I think your straining your muscles pulling your legs in. You need to relax your legs.
Any time a passenger is riding they need to know to lean with you in a turn. I had some one try and sit straight up once and they almost took me down!
Tim

 

To her be still and lean with the bike . To you leave space to stop, it takes a little more with the additional weight. The bike will handle much different with a passenger.

 

First - be sure YOU are comfortable taking a passenger. Make sure she wears appropriate gear.

1. Tell her to wait till you and balanced and set, and say ok to climb aboard.
2. Tell her not to scooch around without warning.
3. Tell her to lean against the backrest and "stay with the bike" in curves.
4. Tell her to hold on to your waist and not your throat!
No standing up - no screaming - no crying - and go pee before she leaves the house.

 

1. Wait for the okay from you before mounting and dismounting bike.
2. Plant her feet on the passenger footpegs and keep them there.
3. Try not to move around any more than is necessary, particularly when the motorcycle is stopped, as it affects the balance of the motorcycle.
4. To position herself perfectly for a turn, just look over your shoulder in the direction of the turn. If the motorcycle is turning right, look over your right shoulder; if it is turning left, look over your left shoulder.

Enjoy the ride.

 

Try and build some leg strength. Some 20 rep breathing squats will help. Hard to do but will give you a base core of power. As they used to say: "When the legs go, you go."

 

Check this out...
http://www.aimag.com/wordpress/2010/11/front-squats/

It would also be a plus if your lady knows the proper hand signals. My wife gives hand signals for turns when she rides. Just a little added visibility...

 

You ask what does your wife needes to do......PRAY.......Your a new biker and your going to put your wife on back???? Just asking

 

I used to get the same muscle strain with my bikes that had floorboards as opposed to regular pegs. I use highway pegs now on my engine guard. My heels rest on the floorboard and the top of my feet rest on the highway pegs (they are angled in slightly so my feet sit flat on them). The pegs have a little tab on the end that keep your feet from wanting to slide outward. Without the highway pegs the wind at highway speeds was always trying to push my feet off the boards when I tried to relax my legs.

 

For the OL question - You've heard what others said & thats all good - but - riding a passenger is not as easy as it looks. Make sure you are 100% confident on the bike before you bring her along.

Plus - make sure she is confident with you. I gave my mother a ride one time & nearly died when we went into a curv & she leaned the opposite way! Stood the bike right up.

I don't do that any more!

 

Been out ordering helmets ! ha ha Got the life insurance in order !

The wife was asked last night if we wanted to ride with a big group from the Marshalls office next weekend.............. I was thinking maybe me and her should get some miles under our belts before we go out with a group. After reading the comments above i feel we owe everybody the respect of waiting until we are comfortable riding together.

Yea as for the leg strain ........... I was thinking knees in was " proper " . I'll just relax and let it all hang out ! Although some palates would help with some other things........might impress the wife with a new tecnique! ha ha