Taking A Child Pillion On Your Motorbike

Growing up with a biker as a father, I know what it's like to be a child begging to go out for a ride!

Of course, there are certain things you need to consider before taking a child on your bike. Here are some examples the We Buy Any Bike team came up with, some seem obvious but can be forgotten:

• Full licence for the rider
• The bike must have foot pegs for the pillion, which they can reach!
• The bike must have a passenger seat, which the pillion can sit astride on
• Child  must wear a secure helmet and suitable safely gear

Motorcycle Gear For Children

Making sure the child has good safety gear is paramount, but this doesn’t have to be too expensive.  There are lots of sites which you can look to when finding second-hand gloves, boots, jackets and trousers. The helmet however should always be brand new and properly fitted to the child’s head.

The Rider

The decision to take a pillion lies with the rider, who is legally responsible for making sure the passenger is safely supported. Taking a child on the back of your motorbike is a big responsibility; the rider needs to make sure they are confident in their own skill and experience.

Taking a pillion affects the bike and the way you ride, consider these points:

• Handling and gravity changes
• Extra weight requires more throttle and clutch control
• Braking distances extend
• Increased weight can affect corning clearances
• More time and space required when manoeuvring

As well as thinking about how the bike will change with a child pillion, you should also consider how the child might react!..

Pre Takeoff!

As well as meeting the physical criteria, you must also be sure the child is mentally mature enough to understand and be aware of the danger. Obviously, it’s not a good idea to scare the living daylights out of them, but it’s definitely worth going over some basics.

Suggested things you may want to cover:

• Why you will leaning around corners
• How acceleration feels
• What the bike will do when breaking

Something else to note is that children’s attention spans can be fairly short and they can get tired quickly (you don’t want them falling asleep on the back!) So short trips are advised when first taking them out as pillion.

Hope you found this article interesting, and if there is anything you’d like to add please do so in the comments!