Prompted memories of pillion rides I've had and made me think that although my wife rides pillion with me quite a lot (mainly on our Enfield tea & cake potter through the countryside rides) I have very rarely travelled as a pillion and certainly not since I was a yoof. Used to ride pillion on my Dads various bikes quite a bit as kid then the odd trip on the back of mates bikes either when to drunk to ride (which was verrrryyy drunk) or when my bike was blown up or in the middle of crash repairs - which was quite a lot, I had 2 strokes with all the 'improvements' you could do in the shed!
Most of my pillion rides with mates were scary as a) we were usually trying to keep up with some maniac who was one up b) it always seemed to be the mate who most wanted to show of how quick they were who offered the pillion seat. Three pillion tales that stand out:
1. There were about half a dozen of us that hung about on bikes regularly, nearly all with LC's, me with an X7 and one mate who was a couple of years older with a GT380 triple with the Rickman bodykit (fairing got destroyed in earlier big off) and he was always desperate to show how his old school stroker had the legs on our 'modern' 250's, which of course it didn't ... or the brakes, or the handling or anything really apart from the sound. Anyhoo my X7 had been remodelled a bit by sliding across a muddy airfield the weekend before so I was sans bike, Nick was (is, he's still alive!) about 4 inches shorter than me and had drop bars on the GT so I'm left sticking out like modern gixer pillion with only the sharp edges of the Rickman fibreglass body kit to hang onto as we hurtled around the wooded lanes and curves of our favourite roads between pubs and discos for one weekend. I actually walked home about eight miles on the Saturday night rather than risk a night time lift home, didn't think I would have any fingers left even if I did make it home!
2. Can't remember why I was without a bike this time but recall getting a lift from one pub to another on the back of a XS250 that belonged to a gribley (anyone remember them?) mate who usually hung around with the cut off boys. He was, by the low standards we set, a pretty steady rider and the XS was dog slow with a big pillion perch so I thought I would be okay but the kn*b left the side stand down and the first left hander saw it dig in, he hit the brakes and we straightened up, across the verge and into ditch. He cracks his nuts on the tank, I fly over him and into the hedge. Fortunately, although the corner was one of our favourites, and usually a 70mph peg scraper, XS mate was going a heck of a lot slower and by the time we scrubbed off speed and bounced across the verge we were probably only doing 10/20mph so light bruises for me, a few scratches for the XS but very painful nuts for XS mate, I had to ride his bike back with him as pillion as he was in so much pain : {
3. Not one ride but recalling how my wife (then girlfriend) used to ride pillion on one of the worst pillion bikes of all time, my PE400X. Seat was of the shorty enduro type so not really room for two, pillion pegs were those clip on to swing arm ones you could get back then, loose fitting and moved up and down with the swingarm (which is a lot on PE!), dirty great chain flapping about by her toes and the clutch was of the on/off variety and the bike didn't like ticking over or pulling just off the throttle. Fine when one up as blipping the throttle all the time and monster wheelies away from every junction possible was of course one of the main reasons for owning it, less so when trying to transport the future mother of your children around in a manner which didn't see her sat on her backside. She still has fond memories of that bike though, Saturday morning through town certainly had everyone looking at us, back then we thought we were 'cool', now the wrong side of 50 I would tut tut at similar behaviour and shake my head in despair at the mindless yoof - damn I've got old : (
