Ducati Monster Forum

Please add any tips or questions you have about riding two-up (aka taking a passenger, pillion, or cupcake).

FOR THE RIDER:

- Communication is key, make sure you talk with the passenger beforehand about what to expect, communication signals, etc.

- Make sure your passenger is wearing sufficient gear...they are more vulnerable than you, so should be wearing at least as much gear as you.

- Let your passenger know when to get on and off the bike.  If you prefer, feel free to have the passenger wait until you are in a convenient position for taking off, rather than trying to do awkward low-speed maneuvers with them on.

- Ride more conservatively than you do when you are on your own.  You want to make it a fun, not scary, experience for your passenger.

- Allow extra time for starting and stopping because of the added weight.  Your rear brake can be very helpful when stopping with a passenger.

- Be aware that the handling and suspension will feel very different with a passenger and adjust accordingly.

- Passengers will feel bumps a lot more than you do, so try your best to aim for smooth pavement.

- Plan for more frequent stops than you usually would take on your own; the passenger seat is less comfortable than yours.

- If it is your first time taking a passenger, make sure you have plenty of riding experience first and feel comfortable on your bike.  You may want to practice first with an experienced rider/passenger (especially if you are trying to impress someone with their first ride ;)).  Lighter passengers are easier.  That said, I have only taken passengers heavier than myself (some more than twice my weight) and it is doable.


FOR THE PASSENGER:

- Communication is key, make sure you talk with the rider beforehand about what to expect, communication signals, etc.

- Make sure you are wearing sufficient gear: full-face helmet (that fits properly), gloves, boots, jacket, pants, earplugs.

- Do not get on or off the bike until the rider says it is ok to do so.  Do not get on like you would a horse (putting all your weight on one peg) unless the rider has specifically told you it is ok.  In general it is safer to put a hand on the rider's shoulder and lean some weight onto them.

- Make sure you have discussed with the rider how to hold on during the ride.  Some people prefer to hold onto the grab rails, some like to lock their fingers together around the rider's waist during acceleration and brace their hands against the tank for braking.

- Go with the bike during turns, do not fight the lean.  A common recommendation is to look over the rider's shoulder in the direction of the turn (for a left turn, look over their left shoulder).

- Keep your feet on the pegs at stops.

- Try to avoid banging helmets if possible.

- Do not wiggle around at stops or during turns.  At speed, going straight, it is generally ok to move around a little, but make sure you have discussed this with the rider first.

- Let the rider know (through pre-arranged communication signals) when you are uncomfortable and need a break.

That is some very sage advice.  I especially like the banging helmets comment, I hate it when that happens. Maybe it should be a sticky?

Mod?

Anyone?

 Bueller?

Rider:

- At the very minimum, work out an easy to manage signal for stop, slowdown, and hang on.  My fiancée pats my left side for slow down, my right side for stop.  In the event of see a rough batch of pavement or something that's going to really upset the bike, I say hold on by patting her hands

- Stop often at first, make sure the passenger is feeling ok about the ride, pace etc.  Find out if anything is bothering them about how you're riding.  Instruct them nicely if they're doing something making it difficult to ride.

- Let the passenger know to not react to road anomalies that upset the bike, and to keep their body position neutral and follow yours just like normal when this happens

- Be prepared for a mid-corner weave or sorts, kinda like the bike is slightly hinged in the middle.  Not sure if it chassis/subframe flex or an overloaded spring crying for help.  It happens, maintain your throttle & line and it'll be fine

Passenger:

- +1 on bracing on the tank for braking

- +1 on the moving around.  The Monster is a small bike and reacts quite a bit to foot pressure on both rider AND passenger pegs

- If something the rider is doing is making you uncomfortable, let them know.  The sooner it's fixed & you feel comfortable, the better you'll enjoy the ride

JM

I apparently have short arms because I can only get the ends of my fingers on the tank when I'm the passenger.  Any more than that and I'm pushing into the rider's back.  I hold onto his sides (I can't reach the bottom of the seat) and try not to pull on him at all.  This may just mean I'm not meant to be a passenger.

Passengers
- It's the balls of your feet that need to be on the pegs.  If you've never been a rider this may not be as obvious as you think.
 - Adjust your position, before the bike gets moving, so that you aren't interfering with the rider's natural position.

Any idea what sort of max weight the 696 can handle comfortabling with regards to 2 passengers?  Just curious to know how big of a person can and cannot be carried!

I can't find it on the tech specs on the website, maybe a current owner with a manual can chime in.

I looked up the specs for my 2007 695, it's probably similar.
Dry weight 168 kg (370 lb) - means no fuel/fluids
Fully laden 390 kg (859 lb) - includes bike, fuel/fluids, rider/gear, passenger/gear, any luggage
The difference (excluding the bike weight) is 489 lb.  That is the max, the bike will be happier at a lower weight.

Thanks!  So that is a good way to see what sort of room you got?

In which ways does the m696 handle differently with weight?

It'll be the same as pretty much any other 2-wheeled thing with extra weight :)  Adding more damping and preload to the rear helps mitigate the effects on suspension performance. Really too much of a change to quickly summarize, but it shouldn't be hard to imagine the basic physics at work when you add a bunch of weight to the back of the bike - it'll accelerate and brake more slowly, wheelie easier, rear suspension will probably have way too much sag which will invite understeer and poor response to bumps, it won't transition nearly as quickly, rear end will squirm more in turns, you'll have less ground clearance from the excessive sag, etc.

One thing with head-bumping, I find that this is often as much the driver's fault as the pillion's fault.  You need smooth acceleration and deceleration.  Nearly impossible to keep from bumping lids on some bikes if the driver is all jerky with the throttle or lousy at shifting gears.

One other thing... if you are test riding a bike, take it for a solo spin first to get the hang of things before taking your passenger.  It might seem like a really good idea to jump on a snazzy new bike with your favorite passenger, but your passenger may be accustomed to entirely different handling characteristics and you assuredly will be fighting an unhappy bike.