First 2 up ride, or "The 2 up wall of shame"

[Thud300]

So, since getting the major bugs out of my 91, I've been enjoying almost daily riding, over 1000 miles on her now since rescuing her.

The reason I had such a yen for a Voyager, was so that I could ride 2 up with my sweetie, who encouraged me into motorcycling a few years ago, and she had rode as a passenger before and liked it. I really wanted to do 2 up with her on a bike truly designed for it. Thus, a long Voyager XII search that finally bore fruit in the form of my 91.

After the buy, and while getting it into riding shape, I kept the bike out of her knowledge until I felt it (and I) was ready. Finally I sprung it on her last week, and Saturday night after work we would ride to our weekly breakfast gathering.

Of course, there is a first time for all things, and we discussed beforehand how to mount and dismount the bike. Cause this bike ain't no Honda 350.

I saw that one way for her to mount was a method shown on youTube by Jerry 'Motorman' Palladino about having the passenger mount the bike fist while it's on the kickstand, then shifting up to the passenger seat. Then the driver would mount, turn the bars hard right, and stand the bike up.

Hey, it worked great in the video, and I had made sure the tire and suspension pressures were good (my suspension pressures are about 10% above Ma Kaw's specs) so what could go wrong? Everything is ready for my first 2 up ride!

When the time came, it was 12:30 in the morning, and we are the only two people around, alone in a deserted parking lot with the bike. I strapped on her helmet, and we decided to try the Motorman method described above. So she gets on, while I stand on the bike's left, ready to mount afterward, and she shifts up to the pillion seat, and then I prepare to mount, except I could only watch in disbelief as the bike slowly rolled over to the right onto its tipover bars, dumping her onto the parking lot like a sack of wheat

She wasn't hurt except for a couple of scrapes, but it took a few minutes before she could get up. Then we had to get our ride back off the bars and onto its wheels, which took a little creativity but we got it done. Then we dusted ourselves off, caught our breath and tried again, this time I mounted the bike first and she got on after.

After our little mishap, the rides to and from breakfast went otherwise without a hitch, except for the rear suspension bottoming out several times, the mirrors suddenly showing nothing but the road underneath, and the headlamp pointed somewhat skyward... next upgrade, rear progressive springs and maybe 15 weight oil.

We arrivied a bit late, but with quite a story to tell at breakfast

I believe what happened is, when she shifted up to the pillion seat, the rear suspension sagged, and the kickstand stood the bike up to the point past vertical where it began falling to the right, and neither of us were in a position to save it. Heck of a way to learn. Hey, it worked in the video... oh, but that was a Harley, and the passenger might have weighed 130...

Concours Owners Group has a thing called Connie Droppers Anonymous, where victims confess their tales of shame to earn a number, I'm #555... if AVA has a Pillion Dumpers Anonymous or anything like it, consider this my application

[dsmmrm]

Glad the educational experience was neither costly nor resulting in injury. Sadly, most of mine don't seem to follow that pattern.

Coincidentally, my wife and I had our first 2up ride on my 2001 last Sunday. Having had a number of bikes prior we have sort of a system for mounting and dismounting so we survived that part. Neither of us are exactly small and probably push close to 500lbs together so I initially put around 35-37 psi in the rear shocks. After 20 miles or so of bottoming out I stopped at a service station and cranked it up to almost 50. After that the ride was fine. I plan to replace the shocks and springs with progressives but have not had the funds yet. Once I sell my Vulcan 1500 (which has progressive 412s and fork springs already, just the wrong size to swap) I will take the plunge.

So, the question I have is, does putting progressive springs and shocks (hd springs) increase the total carrying capacity or just make the ride better? Other than lopping off a limb or 2 I really don't have good solution for lightening the load.

[Nails]

My normal pillion just weighs 120 lbs. (Settle down guys! It's my daughter.) But we still found a way to test the tip-over bars when she bounded off at an impropitious time. Now we're more disciplined about mounting/dismounting the bike, which has passenger floorboards that offer a lot of leverage back there.
The springs (or air pressure) would adjust the level of the bike. You shouldn't expect the suspension geometry to work right if you load it up like a pickup with too much gravel in back. You'd need more spring or more air, at the least.
This doesn't have much to do with bottoming out. That's the shock damping part. The stock shocks respond well to fresh oil -- see the other current thread about that. Old oil (stock? -- shudder!) provides almost no damping.

[dsmmrm]

The springs have more to do with bottoming out than you might think. If there is only .5" of travel left when you sit on it I doubt road tar in the shocks will keep them from slamming on big bumps.

I do agree that proper oil age and level do play a big part in the overall function of the rear suspension, though, along with preload and spring health. I'm sure my 16 year old springs have lost a lot of there springiness so having to overcompensate with air pressure is one way to bring the level back up. It's not the best way, for sure, though.

[voyager55]

Be sure you have Progressive spring shocks in the rear