I had the suspension set up for myself solo riding(16 stone) and that transformed the handling. I take the other half out on it now and again without too much difficulty. Remember the basics, easy on the throttle, leave more time for braking, get your corners etc lined up early and take most importantly, take your time till you have got used to the extra weight. Best all round bike I've ever owned by a country mile.
Bonus tip: tell them when they're getting on the bike to let you know before they get on, and when they do so to do it in one quick smooth motion while keeping their profile low. Passengers getting on the bike when you're not ready, or suddenly raising your centre of gravity, can be extremely disconcerting 😂
Thankfully i did remember to brace myself and the bike before he got on, i can imagine what could happen if you weren’t ready for someone to climb on 😂
First Tip : add a couple or maybe as much as 4 turns ( notches) to your rear shock pre load given Chris's weight. 2: do the same to both pre load and rebound on the front forks. 3: take a short ride to gauge the balance in dive in the front and dip in the back, you don't want wallowing between front and rear on braking. 4: Get yourself an Oxford Rider grips belt, it has two handles for the pillion to hold onto. I have the same bike but the Performance Sport and my wife loves riding pillion. OK she's probably half Chris's weight and I do have a top box with a pillion pad which gives a little reassurance. As does the belt, being able to pull forwards is less scary than balancing on the rear rail. Give a little more revs on take off, be firmer but more progressive on the brakes. Try traction control on 2, 1 will be too aggressive and 3 may cause stalling on take off as it stops you giving the amount of throttle you need. How the pillion moves will drastically effect the balance of the bike. Being used to a smaller bike he may be inclined to over lean, I try to get my wife just to look over my shoulder on the same side as the lean and I lean for both of us. Even if she looks at scenery on the opposite side whilst cornering it can be enough to upset the balance. My wife screams on the back as well but with delight rather than fear. At times when road conditions warrant caution she's been know to shout " Go on, give it some balls!!" A bike that size should handle the extra weight without you feeling it too much, as long as you set it up for it. Remember to turn down settings for yourself otherwise you'll find it too firm.
Wow thanks for the tips, especially the one for the suspension, I’ll definitely give that a go next time. Chris did say the handle was a problem, i dont plan on getting a top box as i have no need for one currently but i can imagine they offer a pillion quite a bit of reassurance under acceleration. I imagine his screams would turn into delightful rather than fear once he got use to it, I think he was just genuinely really shocked at how much power it has got to give, and as i said to him it was so much slower with him on the back than when its just you on your own.
@@cjrides.1 Cheers for the reply 👍 A top box doesn't exactly suit the bikes looks but your right it does enhance security. Shortly I'll be doing a 1,000 mile review of the ZZR including my wife's views, up till now all videos have been on my old channel. I've just took delivery today of a Kawasaki Vulcan 1600, I think that would more suit Chris, a sissy bar comfy seat and laid back riding.
@Grey Wolf Is the review going up on your channel? If so ill keep an eye out for it 👍🏻 Yes chris is definitely into a more relaxed ride, whereas i am somewhere inbetween. I want the speed however i dont want a full on learn over the bars sports bike, ive been there and done that, i chose the ZZR because of the power and the fact it isn't horribly uncomfortable like a normal sports bike.
I have had an 80 kg lady on the back of my gen 1 ZX 14 and found it to be quite good , even through a heap of tight corners :-) she was a rider too, so was a good passenger
I think Grey Wolf's comments on suspension are a great starting point. The H2 SX SE has electronic suspension which allows you to select number of riders and luggage allowing automatic correction for the extra weight. That's exactly where electronic comes into its own as there's no faffing at all and it gets you in the ball park. If its warm, i'd also drop the tyre pressures slightly too, as the (significant in this case) extra weight is going to make a marked difference to your running pressures once up to speed. Love your bike though!
I would certainly love electronic suspension! I’ve been meaning to get it set up properly for my weight but haven’t found anywhere local to me as of yet.
@@cjrides.1 You won't be far away from JHS Racing (Bristol I believe). They seem a good bunch of guys and if you are doing an MOT or something like that, i'm sure they'd help with the static settings etc. They have a lot of experience and will likely understand what would suit you for your style of riding.
My tip: tell your passenger that if they need to wriggle around or get comfortable, do it while you're in motion. Don't do it when you're stationary at the traffic lights.
Make sure the passenger knows to place their hands on the tank (one on top of the other) and brace themselves on it when breaking rather than grabbing your jacket/torso and leaning on your back pushing you forward.
hahah, nah, the bike does not feel heavy, it bearly feels the difference, what might feel heavy is when the pillion is pushig the rider's back (or ass). I ride a lot with my girls on this particular machine. The tips I have: 1. let them move backwards to leave some space for you to move around. 2. They should hold you with the legs but just the knees part. 3. The same way you keep your torso up (back muscles) they should do the same, not to lay on your back. 3. They should look over your shoulder in the direction of turning. All in all, after some practice, it is not that much od the difference. I would not go above 160 kmph though, in order to prevent loosing the passanger from the back seat :) All the best.
Ok so top tip for riding with pillion. Tell pillion to sit like a bag of spuds n don't react or preempt anything you are going to do. Next tip.. when changing gear or accelerating do it smoothly to avoid helmet bang. Next tip. Don't accelerate to fast or the front wheel will lift easier. Next tip. Set up preload on rear shock and front forks to allow for extra weight. Next tip. When pulling up to a stop..use rear brake only..don't use front brake and dive front forks. Same for solo really.
No offence but ditch your pillion as hes seems scared of his own shadow, you didn't seem to be riding like a twat as you said the feel is completely different and i doubt you intend taking you both into the first hedge you see,he needs complete confidence in you. Practice makes perfect, i have a Gen 1 my wife goes everywhere on back with me ,i also have an xjr1300 she prefers that as its more upright, but shes an excellent pillion and doesn't complain about abit of speed
In his defence my camera didnt capture the bit where he was screaming 😂 I surprised him with almost full throttle on a straight road, the rest of the time he was fine
I had the suspension set up for myself solo riding(16 stone) and that transformed the handling. I take the other half out on it now and again without too much difficulty. Remember the basics, easy on the throttle, leave more time for braking, get your corners etc lined up early and take most importantly, take your time till you have got used to the extra weight. Best all round bike I've ever owned by a country mile.
Bonus tip: tell them when they're getting on the bike to let you know before they get on, and when they do so to do it in one quick smooth motion while keeping their profile low. Passengers getting on the bike when you're not ready, or suddenly raising your centre of gravity, can be extremely disconcerting 😂
Thankfully i did remember to brace myself and the bike before he got on, i can imagine what could happen if you weren’t ready for someone to climb on 😂
First Tip : add a couple or maybe as much as 4 turns ( notches) to your rear shock pre load given Chris's weight. 2: do the same to both pre load and rebound on the front forks. 3: take a short ride to gauge the balance in dive in the front and dip in the back, you don't want wallowing between front and rear on braking. 4: Get yourself an Oxford Rider grips belt, it has two handles for the pillion to hold onto.
I have the same bike but the Performance Sport and my wife loves riding pillion. OK she's probably half Chris's weight and I do have a top box with a pillion pad which gives a little reassurance. As does the belt, being able to pull forwards is less scary than balancing on the rear rail. Give a little more revs on take off, be firmer but more progressive on the brakes. Try traction control on 2, 1 will be too aggressive and 3 may cause stalling on take off as it stops you giving the amount of throttle you need. How the pillion moves will drastically effect the balance of the bike.
Being used to a smaller bike he may be inclined to over lean, I try to get my wife just to look over my shoulder on the same side as the lean and I lean for both of us. Even if she looks at scenery on the opposite side whilst cornering it can be enough to upset the balance. My wife screams on the back as well but with delight rather than fear. At times when road conditions warrant caution she's been know to shout " Go on, give it some balls!!" A bike that size should handle the extra weight without you feeling it too much, as long as you set it up for it. Remember to turn down settings for yourself otherwise you'll find it too firm.
Wow thanks for the tips, especially the one for the suspension, I’ll definitely give that a go next time.
Chris did say the handle was a problem, i dont plan on getting a top box as i have no need for one currently but i can imagine they offer a pillion quite a bit of reassurance under acceleration.
I imagine his screams would turn into delightful rather than fear once he got use to it, I think he was just genuinely really shocked at how much power it has got to give, and as i said to him it was so much slower with him on the back than when its just you on your own.
@@cjrides.1 Cheers for the reply 👍 A top box doesn't exactly suit the bikes looks but your right it does enhance security. Shortly I'll be doing a 1,000 mile review of the ZZR including my wife's views, up till now all videos have been on my old channel. I've just took delivery today of a Kawasaki Vulcan 1600, I think that would more suit Chris, a sissy bar comfy seat and laid back riding.
@Grey Wolf Is the review going up on your channel? If so ill keep an eye out for it 👍🏻
Yes chris is definitely into a more relaxed ride, whereas i am somewhere inbetween. I want the speed however i dont want a full on learn over the bars sports bike, ive been there and done that, i chose the ZZR because of the power and the fact it isn't horribly uncomfortable like a normal sports bike.
I have had an 80 kg lady on the back of my gen 1 ZX 14 and found it to be quite good , even through a heap of tight corners :-) she was a rider too, so was a good passenger
I think it’s probably just because I wasn’t use to it, I haven’t done it for such a long time, i would probably find it ok if i did it all the time.
OMG you 2 that’s funny
🤣🤣
I think Grey Wolf's comments on suspension are a great starting point. The H2 SX SE has electronic suspension which allows you to select number of riders and luggage allowing automatic correction for the extra weight. That's exactly where electronic comes into its own as there's no faffing at all and it gets you in the ball park. If its warm, i'd also drop the tyre pressures slightly too, as the (significant in this case) extra weight is going to make a marked difference to your running pressures once up to speed. Love your bike though!
I would certainly love electronic suspension! I’ve been meaning to get it set up properly for my weight but haven’t found anywhere local to me as of yet.
@@cjrides.1 You won't be far away from JHS Racing (Bristol I believe). They seem a good bunch of guys and if you are doing an MOT or something like that, i'm sure they'd help with the static settings etc. They have a lot of experience and will likely understand what would suit you for your style of riding.
Not heard of them, ill look into it. Thanks for the tip 👍
My tip: tell your passenger that if they need to wriggle around or get comfortable, do it while you're in motion. Don't do it when you're stationary at the traffic lights.
Make sure the passenger knows to place their hands on the tank (one on top of the other) and brace themselves on it when breaking rather than grabbing your jacket/torso and leaning on your back pushing you forward.
Yip, great advice. I always had one hand on the tank and one grabbing the rail on the back.
Absolutely hilarious
hahah, nah, the bike does not feel heavy, it bearly feels the difference, what might feel heavy is when the pillion is pushig the rider's back (or ass). I ride a lot with my girls on this particular machine. The tips I have: 1. let them move backwards to leave some space for you to move around. 2. They should hold you with the legs but just the knees part. 3. The same way you keep your torso up (back muscles) they should do the same, not to lay on your back. 3. They should look over your shoulder in the direction of turning. All in all, after some practice, it is not that much od the difference. I would not go above 160 kmph though, in order to prevent loosing the passanger from the back seat :) All the best.
Ok so top tip for riding with pillion. Tell pillion to sit like a bag of spuds n don't react or preempt anything you are going to do. Next tip.. when changing gear or accelerating do it smoothly to avoid helmet bang. Next tip. Don't accelerate to fast or the front wheel will lift easier. Next tip. Set up preload on rear shock and front forks to allow for extra weight. Next tip. When pulling up to a stop..use rear brake only..don't use front brake and dive front forks. Same for solo really.
Hilarious in points. I was laughing.
LOL, I've never had anyone on the back that weighs more than 100 lbs. Now 200 lbs. would make a big difference.
It does make a huge difference, acceleration was much slower and cornering wasn’t pleasant
To be fair I always thought Jordan was far heavier then Chris!
Best tip I can offer regarding carrying a pillion is: DON'T.
Agreed, neither of us likes being a pillion or carrying one!
A cute chick on the back makes it all worth it. lol
No offence but ditch your pillion as hes seems scared of his own shadow, you didn't seem to be riding like a twat as you said the feel is completely different and i doubt you intend taking you both into the first hedge you see,he needs complete confidence in you. Practice makes perfect, i have a Gen 1 my wife goes everywhere on back with me ,i also have an xjr1300 she prefers that as its more upright, but shes an excellent pillion and doesn't complain about abit of speed
In his defence my camera didnt capture the bit where he was screaming 😂 I surprised him with almost full throttle on a straight road, the rest of the time he was fine
@@cjrides.1 lol.