I read this on another HDF thread about passengers and it has worked very well for us.When negotiating curves, the passenger should look over the shoulder of the rider that will be at the "inside" of the curve, keeping the backrest centered in their back. For example, right handcurve = passenger looking over rider'sright shoulder. Ditto for the left. I've found that this slight head movement by the passenger really helps me set the bike up for curves.

 

I have to disagree with this.
The passenger SHOULD lean with the driver.

 

You have a right to your opinion but I think it is wrong. As many others have said the backrest should be centered in their back and should never change positions regardless of the bikes condition.

 

Well, unless you're road racing, the driver doesn't "lean" either! Both driver and passenger remain in the same position on a bike, and the whole unit "leans" together from the countersteering, which causes the lean and thus the turn. Neither should be shifting postiion. The point made of having the passenger look over the shoulder of the driver in the direction of the turn is how it is taught by MSF, and works well.

An exception to the above would be on slow, tight turns, where the driver may shift weight to the outside of the turn, to counter-balance.

 

Strap em to the bitch bar and ride, ride ride.

 

I have to agree with MNPGRider I rely on a gentle counter steer to get me through 99 % of the curves I come to, the only time I can remember leaning and sticking a knee out was riding my XSEleven and trying to grind the pegs.

 

Went and dug out a page out of my MSF manual and scanned. The picture on the left shows the proper relationship of the rider to the bike. Note the rider is not leaning, but rather the bike and rider are leaning together! The only part of the body that noticeably moves is the head, as you look in the direction of the turn, keeping your eyes level with the road to maintain your inner ear balance. The turn itself is accomplished by a gentle "press" on the handgrip in the direction of your turn "Press left, lean left, go left. Press right, lean right, go right."

The picture on the right shows counter balancing, which can be done on slow tight turns by shifting your weight to the outside of the turn, to help maintain balance.

[IMG]local://upfiles/38853/1ED3833763674EC396744759F68E5A97.jpg[/IMG]

 

What MNPGrider said is what I learned in MSF and started doing it. Things improved drastically. Fortunately she is light, but when we first started riding, we came to a stop, she stood up on the floorboards, planted her right foot and jumped hard off the right side. Darn near dropped the bike in the driveway[>:]. The advice I will add is to not horse around at first. Let her and you get comfortable over a few rides before you let her feel the force and listen to the pipes bark.Also, be preparedfor a nice evening together . The bike may well improve your sex life [sm=happybounce.gif]Ride Safe! [sm=biker.gif]

 

My first and foremost rule is do not lean, I do the leaning for both of us. I know exactly how much to lean the bike, I can't predict how much the passenger is going to lean. It does work best with a backrest, then they can just center themselves and enjoy the ride.

 

Lasts longer I bet.