Monster friend has the Monstrack. They like it a lot, his GF often falls asleep if there aren't enough twisty stuff going on.

riding a cruiser and having a sissy bar for your passenger to lean against is one thing when i had my cruiser it was no big deal for my wifes body position but on a sportier set up, like mentioned before its critical to feel what your passenger is doing, when i finally took my wife on the monster for a ride it was obvious after a bit that i had to pull over and remind her what she needed to do for it to be a safe ride for both of us.

Found it: http://www.a-sider.com/produits,ingles.html (http://www.a-sider.com/produits,ingles.html)

Its a handle that attaches to your tank and gives passengers both the ability to wrap their arms around you, for balance purposes, and a sturdy handle to hold on to. Pricey, but worth it if you're doubled up alot.

Lost my girlfriend (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj6ket8igOg#lq-lq2-hq-vhq)

duct tape has always worked well for me

Here is a pic of a similar device in action

(http://www.ultimatemotorcycling.com/files/Ducati-Desmosedici-Track-Day%204.jpg)

Cool idea, but it seems like a lot of force could be transmitted into a connection that wasn't designed for it.  ??? Pics look like it works OK, but I'd be nervous.

(http://thekneeslider.com/images/motorcyclerollcage.jpg)

go all out  ;)

They have something similar in France, but it has a roof on it.

That looks like it would be hard for the rider of the bike to get away from it in a bad situation...

Do I see a seat belt on the passenger?

been there, done that. pregnant dog did it all wrong. You don't fly off and land on your chest - you grab what you can, hold onto the grab bars for a bit, ride the tire, and then bounce down the street on your butt. It only counts if you don't have passenger pegs though. If you have pegs, there is no excuse for that shit.

Are you thinking of these?  No passenger seat.

(http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/27-France.jpg)

On our first date, I rode on the back of MrI's S4R, holding the grab rails.

To encourage me to hang onto him instead, he blipped the throttle, sending both feet flying in the air (they were about level with his head). :o

Luckily I have strong arms, or that first date would have been a last date. [cheeky]

(BTW he ended up just asking me to put my arms around him later on that evening, which worked much better. ;D)

whats wrong with duct tape?

The rear of the Monster seat slopes down, so it doesn't really instill confidence in a novice passenger.
I'm 6'1" and my GF is 5'7", and two-up is sorta OK.
I'm about 165# and my girl is ~130#, and there's just really not a lot of room.
If both you and the passenger are smaller, it's better.

The SV-style rear handle might be OK for a leisurely ride, but it's really hard for the passenger to hold on to while leaning forward.
Kinda the same for the Monster side handles.

It is better for the passenger to hang onto the rider.
The grippy seat covering that stopintime mentioned may be something really helpful.

I haven't been a passenger on a Monster, so the above is my recollection of what my passengers have said.

IMO:

No Moto Experience as a Rider

Most of them are good IME.

Moto Experience as a Rider

50% are good passengers.
They know what's going on, and don't try to 'ride the bike'.

50% try to 'ride the bike' and they're really not good passengers, at least initially.
I'll tell them to either hang on to me and lean like I do (best) or be 'one' with the bike (works *OK*, better on a heavier bike).

You don't need any gadgets. Just make sure to tell your girl to hold herself up with her core and support herself with the tank when needed.

(http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs139.snc1/5940_527739723350_14900443_31452286_2772887_n.jpg)

(http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs159.snc1/5940_527833959500_14900443_31456293_4385636_n.jpg)

(http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs159.snc1/5940_527833944530_14900443_31456291_2700189_n.jpg)

(http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs139.snc1/5940_527834288840_14900443_31456345_3336376_n.jpg)

I don't remember the part where you told me that  ;)

I do remember when you offered to ziptie me to you so I could nap on those last few hours of slab though  [laugh]

Yep, I think those were it, maybe in my mind there was a passenger seat and a wheelie bar.

That sly  [evil]

Hey! why use duct tape when zipties will give you the same results with less of a mess?

The BMW scooter has a passenger seat outside the roof/wall as an option, in place of the luggage box (IIRC)

Looks like a 4/5 point harness...

I do not trust anything that lists "Instability" as the main benefit!  [laugh]

From thier website:
"The main benefit of A-SIDER is, above all, the passenger's instability."

hahahaha

My girlfriends daughter slipped off the back of the bike last year.  I was at a red light behind to cars and when I took off (not fast because I was behind the cars) she slipped off about 1/2 way through the intersection.  At the time I had just put on a Corbin seat and it was pretty slippery and she wasn't paying attention )like a typical teenager).  She slid back and hit both legs on the end of the cans then grabbed onto something and stopped herself from falling backwards but basically slid down the tire on her stomach.  She had gloves, helmet, jacket ans jeans on so all that happened was a little road rash through the jeans and on her stomach where her jacket rode up from sliding down the tire.  By the time I stopped the bike she was already up and standing next to the bike. 

She didn't ride much more last year but this year I got the Tribo seat cover and she really likes it because she can't slid around at all with it on there. 

The GF can't stand the Tribo seat for the same reason though.  She doesn't like being stuck to the seat.  Luckily she pays more attention to what's going on and hasn't come close to falling off the stock seat.

If that were my daughter there would be one less squid and one huge pot of calimari.

fry the "calimari" and I'll help you out. :-X