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[ST] pillion security



Keith Tynan wrote:
On a more serious note, re Howlin's point about top
boxes, wifey-poo tends
not to use ours as a backrest. There are two reasons
for this: firstly it
jars her spine on anything other than smooth roads (a
thing of the past - if
ever - in the UK), and secondly, if she sits back on
it on motorways, the
buffeting's too extreme.

Here's my 2p worth, FWIW.

The way I managed to persuade the ex to allow me to
take my 10 year old son Alex to France at Easter was
to fit a Givi top box to the Triumph rack, wear a
pillion pal, and get an intercom.  The advantage of
the Givi is that it came with a padded backrest so he
didn't get jarred, and is QD.  The Triumph rack is not
exactly a thing of beauty, even if robustly
engineered, but it sure looks better IMO than being
stuck with the Triumph topbox.  Intercom is handy to
check pillion is still awake/there, and to warn them
of impending manoeuvres - especially helpful for
inexperienced pillions who don't know how to read the
road.  Intercom needs careful thought though: for me
"Go on, Dad, catch that Ninja" was acceptable (even in
high decibel pre-pubescent treble), but I'm not sure
whether "Slow down at once, don't you ever, ever do
anything like that again" (or similar) would be.
Depends on your riding style and the company you keep,
I guess!

It was Alex's first long distance trip, and he felt
absolutely fine.  In fact, he felt so good he wants to
make a habit of it, much to his mother's
consternation.

I have used the pillion pal with adults, but try and
ween them off it to hold on to the rack.  Only being
10st (140 lbs) myself, I'm quite sensitive to the way
the bike carries weight, and I find that the "rear
wheel steering" effect is reduced if the pillion is
braced to the bike. (Otherwise handling then becomes
reminiscent of my fast but fragile Norton Commando of
24 years ago!) However, given the amount of inertia
some of the listers represent, that might not be too
much of a problem for those who know who they are.  

Keith: if its smooth roads you want, try mid-Wales.

Kevin (Reservoir Dawg)
99 ST
London 


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