Posts Tagged ‘rules’

Rules for Motorcycle Passengers.

Posted: May 17, 2021 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle advocacy, motorcycle safety
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Let us start by assuming you have the motorcycle skills necessary to ride with a passenger.  If you are scaring yourself when you ride, you don’t need a pillion (another term for passenger) to scare as well. You want your passenger, especially if they are your significant other, to want to ride more … not be put off motorcycles forever …

That said, I do have some personal rules for my pillion. There’s a big difference between giving someone a ride around the block and your long term motorcycle passenger, but all should be considered when loading up the bike with someone other than yourself.

The motorcycle passenger wears all the gear, all the time

Even in an area without helmet laws you should consider this, especially for someone who has not ridden before. Give them that sense of protection beyond your riding skills.

Hold on to me – not my clothes

I’m sure we’ve all known a person who just wants to just rip the clothes off our body … but doing so while riding a motorcycle is not the right time. Tell your pillion to hold on to you, or the grab rails if the bike has them.

Try hard not to ping

Pinging is when your passenger hits the back of your helmet when the motorcycle slows down. I talk about this with my pillion before their first ride, and the payoff has been dramatic.

Getting on or off the motorcycle

Tell your passenger NOT to mount or dismount the motorcycle unless:

  • you have both feet firmly on the ground
  • both hands on the handle bars, AND
  • you let them know they can now move about the cabin freely.

Sit still at slow speeds

Tell your pillion to really try not to move around during slow speeds. In particular, they should sit still when stopping at, or leaving from, a traffic light. Balance is very important at slow speeds on a motorcycle.

If your pillion needs to talk…

They should tap your shoulder on the side they wish to talk. You can get back to them as soon as you can … please leave a message at the beep.

And if they want to show you something, have them tap on the side they want you to look, and then point.

If your pillion gets scared

Of course, you’re NEVER going to scare your pillion (are you?) … BUT an alarmed pillion should close their eyes, hold on and try not to move. When the event is over they can tap the rider, and ask him to pull over.

And when fully stopped and dismounted, the pillion should proceed to smack the rider (just joking).

Practice power/emergency stops

This is aimed more for your permanent motorcycle passenger then the “once around the block” pillion.  Make sure both you and your pillion know what it feels like to brake hard – very hard – before you really need to.

Practice low speed maneuvers

Similar to the emergency stop, it pays to know how the bike is going to handle with both you and your passenger at slow speeds.

And if you’re going to be packing the bags for a long trip you might want to practice “fully” loaded as well. Some low-speed figure 8s in an empty parking lot will show you a lot about how the fully loaded bike is going to respond out on the road.

Set up the bike for a pillion

While every motorcycle is different, they all need to be adjusted for the additional weight of a pillion.

Check your suspension pre-loads to make sure they’re going to handle properly. Not much is worse than bottoming out over and over again … plus it’s hell on your tires

The motorcycle passenger should be invested in safety

Get your pillion involved in the safety aspects of riding with you. For example, it could be your pillion’s job to check tire pressure before the ride and be part of the Search, Evaluate, Execute (SEE) strategy that you learned as part of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation training.

Talk it over, and decide who’s responsible for what action.

Consider doing a rider’s course two-up

I have not done this myself, but I do think it is a good idea.  I bet I’ll be surprised by what I learn when I get around to it.

That might seem like a lot of rules for riding with a pillion.

But I bet that most of us do at least half of the things on this list without even thinking about it. That just leaves the other half of the list to deal with!

If you have some rules for riding with a pillion, feel free to post them in the comments below!

Motorcycle News: The United Nations does Motorcycle Helmets?

Posted: June 16, 2020 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle news, motorcycle safety, Uncategorized
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upshift

Hitting Neutral:  Both the US, Europe as well as many other countries have their own standards on motorcycle helmet safety. This year the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN ECE) will issue new regulations on the testing of motorcycle helmets.

This will be the sixth version of the regulation and will go into effect 3 years after the regulations are issued. At that point it will become illegal to sell helmets that are not in compliance with the new version.

So just what does the new regulations cover?  (From the Federation of European Motorcyclists’ Associations website)

Modular helmets – Helmets equipped with a movable or detachable protective lower face cover, will be tested with or without chin guard in position.

Sun shields – Sun shields cannot restrain or prevent the movement of the visor. On opening the visor, the sun shield can pivot in the working position. By means of a simple movement the sun shield must be able to be moved separately from the visor. Helmets placed on the market with a sun shield shall be tested with the sun shield in working position.

Reflective stickers – In order to comply with national requirements, the helmet may be required to have reflective materials. These materials can be delivered with the helmet, with proper instructions on where and how to apply them on the helmet.

Accessories – Helmets placed on the market with accessories shall be examined to make sure the equipment has no adverse effect and that the helmet and/or visor still comply with the requirements. Testing will be done with and without the accessory and its support with attention to energy absorption, sharp edges and field of vision. You are not allowed to modify the helmet from its original specification as manufactured. Accessories must be fitted in accordance with the helmet manufacturer’s instructions. Only accessories tested during the type approval procedure of the helmet keep the type approval valid.

High speed particle test for visors – To make sure visors don’t shatter when hit by something hard during your ride, they shall be tested with a steel ball at 60 m/s. The visor should not fracture or deform, and the visor housing should not separate into two or more pieces, or no longer be capable of holding the visor in position.

Brain injury by rotation – An impact test method of measuring rotational acceleration will be introduced, to test the impact on the brain when the helmet is twisted during an accident. To test this, the helmet will be allowed to fall, under specified angles and with a specified speed on to a rigidly mounted anvil.

My Take: As I am normally inclined, I am not a fan of regulations as too often it is a bureaucrat’s way of job justification that only adds to the expense of a product.  However, with the execution of one area, I do not see a problem with this update to the rules.

The problem I have is with the “Accessories” section.  I my mind I see accessory as anything placed on the helmet that was not sold by the manufacturer as part of the helmet.  I have a problem with that as it will be used as a cudgel against motorcyclists.

In Australia there is already a similar rule regarding helmet accessories.  Motorcycle riders are often pulled over and ticketed for have accessories on their helmet, click here for an example from “MotorBike Writer”. The primary culprit seems to be action cameras and Bluetooth communications modules. This new rule will infringe on the rider’s documentation and even their job.

 

Ride on, Ride Safe