rear grab handle issues

[mr_magicfingers]

Hi all,

only had the gs for a couple of weeks and have now taken my girlfriend out a couple of times. She says she finds the grab handles hard to get her hands under and, with a topbox on the back, that there's little purchase to stop her sliding forward under sudden braking.

Does anyone have any suggestions or mods that might improve pillion passenger handholds on the 1150. She's really happy with the rear seat comfort after my old xj600 but on that she had a grab rail she could use easily. After someone pulled out on us this evening and she slid forward quite sharply with waterproofs and a rained on seat I'd like to find a way to make her feel a bit more secure on our rides out.

Cheers,

Justin.

 

[Vern]

Velcro on here arse

She shouldn't need to hang on to anything really if you're riding smoothly,give her a stick and tell her to club you everytime you make a feck up.You'll soon learn

 

[mr_magicfingers]

Velcro on here arse

She shouldn't need to hang on to anything really if you're riding smoothly,give her a stick and tell her to club you everytime you make a feck up.You'll soon learn

I agree, however she feels that a grab handle is a suitable level of security and when wearing waterproofs on a wet plastic seat you're much more liable to slide a bit. Also, when the guy pulled out this evening on us there was some suitably sharp breaking which no amount of learning to be smooth (and I've been riding for 25 years now) is ever going to be able to reduce the need for a short, sharp stop in that situation.

No matter how smooth I ride, or how much I tell her there are other ways to grip, if having a grab handle she can use easily makes her feel more secure and comfortable then that's what I'm going to try and get for her otherwise there's less chance of her joining me on my rides and that's something which I'd rather avoid. I rather like having a girlfriend who enjoys being on a bike and I want to encourage that.

Mind you, in the spring she's passing her test and likes the look of a 650 for herself which might solve the problem once and for all

 

[John Armstrong]

Triboseat do a less slippy seat cover.

Or, a Hepco & Becker topbox rack would make a taller grab rail I'd guess.

 

[Colt]

a different shape rear seat?
a nice sargent one

or i seem to remember someone adapted some sort of pannier rails.
do you rails fitted alreay?

 

[MarkShelley]

I had a similar problem on my 1100 which has the same grab rail arrangement. It became an issue when I fitted a Givi plate and topbox. I improved it a fair bit by doing a mod which was mentioned in another thread somewhere.
I removed the grabrail, cut off the two sticky out bits with a hacksaw then turned it round and re fitted it. I had to buy some longer screws. This gives more space between top box and grabrail, but less between grabrail and seat.
If you don`t have the Givi base plate you might not have to cut the bits off. It is an improvement, but not perfect.

 

[Vern]

How about one of those belts with the handles on them them,you wear it and she hangs on to that instead of the bike

 

[Steptoe]

Get her to sit on the bike facing backwards thern she can hold the handle like a jockey..

 

[sproggy]

Another vote for a Triboseat cover - my wife has used them for years on various bikes. The 1150 one doesn't fit brilliantly (it doesn't seem to be quite deep/long enough) but it's OK and once she's sat on it it's like glue. You can get them in loads of places including eBay. About £12-14 from memory.

 

[MarkShelley]

Why do you guys keep recommending anti slip seat covers. They are of little use in an emergency stop scenario which is what this post is about.

 

[Colt]

how about adapting a pair of bmw pannier rails?
some for sale on the site for £25 i think.

 

[sproggy]

Why do you guys keep recommending anti slip seat covers. They are of little use in an emergency stop scenario which is what this post is about.

Who said anything about emergency stops?

......there's little purchase to stop her sliding forward under sudden braking.

The problem is sliding forward, therefore having a seat cover that offers better grip will reduce or eliminate this problem.

Sometimes it's necessary to stop fairly quickly when riding in London traffic - this doesn't constitute an emergency stop but it does mean braking more quickly than you'd normally choose to with a pillion. If the pillion doesn't slide forwards in those situations they're a lot happier and, believe me, so is the rider.

 

[Stumpy]

Its been a few few years since my 1150 so my memory may not be quite right but I'm fairly sure if you remove the grab rail and turn it around and refit it the angle improves and she'll have more room to get her hands between the gap with the top box fitted.

Andy

 

[MattW]

I once saw one of those belts with handles strapped around the topbox (rather then the rider). This, or a home-made equivalent, might be an option?

I have also seen a supplementary grab handle thingy with two 'side handles' fastened by sandwiching between the standard grab handle and the rack, although this was a custom alloy fabrication and probably wouldn't be cheap...

 

[Dinger]

My missus likes the security of a topbox, it means she doesn't have to hang on at all; she never uses the grab rails. If I break suddenly her arse slides forwards and her upper body leans into mine. After the "emergency" she shifts back to where she normally sits - this is the normal way of things.

We've operated like this all over the UK and Europe for years without her feeling the need to hold on all the time - it's not like I'm emergency breaking very often after all.

I assume your girlfriend hangs on all the time because under sudden breaking she wouldn't be able to suddenly grab hold before the episode was all over. With the topbox fitted she should feel secure enough not to have to hang on.

If she's slippy-sliding excessively you ought to review her gear, waterproof textile trousers are pretty grippy and avoid the need for slippy plastic waterproofs.

 

[mr_magicfingers]

Thanks for all the replies.

Girlfriend is wearing a good textile suit, sliding forward happens when the seat is wet and we suddenly stop. I'll review a seat cover for that issue.

Also, she'd like grab handles for sudden stops when she would rather not bash her helmet on the back of mine, plus having a grab handle just gives her an added sense of security which makes her feel more comfortable and relaxed.

The current topbox, a hepco and becker, has a rack that seems to have replaced the original grab rails, so that there's nothing for her to hold onto. I have pannier rails, but they're a bit too low for her to be comfortable holding onto, and would really work when the panniers (bmw system) are in place.

I guess I'm either going to have to have some extension handles make that fit with the pannier rails or find a way to raise the topbox rack and mount something there.

If there's anything you can suggest to add a grab rail in this situation I'd appreciate it.

Thanks.