[Mazaev]

So this morning I ended up picking up a friend and taking him along as a pillion as I went to do some twisties in the area. I had been riding quite a bit lately, as well as reading up on proper technique and felt much more comfortable taking curves faster than the last time I'd been out there.

Nothing particularly hairy happened on the ride, but when we got home and I asked how it was for him, he mentioned that it was nice and fun, except for the rear wheel sliding out on some of the turns(!). This wasn't something I had noticed while riding (I was mostly doing delayed apex turns while rolling on the throttle) and somewhat took me by surprise.

So, is this normal? Does the pillion passenger just have more acute sensation of what's going on back there? Am I not paying attention? Should I be tightening something? I would think that the extra weight in the back would increase traction.

 

[FieroDude]

Any chance he was feeling the rear shock compress (especially while the bike is leaned over in a turn) and interpreted it as the real wheel sliding out?

 

[Kcwiro]

Having been on a bike with a rear wheel bearing out of whack you as the rider passenger or not would notice. Give the rear wheel a good shake test and check the rear wheel alignment. on the sprockets

 

[PTRider]

How much did this guy weigh?

Was the shock preload set for the weight?

Was the rear tire inflated up for the weight?

 

[SittingDuck]

I think that unless you're braindead, you'd feel the tire sliding out.

It's likely your passenger just felt the transition from squared off thread to the roudn bit; it is a bit abrupt, but we don't notice it when we're used to the bike and the tire wore gradually.

 

[Mazaev]

Thanks for the replies. I think it's mostly the passenger misinterpreting the rear shock compression. The rear wheel seems fine and I've gotten no complaints from my regular, more experienced pillion before or after this ride.

The guy was about 180, bringing the total weight up to about 380 plus a set of empty pelicans. Preload was on max and tire pressure was 41 rear, 36 front.